Monday, February 10, 2014

This article is NOT about unions.

A colleague writes, correctly:

This article is NOT about unions: High on the Hog by Adam Davidson in the New York Times Magazine. This article is about process improvement; market intelligence, understanding your brand; empowering teams; strengthening communities and really understanding what variation in practice means.  This article is a must read for all hospital administrators. Where are your lost 1.2 seconds (per admission, per discharge, per procedure) - your staff knows.  Paul, please spread the word. 

Right, this can occur in both union and non-union environments.

1 comment:

Barry Carol said...

There were several takeaways from this article for me. First, rank and file workers have a lot to contribute. Second, both product quality and productivity matter. Third, rigid work rules can hamper both quality and productivity.

Too often in the past, I’ve seen unions think that rigid work rules maximize jobs by “spreading the work.” Employers need to pay competitive wages and benefits while unions need to be mindful of costs, product quality and market competition.