8 Keys to Effectively Hire Physician Executives

Transcription

1 8 Keys to Effectvely Hre Physcan Executves Stephen Moulton Intervews Jennfer Grebenschkoff of The Physcan Executve Leadershp Center Jennfer Grebenschkoff s one of the founders of The Physcan Executve Leadershp Center. She s a wdely respected expert on physcan executve search, career counselng and compensaton. Jennfer's been featured n publcatons as vared as AMA News, Modern Healthcare and Physcan Executve. Jennfer s a regular Faculty Member at the Amercan College of Physcan Executves' (ACPE) meetngs. She teaches one day of the four-day "Managng Physcan Performance" course where her topc s how to successfully recrut and retan the physcans who match your organzaton's msson, vson and values. She also s a faculty member for ACPE s Certfed Physcan Executve program where her topcs nclude Networkng, Resumes, Intervewng and the Executve Image. Stephen: Jennfer you have a lst of keys necessary for effectvely hrng physcan executves, where do we start? Jennfer: The frst tem on my lst s, Assess the Need. CEOs need to assess the need for the poston well before they get to the hrng process. What we fnd s CEOs who come to us and say that they went to a conference and they heard about the chef medcal offcer role and say, Wel, we need to have a CMO, but they haven t realy spent any tme fgurng out, Do we realy need one? Of course I love t when a CEO calls me tosay, We need todo a search, snce that s my busness model, but does every organzaton need a CMO? Needs assessment s especally mportant ft s a brand new poston. Stephen: Would a needs assessment also apply to refllng an exstng poston? Jennfer: Yes that s my second recommendaton, Reassessng the Need. It s so mportant toreassess the need f t s a replacementsearch. Because so much n healthcare s changng, the old job descrpton s not lkely to carry 1

2 forward to the new job requrements. The old job descrpton wrtten n the 1980s and 1990s, or even ten years ago,won t reflect the new expectatons necessary for 2013 and beyond. Sayng, Here s the job descrpton we used for the last ten years and ths s the role we re tryng to fl, sn t gong to help anyone. Another area to consder s the ssue of the ttle of the role. There are so many dfferent physcan executve ttles but now, generally t s Chef Medcal Offcer. Not so long ago that same role was called Vce Presdent of Medcal Affars, and before that t was Medcal Drector. In some organzatons the system-wde physcan executve mght have the CMO ttle and each of the hosptal physcan executves mght be VPMAs. However we re seeng more and more CEOs namng ther physcan executves CMO regardless of where n the organzaton they are. When you recrut, canddates pay attenton to the ttle, and f they see a ttle that to them sgnfes a lower level, they tend to dsmss t more quckly than f t had the rght ttle on t. Stephen: Okay we have determned the need. What s next? Jennfer: My thrd tem s related to our second step above, makng sure the Job Descrpton s up to date. Don t just pul out the job descrpton that says 1986 on t. Let s make sure that we all agree, before we start searchng and talkng to canddatesabout ths, that we ve got a very defned set of expectatons, objectves, accountabltes, responsbltes, and goals that reflect where we are today and where we want to be gong forward. Stephen: From an HR perspectve that seems obvous, but often overlooked n a busy envronment. What s next? Jennfer: My fourth tem s to establsh a Realstc Compensaton Plan. It seems only about half the organzatons we work wth understand that you get what you pay for and you ve got to be realstcabout the market. It s very compettve out there for physcan executves who are worth ther salt. 2

