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As the financial crisis of 2008 becomes the recession of 2009, the healthcare industry not only struggles to manage the same unprecedented losses on investments as other organizations, it is also shouldering the financial burden of a rapidly growing population of uninsured and underinsured healthcare consumers.
This economic downturn is even greater for healthcare providers in Southeastern Michigan, where the ailing American auto industry makes up a lion’s share of the healthcare market’s uninsured.
At Henry Ford Health System (HFHS), we believe we have a responsibility to deliver safe, cost-effective, and quality-driven healthcare for our patients. HFHS is committed to building a learning model that is focused on developing and supporting agile leadership competencies and an aligned and integrated workforce culture of high performance.
Improved efficiency. Using best-practice benchmarks, a gap analysis, and a three-year strategic plan, HFHS leveraged existing synergies and cross-training of technical training, instructional design, classroom training, and interventional consulting to create an HFHS University team with three areas of focus: executive development, mid-level/new leader development, and employee development.
This year, HFHS University’s focus has been to align all training and development with system-strategic priorities. To accomplish this objective, university consultants are partnering with the senior leaders who chair the seven system “pillar” teams (areas of organizational strategic focus) to identify the curricula necessary for the successful completion of their goals.
Development opportunities range from traditional classroom sessions, online classes, and simulations, to case studies, project management skills, and real-time engagement in performance improvement projects, coaching, and mentoring.
Culture. Two major initiatives that we believe are critical to supporting a high-performance culture and sustainability in the face of financial crisis are employee engagement and performance management.
In 2008, in partnership with the Gallup Organization, HFHS began a systemwide commitment to shift from a culture of employee satisfaction to one of workforce engagement. Research shows that workforce engagement factors measured by the Gallup Q12 survey directly correlate with key business outcomes.
A culture of engagement is central to the success of all system initiatives and subsequent training efforts. Leadership behaviors aligned with employee engagement create an environment of collaboration, optimism, and discretionary effort that is essential to improve morale and performance during times of turmoil. Leaders are accountable for employee engagement results as part of their annual performance management action plans. Monthly training, communications, and manager toolkits are provided to sustain employee engagement improvement efforts.
Kathy Oswald is senior vice president and chief human resources officer for the Henry Ford Health System; koswald1@hfhs.org. Laurie Jensen is director of organizational and HR development at Henry Ford Health System; ljensen1@hfhs.org. |