Interim Healthcare Leadership Key to Executive Continuity

The departure from a hospital staff of a chief executive officer, chief operating, financial officer, or senior division leader can occur for a broad range of reasons. It may be for a promotion or better compensation opportunity elsewhere. It could be a maternity leave, a scheduled retirement, or a sudden health or competency-related issue.

Burnout Takes a High Toll

A recent study, however, suggests the main reasons for unprecedented high turnover rates among healthcare professionals relate to demanding work schedules, job frustrations, and burnout. When executive turnover occurs, expected or otherwise, it often brings an additional element of uncertainty and inefficiency into the operation of a complex healthcare organization.

The Preventative Medicine of Interim Leadership

Executive search programs can be long, drawn out processes that consume further valuable internal resources. Meanwhile, departmental and line staff leaders can be further stressed and stretched in trying to fill the leadership gaps. This strain can transmit the cycle of frustration and burnout deeper into the organization, with predictable results in increased staff turnover.

In this context, employing interim C-suite executives and other clinical and non-clinical administrative leaders adds stability to the staffing process in many important ways. Foremost of these is the maintenance of a chain of command and executive support for ongoing programs and operations.

This stabilizing aspect of leadership is often overlooked in a rush to innovate and adapt. But in circumstances where temporary instability threatens the status quo, sometimes the most important factor is a leader with a steady hand on the wheel.

Retirement Gives as Good as It Takes

hospital staff in hallwayRetirement demographics increasingly take away from the pool of in-service executive leaders and operational directors. But retired executives can also play a fundamental role in providing the interim leadership skills and experience to help organizations cope with turnover issues that are such a common feature of the modern healthcare landscape.

Are you a healthcare executive with the life circumstances and career status to step into one of the many mission-critical temporary executive openings in the NHS Solutions portfolio of opportunities? If so, please get in touch today, we’d love to know more about you!

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