Strategic Human Resorce Management - Research Paper Example

Strategic Human Resource Management Healthcare Human Resource Management Introduction The designation I have chosen for myself in the context of the task under consideration is the Director of a Senior Citizen Home. Considering the scope of this post it will be academically relevant to delve on the functions that a Senior Citizen Home is expected to perform. A large pool of the American citizens is expected to reach the retirement age quiet soon (Latimer, 2010). It goes without saying that with age one could associate a plethora of health problems and issues. Hence, in the coming times, a number of senior citizens could be expected to look for an institutional arrangement that would cater to their age related health problems (Latimer, 2010). Senior Citizen Homes are the institutions that are expected to render the additional daily care that the senior citizens require. Senior Citizen Homes are just the right option for the aged who are not able to lead an independent life. Besides, the Senior Citizen Homes provide the day to day domestic assistance like nursing care, laundry, food, nutrition and daily activities. Moreover, the employees serving in the Senior Citizen Homes do have the right expertise and skills needed to facilitate the medical procedures and care required by the aged. No doubt, opting for a Senior Citizen Home could turn out to be an intensely emotional decision for an individual. Still, there is no denying the fact that the Senior Citizens Homes do have to face multiple human resource related problems and issues. Human Resource Challenges Faced by the Senior Citizen Homes The Senior Citizen Homes tend to be large and diverse organizations catering to the needs and requirements of a large pool of employees and customers. Hence, like any other viable health care institution, Senior Citizen Homes face a wide range of human resource and operational challenges. One big challenge for the Senior Citizen Homes is to cope with the soaring food, goods and services cost (Anson, 2000). The aged, who reside in the Senior Citizen Homes, do expect value for the money spent by them. However, considering the contemporary recessionary trends, backed by high inflation, it could get really challenging for an HR administrator serving a Senior Citizen Home to be able to extend high quality goods and services to the customers while managing high costs. Another big problem faced by the health care institutions around the United States of America is the shortage of qualified and skilled personnel (Anson, 2000). A great many factors are responsible for the shrinking pool of trained personnel employed in the Senior Citizen Homes. One big issue faced by the Senior Citizen Homes is to retain their precarious pool of health and other personnel (Anson, 2000). A lot is based on the need towards the achievement of this prerogative to remain competitive in the sphere of wages and fringe benefits. In a pragmatic context, this translates into the need for conducting annual salary surveys to assure that most of the employees get paid appropriately, in consonance with the job responsibilities and skills they hold. The objective to retain a low turnover rate is dependent on the ability of the Senior Citizen Homes to maintain a high moral amongst their employees. This to a great extent relies on the ability of the Senior Citizen Homes to extend the most competitive pay packages to their employees. Most of the health care personnel tend to quit because of the high stress environment prevalent at their work premises. The aged residing in the Senior Citizen Homes do have high expectations from these institutions. At the same time the personnel employed at the Senior Citizen Homes do have their own individual aspirations and work home balance needs. So, one major human resource issue faced by the Senior Citizen Homes is to retain just the right balance between the customer needs and employee aspirations (Anson, 2000). This becomes even more pressing in a highly competitive labor environment. The need to retain experienced employees is particularly ardent considering the fact that it is the senior employees with ample experience that do extend the highest quality services and care. The other relevant factor is that many of the employees working in the Senior Citizen Homes could positively be expected to retire over the next few years. Therefore, it is impossible to maintain just the right employee concentration without having the right policies pertaining to employee development, succession planning and external recruitment. As has already been mentioned, a great number of employees in the Senior Citizen Homes could soon be expected to retire, hence, it is not viable to maintain the requisite number of employees without opting for recruitment of employees hailing from diverse backgrounds and cultures (Cordova, Richard, & Iwanabe, 2010). Accordingly, a pragmatic challenge before the Senior Citizen Home managers and administrators is to incorporate and respect diversity. It is very important for the Senior Citizen Home managers to encourage and respect diversity so as to make the employees feel that they are respected and cherished irrespective of their variegated backgrounds, experiences and way of doing things (Cordova, Beaudin, & Iwanabe, 2010). This calls for ample cultural literacy and tact on the part of a Senior Citizen Home manager. It is vital for the employees working at the Senior Citizen Homes to feel that they enjoy a fair opportunity for growth and skill enhancement, irrespective of their diverse backgrounds. Again, it is the old employees who happen to be most accomplished in terms of experience and skills and it is these old employees who could be positively expected to render a genuine transference of skills and act as mentors to the new recruits. Therefore, it