Becker's asked healthcare leaders to share lessons learned from negotiations with unionized employees.
Here are their responses, presented alphabetically.
Editor's Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Margo Bykonen, RN
CNO of Swedish Health Services (Seattle)
Negotiations in my career, whether with the union that represents our caregivers, extra-organizational or within departments, have highlighted something that I have known about healthcare professionals and what drew me to this field. By our nature, we are problem solvers. When you break through the positionality of one's organization or even one's personal experience and have open dialogue about the problem, we can solve it together, in a way that serves our patients’ best interest. Sometimes it can be difficult moving into the solution, and at times it can feel like an uphill journey, but then there are breakthroughs, and we remind ourselves why we are here. Those breakthroughs are almost always aided by true listening and thoughtful dialogue.
I have had the good fortune of working alongside some of the brightest and most compassionate healthcare professionals, both our caregivers and our core leaders, people who have a passion for the patients that they serve. As we continue to put Swedish's core values of compassion, justice, excellence, dignity, integrity and safety at the center of every decision we make, we will continue to make Swedish the best it can be. There are times when we may disagree with the best direction to take, but I have faith that we are all moving in the same direction, and together, we will make the best decisions.
Rick Majzun
President and COO of Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island (Providence)
A good hospital and a good union want the same thing: the best possible environment for patient care and the best possible environment for employees to do that. One of the lessons I've learned, via experience in a lean daily management operating system, is that one of our core roles as a leader is to ensure that we are showing respect for our employees. Our front-line staff have the ideas that will drive costs out of the system, that will accelerate flow for our patients and that will improve patient and physician satisfaction. How do we show that respect? By showing up in their places of work, listening to them to find out what gets in their way and empowering them to solve their own problems. It takes some management courage to give away some of that control, but the benefits are felt throughout the workforce, and most importantly, by the patients and families we serve.
Elaine Couture
Executive vice president and chief executive of Providence St. Joseph Health's Washington-Montana region (Renton, Wash.)
I've learned to remember that no matter how intense things might get at the bargaining table, our management team and our represented employees all share the same goal of providing the best possible care to our patients. We all want this to be the best place to work and the best place to go for care When we stay focused on why we were called to serve in the healthcare field, we accomplish great things together.
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