Managing Human Resources in Health and Social Care - Case Study Example

Managing Human Resources in Health & Social Care 1 Factors that need to be considered when planning the recruitment of individuals to work at St-Patrick’s Nursing Home. The recruitment plan in the particular organization should be developed taking into consideration certain criteria: first, the required demographics of employees should be identified (Williamson 1997). For example, the types of employees that should be hired in each position based on skills and age (Williamson 1997); the number of high skilled professionals that the organization would need for supporting its operation should be also decided when planning the organization’s recruitment process (Williamson 1997). In this phase of the recruitment process emphasis should be also given to the organizational culture, i.e. at what level the customers’ needs are set as a priority for the organization and which are the principles that characterize the provision of services of the organization (Williamson 1997). In any case, the exact needs of each organizational department should be reviewed so that job descriptions, as related to the organization’s vacant positions, are accurate as possible (Pynes and Lombardi 2011). In addition, when planning the recruitment process of the specific Nursing Home the skills of existing staff should be reviewed; possibly, vacant positions could be filled simply by relocating staff within the organization and by providing relevant training (Rubino et al. 2013). The last choice would be appropriate only if training costs would not be quite high; in such case hiring new staff would be preferred (Rubino et al. 2013). 1.2 How relevant legislative and policy frameworks of the home country influence the selection, recruitment and employment of individuals to work in St-Patrick’s Nursing Home. The existing legislative framework in regard to Health Care organizations in UK would influence the recruitment and employment in the Nursing Home under consideration in different ways. In general, in the healthcare sector employment needs to be aligned with the local employment law, as emphasizing on discrimination and health and safety of employees (McConnell 2010). Then, the legislation referring to the obligations of the sector’s organizations should be taken into consideration; for example, if errors take place when providing healthcare services the patients have a series of rights against the health services provider, as these rights are described in relevant laws (Shi 2010). More specifically, the activities of workers in the health and care sector in UK need to be aligned with the rules of the ‘Schedule 1 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010’ (Care Quality Commission 2014). The person who is interested in working in the particular sector has ‘to be registered for the activity of his choice’ (Care Quality Commission 2014). A person who refuses to follow the above procedure cannot be accepted as a worker in the particular sector, at the level that the requirement for registration, as set by the above law, is mandatory. Laws that refer to employment in general should also apply; for example, the ‘Employment Rights Act of 1996 and the Health and Safety at Work of 1974’ (UK Legislation 2014). 1.3 Evaluation of the different approaches that may be used to ensure the selection of the best individuals, and recommendations for St-Patrick’s Nursing Home. The selection of the best individuals in regard to vacant positions in the particular Nursing Home would be achieved if certain practices would be used. Primarily, new positions should be carefully planned and described, a target that could be achieved using job analysis (Shi 2010). Then, an appropriately mode of advertising should be chosen, taking into consideration the local job market, the funds required and the practices of competitors in regard to the specific issue (Niles 2013). At the next level, the selection process should be carefully designed, ensuring that the phases of the process are aligned with the sector’s characteristics and the business needs (Shah 2009). For example, since HRM of the specific Nursing Home need to secure employee retention, the potentials of employees to remain in the same position for a particular period of time should be included in the themes explored through the selection process. Also, it seems that lack of appropriate skills is a major problem for the organization’s existing staff. In order to resolve this problem the organization should re-design its selection process incorporating tests, written or online, for checking the actual skills of candidates, as related to the relevant job descriptions. Adding parts in the existing selection process, such as interview with candidates or a test period of work, such as 2 weeks work before signing the employment contract, would also help the specific Nursing Home to select the best individuals for its vacant positions. 2.1 Explanation of the theories of how individuals interact in groups in relation to the types of teams that work in health and social care. In the context of each organization the existing groups of employees can interact in order to exchange information in regard to their tasks but even just for socializing. In the literature, three dimensions of such interaction appear: a) the ‘structural dimension’ (Cooper and Burke 2005, p.65); this dimension denotes the links developed between groups within the organization and the intense of these links (Cooper and Burke 2005), b) the ‘affective dimension’ (Cooper and Burke 2005, p.65); it shows the level at which trust is developed between groups in the internal organizational environment (Cooper and Burke 2005) and c) the ‘cognitive dimension’ (Cooper and Burke 2005, p.65); it refers to the ways in which groups interact; for example, the participation in the same project of two or more organizational groups is an example of the particular dimension. It should be noted that the above dimensions refer both to the groups, as entities, and to the individuals, as members of organizational groups. It should be noted that the mode of interaction of individuals within organizations depends on the type of HR policy that the organization has adopted: for example, in the context