New skills networking platform for healthcare funders

The key objective of the Healthcare Forum is to provide a vehicle where healthcare funding managers can network with peers and mentors and wrap their heads aroud strategic thinking on industry issues.

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“Managers are typically responsible for delivering organisational results and supporting strategic initiatives by managing people, budgets, and operations, yet we see that opportunities to interact and learn more at key industry events and conferences remains very much a privilege of the C-Suite.

Empowering future leaders

“If we are to develop and empower our managers to step up as future leaders, who will be responsible for the sustainability of the private healthcare industry and the South Africans that it serves, this mindset must change,” says Dr Clarence Mini, chairperson of the BHF.

There is a contradiction in that the demands on the middle management layer to act as a leadership pipeline is growing significantly, however the investment in skills development, mentorship and training needed for them to stand up to these onerous requirements is not keeping pace.

“Managers provide an essential bridge between the top leadership layer and those responsible for the organisation’s daily operations, which means that their skills need to be far wider than the purely technical aspects of the job.

Setting the tone for the organisation

“They need to engage with people, manage expectations, provide direction and interpretation of the key issues, be catalysts of transformation, motivate and retain skilled teams and they need to communicate effectively and listen at all levels of the business. To a very large extent, managers set the tone for an organisation. If we expect our businesses and industry to grow and be strategically sound in future, we cannot continue to relegate our managers to the back office,” adds Mini.

Each session is hosted by mentors and business people from within and outside the healthcare industry who share their insights and counsel on burning industry issues, regulation and business challenges, as well as how their own career journeys have evolved.