Leadership and Effective Succession Planning in Health-System Pharmacy Departments

Abstract

Leadership succession planning is crucial to the continuity of the comprehensive vision of the hospital pharmacy department. Leadership development is arguably the main component of training and preparing pharmacists to assume managerial positions. Succession planning begins with a review of the organizational chart in the context of the institution's strategic plan. Then career ladders are developed and key positions that require succession plans are identified. Employee profiles and talent inventory should be performed for all employees to identify education, talent, and experience, as well as areas that need improvement. Employees should set objective goals that align with the department's strategic plan, and management should work collaboratively with employees on how to achieve their goals within a certain timeframe. The succession planning process is dynamic and evolving, and periodic assessments should be conducted to determine how improvements can be made. Succession planning can serve as a marker for the success of hospital pharmacy departments.

Implementation of a successful infection prevention and control governance structure and capacity building strategies during COVID-19 pandemic – A brief report

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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors Associated with Succession Planning and Management (SP&M) Process: A PRISMA Systematic Review

“…Among all of the extrinsic factors that have been studied, management support is the most discussed in 17 studies, for instance, Mehrtak et al (2014) in health-system pharmacy departments. They suggested that internal commitment programs to be included actively in promoting from within, a robust residency program, transparency in succession planning and support for advance degrees.…”

Succession Planning as a Critical Management Imperative: a Systematic Review

“…In fact, a 2016 national survey of local health departments in America revealed that only 39.5% of these departments had a formal succession plan (Darnell, Campbell, 2016). It was strongly recommended that healthcare institutions be proactive in developing formal SP strategies so as to reduce employee turnover in the health sector, particularly when recruiting numbers have been declining over the years (Trepanier, Crenshaw, 2013;Ellinger et al, 2014;Acree-Hamann, 2016;Donner et al, 2017;Phillips et al, 2018;Sierra, Calabrese, 2019).…”