Reopening: The Future of the Remote Workforce in Healthcare

As healthcare organizations continue to navigate the incredibly fluid landscape of 2020, those in our orbit are taking stock of the lessons learned from the past five plus months of managing remote workforces. Here’s what leaders across the payer, provider, and healthcare tech sectors have been sharing with me recently:

• Increased Productivity? C-Suite leaders have been mostly pleased, and in some cases pleasantly surprised, by the productivity of their team members. As a result, some CEOs who were adamant about having all staff on-site (pre-pandemic) have begun to rethink their position. Obviously, the notion of dramatically reducing commercial lease exposure holds great appeal. There is widespread recognition that many team members are working longer hours as everyone is plugged in 24/7 and as time isn’t being wasted on commutes/lunch/coffee breaks.  However, there’s also a sense that something has been lost in the way of collaboration and camaraderie – a sense that those informal conversations in the hallway or breakroom actually do hold intangible value and that video conferences and phone calls can’t fully replace face-to-face interactions. 
• Reopening – How & When? While earlier this year, many organizations were targeting September/October to begin a gradual reopening process, it seems most now have pushed that out to January 2021. Leadership teams have been developing protocols and timelines for a carefully phased approach. As many modern offices were not designed to support social distancing, guidelines are being devised to determine new maximum occupancies of each workspace as well as granular details around the use of common areas, bathrooms, and elevators. The general approach seems to combine staggering shifts and schedules to comply with occupancy limits, requiring masks in common areas, and installing protective shields where appropriate.
• Who Returns First? Understandably, organizations are prioritizing those that have had the most difficulty working from home and/or where productivity has been negatively impacted– whether due to technological, logistical, or physical space limitations. This could include those with limited internet bandwidth, poor cell phone reception, lack of access to certain materials/data due to privacy/security concerns, and/or simply not having a dedicated home office space where one can work uninterrupted. 
• Personality/Work-Style Matters? I’m sure we all know some highly successful C-suite leaders who have worked remotely for the better part of the past ten to fifteen years (and, full disclosure, I’ve built my executive search practice entirely remotely). To be clear, they have traveled as needed to their corporate offices or to client sites (even if that means jumping on a plane nearly every Sunday night).  Simply put, some highly-disciplined, self-motivated, results-driven leaders can be extremely effective working remotely. However, its not for everyone. I’ve spoken to some more extroverted leaders who simply need the interpersonal energy of others to stay engaged and focused. Alternately, I’ve spoken to some more introverted leaders who relish life without the interruptions of office visitors or hallway small talk. So, my general advice to clients is to carefully consider the individual in question before making blanket rules around who should and shouldn’t return to the office. 
• Relocation Requirement Impact? While my firm has recruited several executives into roles requiring relocation this year, there has been widespread discussion around how some of newly realized benefits of remote work may change that conversation going forward. Clearly, if relocation were no longer a requirement, organizations would have access to a vastly broader candidate pool. As we all know, some of the largest and most profitable healthcare organizations have been successfully employing this model for many years. We do understand that many regionally, community-based organizations will continue to require that their C-Suite leaders be embedded in their local markets. But, for many players with a national footprint or those in the healthcare tech space, the recent success of the virtual model may cause some reconsideration.

I hope the above is helpful. As always, I’d be curious to hear if the observations are consistent with what you’re seeing and/or if I missed anything.

? Steve McGovern and Executive Search Insights, 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Steve McGovern and Executive Search Insights with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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