Telling it straight. HealthEast, St. Paul, MN

HealthEast promised its employees that they would be the first to know if plans for system restructuring would affect jobs. Unfortunately, the night before the big announcement, the media got wind of the story. The ten o'clock news carried sensational--and inaccurate--stories about multiple hospital closings and large-scale layoffs. Employees had every right to be mad. Instead, straight-forward communication and a long history of employee support saved the day. Soon, employees were writing angry letters to local papers accusing them of crossing the lines of decency.