3 We see CEOs who say, We used so-and-so s executve compensaton survey and the survey says we should be payng X. From our perspectve a survey s a set of averages and generallydoesn t reflect a specfc market. It may also reflect the whole country or the whole regon. Nor does t reflect today s realty;t reflects when the survey was done, whch could be a year or two ago. I work wth CEOs to help them understand: Here s what potental canddates are tellng us they are makng today and what t would take for them to make a move tomorow. That s where we have to meet them. One of the thngs we do as we re gong along n the search, s that once we ve dentfed about 20 or 25 canddates that we re serously nterested n, we present to the clent CEO a blnd lst ofthose potental canddates curent compensaton packagesand what those canddates tell us about the comp they would expect for them to change jobs. We do that especallywhen we ve got a clent who says, Wel, I want to pay $250,000 and al of our canddates are sayng, Yes, I mght be nterested n that role but I m now at $325,000. If you want a canddate that looks lke A, B, C and D, then you have to pay the market to get A, B, C and D. If you want to pay the market, mnus $75,000 then you mght get A and B, but you re not gong to get C and D. Stephen: I m sure getng expectatons on compensaton can be chalengng. So far we have focused on dong the ground work. What s the next step? Jennfer: My ffth tem s makng sure the Medcal Staff s On Board. The medcal staff and especally the medcal staff leadershp needs to be onboard from the very begnnng of the process. That can nclude Med Exec or perhaps some sort of ad hoc group from the medcal staff that s workng sde by sde wth the CEO durng the entre search process. Very often t s the search commttee. CEOs often askme, Who should be on the search commtee? I generally recommend that at least half be physcans. Many CEOs wll name only physcans to the search commttee, and say, As the CEO I represent the executve teamso I l take care of that sde, but I want the other sx people on the commttee to be physcans. That way the whole ssue of ganng acceptance 3

4 and buy-n from the medcal staff s covered n the very begnnng of the process. If t s a new role, havngthe medcal staff understand the dfference between the elected presdent of the medcal staff and the apponted Chef Medcal Offcer and why those two roles are dfferent, why both roles are mportant, and what the dfference n accountabltes and responsbltes are, s crtcal. That way the presdent of the medcal staf doesn tthnk, Now, somebody s gong to do my work for me. Or, Somebody s gong to come n and step on my toes. Stephen: Organzatonally t s mportant to gve stakeholders a role n the selecton process. I ve seen CEOs brought down by dsafected stakeholders. I want to pont out that one promnent researcher told me any more than four ntervewers adds no value to the selecton decson. I m glad you suggested keepng the selecton commttee down to no more than seven members. So what s the next step? Jennfer: Number sx follows makng sure the medcal staff s on board and that s Resolvng Potental Turf Issues. It s not only mportant to get the medcal staff to buy n, but gettng the leadershp team to buy-n s also crtcal especally f ths s a new role or a redefned role. When new roles are establshed or a current role s redesgned, we often see boxes move around on the organzaton chart. Then the dscusson s about turf and terrtory; where someone else mght have had responsbltes for patent satsfacton or qualty mprovement, now the CEO has moved that box somewhere else. Takng responsbltes away and movng actvtes around, even though t s may result n a more effcent and effectve organzaton, affects people n dfferent ways. CEOs need to nternally sell the reasons that they re makng these changes. One way to resolve potental turf ssues at the medcal staff level s to have the medcal staff presdent and CEO attend a Physcan Leadershp conference together. For nstance the Amercan College of Physcan Executves puts on many programs durng the year; some of the programs are specfcally for 4

5 medcal staf leaders. It s nthose programs where the medcal executve and CEO can understand and come to agreement as to how t s gong to work. It also helps to have a medcal staff presdent sttng n a room wth 60 other medcal staff presdents who are learnng about leadershp and how to balance the elected medcal staf presdent s rolewth an apponted CMO s rolen the same organzaton. It s a great way to get a lttle educaton and get the CEO and medcal staff presdent on the same page. Stephen: So you are facltatng the educaton of leadershp to resolve the potental turf ssues n advance. I m sure that realy helps n the assmlaton of the new Physcan Executve nto the organzatons. Do you also recommend havng a transton plan? Jennfer: That s number seven, have a Transton Plan. We have a long lst of recommendatons that we gve to our clent CEOs, once the canddate has been chosen. These regard the transton of the canddate and the famly nto the communty, and nto becomng a part of the organzatonal famly. I feel strongly thatf they don t do al these recommended tems, they are makng a huge mstake. For nstance because the new CMO s famly may not be there for three months or sx months, the famly should be gettng a newspaper every day from thenew communty so that they can see what s gong on n ther area. Early on, we talk about how mportant t s for spouses to accompany the executve on the second ntervew vst; we know that spouses and famles make up to 70% of the decson to accept the poston. So, f spouses and famles are that mportant n the decson to accept the poston, we ve got to contnue to pay a lot of atenton to them from the tme the offer s sgned, all the way through that frst year that they ren that new communty. For us, the search s not over,and t shouldn t be over for the CEO ether, untl the frst annversary of the hre. 5

