What we’re hearing: Executives at brands from Delta to Disney are being recognized for
taking salary pay cuts or omitting them altogether as their companies deal with
COVID-19. Noticeably absent from this conversation until yesterday were
healthcare companies. Beth Israel Lahey and HCA led the way for health systems with
announcements of 50% and 100% CEO pay cuts, respectively, for the coming few
months. We’re likely to see more of this activity, given early murmurings of more federal funding becoming available to
health systems, if they’re willing to agree to limits on compensation for
highly paid employees.
Communications takeaway: As health systems are forced to ask
their workforce to take pay cuts and consider furloughs, a critical part of
their message should be, “we’re all in this together.” If a health system’s
leadership is making any concessions — financial or otherwise — delivering an
announcement to that effect may serve as an opportunity to build trust and
credibility. And it must either be done first or simultaneously with other
financial cutting measures. Media and social conversations are starting to
portray an adversarial relationship between providers on
the front lines and hospital leadership, and sharing how executives and
corporate employees are practicing solidarity helps mitigate that perception
and show that we truly are in it together.
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