It’s not often you come across an executive of a $2.6 billion integrated health system with 14,000 employees who takes the time each morning to exchange pleasantries via email with a unit secretary who works at one of his hospitals.
But then there aren’t many CEOs like Chris Van Gorder. I recently interviewed him to learn more about his frontline approach to leadership, which helped bring Scripps Health back from the brink of financial disaster and cut staff turnover in half.
As he talked about the importance of his Friday leadership rounds, when he visits and interacts with employees at one of the system’s five hospitals or 28 outpatient clinics, he mentioned how one unit secretary from the 11th floor of Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego emails him every day.
And he responds every time.
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She begins each email the same way, “Hi Boss.” On the day we had our scheduled interview, Van Gorder says Arby Bautista (pictured with Van Gorder) had asked over email about his weekend and what was on his schedule for the day. Knowing that she worked over the weekend, he replied, saying he hoped she could take a couple of days off during the week.
“It only takes a couple of seconds” to respond, Van Gorder says.
But the first time he took those two seconds meant the world to Bautista. The two have been friends ever since. During a recent visit to the hospital, Van Gorder went to the 11th floor to see her, but she was on her lunch break. She sent him an email later in the day, saying she was sorry she missed him.
While some CEOs couldn’t be bothered to take the time to respond to employee emails, Van Gorder says he does it because he believes in relationship-building. “I know if something goes bad there, she will tell me. And if things go well, she will tell me. That’s invaluable. Often information gets filtered out and what comes to the CEO may not be as accurate as what you hear on the frontline. And the reality is, she is special. As the unit secretary, she is taking care of staff who are taking care of patients,” he says.
Date: April 10, 2015