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A study with deep research and data. It analyzes, through peer reviewed publications and research, the concepts and results of Paul Levy’s leadership actions during his term, leading the successful turnaround of the BIDMC, which today is a healthcare reference in the USA. Creating a healthy working environment and make employees feel comfortable doing their job.

Communicating with Employees: Putting Yourself in Their Shoes

Anh M Vu Northwest University February 14, 2020

Abstract The merger that originated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in 1996, brought severe financial and management issues, becoming worse after the track record of failed leaders and plans As a last chance to overcome the challenges and save the organization from bankruptcy, Paul Levy was named the new CEO in 2002, running a recovery plan based on transparent communication culture Levy identified how to create a healthy working environment

by making his employees including housekeepers, nurses, doctors… comfortable doing their jobs, in the way that support each individual to be creative, productive and happy (Garvin & Roberto, 2003) This study analyzes, through peer reviewed publications and research, the concepts and results of Paul Levy’s leadership actions during his term, leading the successful turnaround of the BIDMC, which today is a healthcare reference in the USA

Keywords: transparency, communication, leadership

The Massachusetts Attorney General and Board of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) found themselves in a make or-break situation with regard to the future of the hospital, after losses of $50 million per year annually The merge between Beth Israel and Deaconess

hospitals created cultural clashes, which caused problems to all the employees; they felt powerless, lost interest due to the fractious relationships, and some people even quit their jobs Paul Levy, the former president and CEO of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center was appointed in this role

in 2002 After years with Paul Levy’s leadership, the organization rebuilt its reputation with both patients and employees, being a stronger working environment Leadership has the power to change things in an organization by creating an inspiring vision for the future, motivates and inspire

individuals to engage with the set direction for the company, builds the team as well as to manage the delivery of the vision As a leader in any given position, it is essential to be passionate about specific values and actions and demonstrate this through thinking and working on things that elevates productivity and ensures that each employee is committed to the vision

To create a healthy working environment and make employees feel comfortable doing their job, Levy communicated with his employees by: (1) encouraging and motivating his employees, supporting each individual to be creative, productive and happy and (2) being honest at all times, knowing when, where and how to make judgment call

Each of Levy’s methods were designed to get closer to his employees and gain their trust His first method was encouraging and motivating his employees, supporting each individual to be creative, productive and happy (Garvin & Roberto, 2003) No doubt, motivation is a tremendous force that leads to success in both business and life, which includes listening and praising

Managers can combine the form of praise and recognition of the success of employees to give them the greatest motivation to complete their jobs as well as create a positive and effective working

environment Showing employees some attention and appreciation will have a significant impact on their morale and improve their cohesion, performance and creativity at work (Ikonen & Savolainen, 2019)

In private conversations with each employee, Levy listened to their ideas and allowed them the opportunity to completely open up, it is an opportunity to build communication, trust and shorten the distance between managers and employees (Garvin & Roberto, 2003) Replenish their work energies by identifying the effort they put into work and rewarding the work they did This is

a great way to bring everyone in the group together and inspire their creativity at workplace

According to Reed (2017), “an effective leader invites employees to be innovative and creative and discusses and implements their ideas for improving the organization’s operations and working environment Collaboration and teamwork should be valued, and new and different ideas welcomed and appreciated” (p.1) In figure 1, we can see the relationship between ethical leadership and employee creativity A study by Feng, Zhang, Liu, Zhang and Han (2018), showed that employees could be inspired by the meaningfulness of their work, and therefore is intrinsically motivated to be creative, when ethical leaders demonstrated ideological rewards

Figure 1 Curvilinear relationship between ethical leadership and employee creativity (Feng, Zhang,

Liu, Zhang & Han, 2018)

In the interview (Garvin & Roberto, 2003), Levy said he listened and talked to his employees: if they are scared, relieve them and if they are good, praise them To limit employee suspicion or instability, leaders need to demonstrate their ability to manage ingenuity by addressing all

employees' concerns in the workplace because their concerns will greatly affect the productivity of job Therefore, managers need to listen to the opinions and comments of everyone to create

appropriate solutions Listening, concentrating and respecting employees' needs not only help motivate employees, but also increase the ability to work effectively in groups as well as create relationships of trust and stronger relationships between employees and managers (Reed, 2017)

Levy’s second method was being honest (Garvin & Roberto, 2003) As a leader, being honest or having integrity is very important What managers say can directly affect the engagement and involvement of employees in the operation of the business, as the trust of employees in direct managers will greatly affect business performance A leader whose leadership is not participatory

creates an environment where employees can become aloof, disinterested and disengaged because they don’t believe the leader cares about them or values their input or opinions (Reed, 2017)

Figure 2: Email from Human Resources at BIDMC Tries to Establish Performance Objectives for

Staff Members (Garvin & Roberto, 2003)

Levy had asked Blake Barrington, the Vice President, to email to all chiefs in the hospital in order

to collect all recommendations from staff members to develop specific individual and departmental goals (Garvin & Roberto, 2003) These recommendations with feedback allowed Paul and his chiefs to have most updated and accurate information and reduce bias sources Employees also could receive the benefits of ongoing training and knowing their performance This credibility process made managers and employees work together to set goals, plan and ultimately evaluate the

objectives of staff members’ goals It allows everyone to contribute to results of the company’s overall goals Integrity is a term that is often attached to the requirements and demands of a work ethic It is the rules, standards in the performance of duty, regulating the relationships between employees and managers Building and implementing trust are considered as a solution to regulate this relationship In many countries around the world, there are specific provisions on acts that are considered violations of honesty, the integrity of a leader is always bring assessed by employees, and “any void here will result in less employee engagement and the giving of employee

discretionary effort: that is, the cognitive and emotional desire to go above and beyond the

minimum required standards of the job or work being performed” (Reed, 2017, p.3) The integrity

of the management role is understood as to maintain the standards that adhere to the principles Leaders’ behaviors are not only associated to their qualities, morals, behaviors and images, but also affect the formation of the working environment

Conclusion

The cohesion of employees and managers directly affects the prosperity and survival of the business To have a long-term relationship, leaders should make contributions to their

employees and give them honest feedback to overcome the constraint and together develop

business’s strengths and to be able to have the right direction in the future In accordance with Garvin and Roberto (2003), Levy insisted that it is essential for any leader to be honest and

maintain high integrity to create an environment for employees where each one of them feel

comfortable doing their task Additionally, he inspired meaningfulness in employee work at

BIDMC and rewarded them for the creativity through public recognition to encourage and

motivate them to work harder towards the desired goals (Feng et al., 2018)

Garvin, D A & Roberto, M (April 2003, Revised April 2009.) Paul Levy: Taking

Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Case 303-058,.

Ikonen, M., & Savolainen, T (2019) The Role of Trust in Health Care Change

Management: A Narrative Study on Nurses’ Perceptions Proceedings of the European Conference on Management, Leadership & Governance, 187–194.

https://doi.org/10.34190/MLG.19.074

Reed, S B (2017) Five Key Attributes of Leadership Hfm (Healthcare Financial

Management), 1–4

Feng, J., Zhang, Y., Liu, X., Zhang, L., & Han, X (2018) Just the Right Amount of

Ethics Inspires Creativity: A Cross-Level Investigation of Ethical Leadership,

Intrinsic Motivation, and Employee Creativity Journal of Business Ethics, 153(3), 645–658 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3297-1