of a ‘calculative HR policy’ (Parry et al. 2013, p.82) employees need to follow specific guidelines, since emphasis is given on control. On the contrary, in the ‘collective sharing HR policy’ (Parry et al. 2013, p.82) it is expected from employees to take initiatives, since emphasis is given on employee participation and sharing of knowledge/ benefits. In the health and social care sector two major groups of employees can be identified: a) medical staff and b) support staff. Physicians and nurses are included in the first category while employees required for supporting in general the daily operations of the relevant units, such as cleaning staff, is included in the second category. For the above groups, a collective HR policy, as described above, would be most appropriate; at the same time, when referring to the interaction between these groups, this should be based rather on the affective and cognitive dimension rather than on the structural dimensions, as analyzed earlier; this suggestion is made taking into consideration the high stress related to the sector’s workplace and the importance of high employee morale for responding to the needs of patients on a daily basis. 2.2 Evaluation of the approaches that may be used by staff at different levels to develop and promote effective team working at St-Patrick’s Nursing Home. At St-Patrick’s Nursing Home employees at different levels would be able to promote team working if they would use the follow practices: a) first, employees should emphasize on trust both within their group and in regard to the members of the other groups of the Nursing Home, b) moreover, employees should show willingness to support ‘mutual respect and commitment in regard to their team’s purpose’ (Shermon 2004, p.351)’ c) also, employees would not try to avoid accountability in regard to the tasks assigned to them as members of a group (Shermon 2004), d) in addition, employees should follow the guidelines of the leader of their team without doubting their reasoning; initiatives would be taken but under the terms set by the leader of the team (Cooper and Burke 2005). In any case, effective team working at St-Patrick’s Nursing Home would be depended on the potential of employees to collaborate and communicate effectively without showing disrespect for the efforts of their colleagues and without being opposed to their leader’s suggestions. 3.1 Explanation of the ways in which the performance of individuals working in health and social care can be appraised. Because of the nature of the specific industry, performance appraisal in the health and social care needs to be aligned with certain rules: a) the individual/ manager involved in the specific process needs to be aware of the legislation related to the sector, b) the above manager should also be aware of employment laws applied in the country involved as these laws need to be respected by firms operating in all the country’s industries (Wonderlich 2007). In the health and care sector performance appraisal is ‘a mandatory process’ (Hernandez 2009, p.229). The importance of performance appraisal in the specific sector is related to the fact that errors that take place during the provision of health and care services can lead to compensation either by medical staff or by the healthcare organizations (Hernandez 2009). In the context of the specific sector the most common performance appraisal methods are the following: a) Comparative; in this type of appraisal employees are compared as of their performance to the tasks assigned to them (Hernandez 2009). The above comparison can have various forms; for example, in the ‘paired comparison’ (Hernandez 2009, p.230) the performance of each one of the employees is checked in comparison with ‘the performance of all other employees’ (Hernandez 2009, p.230), b) ‘Absolute Standards’ (Hernandez 2009, p.230); in this case the performance of employees is checked using specific standards, which are common for all employees. Again, different techniques can be used for supporting the specific performance appraisal method: b1) a checklist technique; the tasks that each employee completed are set in a list and are evaluated, b2) ‘graphic rating’ (Hernandez 2009, p.230); the appraiser decides which value, among those suggested, best reflects the actual performance of an employee (Hernandez 2009); c) Performance appraisal based only on supervisor’s view (Hernandez 2009); it is a popular method of performance appraisal but it may lacks as of its subjectivity, an issue that it is addressed in the previous methods of performance appraisal. 3.2 How individual training and development needs can be identified at St-Patrick’s Nursing Home. At St-Patrick’s Nursing Home the training and development needs of employees would be mostly identified through performance appraisal, as this practice is commonly used in organizations of all sectors for developing effective training and development schemes (Goodwin et al. 2005). More specifically, the organization’s employees should be asked to participate in a performance appraisal scheme; during this scheme the organization’s appraiser would have the chance to identify those employees who need to be supported, as of their daily tasks, but also those who would be given the chance to increase their skills, as this practice would also benefit the organization. Among the performance appraisal methods suggested in the previous section the one that would be most appropriate for the specific organization would be the performance appraisal using Absolute standards, so that accuracy and objectivity of findings are secured, as possible. 