Leadership and Managment - Assignment Example

Leadership and Management Introduction A leader is that person who exercises control over a particular group by directingthem to achieve certain objectives. A team is a group of people bound by common rules who work together in order to meet their goals. In order to be successful, teams have one leader who directs the undertakings of the group. Group leaders play a major role in determining the performance of the group. Some leaders are born with the leadership qualities while others acquire them through the daily experience and the environment in which they are brought up. Intensive research to determine the role of leadership in fostering the success of a team has been is in progress because the use of teams in many organizations is increasing at a faster rate. The English NHS System The English NHS system has witnessed various changes through the years that include managerial organization, a revolution in management, introduction of internal markets and reassertion of state in financing and quality control. These changes in policies and rules have subsequently led to greater changes in the health care system in England. The interaction between state and local actors in the healthcare sector has been made more horizontal in nature as opposed to the previous vertical nature that gave too much power to the state and the central government. These policies has continuously strived to ensured that the local actors are involved at all levels of decision making, finance structure and tax structure to be adopted especially in cases where it directly concerns them.1 This model was brought into action after the post war period that saw great a recession in the English economy and the oil crises. This period was also characterized by massive unemployment rates and workers strikes. This subsequently led to the adoption of harsh reforms by Thatcher that succeeded in putting the English economy back on tract. The principle of maximum delegation downwards and maximum accountability upwards was adopted by England to strengthen the NHS system. The main aim was to increase the level of accountability and efficient management of the system therefore subsequently help in cutting the costs that were being incurred. Politics and the private sector played have played a major role in the English NHS system.2 The Italian Model of Universalism The Italian model was introduced to cover the shortcomings of the English model especially when it comes to selective coverage. It aimed at focusing on introducing a centralized system of financing to allow the government better control of spending. This model saw the introduction of more decentralized health care service provision and introduction of an internal market. The NHS structure in this model consisted of the national government, the regional level and the local authority level of health care provision. The central government’s major task was to oversee how the regions spend their finances and setting the National Health Fund. The local authorities dealt directly with provision of health care services. The main aim was to reduce interegional disparities inorder to maintain a uniform health structure qithin the entire country. This model was not entirely successful as a result of poor motitoring and oversight on the part of the central government. There were also problems with funding and increased unemployment rates therefore people not being able to afford health services. These issues led to passing of new laws that would help bring changes and stability in the health sector. The major aim of the laws was to decentralize financial allocation to the local and intermediary level inorder to better meet the needs of the local citizen. This was argued because the local authority would for example better understand the needs of the society as compared to how the central government would.3 Effective Health care governance Health care governance is the process and srtucture needed to ensure better high quality provision of health care services. For effective management and delivery of health care servcies all the staff doctors and administrators inclusive should adopt some of the following strategies. The doctors who in most cases act as managers should develop solid communication skills. There is need for a caregiver to be an excellent communicator which involves been able to effectively pass information as well as being a great listener. Cases of doctors undermining lesser employees within the organization should be strongly discouraged. Instead equality should be fostered. All the staff should be made to realize that there is need for coexistence amongst the employees for the effective management of the organization. Health care provision is a stressful profession with many instances of traumatic occurrences. Managers within health care organizations should have the ability to accept death and suffering without letting it affect their individuality. They should also be able to appreciate heartwarming experiences in their jobs which include seeing patients recover and reunite with their families. Flexibility in terms of working hours and taking many shifts is another major quality of a great manager. The ability to work overtime, during weekends and nightshifts without complain should be the driving forceThis is very important especially where the manager needs to lead by example. Great attention should be paid to every detail and leave nothing to chance to ensure effective management of finances as well as improved levels of customer satisfaction.4 A great manager should have excellent problem solving skills as well as the ability to respond quickly to situations. He or she should always be prepared to handle emergencies at any particular time of their profession. Lastly one should have the unique ability of respecting people and rules. This includes the ability to realize that the patient comes first no matter what the situation is. Human Resource Development Every organization needs human capital to for the accomplishment of its day to day activities. Human resource development is the process of expanding human capital within an organization through individual development and restructuring of the organization to ensure a better environment for human capital growth. It may involve aspects like teaching, training and organizational effectiveness. The major aim of human resource development is to strengthen the work force into a more productive and competitive work force according to the market prices. Health care organizations need to acquire enough well trained staff to run the activities of the organization. This can only be achieved if the management of the organization if effective. There is need for constant review and replacement of work force within any organization. This ensures that there is no redundancy of human capital and that the best-trained professionals get relevant job opportunities. Human resource management is also key in better use of technology. The management will for instance ensure that the employees are trained on the use of new technology acquired by the organization. 