A new social contract. Catholic healthcare leaders rethink their relationship with employees

The sea changes that have occurred recently in economics, technology, and social order have profoundly disturbed the relationships between organizations and their workers. The promise of lifelong employment--once the foundation of the "social contract" between employer and employee--has evaporated. The dissolution of this social contract has led managers of Catholic healthcare organizations to ask, if we can no longer guarantee lifelong employment, then what is our relationship with employees? Participants in two think tanks sponsored by the Catholic Health Association's Center for Leadership Excellence addressed this question. Participants in the first think tank (i.e., one senior executive and several human resources professionals from Catholic healthcare systems) agreed that a new social contract with employees was needed, one of mutual responsibility to replace the paternalistic relationships of the past. To begin constructing such a contract, the group articulated a set of values held by Catholic healthcare regarding employees. Based on the values they identified, participants in the first think tank drafted the "Social Contract for Turbulent Times." Participants in the follow-up think tank expanded this draft contract in the "Elements of a New Relationship Agreement with Employees."