Leaders tackle the age-old challenge
To keep employees engaged and informed while
working remotely, Allegheny Health Network has scheduled more team-centered and all-employee meetings, said Cynthia Hundorfean, CEO of Allegheny.
“This is new for all of us,” she said, adding that she was surprised that productivity has been high. “I am hoping that it is sustainable.” “I was relearning a lesson we all know as leaders—you can’t overcommunicate,” said Jim Hinton, CEO of Baylor Scott & White Health. Leaders tend to undercommunicate by a factor of eight during crises since they are tied up in meetings, he said.
Ascension moved about 30,000 employees
home in March. While productivity has been high and employees are happy, managers will continue to focus on maintaining a positive experience, CEO Joseph Impicciche said. “Can you maintain and continue to build the culture you want to build in a remote working environment? That is something I have tasked my team to focus on,” he said.
Still, remote work hasn’t fit all systems. After a dialogue with employees, Atlantic Health System limited working from home after caregivers and support staff criticized the bifurcated system, CEO Brian Gragnolati said. “I was taken aback by the reaction we got,” he said, noting that some disapproved of the double standard. “We have to be careful navigating this … it is something culturally that we have to be very cognizant of.”
While disagreements will arise, transparency and honesty go a long way, said Dr. Jaewon Ryu, CEO of Geisinger Health. “We have to get comfortable with information not being perfect and not having the answers to everything,” he said. “We are going to try to be transparent and honest with what we do know.”