Build communication
For employees to become leaders, they must first know what
is expected of them. That requires communication from the
top.
At Sharp Chula Vista, Boyd has helped implement a program
called “leader rounding.” It’s similar in idea to the rounds a
doctor or nurse might make with patients, except it’s administrators making contact with employees.
“That’s the golden key for us,” Boyd says. “It requires all of
leadership to get out of our offices and interact with employees on all levels. We built accountability into it to make sure it’s
happening.
“A lot of leaders say they do rounding. They might walk
through and wave; they ask how everyone is doing. But we
have adopted a rounding system with a purpose. Whenever
you are going up to a unit or a department and you’re interacting, we do it on a scheduled basis to hold ourselves accountable and so we go up there with something in mind.”
When communicating throughout the organization, the leaders at Sharp Chula Vista try to keep the guiding principles of
the organization in the front of employees’ minds. A higher percentage of employees will buy in and take ownership of your
organizational principles if they are stated in a relatively simple, easy-to-digest form, then repeated often and in multiple
forms.
“We call ourselves a six-pillar organization,” Boyd says. “We
have a service pillar, quality, finance, people, growth and community. Those things are the basis for everything we do, and
we drive that down in a number of ways.
“We go over it in our performance evaluations and in our
meeting agendas. So this isn’t just something that is communicated at the corporate level, it goes down to the entity level, as
well.
“So we’re developing targets, then developing strategies to
achieve those targets. It’s driven even further down to the
department level and how the department is helping the whole
entity achieve its goals.”
Consistent downward communication helps keep employees
informed with regard to what is happening within your company. It also gives them an opportunity to voice their own ideas
and concerns — but only if you communicate often and stick
to a policy of communicating in person as often as possible.
Boyd says that if you have employees who aren’t willing to
communicate upward to you and your management team, it’s
likely because there is a breakdown in the systems and strategies aimed at communicating downward.
“If employees are less willing to approach management and
take a proactive role in the company, it’s probably less a hesitation of employees and more a hesitation on the part of leadership to give employees an opportunity to comfortably voice
their ideas and suggestions,” he says. “That speaks to creating
a culture and an atmosphere where you have that communication, an atmosphere where you get out of the office and walk
the halls to the point that employees feel comfortable asking
or suggesting this or that.
“I really can’t envision a way in which you can overcommunicate. Communication is really the key to helping the employees
feel engaged in what you are doing. I can’t see how you can have
a successful organization without that kind of communication. It
makes employees feel connected, and it makes them feel like they
are an integral part of the overall success of the business.”
