Empathy, transparency are musts during a crisis, executives say

As COVID-19 spread through New York City in the early months of the pandemic, Columbia University’s nine hospitals had filled up with 2,500 coronavirus-infected patients by April 14. Clinicians on the front lines worked long hours and took on new roles. Meanwhile, leaders at the health system took action to support their workforce.

They provided housing to many workers, extended financial support for child care, expanded mental health benefits and offered bonuses to help employees deal with expenses they hadn’t anticipated, said Donna Lynne, chief operating officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center and CEO of ColumbiaDoctors.

But not all health systems have the resources to beef up pay and benefits. Executives speaking at Modern Healthcare’s Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference Aug. 13-14 said leading with empathy, including workers in the decisionmaking process and being transparent can be just as effective.

Throughout the virtual conference, leaders detailed strategies for not only guiding their workforce through challenging times, but offered sage advice for how professionals can build a lasting career.

• Be vulnerable with employees about personal struggles. “That opens the door for people to be able to feel comfortable, 
feel that is safe,” said Debra Canales, chief administrative officer at Providence.
• Formalize a remote workplan, giving employees stability and 
allow them to plan 
ahead for responsibilities at home.
• Enhance communication with clear expectations of their work as well as what’s going on within the organization.
• Create routine by laying out consistent days 
and times for meetings to connect as a team. 
• Listen intently to employees. 
• Prioritize emotional well-being and encourage employees to take time off. “You can’t pour from an empty cup,” said Karen Coleman, director of women’s health strategy at Baptist Health 
South Florida.

• Enhance your social media profile: Use a professional headshot and jazz up your online biography with specific accomplishments.  
• Connect with friends of friends on social media and invite them to have a virtual coffee. “It truly feels like you are in the room together,” said Tiffany Love, chief operating and compliance officer at Humboldt General Hospital. Go back to attendee lists from previous conferences and reach out to them on social media.  
• Before an online meeting, make sure your environment looks good with appropriate background and lighting. “Just like you get ready for a networking session, when you use (video) platforms, you need to be ready,” Ann-Marie Knight, chief diversity officer of University of Florida Health Jacksonville.  
• Tell a good story to new connections that makes you unique. 
• Intently listen to the other person and make eye contact by looking directly into the camera lens.  
• Share your work on social media and promote the professional societies you participate in.

The pandemic threatens to upend decades of progress women have made in the workplace. As most schools shift to some version of remote learning—either full time or a hybrid model—women are being forced to make difficult decisions about further balancing their roles at work and home.

Women already take on the lion’s share of healthcare responsibilities for most families: Mothers make about 80% of healthcare decisions for their children, according to the U.S. Labor Department. And 75% of caregivers are women, with many spending 50% more time providing care than men, the Institute on Aging found. It’s partly why Ninfa Saunders, president and CEO of Macon, Ga.-based Navicent Health, calls women the “CEO of their household.”

“We are going to lose progress if we don’t figure out creative ways to really work with families, to work with women—people that take care of so many generations,” said Nancy Schlichting, former CEO of Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System and now retired.

Allowing employees to work from home, which companies have become more comfortable with amid the shelter-in-place restrictions, could help relieve some burden on women and combat burnout, industry leaders said.

“One of the great aspects of the pandemic was remote work. Now we can have that remote workforce,” said Dr. Joanne Conroy, president and CEO of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, based in Lebanon, N.H.

Conroy said her organization started a group for female physicians so they can support each other and relieve some stress.

“They’ve created a leadership curriculum, created learning circles based on the Lean In methodology, but frankly they love the time together. It addresses the loneliness that I think some professional women at every single level feel.”