Rather, give them the option of pivoting.
Here’s a story to consider.
Most physicians have an informal network of physician colleagues who are their go-to resource for complex patient issues. And my pediatric go-to expert? A very smart pediatrician in his early 60s who had about 1/4 of a million pediatric visits under his belt.
That’s 250,000 office and hospital visits with pediatric patients over 30+ years— an immense amount of intellectual capital gathered in one person!
And the day after he retired? Well, from the CEO’s perspective, guess what happened to all of that knowledge, all of that experience? It was all gone. Lost. (And quoting the band Kansas—lost “like dust in the wind”.)
Healthcare CEOs: Just because a physician decides to retire—a decision more often than not being driven from burnout from just one aspect of healthcare (clinical care)—doesn’t mean their brain stops working the next day, or they no longer want to contribute.
So, healthcare CEOS, if you truly think that people are your greatest asset (an assertion many healthcare CEOs are often quick to make), then consider creative ways to retain them: a part-time admin position, a task force, a new business development position, a social media expert content provider,…
30+ years of physician clinical experience (backed by 250,000 face-to-face visits) is a terrible thing to waste.