6 Stephen: So often not only are the new leaders tossed n the pool and expected to swm, but so are ther famles. Do you have an example of a new leader strugglng wth a transton? Jennfer: A recent example s where the CEO hred a CMO and t was a great hre, ths person was the correct one for the job, but the CEO never sat down wth the canddate to say, Here s what I want you to accomplsh, here s what I know about your areas for mprovement, andhere s what I thnk you need to work on. Durng the ntervew process we provde to our CEOs nformaton about what the canddate says her areas for mprovement and strengthenng are, and what her references say about those same areas. We beleve everyone has somethng they can mprove and strengthen, and we encourage the CEO to nurture, to mentor, to support, and to educate the new CMO. Stephen: Also, I thnk that coachng work that MEDI does can be so valuable. The CEO can get coachng on makng the transton really effectve, and help the new leader get up to speed and assmlated quckly. Jennfer: That s rght a coach can very muchhelp the canddate s selfawareness and help the CEO to make ths process really work. For nstance we had placed a new CMO wth an organzaton. After she had been workng there for four months the CEO was not happy wth her performance. He then called n a coach. As t turned out, the CEOrealy hadn t ever had a face-to-face wth the CMO to say, I m not happy, ths sn t workng out so wel. So when the CEO caled me about ths, I sad, Promse me that today you wl st wth your CMO and say, Here s where I am, here s how I m feelng, here s what I want to do. The CEO had that conversaton wth the CMO and the CMO was elated. The CMO lkes the job and wants ths to work. Transtonng n, on-boardng, whatever word you want to use, means settng goals, settng objectves, havng sx-week evaluatons, and not watng a year for performance evaluatons of a new CMO. I m a bg supporter of performance 6

7 evaluatons every sx weeks durng the frst year, or at least every sx weeks for sx months and then every 12 weeks for the next sx months.let snotwa tay ear for the CMO to hear what the CEO s thnkng about her job performance. Stephen: A fnal queston would be how mportant s t that the selecton commttee get tranng or coachng on how to actually conduct the ntervew? Jennfer: It s crtcally mportant to Tran and Coach the Selecton Team. What you do, Steve, n helpng executve selecton teams make the most out of the ntervew process and makng sure they are gettng a canddate that wll ft and be successful can gve a selecton team a huge advantage. Havng a selecton process that everyone follows s terrfc and so mportant. I thnk once a CEO understands both the cost of makng a hrng mstake and the benefts of havng a canddate that can make a dfference n a postve way, havng someone lke you take them through the process wll pay dvdends. Dur ngt hes ear chcomm t t eemeet ngwher ei m pr esent ngt hecr edent al soft he canddates, we do set asde some tme to talk about the ntervews and the ntervewng process and how to make that effcent and productve for the commttee members and for the canddates, but your tranng and coachng, Steve, that takes a huge step forward to help them be even more successful. Stephen: Thank you, these are eght great nsghts nto the selecton of Physcan Executves. If any of our readers would lke a copy of your transton plan checklst would you provde t f they e-maled you? Jennfer: Sure, I would be happy to. Stephen: Great, I hope our readers fnd ths nstructonal and useful. Stephen Moulton s the Chef Insght Offcer of Acton Insght, he sal sot heaut horoft heceo sadvant age,7keysf orh r ng extraordnary leaders and the forth comng book Engage Leadershp and Buldng an Engaged Team. For a free copy of a new report Seven Costly Intervewng Mstakes for 7

8 Leaders Need to Avod! Go to If you have questons, he can be reached at or Stephen@actonnsght.com. Jennfer Grebenschkoff s a founder of The Physcan Executve Leadershp Center. If you would lke addtonal nformaton please e-mal her at jgrebenschkoff@navvsandcompany.com. 8