Managing Human Resources in Health Care

Question: Discuss about the Managing Human Resources in Health Care. Answer: Introduction A hospital, which is operating in a geographically dispersed location in Australia, is working with approximately 400 employees. The hospital has a payroll department but lacks a dedicated human resource department or a senior human resource manager. The management of the human resource is being done by the CEO with the help of the financial manager and both of them have been designing and implementing all the important human resource functions. In addition to this, a human resource specialist visits the hospital every week, which makes the CEO believe that the human resource management of the hospital is in good hands. The result of this model has been high staff grievances, absenteeism, turnover, staff shortage and a reduced quality of patient care. On the other hand, a similar hospital is having exceptional human resource results as the CEO of the second hospital is passionate about the management if human resources and has a dedicated human resource team. As a result, the second hospital is experiencing low absenteeism, turnover, staff grievances, staff shortage and an increase in the quality of health care given to the patients. Recommendations To the Ceo For Improving The Management Of Human Resource Human resource management is not an easy task even for the human resource management professionals because of the multiple functions involved in it and also due to the human factor involved the management (Mondy, Noe and Premeaux, 2002). It involves understanding the psychology and thought process of the entire workforce and designing policies and systems that would help in optimising the performance and effectiveness of the employees, which is the sole objective of a human resource management department (Deadrick and Stone, 2014). As a result, the management of human resources should be done carefully because improper management of the workforce can have severe impacts on organisational performance and effectiveness. Some important steps that can help the CEO of the first hospital in improving the management of human resources are discussed below: First of all, the CEO of the first hospital should set up a dedicated human resource department or a team and should merge the payroll department in it. A payroll department is a department in an organisation that manages the financial aspect of the employees salary, allowances, deductions, net pay, etc. and the generation of pay slips. Most of the functions in the payroll management, such as salaries, compensation, benefits, allowances, etc. are also some important functions that are performed by the human resource management departments. Thus, the CEO should abolish the payroll department and should introduce a human resource management department or a human resource team that would carry out all the human resource management functions in the organisation, including the functions of the payroll department. The newly set up department would be dedicated towards managing the human resources of the hospital and would continuously work to improve the work conditions and employee employ er relations to optimise the performance and effectiveness of the employees. Further, the CEO should also put an end to the weekly visits of a human resource specialist as a dedicated human resource team will make him redundant (Hrdept.co.uk, n.d.). Secondly, the CEO of the first hospital and the newly set up human resource management team should start to analyse the workplace situation and identify the problems that exist within the workplace. The CEO and the human resource department should hold regular meetings where they can discuss the employee grievances and complaints registered by the patients to find out the problems that are having an impact on the performance of the workplace. The CEO and the human resource team should also develop separate surveys and questionnaires for the employees as well as for the patients. The questionnaires will be helpful in gathering their feedback and gaining knowledge about the factors that are bringing about a decline in the quality of health care in the hospital. Thirdly, the CEO and the human resource team should completely redesign the human resource functions that had earlier been designed by the CEO along with the finance manager of the hospital. An increase in the absenteeism, turnover rates, employee grievances, etc. indicated that there is definitely an issue with the human resource policies and functions that have been planned by the seniors. Thus, by analysing the surveys and questionnaires filled up by the employees and the patients, the CEO and the human resource team should redesign those human resource functions and policies that have been having an effect on the performance of the employees. Fourthly, the human resource team should start designing training and development programs for the employees as quickly as possible. The present state of the human resource of the first hospital indicated lack of enthusiasm and job engagement in the employees. Most of the middle level managers hardly have an idea about what exactly is the management of human resources and do not even consider it to be their jobs. The training and development programs would be designed in order to improve the level of employee engagement in the organisation and would also aim at increasing the knowledge of the middle level managers about the management of human resources. The human resource team of the hospital can also organise some seminars for the mid-level managers where they can be taught about the basics of human resource management and how they can make a difference by managing the employees working under them (Connelly, 2014). Lastly, the CEO of the hospital should undertake certain steps that would improve the work environment for the employees. The CEO of the hospital, along with the human resource team, should design and implement a performance management system so that the performance levels of the employees can be optimised and the workplace could become more performance oriented (Morebusiness.com, 2007). The human resource team should also design certain key performance indicators