Transcription:
Futurescan Spotlight: Creating a Culture of Disruption, Change and Innovation

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Bill Klaproth: On this episode of the SHSMD podcast, in this age of healthcare disruption, hospitals and health systems must establish a culture of change, transparency and innovation according to Nancy Schlichting, the former president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System. So we're going to shine the spotlight on Futurescan: Creating a Culture of Disruption, Change and Innovation. And we're going to talk with Nancy about that starting right now.

This is the SHSMD podcast Rapid Insights for healthcare strategy professionals and planning, business development, marketing, communications and public relations. I'm your host, Bill Klaproth. And in this episode, we talk with Nancy Schlichting, retired Chief Executive Officer of Henry Ford Health System. And on this episode of special Futurescan Spotlight: Creating a Culture of Disruption, Change and Innovation.

Nancy, welcome to the SHSMD podcast. As you know, we start every episode of the SHSMD podcast with Rapid Insights. One quick tip someone can use to make their marketing communications better today. Nancy, give us your rapid insight.

Nancy Schlichting: Thank you, Bill. Well, my rapid insight is that communication has to be multifaceted and the same is true with marketing. You know, people get information lots of different ways. It's so critical that we understand the dimensions, the different facets of how people receive information and how they provide information. So make sure it's multifaceted.

Bill Klaproth: And that is your Rapid Insight. Make sure your communications are multifaceted because there's many different people receiving the message in many different ways. Well, Nancy, let's dig into our special Futurescan spotlight: Creating a Culture of Disruption, Change and Innovation. So you say the multiple trends transforming the field require a commitment by healthcare leaders to focus on quality and put employees and physicians first, saying they are central to the success of any hospital or health system and frequently know of a problem that requires change before leadership does, because they are closer to it. So Nancy, by paying attention to their perspective, you can often find better solutions faster. Is that right?  

Nancy Schlichting: Absolutely. It's so clear that when you connect with your employees and physicians on a very regular basis at all levels of the organization, you learn so much, you engage with them, you understand their perspectives and allows you to make much better decisions. And it's critical, frankly, that they are engaged around quality because that's what they care about.

I remember a time when I focused on cost and growth. It sounds like really corporate-grade stuff. And I completely left them flat, because that is not why they are in healthcare. They're in healthcare to deliver the best quality and service. They care about their team members. Really important to engage on a very regular basis with both. Physicians, sometimes they're not that easy to engage with as well as employees and, when you do, it pays so many dividends.

Bill Klaproth: And bringing it back to that multifaceted, as you said earlier, people get information a lot of different ways. So it's critical to understand the dimensions and the different facets of how people receive information and how they provide information. So we're really talking about really having a strong communication channel and that results in better solutions. And it also inspires clinical and operational teams to create a really true culture of high performance. Is that the right way to look at it?

Nancy Schlichting: It really is, because what I found over the years is when I thought of lots of different ways to communicate and engage, I even had a little show that I did where I interviewed people and it was kind of an Oprah show. It allowed me to really highlight the great performance of some of our teams and individuals. I was very engaged in sitting in the cafeteria even and meeting people, because that allowed me understand things that I never would have otherwise.

And you realize that people want to do a good job every day when they come to work. When they feel that the person who's running the organization or the senior leadership team wants them to perform well and believes in them, it is contagious and it allows an entire workforce I think to feel part of the great performance, part of the solutions, come up with new ideas on a regular basis.

Bill Klaproth: I love that. Ask Nancy. That's so cool. It's The Nancy Schlichting Show, everyone. Hello!

Nancy Schlichting: Well, you know, it was fun to do it. You know, I've always said communication is my hobby. I had a great communications team I worked with and we met every month, think about new ways that we could engage with all of our workforce, as well as our patients. Really look for ways that we could learn constantly.

Bill Klaproth: That is so true. And I love how you said that everybody's coming to work, they want to do a good job every day. And when they realize that senior leadership team is there to help them perform as best that they can, that really creates a contagious environment. So can we play Ask Nancy right now? I love this.

Nancy Schlichting: Sure.

Bill Klaproth: Okay. So you say there are other priorities. So let's go through those and let's Ask Nancy. So let's go through these one by one, and then you can give us your thoughts on these. Okay. Ask Nancy. Here we go. Focusing on employee and physician engagement.

Nancy Schlichting: Well, it really is the most fun part of being a senior leader, is working with great employees at all levels, because one of the things I learned years ago in healthcare, and I was a nurse aide when I started, is that every job in health care is important in every job is hard. And when people know that you appreciate what they do. And that you care about what they think and that you're constantly looking for ways to learn more, to be with them, to spend time, to see them in offices with patients, obviously protecting privacy, but looking for ways to really understand what they deal with on a day-to-day basis. And probably there's never been a more important time than right now with COVID.

So organizations that are really engaged with your employees and physicians are doing well in these very trying times. Those that do not are not doing as well. And it's very clear.

Bill Klaproth: Right. So really try to put yourself in your employee's shoes, if you will.

Nancy Schlichting: Absolutely.

Bill Klaproth: Okay. Ask Nancy continues. Next one. Lead with quality.

Nancy Schlichting: People who go into healthcare want to deliver incredibly high quality. Again, when you really pay attention to quality first, it sends a message to the organization that, "This is what we value. And we're willing to pay for it. We're willing to invest in it. We're willing to support all the needs and resources you have to deliver it." And that's how you get the engagement. And that's how people put forth a 110% effort every day. And obviously, our patients. our customers depend on us to deliver that quality. They count on it. So we have to really make sure that we're delivering on that promise and the trust they have in us. So quality has to come first in healthcare.

