Posted by Kristin Baird
Leaders who want to build a culture of trust will get further, faster through transparency.
Over the years, I have witnessed countless leaders struggling with lack of trust in their organizations. The ones who overcome trust issues are those who strive for transparency. It’s not easy. In fact, leaders often straddle the tenuous line between transparency and tipping their hand too early. This is common, especially during a reduction of force, or a merger that will affect jobs.
I find that the majority of transparency opportunities are not in the major issues, but in the day-to-day things. Take, for example, the decision to do mystery shopping to validate the patient experience and adherence to standards. Rather than telling your staff after the fact, let them know up front that you will be using mystery shopping as another method for quality assurance. By knowing in advance, they won’t feel as if you tried to sneak something past them.
The other trick to sustaining a culture of transparency is preparing the entire leadership team with talking points. Don’t try to do this alone. Tap into the skills of your communications team. They can help lay out a communication plan and talking points to help you.
- Quality Assurance for Patient Experience
- Trust: Pivotal to the patient experience
- Trust is the Center of the Patient Experience
- Patient Experience at the Speed of Trust
- Patient Trust Is a Fragile Thing
