At Houston's Memorial Hermann Health System, the CEO and other top executives regularly travel throughout the Houston region and host town hall meetings with staff at 11 acute care locations, says Lori Knowles, senior vice president and chief human resources officer.
"These are great opportunities for senior leadership not only to share important news and field any questions and concerns, but also to unify our workforce around a common vision and strategy and engage our employees in a meaningful way," Knowles says. "That commitment from the very top to demonstrate a style of servant leadership has filtered down throughout the organization, establishing a culture that fosters in-person connections between leaders and their teams."
Mount Carmel Health System in Columbus, Ohio, has a four tier accountability system for their in-person meetings, says Mary LaFrancois, CHRO. Tier 1, or the daily huddle, entails department heads meeting with their departments to focus on what is going on for the day, making sure patients and co-workers are safe and recognizing colleagues or making announcements.
Tier 2, or the safety huddle, allows leaders to ask for help for concerns that came up in Tier 1. "Throughout all tier huddles, we believe it's an opportunity for our colleagues, whether it be our leaders or their teams, to support one another," LaFrancois says.