HR Pulse - Winter 2007 - (Page 10) Strategic Direction No. 2: Relationships, Influence and Advocacy ASHHRA will establish strong relationships with aligned external stakeholders to increase its influence, advance its strategic directions and diversify its revenue. Creating and sustaining robust relationships with those who bring new expertise to our members is vital to our future, as is developing new sources of revenue. ASHHRA simply cannot be all things to all of our members. By tapping into the capabilities of external healthcare stakeholders, we can provide members with so much more, including cuttingedge products and services. Ultimately, fulfilling Strategic Direction No. 2 will help us fulfill Strategic Direction No. 1. The following are specific goals associated with Strategic Direction No. 2: • Institute an assertive and proactive approach to drive workforce excellence through AHA and state hospital associations • Develop collaborative ventures with aligned business partners to deliver services that enhance value to members and diversify revenue sources • Collaborate as an equal partner with and provide healthcare HR expertise to associations recognized by healthcare business leaders (e.g., AONE, ACHE, HFMA, governmental agencies). Strategic Direction No. 3: Growth By advancing the value of ASHHRA membership to healthcare HR professionals globally, as well as in all settings, ASHHRA will attain a total membership of 5,000 by 2010. To raise our voice and our influence as healthcare HR professionals and to diversify our revenue sources, we want to reach out to untapped audiences. This effort is not just growth for the sake of growth. Healthcare workforce issues affect an ever-greater number of employees worldwide, and creating more opportunities to share learning across nations will be critical to developing solutions on a national and global level. The following are specific goals associated with Strategic Direction No. 3: • Refine and articulate the value proposition for all member relationships, including ASHHRA chapters, Society for Human Resource Management and others • Review current membership demographics to develop marketing plans for untapped segments and to customize materials for market segments, including, but not limited to, students, AHA member hospitals with no ASHHRA representation and non-hospital healthcare settings • Leverage AHA relationships and other external partnerships to advance the value of membership • Use technology and other communications tools to increase the visibility and accessibility of ASHHRA products and services to all members through a consistent brand • Advance the role and service of regional consultants as resources to members in the local regions. The Process How did we determine these three strategic directions? ASHHRA went through a lengthy and exhaustive process that was designed to answer these basic questions: 10 HR Pulse Winter 2007 • What keeps healthcare HR professionals up at night? • What can we do as an organization to create more value for our members? • How can we ensure that we’re well-positioned to continue serving our members? An important part of the process was making sure we engaged a wide variety of stakeholders along the way. Their contributions were invaluable in helping shape the strategy’s final outcome. In brief, here are the steps we went through: 1. ASHHRA board members conducted a thorough review of research and data covering healthcare workforce demographics, employee engagement, compensation and benefits, diversity, retirement trends and the aging workforce. 2. Board members employed what they learned from this review along with their personal experience and organizational observations to complete an in-depth questionnaire that focused on priorities for the healthcare HR field and for ASHHRA members. As part of a visioning exercise, board members also were asked what key issues they believed a new strategic plan should address. 3. A consultant worked with the board in conducting a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of the organization. 4. ASHHRA leaders engaged in a dialogue and review of the “In Our Hands” publication and helped AHA identify where progress had been made and where it was still most needed. 5. Approximately 80 ASHHRA chapter leaders—presidents and other officers—from across the country participated in the leadership conference in Chicago in June. Here, ASHHRA leaders asked participants for their perspectives on priorities, shared their work to date and collected the feedback from this large group of leaders. 6. The ASHHRA board then gathered input from a host of different constituency groups, including CEOs of hospitals, past presidents of ASHHRA, people new to the healthcare HR profession, non-hospital HR professionals, our new regional consultants and a range of HR professionals across various regions. Each board member took responsibility for conducting phone interviews with seven to 10 individuals from the different constituencies. The interviewees were supplied with a draft strategic plan and asked questions such as the following: • Do the strategic directions support the ASHHRA mission and vision? • Are they achievable? • What resonates most with you related to this plan? • What do you like most about the plan? • What’s missing? • What concerns you? I found the whole process to be incredibly energizing. It was a lot of hard work, to be sure! But the dedication and contributions of so many people paid off in the form of a clear path to the future. I am gratified to have been a part of it, and I look forward to helping the organization pursue these directions with vigor. I hope you’ll join me. n
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