5 Minutes With Suzanne Travis

As executive director of software development at McKesson Technology Solutions, Suzanne Travis has learned a thing or two about how to have a successful career. She talks to Atlanta Woman about tackling career progression, challenges for women in the workplace and much more.

May 2, 2008

At McKesson my role is ...
"I manage product development for three of our product areas. One area is our pharmacy solution for the hospital pharmacy setting. Another area is our physician portal, which is a tool physicians use to review their patient lists and patient information. The third area is our mobile solutions. Our technology provides healthcare providers portable tools that enable them to barcode medications at the patient's bedside to ensure the right medication is given to the right patient, to review patient information on the go, and to receive alerts when a patient needs their attention such as when an abnormal lab test is returned.

McKesson directly affects the Atlanta woman
"All of what McKesson does makes healthcare safer. When you stay at a hospital, the products that my team develops help ensure the pharmacist can review all of the information that they need to validate that the medication is appropriate for the patient. It helps the physicians who are on their rounds to make certain that they've got the most current information on their patients. And it helps nurses ensure medications are properly administered. All the healthcare professionals can receive information real time, so they have everything available at their fingertips to make decisions on how to treat the patient."

Career advice
"Do a really good job in the role you are currently in. Often, people will look ahead to where they want to go in their careers. They try to convince others that they are right for the next level, but in doing that, they neglect their current responsibilities. Subsequently, they're not demonstrating excellence in their current job well enough to even be considered for the next level.

Also, try to gain the trust and respect of your peers, as well as your managers. Demonstrate that you understand not only the role you are doing, but how it fits into the bigger picture. Then you can add value to discussions about how to improve the products or the process or the service that you're offering. If you understand the inputs and outputs of your work, you can demonstrate more value in the overall picture.

Finally, try to maintain balance in your life. There have been times when I lost sight of that balance, so having someone in your life to remind you is just as important."

Your past equipping you for McKesson today
"I've been fortunate enough to move around and have roles in different parts of McKesson. I started in development and then spent time in services working with several of our larger customers, where I gained a new perspective on delivering customer value. From there, I worked with our support, development and services organizations on process improvement initiatives. My last job was in product management where I focused on how we formulate our strategies, how important it is to understand our market and understand our competitors and to predict where the market is headed. I learned to be in tune with what our competitors are doing. At the end of the day, it is critical to be able to articulate how your solution is better than your competitor's." 

Mentoring at McKesson
"For all of my employees, I try to be a good coach and mentor. I encourage them to work on improving themselves: plan out their careers and make sure that they let me know what they want to do as a next step so I can help them to get there. When I identify a person that has a lot of potential, I like to give them assignments that stretch them or that give them exposure to people they otherwise wouldn't spend time with because it opens up more avenues of growth for them. Often they get such a good reputation that other people within the company recruit them for a promotion!"

McKesson advances women into senior-level positions
"McKesson is dedicated to identifying and advancing high-potential employees. This includes additional training and career coaching. We do a good job of scanning the landscape at McKesson when an executive-level position opens up. We ask, ‘Who do we have internally that can fill this role?'"

Challenges women face in the workplace
"At McKesson, I've not seen women face challenges that are different than what the men face. But I think that everybody, when they come into a new organization, needs to be able to win the trust of others, prove themselves among their peers, and prove their leadership. Sometimes new people join the company and don't take time to learn the culture or the organization. They bring all of their past experience and say, ‘Well, at my last job we did it this way.' Remember, every organization has its unique qualities, and you have to take time to understand it before you start changing things."

Tackling career progression
"[Women] need to take ownership. I see a lot of employees, both men and women, who know there's something they want to learn or become better at, but they don't take any action. You need to make those intentions known, take responsibility for getting training scheduled, and actually take the classes. ... Ask for opportunities to try something new. For example, if you observe something in the organization that needs to happen, volunteer to lead the charge."

Getting a degree in industrial engineering
"My degree in industrial engineering is a really good match with the skills I naturally bring to the table. It's all about using logic, organizational skills and putting into place processes that are efficient and effective. I think a lot of women have the skills required to be good industrial engineers."