HR Pulse - Fall 2008 - (Page 27)

participate, a much higher percentage than might have been expected. The boards consisted of forproﬁt, not-for-proﬁt, community, and advisory boards. The mean tenure of our CEO sample was 12.5 years, more than twice the national mean of 5.6 years reported for CEOs nationwide. The median tenure for our CEO sample was 12 years, more than three times the median tenure of 3.6 years. Both of these are statistically signiﬁcant differences. Each of the senior executives and board chairs was asked 10 questions (see sidebar). The need for brevity in this article precludes a detailed discussion and comparison of all of the participants’ responses to the 10 questions. However, the CEOs’ reactions to the question “What are the three main reasons why you’ve stayed with your organization as long as you have?” proved too compelling and relevant to not be included. Critical Findings from the Most Successful and Long-Tenured Hospital CEOs What are the three main reasons why you’ve stayed with the hospital as long as you have? Community ties 64% Relationships 64% Loyalty/commitment to the organization 44% Satisﬁed 28% Compensation 8% The message shared by these successful CEOs was clear and consistent. They are tremendously engaged in their positions, their relationships, and their communities. They love the work that they are doing, they are regularly challenged to learn and to grow, and they are supported and given the resources they need to achieve great things. By their very nature, these CEOs are high achievers who need to be successful in their work. If they are not challenged, and if they cannot succeed where they are, that is precisely what will prompt them to look for another place to play. Also, they have developed strong relationships with many people around them and they feel a real sense of commitment to the people, the organization and the community. What they told me can be boiled down into one sentence… “I love the people I work with, the community, and making an impact here.” This is because of the commitment others have shown them and the results they have achieved together. Most of these CEOs shared in confidence that they had indeed been presented with job offers to move elsewhere, but they usually decided they didn’t want to relocate their families and realized the “grass isn’t always greener” elsewhere. What these findings clearly demonstrate is Questions Asked of Presidents/CEOs 1. Did your decision-making style change from when you were a COO/ SVP to now in your current role as a President/CEO? Y/N How? 2. What three speciﬁc prior experiences did you have that best prepared you for the job of CEO? How did these help you? 3. What are the three things you have done that have enabled you to be so successful with your current organization? 4. What are the three main reasons you’ve stayed with the organization as long as you have? 5. What are the three primary things your board chair(s) and members have done to help you to be so successful in your current organization? 6. What have you found to be the most useful dashboard metrics to guide your daily and strategic decisions with your staff and your board? 7. What three things have you and the board done to achieve the right level of board involvement in your organization? 8. What have you found to be the most effective way of evaluating the relationships among you, your board chair, and the committee chairs? 9. Recognizing that conﬂict resolution and consensus building are such a critical part of your job, what three techniques or strategies have you found to be most effective in your work as a president/CEO? 10. When you were hired, were you given a written list describing your performance expectations? Was there a formal evaluation process? Was it followed annually? 27 HR Pulse Fall 2008 Questions Asked of the Board Chairs 1. How have your own primary expectations and requirements of the president/CEO changed since you became a board member? 2. Has the organization implemented a formal succession planning program? Y/N If so, how far down does it extend in the organization? 3. How long have you been a board member and board chair? 4. What are the three primary things the president/CEO did that enabled them to be so successful and remain with the organization for as long as he/she has? 5. What are the three primary things you and your board members did that helped the president/CEO to be so successful for as long as he/ she has? 6. What have you found to be the most effective way of evaluating the relationships among the president/CEO, you, and the board members? 7. What have you and the President/CEO done to achieve the right level of board involvement in your organization? 8. What have you found to be the most useful dashboard metrics for the CEO to use with the board and his/her staff to guide their decisions most effectively? 9. When the president/CEO was hired, was he/she given a written list describing your performance expectations? Was there a formal evaluation process? Was it followed annually? 10. Recognizing that conﬂict resolution is a critical part of the job, what three techniques or strategies does your President/CEO use most often to maximize his/her effectiveness in conﬂict situations? >>

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of HR Pulse - Fall 2008

HR Pulse - Fall 2008 Contents Pulse Points Executive Director’s Letter President’s Message HR Leader Profile: Irma Pye Sammy’s House: Making a Difference in Austin Working Mother Magazine’s 100 Best Companies Increasing CEO Engagement Pastoral Care Retaining Scarce, Critical Talent The Engagement Dilemma Diversity Considerations…More than AAP & EEO Quashing the Workplace Bullying Bug How to Become a Strong Human Resources Partner Citizen Lobbyists Descend Upon Capitol Hill Conference Highlights Schedule at a Glance Sponsors Exhibitors Advertisers’ Index

HR Pulse - Fall 2008

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