5 Any health care organization needs to have a good performance management process. The staff should be involved at all levels of the operation that includes their performance and development. Ways of developing talent among employees should be adopted. The performance management process should be efficient and flexible and that pays attention to fair and transparent operation of the organization. Communication as a way of improving management of a healthcare organization Communication is an important aspect in any healthcare setting. Effective strategies should be put in place to ensure effective communication among all professionals in the healthcare environment. Senior employees should maintain respect while talking and interacting with the fellow staff. Dignity and appreciating the key role played by each individual is also key to improving interaction with others. Effort should be put in developing the communication skills starting from the ability to explain and present information in a way that can be easily understood, critical listening and appropriate body language.6 Free communication flow using the bottom up and down bottom approach through provision of accessible information sources is among the key strategies that should be adopted by any healthcare organization. This will ensure free feedback from clients, and to enable the staff or colleagues to understand the organization’s policies, goals and objectives in order to be more motivated and enthusiastic towards better provision of services to the public. Focus should be put on transparency of activities to both stakeholders and colleagues. Transparency in communication also helps in giving the staff a clear picture of their tasks and the subsequent outcome. This in turn helps to build their morale and motivation to put more effort to their tasks. Transparent communication makes the staff feel part of the organization or have a sense of ownership. The staff are also encouraged to bring in their individual suggestions and ideas to ensure effective management of the healthcare organization. It is important to ensure distinction between internal and external communication by the management as well as maintaining regular and frequent communication among the staff.7 Reccommendations As a new L&D manager I will recommend and help implement some the following strategies. First the health organization will need to be restructured to allow agreed upon management stratedies. This will entail involving everyone in the decision making process. Expanding the scope of health authorities will also go a great way in improving service provision and management of these organizations.8 Public accountability is another key area that needs to be fostered. Health organizations should be encouraged to hold open stake holder meetings to allow the public to get involved in the decisions being made and projects being undertaken by the organization. Doing this will ensure that the public has a sense of ownership of the health organization and the operation of the organization feels answerable to the public therefore reduction in cases of mismanagement and misappropriation of funds. Reduction of bureacracy in management of health care orghanization will help in effective leadership and achievement of goals and objectives. For there to be effective management the staff needs to be trained on a regular basis on the new trends in HR management. This can be done through holding conferences, seminars or workshops. The health care organization needs to highly invest in this programme inorder to avoid cases of lack of enough managerial skills by the staff. Conclusion Application of leadership patterns can be in any organization that has its goals of success merged with the objectives of profit maximization. Managers in a medium sized organization can apply the remarkable pattern of leadership while doing away with the toxic pattern that could result in the firm’s failure and eventual pull out of the industry. Remarkable leadership could be applied by the human resource manager in the organization acting as a coach and training other managers in other departments to act as role models for their followers. The human resource manager can still establish interpersonal relationships with all employees and other managers. This will increase the level of communication in the medium sized organization, which will further enhance the dispute resolution and information sharing in the organization. In addition, this will lead to a better organization culture that supports employees in their duties. The overall outcome is that employees will work with remarkable efforts and lead to the successful performance of the organization. Bibliography American Management Association, Making Teams Work, AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, New York, 2011. Maginn, M, Making Teams Work: 24 Lessons for Working Together Successfully, McGraw-Hill Professional, New York, 2003. McKinnon, S, The Power of Team Leadership, Georgia Perimeter College, New York, 2006. Mehrotra, A, Leadership Styles of Principals, Mittal Publications, New York, 2005. Morgeson, P, S DeRue, & P Karam, ‘Leadership in Teams: A Functional Approach to Understanding Leadership Structures and Processes’, Journal of Management. September vol. 23, no. 10, 2009, pp. 1–39 Parker, G, Team Leadership: 20 Proven Tools for Success. London (LDN). Human Resource Development, 2009. Read More