Chief Administrative Officers (CAO) Onboarding
We are hopeful that the information provided for each resource area on the main Staff Onboarding page, as well as the checklist, mentoring information and the focus areas outlined here, will assist you as you familiarize yourself with the many areas of our organization with which a CAO engages.
It is anticipated that the first several weeks and months will be an intensive learning process for our new chief administrative officers. In addition to the standard onboarding process, the CAO Onboarding Checklist outlines the specific systems access, learning modules and introductions with key administrators necessary to the functions of the chief administrative officer role.
Mentorship is a critical component to welcoming our new chief administrative officers and in facilitating their successful onboarding. Each new CAO is assigned a mentor to help navigate the relationships between the department, school, health system and main campus, and to facilitate understanding of the various IT systems, databases and reports that are critical to managing a department.
New CAOs and their mentors meet regularly, beginning on the first day in the CAO's new role.
The primary training resources for the CAO are spread across the institution and are noted in the CAO Onboarding Checklist and contained in the staff onboarding resources “Where to Start” sections. Many resources are available via the Learning Management System. To begin, consider these four focus areas of critical importance:
- Focus 1: Financial stewardship of your department is a complex and critical element of the CAO role, of which understanding the clinical enterprise is a key component. Mentorship in this area is key to understanding the flow of data, both projected and actual, as well as completion of the various training sessions to obtain access to systems and reports.
- Focus 2: Academic personnel, staff human resources and payroll play a significant role in the understanding the organizational structure of our institution and are necessary to the management of the department.
- Focus 3: Building relationships will be a primary focus as you meet with and become oriented to the key players in the organization.
- Focus 4: Understanding the organization as a whole and how the various hierarchies interact will assist in understanding how, why, and where information is distributed, and the actions that are expected in response.
