WittKieffer Partners with International Hospital Federation to Expand Young Executive Leaders Program
March 26, 2021 – WittKieffer and the International Hospital Federation (IHF) have announced a partnership to advance the organization’s Young Executive Leaders (YEL) program, helping to build global healthcare leadership competencies among the next generation of leaders in the IHF’s international membership.
WittKieffer has supported the healthcare industry for more than 50 years, serving as strategic leadership experts to healthcare institutions. Through the partnership, IHF and WittKieffer are enhancing the program’s content repository, structure, and reach.
“We are very proud to participate in the expansion and continued success of the Young Executive Leaders program,” said Andrew Chastain, president and CEO of WittKieffer. “In just a few short years, the IHF has created the premier global healthcare leadership development program whose goals align with those of our firm—to support exceptional young leaders to become the CEOs and executives of tomorrow’s global healthcare industry. Partnering with IHF on such an important program is an honor and matches our strategic vision of strengthening and diversifying the world’s healthcare leadership.”
Ronald Lavater, CEO of IHF, said his organization was excited about the partnership as IHF further builds and grows the YEL program. “Together we can bolster the next generation of hospital leadership,” he said. “The ambitious executives we have in each year’s cohort will benefit directly from the wisdom, expertise and professionalism that WittKieffer has developed through many years in the global healthcare executive search industry.”
Building Capability
Established in 1929, the International Hospital Federation is a global, not-for-profit, non-governmental membership organization and the voice of hospitals and health systems around the world. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, it represents more than 100 different organizations worldwide and serves over 20,000 hospitals and healthcare organizations. IHF provides them with a platform for the exchange of knowledge and strategic experience as well as opportunities for international collaborations with different actors in the health sector.
The IHF launched its Young Executive Leaders program in 2019 as a way to build capability and relationships in and among young hospital executives across the globe and to create a voice for the next generation of international healthcare leaders. Program participants, in addition to creating sustainable relationships with peers worldwide, discuss current trends and challenges in healthcare through the program’s learning sessions and masterclasses.
In 2021, of the many young executives who have applied to the program, an exclusive group of 34 out of 19 countries have been selected to participate in networking and leadership development activities taking place from April through November. The capstone experience for the program cohort is attending the IHF World Hospital Congress, to be held this year from Nov. 8-11 in Barcelona.
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WittKieffer, based in Oak Brook, IL, assists hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, medical schools and physician groups; biotech, pharmaceutical, diagnostics and medical device companies; colleges and universities and not-for-profit community service and cultural organizations with senior administrative recruiting assignments. With more than 100 search professionals nationwide, its consultants recruit CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CNOs, physician executives and other leaders.
Implicit Bias Training
Earlier this year, WittKieffer introduced a new implicit bias training package as part of its LeaderVerse suite of services. LeaderVerse, introduced in March of last year, combines executive assessment tools with enhanced leadership consulting capabilities to support the long-term success of executives and their organizations, through services including executive onboarding, coaching and succession planning. LeaderVerse helps organizations to tap into the knowledge of WittKieffer search consultants and CMA’s business-experienced psychologists. This fusion of recruiting expertise and objective, science-based data assessment and executive development methods helps leaders and their organizations to learn, grow and succeed, the firm said.
In collaboration with international leadership evaluation and business consulting firm CMA, WittKieffer has developed a three-tiered implicit bias training offering. Clients can choose between the following programs: an instructive session for search committees, an interactive workshop for search committees or a customized program for organizations. Implicit bias – from hiring authorities, interviewers or search committees – can play a detrimental, limiting role in executive hiring. “Left unaddressed, implicit bias disrupts attempts to hire the best candidates for any given role,” the search firm said. “WittKieffer, dedicated exclusively to organizations that improve the quality of life in healthcare, education, the life sciences and the not-for-profit sector, is committed to helping search committees and organizations recognize and reduce the effect of implicit bias. Through strategic training, WittKieffer supports clients in conducting equitable executive searches and cultivating diverse and inclusive workplace environments.”
CMA boasts 20 licensed, Ph.D. psychologists and an array of best-in-class leadership assessment tools and methodologies to support its broad international clientele. “WittKieffer’s LeaderVerse implicit bias trainings will leverage the insight of CMA’s experts to reduce the influence of bias on the executive search and hiring process, supporting the long-term diversity, equity and inclusion goals of leaders and their organizations,” said Jennifer Nguyen, partner at CMA.
Related: WittKieffer Names Academic Medicine and Health Sciences Practice Co-Leader
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
