What Every Supply Chain Leader Should Know
One little known secret of supply chain management is that “nothing happens without supply chain making it happen” at any and all healthcare organizations. That’s why supply chain leaders should take pride in all of their big and little accomplishments because they are a major player at their healthcare organization keeping the train on time and on the tracks.
Think about it! Nothing happens at your healthcare organization without supply chain’s input, action or consultation. Even a new hire requires equipment and supplies on their first day on their job provided by supply chain management. No new program or procedure that your hospital introduces can be kicked off without supply chain being involved. No new building can be deemed operational without supply chain buying everything that is needed to get the doors open.
I’m sure these examples will give you a vivid picture of how important supply chain is to the service excellence of your healthcare organization. It is a department that touches everybody and everything in your hospital, system or IDN sometime, someway, and somehow in its life cycle.
That’s why we need to do everything possible as a profession to elevate supply chain management to the highest level of management in our healthcare organizations. No longer are supply chain leaders just buyers, but are senior level executives that merit respect, recognition and adequate compensation for the important work that they do.
This should be your mission as a supply chain leader. Make sure that your senior management understands and internalizes that “nothing happens without supply chain making it happen”. Then and only then, will you be able elevate supply chain management to its rightful place as a senior level executive in your healthcare organization with all of the prestige, appreciation and high regard that it deserves.
New Supply Best Practices Webinar Announced!
Influence Your C-Suite for Positive Results!
Webinar Objectives:
What is Your C-Suite Thinking?
What Are They Really Thinking?
Solution: More and Better TLC
TEACH to Gain Respect
LEAD in the Right Direction
COACH to Gain Commitment
July 17, 2008 – 1:00pm EST.
Webinar Leader – Robert T. Yokl, President/Chief Value Strategist Strategic Value Analysis in Healthcare
Remember…The Webinar May Be FREE But The Information is Priceless
Grow, Lead and Succeed with One Big Idea!
By Robert T. Yokl
I had the pleasure last week of being a presenter at the Hospital Purchasing Service of Michigan’s semi-annual supply chain seminar. While there I talked about some new big ideas on how to grow, lead and succeed in supply chain management which was warmly received.
One of the big ideas that I presented to this group of MMs was that material managers must provide their management with a monthly report outlining their accomplishments (savings, operational improvements, market analysis, challenges and opportunities) for the month, quarter and year-to-date. I told the attendees that this monthly report is absolutely necessary because recent studies have shown that their bosses haven’t a clue of what they do, or, how their supply chain efforts has consistently contributed to their hospitals’ bottom line.
I see this communication strategy as being especially relevant today when I heard from these MMs that some of them can’t get their bosses attention for even 5 minutes a week. In fact, some of the attendees told me that they rarely, if ever, have regularly scheduled meetings with their bosses to discuss their challenges. Is this anyway to run a supply chain department? I don’t think so…
One prescription to solving this universal supply chain challenge is to start to communicate with your bosses through the vehicle of a monthly report. You would do this by beginning dialog with them about what you do, how you positively effect their P & Ls and that you do have information that would make their decisions easier. This would radically change the perception of your bosses that MMs are just buyers — not strategic thinkers.
Your Partner In Innovative Savings,
Bob Yokl
P.S. If you would like more powerful savings and quality ideas like this one I would recommend that you sign-up for our “no cost” weekly Savings Beyond Price™ e-Newsletter at www.Strategicva.com. You will also get a copy of my e-book “Your Target Blueprint for Supply Chain Management Success”, as a bonus.
