Cheezhead Recruiting News and Opinion

I receive many company layoff notices and emails from unemployed friends asking for help with their job search, so when I come across something positive like this heartwarming story, I make it a point to pass it along.

Some people may not see this as heartwarming or innovative; in fact, they may say that this CEO was just doing his job and his approach can hardly be deemed noteworthy. But it’s not the CEO’s actions that made an impression on me; rather, it was the employees’ willingness to sacrifice for others who tugged at my heartstrings.

Here’s the story: Paul Levy, the CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, was facing some tough choices. He knew he had to start distributing pink slips soon, because the chances that his staff of 8,000 employees would all be able to keep their jobs and benefits in an economy in freefall were slim.

So before he made the impending announcement, Levy spent a day observing all the workers in his hospital and taking note of how integral each and every person’s actions were in those patients’ lives.

Following his observations, the CEO gathered the staff in a hospital auditorium and began with this: “I want to run an idea by you that I think is important, and I’d like to get your reaction to it. I’d like to do what we can to protect the lower-wage earners – the transporters, the housekeepers, the food service people. A lot of these people work really hard, and I don’t want to put an additional burden on them.

“Now, if we protect these workers, it means the rest of us will have to make a bigger sacrifice,” he continued. “It means that others will have to give up more of their salary or benefits.”

The audience exploded into applause. They didn’t want to see a single person lose their job. Rather, they were willing to do anything necessary, Levy would soon find out, to make sure that those pink slips didn’t get sent out.

Over the next few days, Levy received thousands of messages from his employees suggesting layoff alternatives that ranged from lowering wages to shortening work weeks to forgoing bonuses. The CEO came to realize the power of sacrifice and empathy, and the employees found those same traits in a source that nowadays seems unlikely.

What do you think? Do you feel Levy’s actions can be called revolutionary, or was he just doing his job? Do you think the employees’ suggestions would go far enough to sustain the entire staff, or are they delaying the inevitable? Should CEOs ask individual employees to sacrifice for the greater good of the flock?

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