Category: Resource Management

Strategic Skill Area

Succession Planning and Workforce Development for Public Health Agencies

Course Objective

  • Define “succession planning” for public health agencies
  • Present the reasons for a succession planning process in public health agencies, even during challenging times
  • Explain the key elements of the succession planning process
  • Link the elements of change management to organizational succession planning
  • Clarify the critical success factors for succession planning in public health

Date: June 30th 2021

Subject Matter  Expert: 
Emil J. Sadloch
President, Sadloch Development Associates & Instructor for Rutgers University’s Executive and Professional Education, School of Public Health, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences


The Strategic Skills Training Series developed by the Region 2 PHTC aims to help prepare public health leaders and the public health workforce to develop the practices and competencies associated with being a Chief Health Strategist.

This course describes how health departments can undertake succession planning and workforce development efforts, even during ‘VUCA’ (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) times, using a case study approach set in the fictitious Tycho County.

Recommended Pre-Requisites:

  1. Introduction to Change Management
  2. Change Management: How Leadership Can Support Staff During Crises

Participants will be able to:

  1. Define “succession planning” for public health agencies
  2. Present the reasons for a succession planning process in public health agencies, even during challenging times
  3. Explain the key elements of the succession planning process
  4. Link the elements of change management to organizational succession planning
  5. Clarify the critical success factors for succession planning in public health
Breaking Through Public Health Bureaucracy: tools and tips to successfully navigate internal administration and processes

Course Objective

  • Describe how the federal government appropriates funding to public health agencies and other entities
  • Describe the key challenges faced by health departments implementing federally funded programs
  • Identify 3 strategies to overcome challenges and enhance efficiency in program implementation

Date: April 6, 2021

Presenter:
Jennifer McKeever, MSW, MPH
Founder and Principal of WE Public Health, LLC

&

Rishika Desai, MPH
Senior Analyst at the Association of State and Territorial Health Official (ASTHO)


In this month’s Log-in2Learn, Jennifer McKeever, MSW, MPH & Rishika Desai, MPH, discuss the complexities of public health bureaucracy and the best ways to navigate it. They start by talking about what these bureaucratic issues might look like, how the pandemic has impacted them and the type of problems they might create at different levels. Jennifer and Rishika go on to describe how the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) tried to assess this in their recent qualitative study and highlight some of the key findings and recommendations for overcoming administrative bottlenecks that slow down program implementation. Through a conversation with the audience on what difficulties they’ve experienced, our presenters try to determine the common root causes. Lastly, they share ways in which agencies have responded to these challenges, now and in the past, and guide us through the unique steps that research has helped identify as tools to solve at least some of the bureaucratic problems we face in public health.

Participants will learn  the following:

  1. Describe how the federal government appropriates funding to public health agencies and other entities
  2. Describe the key challenges faced by health departments implementing federally funded programs
  3. Identify 3 strategies to overcome challenges and enhance efficiency in program implementation
Succession Planning and Change: Growing and Developing Talent in Public Health

Course Objective

  • Define “succession planning” for public health agencies
  • Explain the rationale for succession planning in public health
  • Identify the key elements of the succession planning process
  • Describe the link between change management and organizational succession planning
  • Explain the critical success factors for succession planning in public health

Date: November 10, 2020

Presenter:
Emil J. Sadloch, MA
SADLOCH DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS


In this month’s Log-in2Learn, Emil J. Sadloch, MA, highlights the importance of succession planning and why it is so relevant for public health today. While acknowledging the incredible contributions of public health officials during this pandemic, he underscores the aspects of leadership, change management and workforce resilience that enabled this. He goes on to discuss the necessary shift in focus needed to address the future of public health and how leaders can recover and adapt from times of crisis. Emil elaborates ways to strengthen the current workforce in preparation for new challenges, while simultaneously grooming the next generation for the same. He walks us through 10 important goals of succession planning and what the existing barriers look like. Lastly, he shows us how to create an effective succession planning system by walking us through crucial practices and providing us with important tips to develop future leaders.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Define “succession planning” for public health agencies
  2. Explain the rationale for succession planning in public health
  3. Identify the key elements of the succession planning process
  4. Describe the link between change management and organizational succession planning
  5. Explain the critical success factors for succession planning in public health
Achieving Health Equity through Community Control of Budgets
Ten Dollar Bill and Coins

Course Objective

  • Name the characteristics of public engagement practices that offer community control to historically underrepresented and under-resourced communities
  • Describe how participatory budgeting has impacted health outcomes and social determinants of health in the US and internationally
  • Describe opportunities to integrate data-informed community engagement practices into the allocation of health-focused funds and/or budgets that influence the social determinants of health

Date: October 3, 2017

Presenter:
Jennifer Godzeno, MSUP, MPH, AICP
Deputy Director
Participatory Budgeting Project


Participatory budgeting involves community members in deciding what to do with a given budget. It is a powerful tool used globally to increase community engagement and shift from “indirect” to “direct” democracy. Its impacts include encouraging a more responsive government, giving voices to community members who otherwise may be ineligible to vote in standard elections, and has even been linked to a 30% reduction in under-5 mortality in communities in Brazil that adopted the practice. Jennifer Godenzo discusses how it applies to the “ladder of participation” by giving citizens control and is thus equitable, empowering, and focuses on the social determinants of health. She explains the five steps of participatory budgeting: design a process with the community, brainstorm ideas, develop proposals, cast a vote, and fund winning projects. She also gives examples of where participatory budgeting has been used, from high schools in Phoenix, AZ to citywide community garden projects in Vallejo, CA to within organizations, such as hospitals and foundations.

From Theory to Practice: School Health Programming as a Public Health Framework for Vulnerable Urban Communities
Young Girl Smiling at School

Course Objective

  • Describe how local governments can leverage the health and education sectors to address the unmet health care needs of vulnerable populations within schools and their surrounding communities
  • Describe strategies that have been implemented to address health disparities, health inequities, and the social determinants of health
  • Describe the types of skills and training needed to ensure a competent public health workforce within urban schools and communities

Date: May 3, 2017

Presenter:
Dr. Caroline Volel, MD, MPH
Field Physician, City Medical Specialist 1, Assistant Professor
Office of School Health, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health


In this webinar, Dr. Volel describes the historical and political context of school health practices and discusses the interrelated nature of education, other social determinants, and health. Coordinated approaches to school health, or programs that view education and social services as a comprehensive package, are more likely to produce successful students. The NYC Community Schools Initiative is a mayoral priority that aims to build 100+ community schools over the next several years. Community schools are institutions that provide academic instruction, social services, and a space for communities to assemble and address their needs and challenges. Dr. Volel describes the rollout of this initiative in the largest school district in the country, lessons-learned, and what must be achieved in order to create a successful community school

Region 2 Public Health Training Center