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What you have to say to your employees is important. What
your employees have to say to you might be even more important. Ideas and positive communication are only part of it. You
and your managers need to make yourselves available for
employees to voice their concerns and complaints, as well.
Leaders at Henry Ford Health System allow employees open
access via e-mail. It might seem like a small step, but it’s a key
step. In some businesses, high-ranking executives shield themselves from an overflowing e-mail inbox by limiting their
accessibility to employees. By putting their e-mail addresses
out for all in the company to access, Schlichting and her management team are trusting that employees will not inundate
them with an avalanche of small-scale issues that could be addressed by those further down the organizational ladder.
“People appreciate and respect that privilege (of accessing
me directly),” she says. “I don’t feel like I’m inundated with
questions or issues that are not appropriate for me to deal
with. Rather, it gives people an outlet if they have a concern or
idea, they know they can get to me. As a result, we handle a lot
of issues very promptly and quickly because everyone in the
organization knows that when I receive an issue that needs my
attention, it gets an immediate response.”
Schlichting says it boils down to doing what you say you are
going to do. The phrase “walk the talk” is a business cliché, but
she says it’s a cliché for a reason: Everybody repeats it because
without it, you don’t have any credibility.
“If you have all the right ideas and don’t follow through on
them in terms of your own behavior, it becomes pretty hollow,”
Schlichting says. “But if you follow through and try to make
sure that what you say is what you do, that’s really critical.
“There is a quote I use in leadership talks: ‘It’s not what you
say or even what you do that counts, it’s how you make people
feel.’ That was a quote from Maya Angelou, and I love it
because it’s so true. That’s why things like our all-leadership
meetings are important.
“In addition to what you say and what you do, you also want
people to feel energized and excited that they’re working in an
organization that truly cares about them and how they feel.
When that happens, the sky is the limit.”
HOW TO REACH: Henry Ford Health System, www.henryford.com