Conducting an Executive Search to a Chief Nursing & Midwifery Officer to delivering on continuous improvement and impactful reform work for the Nursing and Midwifery professions.
The Brief
This state based, public health directorate engaged Future Leadership to appoint a Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer to provide professional and strategic leadership for nursing and midwifery professions at all levels across the health system. The position will assist in the delivery of workforce reforms, workforce planning while also strengthening and developing nursing and midwifery services through innovative models of care and service delivery such as nurse practitioners.
Reporting to the Deputy Director General, Policy and Transformation and managing a small team, the CNMO will be a catalyst for leadership, research and continuous improvement within the complex health environment locally and nationally. The CNMO will collaborate with colleagues on areas of common interest across the region, including value-based health care, national workforce initiatives, and thinking to address recruitment and retention challenges.
The health service sought a senior executive with extensive knowledge and experience in best-practice nursing and midwifery, combined with a contemporary leadership and management approach. With a track record of innovative thinking and the ability to collaborate across many organisations and with complex stakeholders., the appointee will demonstrate extensive knowledge and experience of professional nursing practice and nursing leadership, combined with expertise and knowledge of best practice principles.
This search was part of a broader project to appoint four Clinical Chiefs to provide leadership to improve health care, advocating for the clinical workforce into the future and delivering reform and improvement in the system. All roles lead teams and collaborate at a systemic level across the state and region to improve health care, advocating for the clinical workforce into the future and delivering reform and improvement in the system. A review of the roles was undertaken prior to the searches commencing which highlighted the need for both local and whole of system leadership, to work highly cohesively amongst the Clinical chief group to enhance the cross over for both inter, and multi-discipline. The roles will also provide advice across the directorate and to the Director General and Minister
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
The Future Leadership team met with key stakeholders to complete a comprehensive brief for the appointment. It was identified the CNMO would need to bring a relational style, with credibility and the ability to step onto the national stage and influence across the region. A big part of this position will be to deliver on reform work and provide strategic professional leadership and policy direction for the health system through influence and negotiation. The CNMO will collaboratively drive continuous improvement across the health system supporting innovative models of care.
It was important to note this was not a purely operational roles as exist in health services. Success will come through influence, negotiation and collaboration, with the positions leveraging policy and legislation. The real skill for the appointees would be in leading change to achieve outcomes.
The search utilised multiple avenues to identify suitability qualified candidates including Future Leadership’s known referral partner network, candidates from recent and aligned searches, digital advertising and engagement with the medical colleges to tap into their memberships. A number of internal candidates were also managed through the process. The Future Leadership Capability Framework was a key component of the process, with all shortlisted candidates completing a psychometric assessment which provided insights into each candidate’s relative strengths and work preferences. This also provided suggested behavioural interview questions for the interview panels.
The process for the CNMO was run concurrently with the other Chief roles, with Future Leadership working closely with our client to coordinate multiple interview panels, reference checking for preferred appointments and provide support for offer negotiation.
Emerging Capabilities
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.
Adaptability and Resilience
Demonstrates positivity, curiosity, and the ability to pivot when confronted with change, pressure, adversity and disruption. Responsive to strategic environmental, social and corporate challenges and opportunities.
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.
Sustainability, Ethics and Integrity
Prioritises the environment in making decisions and leading others. Operates with integrity and aligns self to a high standard of social, cultural and professional standards of conduct. Adheres to moral and ethical principles. Draws on values to inform behaviour.
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.
Critical Thinking
Gathers and examines different data points, testing for assumptions and gaps in logic; reframes problems and presents well-reasoned insights considering diverse perspectives. Analyses, interprets and objectively evaluates information enabling judgements.
The Outcome
The CNMO was successfully appointed, bringing over 30 years of experience in nursing and the health care sector more broadly, spanning the United Kingdom and Australia, with the last 15 years having been focused on nursing and midwifery management and executive roles across many facets of the health system. A strong advocate for ensuring that workforce design and models of care are focused on patient and community needs, the appointee seeks opportunities to foster interdisciplinary engagement that will inform strategic priorities.
The inclusion of psychometric assessment in the process, along with a debrief from the Future leadership organisational psychologist, supported the appointment of not only a highly qualified CNMO but also a group of highly functioning executives who would work together to shape strategic thinking, support the stewardship function of the directorate, and bring an interdisciplinary mindset
Working with Liz Jones and the broader team at Fisher Leadership made the whole recruitment process streamlined and as stress free as possible. Liz and her team ensured they stayed well connected with me through the process so there was clarity around timeframes and expectations and were helpful and informative in providing content regarding the job opportunity. I had a great experience working with the Fisher Leadership team.
