Program manager can handle some marketing
Question: Staffing always has been tight in our program, and now the hospital is questioning whether we need a full-time marketing position. I say the marketing is so important that it needs a professional doing it full time, but the hospital administration wants me (the program director) and my assistant to take over the marketing duties. Is there any objective reason to argue that we really need a marketing professional to do this instead of just adding it to our duties?
Answer: This is a common dilemma for occupational health programs, according to Judy Colby, RN, COHN-S, CCM, president of the California State Association of Occupational Health Nurses and program director at The Workplace, the occupational health program of Simi Valley (CA) Hospital and Healthcare Services.
There is no simple answer, but Colby notes that it is not unusual for an occupational health program manager to take on at least partial responsibility for marketing. Some occupational health experts advocate separation of the duties for business purposes, but Colby says many programs will find that an unrealistic goal even if you agree with it philosophically.
"By nature of the business of occupational health, it often is just not feasible to depend entirely on the marketing professional," Colby says. "Even if you have an excellent marketing person, a lot of programs are going to find that he or she is great to open doors but then the program manager still has a big role in closing the deal."
Colby acknowledges that marketing professionals have skills and knowledge that most clinicians do not. There definitely is value in having a sales professional on staff, she says. She cautions, however, that even an excellent marketing professional will not eliminate the need for a program manager to go out and meet with clients and prospects to drum up business.
So if the hospital administration is only suggesting that you and your assistant take on some of those duties, that may not be an unreasonable request. If the administrators insist that you fire the marketing professional and take on 100% of the marketing duties, there may be more room to argue. Some clinical managers can take on marketing duties quite successfully because they are naturally inclined to the personal, highly interactive nature of sales work. But for others, it is not reasonable to insist they become marketers. It will be extremely difficult for them and ultimately unsuccessful.
If you are happy with having a marketing professional on staff and reluctant to take on marketing duties yourself, Colby suggests you justify the marketing person’s value as concretely as possible. Present the administration with evidence showing how much new business the marketing person has brought to the program. Ideally, the marketing professional should be concentrating more on new business than on maintaining existing clients. That also presents the opportunity for a compromise with hospital administration. Perhaps you could retain the marketing professional on a part-time basis to solicit new clients, while you and your assistant take over the maintenance of existing clients.
"There are lots of variations on this, with most programs using some overlap that has clinical managers doing some of the marketing," Colby explains. "You could try for a mix that feels right to you, but you have to be careful not to talk yourself out of a job. If the hospital is convinced that this should be your responsibility, they might get rid of you and the marketing person both and find someone who’s willing to do both jobs."
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