Her Story
About Hoa
Hoa Flaa serves as Chief Operating Officer at Mercer in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has been with the firm for three years, focusing on consulting in the government human services sector with an emphasis on Medicaid capitation rates, staffing strategy, and lean methodologies. Prior to this role, Flaa spent over 20 years in hospital systems, beginning in staffing operations and advancing to manage centralized staffing strategy for a four-hospital system that grew to 10 hospitals, more than 50 clinics, and EMS services. She later took a lateral move to the nursing home industry, where she supported staffing and scheduling operations for 23 communities across five states, implemented an electronic scheduling system, and centralized operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Flaa holds a Master in Human Services degree and earned her Lean Bronze certification after two years of training in lean methodologies. She attributes her approach to leadership to lessons from her lean training, which emphasized respect for people doing the work, and she has driven organizational change by aligning top-down strategy with bottom-up input from staff.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Hoa
01What do you attribute your success to?
My husband's support. He took a step back so that I could progress in my career. He became the stay-at-home dad with our two young boys.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Lead the way you mother. I have 4 children, and when I became a leader, my administrative nursing supervisor said, Hoa, lead the way you mother. I tell my staff, if you can't do this, I would not be putting you in this position. It helps them to believe in themselves.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
To be patient and learn. Folks that enter the workforce want to get promoted really quick. Be patient, and not look for that next reward. Learn every day.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The constraints of policies and competition. How can we do the same thing differently, setting us apart from the competition.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty, because folks will see right through you. Leaders that I adore and love the most are the honest, vulnerable ones. The ones that admits to me, I don't know the answer, and allowing me to help them.
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