[Free Tip Sheet] 3 Key Executive Sponsor Responsibilities for Your Healthcare Continuity Program

Executive sponsors are vital to the success of your emergency management and continuity program, as they help to:

1. MAINTAIN PROGRAM COMMUNICATION AMONG DEPARTMENTS

Program sponsors are responsible for facilitating communication between your supervisors, your steering committee and your leadership. They are the point person when communicating what each individual is expected to do as leaders and staff in the organization. 

2. ENCOURAGE STAFF ACCOUNTABILITY & PARTICIPATION TO PROGRAM

Messages delivered from your executive sponsor will go a long way in bringing accountability to your frontline leadership. When leaders and staff receive an email from a dedicated sponsor, they are much more likely to reply and participate because they know that a senior executive designated this is an organizational priority. 

3. ADDRESS PROGRAM QUESTIONS & FEEDBACK FOR IMPROVEMENT 

A program sponsor that provides staff with an outlet to exchange questions and feedback regarding your program will promote further engagement. As a result, you're going to engage leaders and frontline staff in a positive and supportive way that you might not have had an opportunity to do in the past. 

CASE EXAMPLE

A large health system initiated a new continuity and resiliency program. Prior to interviews with staff across the organization, the executive sponsor hosted a leadership kick off meeting, followed by an email about the importance of the effort.  When the team began scheduling and conducting the interviews, the rate of attendance and level of engagement was excellent among those interviewed, including members of the executive team. This allowed the program team to begin designing a resiliency framework informed by interview participants and also reflected the organizational perspective, priorities and risks.

Before you begin developing plans, a good practice is to conduct interviews to understand the priorities of your leaders, their perspective on risk and resiliency, and elements they would like to see in the program. Download the tip sheet below for a list of suggested topics to discuss during your executive interviews.

The WB Team

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