Succession planning is not a project; it’s a discipline.

By Pam McDonald

If one-third of your company’s leadership retires in the next five years – as many Baby Boomers are expected to do – how will your organization fare? Are you prepared? Do have a a succession plan in place?

SHINE

The topic of succession planning will be explored in depth during a half-day workshop at SHINE, the Senior Care HR Innovation Networks Engagement Summit slated for October 13-15, 2015.

The Succession Planning: Developing Your Organizations Future Leaders workshop begins at 1:00 p.m., Oct. 13th and features Robert Morrow, who brings both senior living and talent management expertise to the table. Morrow has over 35 years experience developing and operating continuing care communities and long-term care facilities.

“Change can happen quickly, and it can be disruptive,” said Morrow, principal for health care as well as head of the Senior Living Executive Search Group at CliftonLarsonAllen in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.

“Retention of talent is an important strategy,” Morrow continued. “Disruption of an organization when there are changes in critical positions at the executive level can set them back a year or two as new people come in to catch up.”

Morrow was an Executive Vice President with Catholic Health East and oversaw the non-acute services of 19 regional health corporations in 11 states. He was President and CEO of Presby’s Inspired Life, which operated and managed 19 facilities throughout the Delaware Valley in Pennsylvania. He also served on the Continuing Care Accreditation Commission and chaired Pennsylvania’s Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators.

For nearly a decade he’s been working with CliftonLarsonAllen and completed over ninety professional recruiting engagements. He provided interim leadership, completed compesation planning, and developed values-based job descriptions as well as employee handbooks for more than a dozen clients.

Morrow’s presentation exemplifies the caliber of speakers, forward-leaning topics, and thought-provoking themes to be spotlighted at SHINE – the only conference focused exclusively on the chief people strategists across the continuum of senior care.

Succession Planning

Workshop attendees can gain a thorough understanding of the following:

  • the elements of succession planning and internal candidate development;
  • the pros and cons of executive search;
  • steps to take to develop goals, strategic direction, and expectations in preparing for successful leadership transitions
  • how to identify and develop the right internal talent
  • how to deal with legacy issues
  • how to structure effective launches for new leaders

Morrow said, “It is the responsibility of every leader within senior management to develop under them the potential for someone to take their job in time. Succession planning is not a project; it’s a discipline. Once you start it, the development of people becomes part of the organizational culture and should continue indefinitely.

“Succession planning sends a message across the organization that it values people and is willing to make a commitment of resources and time to the development of people,” Morrow concluded.

Over the 2-1/2 days of the Summit, attendees can choose from among 60 speakers in more than 30 sessions, as well as enjoy ample opportunities for powerful networking.

There will also be sessions on social media and the workplace, excellence in senior care customer experience, key trends shaping sales compensation, and the hottest talent trends for 2016.

This and other leading-edge conferences are created and produced by Senior Care Summits for national and regional senior living operators, as well as for long term care, transitional, and home care organizations.

The conference will be held at the Hilton Chicago-Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, Indiana, about 20 minutes from either Midway or O’Hare airports in Chicago.

For more information, visit seniorcarehrsummits.com. There is a $300 early bird discount for those who register by August 14 at REGISTER SHINE 2015 (use code SHINE05).

The quotes from Mr. Morrow were drawn from an interview in LeadingAge Magazine, published in March/April of this year.