Succession Planning in a Rural Public Health Department

Download or read book Succession Planning in a Rural Public Health Department written by Sandra Cole and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Purpose: To investigate the process of succession planning in a rural public health office. Research questions: The research questions that were addressed in this dissertation are: (a) To what degree is succession planning and leadership development taking place at this agency; (b) How is succession planning and leadership development accomplished within this agency; (c) What successes have been achieved in implementation; and, (d) What barriers impede implementation? Design: This dissertation is a qualitative process-evaluation case study utilizing interviews, and evaluation of public documents. Four rural public health directors, the County Health Officer, and the Board of Health chairperson were interviewed about the process of leadership development and succession planning within the organization. Important and relevant documents from the rural public health agency were also examined. Following analysis of the data, results were compared to literature findings. Results: A formal succession planning program did not exist at this agency; however, on an informal basis, leadership development is practiced through mentoring, continuing professional education and other related activities. Successes in promotion of leadership development included establishment of a cooperative and collegial work atmosphere at the agency. Barriers to the process of succession planning included lack of stable funding, public lack of understanding about the role of public health, erosion of public health authority, inability to recruit trained personnel to rural settings because of perceived isolation, low pay scales, and aging of the current workforce. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that although formal succession planning programs may not exist within an agency, leadership development is still possible through mentoring, assuming the director's role and other informal activities. Adult education leadership development programs can help develop succession planning initiatives. Clinical relevance: Officials must remind the public of the important work that public health performs for the citizens of the United States in order to stabilize funding, invigorating the prestige of the organization and thereby attracting healthcare workers to this discipline once again. Agency heads must request funding for succession planning activities from their respective funding sources with each budget cycle so the entire leadership capacity of public health agencies are elevated.