Mrs Sasha Burnham1, Ms Louella Frost1
1Datadrivesinsight.com, Wembley, Australia
Biography:
Louella is a performance Coach, facilitating professional and personal growth and achievement with clinicians and leaders in the health and disability sectors.
As a qualified coach and experienced allied health leader and manager, she focusses on coaching health professionals to be at their best in their working lives, for themselves, their clients and their teams. With 20 years of experience in clinical environments, she understands the challenges of juggling the needs of clients, meeting the changing expectations of employers, and working in very busy teams, all whilst aiming to leave "something in the tank" for oneself!
Abstract:
Leadership development for Allied Health Leaders is challenging. Many allied health professionals work in dual roles — providing direct care while also handling leadership tasks. The expectation to "lead while doing" can create tension, especially in rural and remote areas where staff numbers are limited. Public health systems face also funding constraints, and leadership development can be seen as a "nice-to-have" rather than a priority. This impacts the availability of structured leadership training. The workforce is stretched thin, especially post-COVID, with burnout a significant issue. This can make leadership development feel like an added burden rather than an opportunity.
The answer is to create targeted, accessible leadership development programs based on data focussed on the biggest capability gaps from the sector. Louella Frost, qualified leadership coach and OT, will share the results of a longitudinal research project into leadership capability in the Allied Health sector based on data collected from 3,000 employees over 3 years. This data will highlight which capabilities need the most improvement, enabling Allied Health leaders to focus their development on the areas that matter most. She will share her experience of designing more accessible and targeted leadership development initiatives from this data, that suit leaders working in our sector.
Conference attendees will walk away with practical strategies to improve leadership development for allied health leaders they can implement immediately, using a cost-effective, evidence-based approach. This will assist in leadership development, budgeting for staff training and designing strategies to support staff retention.