Leadership Insights: Strengthening the Workforce at the Middle: Valuing and Supporting Middle Managers (LEAD11)

The word "middle" has different meanings depending upon the context being used, but those meanings often fail to convey something essential or valuable. Perhaps that's why middle managers tend to be overlooked, especially in healthcare where investing in the needs of front-line employees has become a priority and where executive teams typically enjoy easier access to professional development opportunities and other perks, such as flexible schedules. Too often, the legacy of hierarchical management models designed to ensure productivity overlook people critical to organizational success. Middle managers live at the center where critical actions occur, and have oversight of people who are central to an organization's success. Strong middle managers bridge the gaps between layers of organizations by communicating and collaborating down and up the organizational structure. They execute an organization's strategies and are integral to nurturing existing talent, securing new recruits and creating psychologically safe environments for both.

As workforce turnover and resiliency issues continue to dominate as a top challenge for healthcare CEOs, as confirmed by ACHE's CEO survey, the pivotal middle manager role should be reexamined and reinvigorated to ensure that staff are prepared to fulfill their potential as make or break players in achieving organizational health and financial performance. Keck Medicine of USC has been on a journey to explore how to support and inspire its managers and directors, with the goal of better understanding middle manager challenges and designing/executing programs based on their needs and interests. Rather than assume middle managers' experiences are rooted in individual deficiencies, Keck Medicine is confronting an uncomfortable truth: shortcomings with strategy execution and organizational behavior are usually rooted in the policies and practices created by top management. Solutions must start there. This session highlights pivotal experiences and learnings from Keck Medicine's middle manager program, with an emphasis on strategies and approaches that are transferable to other hospitals and health systems.