Conducting an Executive Search for a dynamic, collaborative and innovative Director of Nursing (DON) for a leading purpose-built and fully accredited premium Ophthalmic day hospital.
The Brief
Future Leadership was approached by this Ophthalmic day hospital in South Australia to appoint a newly created clinical leadership opportunity for a DON to lead a team within a purpose built day surgery.
The ideal candidate was identified to have a strong strategic and leadership focus across workforce planning, fundamentals of care, professional standards, education, and the full utilisation of the EMR. The successful DON would ensure the organisation has a skilled and competent workforce through the recruitment and retention of permanent staff. The position will additionally build relationships, liaise with and enable the doctors to possess all of the tools to complete their roles effectively and effectively.
The Future Leadership team planned a search strategy, reaching out to individuals who were identified from known candidate pools, referrals and additional sector specific market research. After conducting an in depth national search and narrowing down the top candidates to a shortlist of three, the selection panel were happy with the shortlisted candidates and conducted panel interviews for all three. Future Leadership provided full candidate reports for consideration, supported the conduct of panel interviews and completed full 360 degree reference checking prior to confirmation of the successful appointment.
Candidate net Promote Score
Future Leadership combines truly personalised relationships with innovative technology solutions to ensure an approachable and efficient process for all our Net Promoter Score across clients, successful candidates and unsuccessful candidates is well above industry standard.
Candidates supported every year
We maintain genuine relationships with past candidates and continue to support them with leadership solutions long term, after they land their role.
Senior Women Appointed since 2002
Over half of the executive search assignments undertaken by our team have resulted in the appointment of outstanding female or LGBTQI+ leaders to high profile roles.
Candidate Retention Rate for 12 months since 2002
Our thorough briefing process and ability to engage passive candidates mean that we go to great lengths to find the right person for the role – long term!
The Process
Liz Jones, who led the search, was able to bring to the search a strong understanding of the organisation’s strategic imperatives. A specialised team including an experienced researcher and dedicated administration resources was assembled to to support all aspects of the process. Key steps included:
- Briefing and Strategy Development: A full briefing to understand the role’s strategic priorities and challenges. At the conclusion of the briefing the attributes of the successful appointee had been defined and the specific nuances of the position identified.
- Targeted Candidate Search: The search process included contact with referral partners to gain their recommendations for potential candidates, or their own interest. The search was additionally supported by an online advertising campaign, providing broader exposure for the opportunity.
- Candidate Assessment: Full behavioural interviews were conducted by the Future Leadership team in order to identify a highly qualified shortlist to present to the health service. The shortlist briefing provided an opportunity for each candidate to be discussed in further detail.
- Final Evaluation: Future Leadership supported panel interviews for highly qualified candidates, followed by full reference checking and appointment negotiation with the preferred candidate.
This rigorous process ensured the appointment of a candidate capable of driving clinical excellence for nursing and allied health while also continuing to positively develop the high performing culture.
Emerging Capabilities
Stakeholder Relations
Establishes rapport with stakeholders, builds and sustains trusted and collaborative relationships.
Identifies and draws on relevant and diverse perspectives and integrates them to support productive interactions.
Strategy and Purpose
Develops and leads strategy for the function/organisation, taking a broad and long-term perspective. Understands and considers context. Communicates and gains buy-in to the function/organisation goals, direction and vision, promoting change initiatives.
Culture and Engagement
Fosters a positive culture, creating a sense of belonging and inclusiveness. Creates an environment that encourages diverse perspectives and facilitates a psychologically safe environment.
Communication and Influence
Communicates with clarity and impact to facilitate individual and collective understanding, inspire action and enable information exchange. Leverages human-centric communication and storytelling to effectively influence stakeholders across the physical and virtual realms.
Clinical Governance
Proficiency in overseeing clinical standards and ensuring safe, effective healthcare delivery across nursing and allied health.
Operational Excellence in Health
Strong track record in managing healthcare operations within complex and multi-disciplinary environments, ensuring quality and efficiency.
The Outcome
The successful candidate appointed to the position of Director of Nursing, was versatile Nursing Leader bringing over 21 years’ experience across the Public, Private and Community Sectors. They had gained post-graduate qualifications in Peri-Operative Theatre Nursing and were very excited by the Director of Nursing opportunity to bring together their experience at a time in their life that they were able to step up to a full-time clinical leadership role.
