Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2022 - 31

5 MINUTES WITH... / VITALS
A leadership strategist
An expert in diversity recruiting, leadership and organizational
culture discusses how to support an inclusive environment.
BY KELLY CHURCH
T
TAKING ACTION
JOIN THE
CONVERSATION
See what your peers
are talking about in
a virtual diversity,
equity and inclusion
discussion group.
Recent topics include
interpreter staffing,
missed appointment
policies and procedures,
resources for Spanishspeaking
families and
position statements
on emerging laws and
transgender patients.
oday's leaders are looking to develop the
teams of the future. At the 2021 Annual
Leadership Conference, Ginny Clarke, author,
business owner and former Google
executive, identified how children's hospitals
can build more diverse and inclusive workforces
through their hiring infrastructure
and assessment of leadership competencies.
Sign into the member center
childrenshospitals.org, and
click on " Groups " to join
CHA's Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion discussion group.
How can organizations find talent?
Hiring managers should start by aligning
talent needs and business needs. If you're
not getting the outcome and talent you want,
start over. Build an ecosystem and infrastructure
that supports the trajectory of
your employees in the evaluation, learning
and development and succession planning
processes. Look at the algorithms of your applicant
tracking system to make sure you're
not bumping people out who could do the
work. A recent Harvard Business Review
article talked about " hidden workers " -
caregivers, veterans, the formerly incarcerated,
and people with disabilities. Assess
candidates on the basis of competencies,
not just pedigree (schools, grades, companies).
Competencies express " how " someone
achieved success and they level the playing
field without lowering the bar.
How does an organization build
opportunities for existing employees?
In light of the Great Resignation, we know
employees want to be optimized and challenged.
Coach employees to identify their
own competencies so they can make conscious
choices about what they want to do,
not just what is open. It's a shared effort;
employees put in the time and commitment
to know what they want and build it,
and the organization needs to demonstrate
a commitment to offering opportunities.
However,
internal mobility and diversity
are at odds. Hiring internally is fine, but you
might not be getting new individuals from
underrepresented backgrounds into the organization.
Interview internal and external
candidates and decide based on competencies,
not just familiarity.
Ginny Clarke, a former Google executive, says
leadership isn't about having a certain title.
What is an important leadership
competency?
Decision-making is an essential competency,
but I've seen a lot of conflict aversion
and people pleasing tendencies that undermine
effective decision-making. You can't
make a thoughtful decision if you're trying
to make everyone happy. Having a level of
self-awareness allows people to reflect on
their own biases, fears and preferences that
might be inhibiting decision-making and
other leadership competencies.
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Winter 2022
31
http://www.childrenshospitals.org
Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2022

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