3.3 Analysis of the different strategies for promoting the continuing development of individuals in the health and social care workplace. In the context of health and social care workplace the continuing development of individuals could be supported by employing various strategies: A) by introducing promotion policies that secure fairness in regard to the efforts of employees to improve their position in the organizational hierarchy (Niles 2013); this means that promotion for employees would be secured in case that employees would manage to meet the criteria set by the organization’s HR manager for entering each job position; B) by checking the level of employees’ compensation on a regular basis (Niles 2013); in this way potential unfairness as of the salary given to an employee would be identified; C) by ensuring that rewards are reviewed periodically (Niles 2013); employees would be more motivated to increase their performance and to develop themselves, as members of their organization, if they would know that their efforts will be fairly rewarded; D) by urging employees to give feedback in regard to the workplace conditions (Niles 2013); in this way, any constraint related to high employee performance would be identified early. This practice would also help to reduce employee turnover, a phenomenon that has become extended at St’ Patrick’s Nursing Home. 4.1 Explanation of theories of leadership that apply to the health and social care workplace. As noted earlier, in the health and care sector team working is of vital importance. In such environment, autocratic leadership would not be appropriate for the specific sector. Rather, emphasis should be given to the democratic leadership that allows ‘flexibility when managing employee relations’ (Martin and Rogers 2004, p.152). In the same context, the trait theory, as implying the existence of traits to each leader, would not be appropriate, at least not fully for the health and social care sector. However, neither the behavioural theories, as based on the idea that the leadership is an activity that can be fully taught (Martin and Rogers 2004), as part of the learning process, would be fully appropriate for the specific sector. Rather, the contingency theory seems to be most popular in the health and care sector. The above theory promotes the view that leadership should be adapted to the needs of each organization; in the health care sector leadership should have this characteristic otherwise the decisions taken would lead to severe errors (Martin and Rogers 2004). On the other hand, Drinka and Clark (2000) noted that the type of leadership theory which is mostly related to the health care sector is the transformational leadership, i.e. a leadership that requires from the leader to be able ‘to set goals but also to empower followers’ (Drinka and Clark 2000, p.106). The choice of the above leadership theory could be justified if considering the important role of employees in the provision of high quality health care services but also the stress related to the specific sector. In a working environment that is characterized by such stress and pressure, employees would be able to perform high only if they are fully supported and empowered by the leader. In addition, in the particular sector employees commonly have to take initiatives, especially if they have to deal with emergent health care issues; such practice of employees would be supported only by a transformational leader. 4.2 Analysis of how working relationships may be managed at St-Patrick’s Nursing Home. At St-Patrick’s Nursing Home there are important problems in regard to working relations: the lack of trust, the unfairness in employees’ promotion and rewarding, the unstable working schedule and the lack of support by HR managers are certain of these problems. For improving working relationships the HR managers in the particular organization could adopt the following strategies: a) working hours and level of compensation for employees in all organizational sectors should be standardized; a Working and Compensation Guide could be introduced where all details in regard to working schedule, compensation/ rewarding and promotion across the organization would be defined, b) training sessions should be introduced for covering the needs of existing staff, as these needs would be identified using appropriate performance appraisal methods, as explained earlier, c) a weekly meeting should be established; employees in all organization’s departments would have the right to participate and state their concerns as of their role and the tasks assigned to them; in this way, conflicts would be avoided while problems related to daily operations could be identified and resolved early; in addition, through these meetings trust and communication in the organization would be increased; c) a Code of Practice would be introduced; in this Code the industry’s standards would be included; through this Code employees would have the chance to learn their obligations, as of their position, and the potential consequences of malpractice, as these consequences are described in the sector’s laws. As a result, errors by employees would be expected to be reduced, a fact that would decrease the exposure of the organization to severe legal consequences, as described in the relevant legislation. 4.3 How my own development has been influenced by management approaches that I encountered in my own experience Through my involvement in the evaluation and update of the recruitment and selection process of the specific Nursing Home I had the chance to employ a series of management approaches. These approaches have supported my personal development in the following ways: First, I realized the importance of planning, as part of an organization’s recruitment process. In fact, it seems that appropriate planning can secure the success of the process even in industries that are highly competitive. Also, I learned a series of theories related to HRM; these theories, if applied, can highly increase the effectiveness of recruitment/ selection process; also, by employing these theories an individual working in the HRM field is able to establish well-organized training schemes, an issue that has been vital in the organization reviewed in this paper. Finally, I understood that HRM does not only involve in hiring staff or designing training sessions; HRM mostly refer to the effective management of employee relations in all their aspects so that employee morale is high, a fact that enhances employee motivation and performance. References Care and Quality Commission (2014) Organizational website. Available at www.CQC.org.uk Cooper, C. and Burke, R. (2005) Reinventing HRM: Challenges and New Directions. Oxon: Psychology Press. Drinka, T. and Clark, P. (2000) Health Care Teamwork: Interdisciplinary Practice and Teaching. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. 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