At Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH), graduation from a leadership program is not an end-point; it is the beginning of a lifelong journey. To sustain momentum, HMH launched the Leadership Development Program Alumni Network—a strategic ecosystem designed for continuous growth, connection, and community.
The Leadership Development Program Alumni Network is a perpetual learning engine—a strategic antidote to the “training fade-out” that can plague corporate programs. The multi-faceted ecosystem ensures HMH’s investment in top talent is sustained long after their initial leadership development program concludes, creating a powerful engine for retention, engagement, and a deeply connected leadership community.
Program Details
Built on a philosophy of empowerment and self-directed learning, alumni engage voluntarily based on their interests. Leadership Development Program Alumni Network offerings are structured around three key pillars:
- Providing continuous high-level learning: It offers a steady stream of elite development opportunities, including dynamic “Mega-Sessions” and curated Thought Leader Discussions on relevant leadership topics.
- Building a powerful, cross-program network: It weaves together a community of leaders from across HMH’s premier programs. A dedicated Google Chat space serves as the central hub for collaboration and real-time perspective.
- Fostering a culture of mentorship and growth: It empowers alumni to both give back as mentors and continue their own development with access to resources and support.
Upon joining, alumni are integrated into the unified Alumni Google Chat space. This “digital town square” provides daily opportunities for connection and peer problem solving, reinforcing a sense of belonging to an elite community.
Within the first six months, alumni attend events such as a Mega-Session or a curated Thought Leader Discussion. Mega-Sessions are dynamic, large-group masterclasses focused on real-world application of executive-level skills such as leading through large-scale change and driving innovation. Thought Leader Discussions are intellectual sparring sessions where participants debate and apply cutting-edge business concepts to the HMH context, building the strategic agility required to navigate an uncertain future.
HMH also provides resources for alumni to create or update their Individualized Leadership Development Plan, prompting them to intentionally leverage the network’s resources to achieve their next set of career goals. And the organization empowers alumni to become teachers and mentors for new graduates, creating a self-sustaining cycle where today’s learners become tomorrow’s leaders.
Results
Participants achieved a combined 9.29 percent promotion rate, nearly doubling the business goal. This means that a team member who participates in one of HMH’s leadership development programs is nearly twice as likely (1.9x) to be promoted as their peers.
