Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1511473
23 23 HEALTHCARE NEWS ADVERTISINGINDEX Note: Ad page number(s) given in parentheses Aesculap. aesculapimplantsystems.com/discdata (pgs. 17-20) Eminent Spine. eminentspine.com (pgs. 14-15) nimble solutions. nimblercm.com (pg. 24) Stryker. stryker.com/asc (pg. 3) "What we heard from them is they've lost their confidence to be leaders at times, that the workforce and the world has shied so dramatically, particularly in healthcare." — Linda Aldred McKinsey & Co. found that strong middle leadership is linked to positive outcomes, from improved financial performance to talent development — but middle managers are eyeing the exit, too. Fiy- five percent of managers are actively seeking a new role, according to a recent Gallup poll; only 31 percent report being engaged at work. e COVID-19 pandemic knocked the wind out of management, and it has been difficult to help them regain their footing, Linda Aldred, longtime chief human resources officer at Houston-based Texas Children's, told Becker's. Her team specifically asked frontline leaders what they needed from upper management. "What we heard from them is they've lost their confidence to be leaders at times, that the workforce and the world has shied so dramatically, particularly in healthcare," Ms. Aldred said. "Every day, we're telling a frontline leader to do something different during the pandemic: 'Tell people to wear masks, tell people to come through this entrance, tell people they have to have their temperature taken, tell people that we have to put them out for a short time and sign up for a volunteer pool because we don't have employees, tell them they have to come back.'" "ere's so much messaging and so much pressure that we put on these people day to day," Ms. Aldred continued. "And what we heard was, 'I desperately want to do the right thing. I'm not sure I am. And sometimes I don't have confidence in what you need me to be doing or the messages I should be delivering.'" Acknowledging the individual needs of middle managers — nixing the "one-size-fits-all" mentality and spending resources on a wide variety of development, coaching and mentorship plans — has helped Texas Children's to meet leaders where they are. Identifying their unique leadership styles and talents can help ease the burden of acting as a liaison between frontlines and C-suites. "We are building a lot of programs around your individual path as a leader, because I think that's what it'll take," Ms. Aldred said. "Yes, we're all leaders, but we're all individuals." n