is pivotal for the Senior Citizen Home managers to somehow tap the experience of the old employees who have either retired or are expected to retire by chalking out policies that help them stay in the institution in some sort of advisory or mentor capacity. This makes it imperative for the Senior Citizen Home managers and administrators to remain competitive and flexible, thereby coming out with more innovative ways to extend high quality services to the customer, while retaining an upbeat and contented work force. Competencies Required and the Role Played by the Organization The health care managers and administrators employed in the Senior Citizen Homes do need to have the skills and competencies required to run these institutions in a highly complex health care environment. These administrators are not only required to indulge in an evidence based management, but also to chalk out and pursue such policies as to render measurable effectiveness and results (Kamoche, 2001). The health care managers are expected to be good communication experts and relationship managers. A Director serving a Senior Citizen Home should not only be able to communicate well with internal and external stakeholders, but is also required to cinch and retain workable relationships and to engage in meaningful communication with the customers and employees (Kamoche, 2001). Managing a Senior Citizen Home also necessitates on the part of an administrator to have a thorough knowledge of the contemporary health care environment (Kamoche, 2001). However, it remains to a great extent the prerogative of the health care institutions to inculcate the possible administrators into the basics of the current health care environment and the environment in which the health care administrators are required to work. It is also to a great extent left to the health care institutions like Senior Citizen Homes to familiarize the young administrators with the fundamental business principles like financial management, quality control, risk management, human resource management, information management, organizational dynamics, etc. An administrator managing a Senior Citizen Home is also required to exercise ample leadership aimed at achieving a shared vision, to encourage individual and team excellence, and the ability to pragmatically manage change aimed at achieving organizational goals and aspirations (Kamoche, 2001). Going by the fact that a Senior Citizen Home administrator has a duty and responsibility towards the community and one’s customers, it is also incumbent on the part of a Senior Citizen home manager to bring the individual and organizational conduct in consonance with the acceptable professional and ethical standards. Yet, a great deal is left to the companies running the Senior Citizen Homes to help the young administrators develop a service driven temperament backed by an aspiration to engage in lifelong learning. It is also largely left to the health care companies to help the young administrators engage in professional and academic courses and programs aimed at honing the competencies required to achieve work place professional effectiveness. Going by the dearth of qualified and experienced health care administrators, ultimately, the companies running the health care institutions like Senior Citizen Homes that stand to gain by investing time and resources in the health care administrators they recruit. Strategic Vision An administrator managing a Senior Citizen Home simply cannot do without a viable and pragmatic vision. Going by the augmenting cost of goods and services, it is necessary for a Senior Citizen Home manager to be conversant with the basics of logistics and supply chain management principles to assure affordability and financial effectiveness. As already discussed, in a current context, the health care institutions command a high employee turnover rate, which costs the health care institutions tremendously in terms of money and resources. So, it is the duty of a Senior Citizen Home Director to chalk out policies that achieve employee retentiveness and upbeat the employee morale (Tyson, 2006). In that context, it is a must for a Senior Citizen Home manager to offer the employees a very competitive benefits package that is as per their needs and aspirations (Tyson, 2006). It is also important to encourage employee development and to give way to open vertical and horizontal channels of communication between the management and the employees. It is also vital to convey to the employees as to what is expected of them so that they could serve the customers to their best capacity (Tyson, 2006). It is also necessary that whenever the opportunities for promotion arise, to promote from within the organizational personnel pool and from time to time offer the employees, encouraging financial benefits and rewards (Tyson, 2006). It is only by pursuing a proactive human resource approach that a Senior Citizen Home director could expect to seek a balance between customer needs and employee aspirations (Tyson, 2006). Conclusion In the light of the challenges faced by a Senior Citizen Home Director, it is imperative to have the requisite human resource competencies backed by a pragmatic and sound, strategic vision. References Anson, B. R. (2000). Taking Charge of Change in a Volatile Healthcare Marketplace. Human Resource Planning. 23(4), 21-28. Cordova, R. D., Beaudin, C., & Iwanabe, K. F. (2010). Addressing Diversity and Moving Towards Equity in Hospital Care. Frontiers of Health Services Management, 26(3), 19-28. Kamoche, K. N. (2001). Understanding Human Resource Management. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Latimer, E. (2010). Resolving the Baby Boomers Conundrum. Career Planning and Adult Development. 26(2), 36-38. Tyson, S. (2006). Essentials of Human Resource Management. Oxford, UK: Butterworth- Heinemann. Read More