Bill Klaproth: And they depend on us to deliver that quality, as you say.

Nancy Schlichting: Yes.

Bill Klaproth: Okay, next up, be strategic and opportunistic.

Nancy Schlichting: This is an interesting one because everybody always thinks, "Well, you have to have a strategic plan," and in fact you do. But the truth is in healthcare, things change constantly. So your plan has to be very, very dynamic. You have to have agility as you approach it. And the truth is a lot of things are opportunistic. A lot of things present themselves that are not part of your plan. Henry Ford over the years, there were many things, there were probably our most exciting strategic initiatives that frankly we didn't plan. They were critical to our strategy, but they basically became possible. And that included building a brand new hospital, included some of the acquisitions we did. It included the opportunities to work on Baldrige and actually focus on quality. There are just so many things that come along that you have to be open to. And I think it's true in careers too. I am a believer that you're both a planner as well as seizing opportunities.

Bill Klaproth: Absolutely. What a great line. A lot of things present themselves that are not part of your plan, so be opportunistic and take advantage of those things. I love that. Okay. Ask Nancy continues, be visible and accessible.

Nancy Schlichting: People in healthcare put so much effort in. Many of the heroes of our current situation with COVID are our healthcare workers. And they need support. They need to believe that there is caring about them every day. I've always had the belief that you care about the people who care about people. And that's what healthcare is. You have people every day that put themselves in harm's way, who put a tremendous amount of mental and physical and emotional effort into their work. It's so vital that they see their senior leaders being visible and accessible and being there for them.

One of the things I did my entire career was to answer any question that Ask Nancy applied every day because I told employees at new employee orientation, I said, "If you can't get the answers you need, work through your leadership. But if you can't get them, don't hesitate to contact me." And no one took advantage of that. I didn't get a zillion emails every day, but I got some that were really important. And to be able to answer them, which I did every day, I always responded to every email every day, which meant I got up at 4:35 in the morning to be able to do it, but people really appreciated that. And they knew that I cared about him and I didn't always go the party line either. I mean, sometimes I would be pushing the envelope to make sure that we treated every employee with dignity and respect.

Bill Klaproth: That's such a great way to look at it. You care about the people who care about people. In fact, if you're listening to this right now, tweet that out. Give Nancy credit. Hashtag SHSMD Futurescan. That's a line, Nancy, and a wonderful way to look at it. So thank you for sharing that with us. Okay. Last question for Ask Nancy, create a climate of positivity.

Nancy Schlichting: It was interesting when I would come into work every day and we had these wonderful security people at the front desk. And if they looked at me and I wasn't smiling, they said, "Nancy, what's wrong? Are we okay?" It's interesting there is a spotlight on every leader with everything we do. And people need to be lifted up certainly in healthcare. So coming in with a positive attitude, being calm in a storm, believing in the people that do the work every day, believing our success is a big part of it. You see it in sports. The teams that get down on themselves, they don't succeed. The ones that believe and have a positive outlook, they're the ones that succeed. And I think it's a critically important. quality and leaders. And I think it's important as an organization as well.

Bill Klaproth: People pick up those cues and they watch for body language and even facial expression, as you were saying. That communicates a lot without saying anything. So working on creating that climate of positivity. Okay, Nancy, this has been wonderful. And thank you so much for talking with us.

Last question then. What is the first step? What should we do as hospital marketers to establish a culture of change, transparency and innovation?

Nancy Schlichting: I think marketers and communicators just need to be in the organization. Learning constantly. Not in your office. And of course right now, a lot of times we're on Zoom. But figure out ways to reach out, talk with people. Understand their needs. Talk with patients, talk with other customers. The more you learn, the more you're going to be effective in those roles. Strategies are important, but connection is really important.

And I will tell you, I was so fortunate at Henry Ford to have a fantastic. Marketing and communications team. And that's why we were successful in many respects. They were engaged in every strategic initiative. They were involved with every operational project. They were at the table. It wasn't an afterthought to think about communications or marketing when it came to new products or services, they were part of the design part of the innovation.

Bill Klaproth: You painted a great picture, learning constantly, not in your office. You don't really learn a lot while you're just sitting in your office, you know, right?

Nancy Schlichting: Very little actually.

Bill Klaproth: Right. So that's a great way to describe that. So get out and learn and that's a great place to start when creating this culture of change, transparency and innovation. Well, thank you for talking to us today about Futurescan, Nancy, and how to create a culture of disruption, change, and innovation. It has been a delight to talk with you. Thank you so much for your time.

Nancy Schlichting: Thank you. My pleasure.

Bill Klaproth: And once again, that's Nancy Schlichting and Futurescan 2021 features the insights of leading experts in healthcare on topics including consolidation, social determinants, consumerism, and more. The annual publication is now available for purchase and SHSMD members receive a complimentary digital copy. Come on, people.

Visit SHSMD.org/futurescan for more information. That is fantastic. Once again, visit SHSMD.org/futurescan for more information. And we thank you as always for listening. And if you found this podcast helpful, and come on, you know this and how could you not? Please make sure you share it on all of your social channels and please hit the subscribe or follow button to get every episode. Come on, people. This has been a production of Doctor Podcasting. Thank you so much for listening. I'm Bill Klaproth. See you!