that would help in analysing the performance demonstrated by various departments in a certain week or a month. Further, the senior management and the human resource team should hold regular meetings where they can have a discussion regarding the employee grievances, the changes being implemented, the progress that has been made since the past meetings and to share the results of the performance management system and the hey performance indicators (Hassan, 2015). Building A Sustainable Human Resource Capability In the present times of global business competition, only the fittest can survive the market competition in the longer run. In such tough times, companies have started to realise the value of their human resources and the role that they play in the achievement of organisational goals and objectives. As a result, business organisations are setting up dedicated human resource departments in the workplaces so that they can help companies in building a sustainable human resource capability. Building a sustainable human resource capability is not an easy task. It required a complete professional approach and can even take several years to achieve the desired results. Some key factors that can help business organisations in building a sustainable human resource capability are discussed below: Recruitment and selection if an organisation has to build up a sustainable human resource capability, it should start right from the place from where the human resources are brought into an organisation i.e. recruitment and selection. For the human resources to be more effective and efficient, it is important that the right people are placed at the right job at the right time. To hire the right people for the right job, organisations should design appropriate recruitment and selection procedures and should include various personality and psychological tests that are able to test the required traits and qualities of the candidates (Msu.edu, 2015). If the recruitment and selection procedures are right, business organisations can ensure higher efficiency, lower turnover rates, higher retention and a sustainable human resource capability (Do Better Hiring - The RecruitLoop Blog, 2016). Suitable work environment a number of behavioural science experts, such as Herzberg, have identified the importance of workplace environment in the behaviour that the employees demonstrate. The type of workplace environment that the employers are able to provide the employees can have a direct impact on the job characteristics of the employees. For example, a hygienic workplace can ensure higher level of job satisfaction in employees as compared to a workplace that lacks hygiene. Similarly, human resource managers should try to make the workplace more competitive so that the employees become more engaged in the work that they do. The managers or the leaders of business organisations should also ensure that they demonstrate an ethical behaviour towards their juniors and their own work so that they can lead their juniors by setting examples and their juniors can follow them (Peters, 2013). Training and development programs to build a sustainable human resource capability, it is very important for business organisations to design and implement regular training and development programs for the employees. The business world is changing at a very fast pace which leads to introduction of new market trends on a daily basis. To remain competitive and to cope up with the market trends, it is imperative that business organisations identify these changes and make their human resources undergo training and development programs that can help them in coping up with the market trends and learning new skills and technicalities. On the other hand, if the human resources are not developed timely, they would lose their market edge and would not be able to sustain in the longer run. Thus, to build a sustainable human resource capability, it is important that their skills are regularly updated using training and development programs (Sparkman, 2015). Retaining and attracting today, business organisations are spending billions of dollars every year into the development of their human resources and in order to make them more competitive so that they can in turn help the companies in outperforming their competitors. Companies have to invest a lot of resources and money in developing their human resources and whenever an employee quits an organisation, all the invested resources go in vain. Further, high turnover rates can have a negative impact on the morale of the employees along with a fall in the overall efficiency and productivity. As a result, to ensure a sustainable human resource capability, it is important that the companies are able to retain their pool of talent (Msu.edu, 2015). Further, when business organisations work, they experience a constant demand of human resources, which they fill in by recruitment and selection programs. To achieve better results in the future, it is important that the companies are able to attract a talented pool of employees who can join the company and contribute the best of their efforts towards the achievement of organisational goals and objectives. Thus, retaining and attracting talented pool of employees can also play a crucial role in developing a sustainable human resource capability. Conlcusion The difference in the performance results between the two hospitals clearly indicates the importance of effective human resource management. As a result, the CEO of the first hospital should look into the above given recommendations to improve the human resource management in his health care institute and should try his best to build a sustainable human resource capability in the workplace. References 5 Reasons You Need A Recruitment And Selection Policy. (2016). Do Better Hiring - The RecruitLoop Blog. Retrieved 21 December 2016, from https://recruitloop.com/blog/5-reasons-you-need-a-recruitment-and-selection-policy/ Connelly, N. (2014). The evolution of HRM-Growing pains lead to positive outcomes. Journal Of Healthcare Risk Management, 33(4), 3-3. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jhrm.21136 Deadrick, D. Stone, D. (2014). 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