Are You Helping to Create a Goodwill Culture?

By David Lee

Published in Healthcare Review, Vol 19(3), 2006

What difference would it make in your healthcare facility if morale was even better, if all departments treated each other as valued internal customers, if labor and management saw each other as equals and allies, and if everyone had a “how can I help out?” mindset?

If there was an even greater feeling of Goodwill at your facility, how do you think it would affect patient and employee satisfaction, your ability to attract and retain talent, and employees’ responses to changes?

Goodwill obviously has a huge impact on all of these critical components of your facility’s success. Healthcare institutions like Baptist Healthcare owe their success largely to their efforts in creating a Goodwill Culture -- a culture where everybody is pulling together and where people treat each other with a generous spirit. In a Goodwill Culture, people are generous with their willingness to show appreciation, give credit where credit is due, and roll up their sleeves and help out – even if it’s not in their job description.

Don’t Wait…Take the Lead


If you want this kind of culture at your facility, don’t wait for others to lead the effort. If you’re a frontline worker or supervisor, don’t convince yourself there’s nothing you can do until senior management “gets it.”

When talking with supervisors and managers about actions they can take to make a difference in their workplace, I encourage them to “Spread Goodwill” or “Make deposits in the Goodwill Bank Account with Others.” It’s a simple practice that is within each person’s control and is something that each of us can do to make a positive difference in the world. By consciously making deposits in the Goodwill Bank Accounts of others, you are having a positive impact on those around you; you are making a difference in your corner of the world.

By choosing to spread goodwill, you are choosing to be an agent for change. Rather than wishing those above you in the hierarchy would improve your workplace environment, you are choosing – in the words of Gandhi-- “to become the change you wish to see in the world.”

Put the “Pay It Forward” Process in Motion


When we model kindness, generosity, compassion, and giving someone the benefit of the doubt rather than playing “Gotcha!”, we increase the odds that they will in turn treat others with greater goodwill. When they treat others in a kind, generous, compassionate way, those people are more apt to treat the people they deal with in the same way.

Thus, our humble little acts of goodwill can have – a la the movie “Pay it Forward” – a powerful positive ripple effect.

Before we move onto the “How to”, let’s summarize the three take away points so far:

  1. Everyone wins when you have a Goodwill Culture: patients, staff, management, and your facility.
  2. It’s everyone’s job to create such a culture.
  3. You can contribute by consciously spreading goodwill.

What Can You Do To Spread Goodwill?


Regardless of Whether You Are a Frontline Worker or Manager, You Can:
  1. Look for opportunities to give people compliments.
  2. Look for opportunities to show appreciation. Think of all the people who help you do your job or make your life a bit easier. Let them know you appreciate them.
  3. If you have a disagreement with someone, rather than trying to prove them wrong, focus on first understanding their perspective.
  4. If you’re experiencing ongoing conflict with someone, rather than engaging in “payback” behavior or holding a grudge, make the first move to get things out in the open and resolve them. If this doesn’t work, continue to model a mature, evolved way of behaving, rather than letting them dictate how you behave.
  5. If you believe you’re getting bad internal customer service from another department, rather than responding with antagonism and resentment, try to engage them in productive conversation and model a more mature, service-oriented attitude towards them.
  6. If someone who has a history of not being helpful to you asks you for help, rather than pay them back by refusing, model helpfulness to them, and perhaps let them know in a low-key but direct way that you would appreciate their helpfulness in the future.
  7. If you’re upset with something your supervisor did, rather than holding a grudge and talking behind his or her back, talk to your supervisor directly.
If you’re a supervisor or manager:
  1. Practice making eye contact and acknowledging people you have in the past treated as if they were invisible.
  2. When talking with employees, talk less and listen more.
  3. Ask yourself if you treat those people who have less power than you with the same respect and consideration as those that have more power than you… and then make any necessary shifts.
  4. If employees are having difficulty dealing with some new change, give them a chance to share, rather than just cheerleading or having your initial message be “Hey, deal with it… move on!”
  5. Ask your direct reports for input on how together you can create a more positive work environment.
  6. If you’ve had a difficult discussion with an employee, check in with them later about how they’re doing with it, and if there is anything else they need to say.
If you keep on the lookout for opportunities to spread goodwill, you will doing your part in creating a Culture of Goodwill.


Note: To reprint this in an association or corporate newsletter, please contact the author first at David@HumanNatureAtWork.com

 

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About the Author: David Lee is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize employee performance. He is the author of Managing Employee Stress and Safety, as well as several dozen articles published in the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has held positions as a clinician, supervisor, and trainer in the healthcare field, and as a supervisor and trainer in the corporate world. His articles can be downloaded at www.HumanNatureAtWork.com

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