Becker's Hospital Review

October 2021 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review

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56 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP What a Henry Ford exec learned from Hyatt, MSNBC about consumer preferences By Laura Dyrda H eather Geisler, executive vice presi- dent and chief marketing communi- cations and experience officer at Hen- ry Ford Health System in Detroit, joined the "Becker's Healthcare Podcast" to talk about big trends in consumerism and tips for exe- cuting great campaigns. Before joining Henry Ford, Ms. Geisler worked for Hyatt hotels and MSNBC in New York. She has built integrated engagement programs for Fortune 500 companies and said she sees many ways her experience in- tegrates with healthcare. Below is an excerpt from the conversation. Question: What were you able to bring to Henry Ford that might have been second nature to the organiza- tions you worked in before, but not in healthcare? Heather Geisler: One of the things I've learned across my career is oen the dy- namics that drive consumer behavior and consumer choice and preference, whether it's what television program you're going to watch or hotel you're staying in, or even where you seek out healthcare, are oen driven by other industries. When you think about consumer behavior, experience and expectations, we don't have separate computers for booking hotel rooms or making doctor's office res- ervations. So the experiences are shaped by cultural influences, values and dynamics that come from outside the industry. One of the things that has been so interesting for me is to draw upon the learnings I've had about why people make choices, what influ- enced their perception of choices. How do we make sure that we're giving consumers, and in this case, patients, more control over their experiences? I've seen that play out in media, hospitality and in parts of the nonprofit sector. We're smart to look beyond our purview and industry. It's equally important, if not more important, to listen and not just look at what happened, but to ask the tough questions about what are the behaviors, beliefs, expecta- tions or desires of consumers that are driving those choices and how can we calibrate how we're marketing and talking about our brand, and deliver new experiences accordingly. Q: How do your roles as chief market- ing and communications officer as well as chief experience officer intersect? HG: It all comes down to brand in many ways, thinking about what your brand does and what your marketing and communica- tions teams do creates an expectation. Mar- keting says, "Here's what we're going to deliv- er you. Here's what you can expect to receive from us." What experience does is ultimately deliver or not deliver on that expectation. You have to think about them in an integrated way and consider what you're doing at the top of the consideration funnel to help draw people in and make people think, "Henry Ford is the right place for me." If that's not being continued all the way through to how we deliver on that experience, and hope- fully turn a patient into somebody who has a high degree of loyalty to the system or their in- dividual provider, then we've missed. n 1 in 13 Fortune 500 CEOs are women By Hannah Mitchell W omen comprise nearly half of entry-level jobs, yet hold fewer positions higher up the corporate lad- der, according to a July 28 Investopedia report. Investopedia analyzed the CEOs from Fortune's list of the 500 largest companies in the United States in 2020. Wom- en were on that list 37 times, beating 2019's record of 33 female CEOs. Even with record-breaking numbers, just 1 in 13 female CEOs on the list are women. The number has consistently trended upward over the last two decades. In 2010, there were only 15 women whose companies made the list. In 2000, that number was even smaller at just two women. Female CEOs tend to get paid slightly more than their male counterparts, according to a 2018 Associated Press report that looked at two-thirds of Fortune 500 CEOs. The analysis found that female CEOs made $12.7 million on av- erage, compared to $11.3 million for men. In the healthcare industry, 26 percent of executives are women. That's among the highest proportion of women in any industry, alongside finance and retail. One of the biggest reasons that women are not as com- mon in the C-suite is the responsibility they feel to balance work and family life. A 2019 Pew Research Center study found that 50 percent of mothers felt being a parent was a hindrance to their career advancement, compared to 39 percent of fathers who felt the same way. Other possible explanations could be gender bias and the lack of mentorship opportunities. Stanford re- searchers found women make up just 13 percent of the leadership pipeline. n "The experiences are shaped by cultural influences, values and dynamics that come from outside the industry." - Heather Geisler, Henry Ford Health System

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