Kevin S. Groves, PhD

Recent Webinars:

• Leading Strategic Planning During Unprecedented Uncertinity
• Succession Planning Excellence: Preparing Your Business for the Inevitable Loss of Executive Talent

Current Presentations:

1. Confronting an Inconvenient Truth: Developing Succession Management Capabilities for the Inevitable Loss of Executive Talent:
   Drawing heavily on our original research projects and consulting work with organizations across industries, which was recently published as a book for boards and executive teams (Winning Strategies: Building a Sustainable Leadership Pipeline through Talent Management & Succession Planning)  this presentation presents the results and best practice recommendations for developing a sustained pipeline of leadership talent that is prepared to meet the myriad challenges facing today’s executives. Through hundreds of interviews with executives and board members, national benchmarking surveys and in-depth case studies of organizations with exemplary succession planning practices, and numerous consulting engagements, this presentation is aimed at boards, executive teams, and HR/OD professionals seeking to establish an action plan for enhancing their organization’s succession management capabilities.
2. Getting the Board 'On Board' for Executive Succession: The Powerful Business Case for Succession Planning Beyond the CEO Role
   Many executive teams and boards across industries face a long list of daunting challenges, including legal and regulatory changes, increasing intensity of mergers and acquisitions, substantial technological advancements, and massive workforce demographic shifts, including the looming retirement wave across key talent pools. To effectively address these challenges and prepare for the unprecedented departure of leadership talent, organizations should proactively invest in the development of talent management and succession planning capabilities. However, the unfortunate reality across industries is that only 50% of large businesses (Fortune 500) conduct formal succession planning processes for the CEO role, while far fewer medium- and small-businesses have any process for identifying and placing a new CEO. Moreover, the vast majority of businesses do not report any executive planning processes beyond the CEO role. This presentation outlines several key strategies for influencing and developing the board’s capabilities for conducting exemplary executive succession management practices throughout the organization while highlighting the business case and ROI of succession planning capabilities.
3. Leading & Engaging a Multi-Generational Workforce: Driving Employee Engagement via Talent Management Best Practices
   As organizations across industries continue managing the transition to delivering greater value to customers and external stakeholders in the midst of legal and regulatory changes, industry consolidation, and massive workforce demographic shifts, the role and impact of talent management and succession planning practices have come under greater scrutiny. In order to proactively prepare for the unprecedented departure of executive talent while also develop future leaders to address the emerging business challenges, many companies have invested in the development of talent management and succession planning capabilities. For executive teams, board members, and HR/OD professionals, establishing the business case for these capabilities is critical as they must address the fundamental question of why talent management and succession planning practices are priority initiatives during this during this period of transition.

Kevin S. Groves, PhD, is President of Groves Consulting Group, LLC, and Associate Professor of Management at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management. Supporting clients across multiple industry sectors, the firm focuses on developing evidence-based solutions that are anchored by rigorous research. A sample of his healthcare clients includes St. Joseph Health System, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, HCA, SCAN Health Plan, HealthStream, Inc., Kaiser Permanente, and Sutter Health.

Groves Consulting Group, LLC, supports businesses, non-profit organizations, and government agencies with leadership and organization development solutions, including 360-degree assessment tools, executive development program design and facilitation, succession planning systems, and high-potential identification and development practices.

An active speaker, Dr. Groves regularly delivers presentations, keynote addresses, and facilitates executive team sessions. Adopting a collaborative approach with clients, he delivers engaging presentations that integrate industry best practices from leading hospitals and health systems, rigorous research findings, and healthcare trends.

In Dr. Kevin Groves' book, Winning Strategies, his approach to succession planning encompasses not just the CEO, but the entire leadership pipeline. Winning Strategies is the culmination of his work with healthcare organizations over the past 10 years to identify evidence-based succession management and talent development practices. Much of the data comes from his Healthcare Talent Management Survey—a standard in the industry. Reinforced throughout is the imperative of presenting top leadership teams with clear, compelling evidence that talent management and succession planning capabilities are vital investments. Four case studies—Sutter Health, Kaiser Permanente, HCA, and the Cleveland Clinic—illustrate why healthcare organizations must implement Groves' Talent Management Capabilities for leadership development & continuity. Written for those seeking to establish, revitalize, or asses their organization's succession management and talent development practices, Winning Strategies will undoubtedly be a valuable resource for your team.

As an Associate Professor of Management at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School, Dr. Groves teaches a range of graduate courses including leadership competency development, organization design, organization development and change, and part-time MBA programs at the Malibu and West Los Angeles campuses. Prior to joining the Graziadio School faculty, Dr. Groves served as an Assistant Professor of Management and Director of the PepsiCo Leadership Center at California State University, Los Angeles. As Director, he managed a $1.45 million PepsiCo Foundation grant that served the leadership development needs of students, community members, and local business leaders. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Groves worked as a management consultant in the Strategy & Organization practice at Towers Perrin (now Towers Watson).

An active leadership scholar, Dr. Groves’ research is currently focused on talent management and succession planning practices, particularly the ROI of such practices across industry sectors. He conducts national benchmarking survey studies, including the semi-annual Healthcare Talent Management Survey, intensive case studies of organizations with exemplary talent management practices, and quantitative assessments of the financial impact of talent management best practices. Dr. Groves’ research is widely published in business, leadership, and healthcare management journals, including Health Care Management Review, Journal of Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, Academy of Management Learning & Education, Group & Organization Management, Human Resource Development Quarterly, and many others. His book Winning Strategies examines talent management and succession planning best practices in healthcare delivery organizations, specifically the impact of these practices on hospitals’ clinical, financial, and workforce metrics. Published by Second River Healthcare in 2017.

Dr. Groves holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Business Administration from Eastern Washington University. He earned his master of arts (MA and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degrees in Organizational Behavior from Claremont Graduate University.

Kevin has done boards and executive management teams a great success with this book. Clearly one of the most challenging responsibilities and many would say the most important responsibility for a board is succession planning. Given the uniqueness of each situation and the importance of the issue, a cookie cutter approach won't do. Kevin has give us some basic, well-researched principles as well as real life in-depth examples of different approaches to succession planning and how they played out in organizations that are considered leaders in in the field of Healthcare.
Sister Carol Keehan, DC
Catholic Health Association

Kevin has contributed a paramount piece of work to the talent management community. In addition to highlighting some best in class leadership programs, the TMC assessment provide a good framework for HR leaders to assist in critical talent discussions.
Jim Dunn, PhD, DHA, DAST
Parkland Hospital