As copies of the beautifully crafted 2010 Labor Management Partnership Performance Report  land in dozens of medical centers, hundreds of medical office buildings and other operations of Kaiser Permanente, as well as our Coalition union halls, I want to encourage everyone to sit together, review its contents and have a discussion about what it all means.

I think you’ll agree with me when I say that this report (being distributed with the Spring edition of Hank) describes in detail a revolutionary developmental path of our partnership – a path often characterized as a progression from a labor relations strategy to an operational strategy. But I think the report also shows that we've enabled ourselves to think even bigger and more expansively about the evolution of our partnership.

How we create value

The report should be read, in my view, as an organized and deliberate transformation of the organization whereby the relationships among unionized employees, physicians and managers are becoming truly collaborative.

It is through such a collaborative relationship that we achieve increased value for the members and patients we serve.

Furthermore, this report illustrates that tens of thousands of employees, managers and physicians are collaborating on much more than individual projects. Rather, the organization is attempting to accomplish “whole systems improvement.” That is, process and project improvement accomplished at the unit level is intended to create a learning environment in which unit-based teams develop sustainable capability to improve ALL performance in the workplace. In so doing, we can achieve systemwide performance improvement on an unprecedented scale.

Building connectons

The report contains much more than data…included are important stories of how teams challenged barriers, overcame them and achieved success. We know that by telling our stories, by sharing with others our efforts as human and fallible, we can create the compelling and soulful connections between people that intensify the personal commitments that exist in our work. You can read about how teams actually put to use the necessary attributes of success:

• Leadership
• Clear line of sight
• Team cohesion
• Processes and methods: rapid improvement and huddles
• Infrastructure and Support: training and active sponsorship

This 16-page colorful, easy to read, illustrated report is a document we should all be proud to have and to share. Every day the people of Kaiser Permanente work very hard and, as we do, it is quite easy and natural for the goals of our partnership to be obscured. At times it seems the day-to-day pressures of living and working become the totality of our personal and organizational struggles. That’s why this concise report is so valuable. All you have to do is turn to any page and you’ll be energized, inspired, and brought to a new place of enthusiasm about what we have done, what we are doing and how much more we can do.

 A force for change

I like to think of this report as a windmill…as though the outcome of the labor of thousands of dedicated health care workers working collaboratively is creating winds of change for the members, patients and people of Kaiser Permanente.

Finally, I want to remind our readers that ALL of the processes in use in our work of performance were achieved through collective bargaining. The 2010 LMP Performance Report shows what can be achieved through an innovative process of labor-management relations and relationships.

Read it. Study it. Share it.

You will inspire many!