Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1242957
24 POPULATION HEALTH 24 CEO / STRATEGY How to make executive searches more equitable: 7 questions with a corporate recruiter By Emily Rappleye S ixty-five percent of the healthcare workforce is female, yet women account for just 30 percent of C-level executives and 13 percent of CEOs at healthcare organizations, according to 2019 data from Oliver Wyman. Closing that gap begins with the executive search process. Becker's caught up with Donna Padilla, managing partner and healthcare practice leader at the executive search firm WittKieffer, to discuss how hospitals and health systems can improve the search process. Ms. Padilla has conducted more than 500 executive search assignments for healthcare executives. Here, she discusses best practices for creating a diverse pool of candidates, her thoughts on diversity mandates and what true progress will look like for the industry. Editor's note: Responses have been edited lightly for length and style. Question: What is the most effective way to improve diversity at the executive and board level? Donna Padilla: I wish I had a silver bullet. At a basic level, it needs to be a priority for the board and the senior team, but it also needs to resonate down to the front-line staff. Diversity isn't just going to come from the five C-suite players and representation on the board. It's a collective process around pipeline and succession planning, intentionality, where the organization puts itself, how it begins to connect with initiatives around gender and ethnic diversity. Our sense, and some of the research we've seen, is that diversity begets diversity. Q: Creating a more diverse executive team and board starts with a more diverse candidate pool. Can you talk a little bit about how hospitals and health systems can create diverse candidate pools? DP: ey can create diverse candidate pools by being honest with themselves about what the absolute "need-to-haves" and what the "like-to- haves" are. en try to keep the box open on the [candidate] profile as much as possible. If you're doing a chief search and you say, "We need a mandatory 15 years of experience in a similar-size organization with the same job description," that's basically reverting back to who's been in those roles the last 15 years. You can't invent diverse people who were in those roles 15 years ago. Be more open and talk about progressive leadership experience that's translatable to the role at the outset of the search. It's really thinking about how broad you can be when you're casting your net, and how realistic. What you don't want to do is say we're super broad and open, and then get a pool that you in no way, shape or form have any intent of hiring. Obviously, that's just the start. en you have to put a process in place as you go through those searches to eliminate bias. It's how you set the committee, the interview questions. It's the ability to check yourself and be conscious of the bias you have. Everybody has some bias. ere's lots of considerations — panels versus non-panels, ways to ask interview questions and make sure that you've got very representative committees that can call out something and say "Hey, I heard that answer very differently than you did" — but it re- ally starts with seeding the profile to say what's the purpose of the hire here? Q: How important is it that the search committee is diverse? DP: It's pretty important for a couple of reasons. One, it's the gateway. It's the first view a candidate really has, if they're not familiar with the organiza- tion, as to how it represents itself. I think many organizations are being very thoughtful about how they seat their committees, especially on the academ- ic side. It's important for the outcome of the search, and because it creates an expectation within the organization. It just eventually becomes a habit, and people don't even think you're being intentionally diverse in the committee. ey just know they've got the right people at the table. Q: Let's go back to the implicit bias element you mentioned. Are there any specific tools or best practices that can help lim- it bias during the executive search process? DP: A number of organizations now have a video and a training, and someone from their HR team or their talent team makes sure the hiring committee has checked themselves and understands what they should be aware of and what they need to keep top of mind. I know that many organizations do ongoing training as well. Walmart Health vs. CVS MinuteClinic: 4 key differences By Ayla Ellison W almart has expanded its footprint in the pri- mary care market in the past six months by opening two standalone health centers in Georgia. The retail giant is changing the way people receive medical care by adopting a different approach than drugstores that have health clinics. Here are four differences between Walmart's clinics and CVS MinuteClinics: 1. While many CVS clinics are staffed by nurse practi- tioners, Walmart's two freestanding health centers in Georgia offer patients access to primary care physicians and incorporate many other services, including X-rays, dental, counseling and optometry. 2. Walmart is trying to distinguish its clinics by offering more services and addressing a broader set of patients' needs than its competitors, such as CVS MinuteClinics, Walmart Vice President of Health and Wellness Transfor- mation Marcus Osborne told CNN Business. 3. Mr. Osborne told CNN that CVS MinuteClinics and ur- gent care sites are designed to provide "episodic" care, such as basic treatment for an ear infection. Walmart wants physicians at its health centers to replace patients' current primary care providers, he said. 4. Walmart's health centers are located in underserved communities and aim to provide quality medical care to customers who don't have insurance or have insurance plans with high deductibles. CVS has generated a sig- nificant customer base through its acquisition of health insurer Aetna, according to CNN Business. n