Recipe for Success: Mixing a Savory Partnership With HR in Cooking Up a Nurse Leader Succession Plan
Other Titles
Recipe for Success: Mixing A Savory Partnership With HR in Cooking Up a Nurse Leader Succession Management Program [Title Slide]
Abstract
Succession planning is vital to transformational leadership which advocates for ongoing leadership development.1 In 2016, Nursing strategically cooked up a savory nurse succession plan program with a secret sauce-Human Resources (HR). The plan’s purpose was to establish a cohort of leaders with skills and knowledge continuity, manage risk of retirements, and offer overall leader development.2 Strengthened in 2022, the Nursing-HR partnership added key ingredients: a defined plan with leadership competencies, alignment to organizational culture and priorities, and multi-layered development.3,4 The plan consists of five courses (phases).
1. Assess: Target critical roles with high-level oversight: chief nursing officer (CNO) and administrative director of nursing (ADON).
2. Design: Invite leaders to information sessions. As prework, interested nurses complete a talent profile and a self-assessment for organizational and AONL competencies, which managers also rate.
3. Select: During a review session, nurses are assigned a leadership potential and readiness status. Managers meet 1:1 to discuss the individual development plan (IDP) addressing critical development, experiences, people relationship, and education.
4. Implement: Participants attend didactic courses; receive resource books for knowledge building and presentation; shadow senior leaders; and meet with matched executive coach and manager for further mentoring. The program includes monthly virtual check-in meetings with microlearning topics and panel discussions as well as quarterly teambuilding meetings. Technology is leveraged for communication through an intranet site and discussion board.
5. Evaluate: Seek program evaluation from stakeholders through online survey.
The program with 15 ADONs and 37 DONs showed great success and steady bench strength. Nurses expressed expanded knowledge and competence and enhanced engagement with peers and executives. Success metrics include 100% CNO candidates retained with one promoted and 100% of ADON candidates ready now/1-2 years retained. Nearly one third of each cohort moved up in readiness level. Challenges include staying on task for their IDP.
System patronage with investing in resource books, allowing education time, and fusing with HR’s expertise in talent management has been invaluable.5 The nurse succession plan supports and develops leaders to drive quality performance to the next career level, and ultimately retain a strong, stable leadership workforce.6
Notes
References:
1. Burke, D., & Erickson, J. I. (2020, July/August). Passing the chief nursing officer baton: The importance of succession planning and transformational leadership. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 50(7/), pp 369-371.
2. Ramseur, P., & Fuchs, M. A. (2018). The implementation of a structured nursing leadership development program for succession planning in a health system. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 48(1), pp 25-30.
3. HR Advancement Center. (2024). Succession Management Implementation Guide. Advisory Board.
4. Hughes, R., Meadows, M. T., & Begley, R. (2022). AONL nurse leader competencies: Core competencies for nurse leadership. Nurse Leader, 20(5), 437-443. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2022.08.005
5. Nowak, H.E., & Scanlan, J. M. (2021, Mar 26). Strategy to stay ahead of the curve: A concept analysis of talent management. Nursing Forum. Retrieved July 15, 2024 from https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12571
6. Martin, C. M., & O’Shea, K. (2021, April). Succession planning for organizational stability. Nursing Management, 52(4):12-20. doi: 10.1097/01.NUMA.0000737612.48252.0a
Sigma Membership
Beta Beta (Houston)
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Leadership, Workforce Planning and Development, Succession Planning, Workforce, Mentoring and Coaching
Recommended Citation
Moore, Lourdes; Brock, Jacqueline; and Padilla, Maureen, "Recipe for Success: Mixing a Savory Partnership With HR in Cooking Up a Nurse Leader Succession Plan" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 122.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/122
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-11-27
Recipe for Success: Mixing a Savory Partnership With HR in Cooking Up a Nurse Leader Succession Plan
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Succession planning is vital to transformational leadership which advocates for ongoing leadership development.1 In 2016, Nursing strategically cooked up a savory nurse succession plan program with a secret sauce-Human Resources (HR). The plan’s purpose was to establish a cohort of leaders with skills and knowledge continuity, manage risk of retirements, and offer overall leader development.2 Strengthened in 2022, the Nursing-HR partnership added key ingredients: a defined plan with leadership competencies, alignment to organizational culture and priorities, and multi-layered development.3,4 The plan consists of five courses (phases).
1. Assess: Target critical roles with high-level oversight: chief nursing officer (CNO) and administrative director of nursing (ADON).
2. Design: Invite leaders to information sessions. As prework, interested nurses complete a talent profile and a self-assessment for organizational and AONL competencies, which managers also rate.
3. Select: During a review session, nurses are assigned a leadership potential and readiness status. Managers meet 1:1 to discuss the individual development plan (IDP) addressing critical development, experiences, people relationship, and education.
4. Implement: Participants attend didactic courses; receive resource books for knowledge building and presentation; shadow senior leaders; and meet with matched executive coach and manager for further mentoring. The program includes monthly virtual check-in meetings with microlearning topics and panel discussions as well as quarterly teambuilding meetings. Technology is leveraged for communication through an intranet site and discussion board.
5. Evaluate: Seek program evaluation from stakeholders through online survey.
The program with 15 ADONs and 37 DONs showed great success and steady bench strength. Nurses expressed expanded knowledge and competence and enhanced engagement with peers and executives. Success metrics include 100% CNO candidates retained with one promoted and 100% of ADON candidates ready now/1-2 years retained. Nearly one third of each cohort moved up in readiness level. Challenges include staying on task for their IDP.
System patronage with investing in resource books, allowing education time, and fusing with HR’s expertise in talent management has been invaluable.5 The nurse succession plan supports and develops leaders to drive quality performance to the next career level, and ultimately retain a strong, stable leadership workforce.6
Description
Nurse leaders will learn how a large healthcare system added a delectable “secret sauce” ingredient (Human Resources partnership) in cooking up a uniquely savory five-course Nurse Succession Plan Program. Using innovation and best practices in talent management, two critical nursing leadership roles are prepared to advance to the next level. The Succession Plan Program promotes engagement and development, and underscores our organization’s motto that “retention is the new recruitment” strategy.