Impact of a Good Leadership vs Bad Leadership on Work Performance - Research Paper Example

Workforce Leadership Table of Contents I Introduction ……………………………………………………………… 3 II. Literature Review ………………………………………………………. 4 a. Qualities and Role of a Good Leader/Manager within the Health Care Settings …………………………………………... 4 b. Importance of Collaborative Efforts in Achieving Human Resource Management Activities …………………………… 6 c. Impact of a Good Leadership vs. Bad Leadership on Work Performance and the Implementation of a New Policy within the Health Care Settings ……………… 7 d. Role of Body Language in Leadership Behavior and Office Politics …………………………………………………… 9 III. Main Discussion ………………………………………………………… 10 IV. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………. 10 References ………………………………………………………………………. 11 - 14 Introduction The Institute of Medicine (ICM) reveals that a lot of patients suffer and die within the hospital area due to medical errors as well as preventable deaths caused by infection and complications each day. (Institute of Medicine, 1999) In line with the increasing number of deaths within the American hospitals, a lot of leadership training programs, were established in order to educate the healthcare leaders and practitioners. Aside from educating the healthcare workers, a lot of books, academic journals and other useful reading material have been published in order to promote the importance of leadership in the healthcare administration program. (Upstate: AHEC, 2008) The state of the U.S. economy contributes a lot to the restructuring and downsizing of manpower within the health care institutions. (Chadwick et al., 2004; Bazzoli et al., 2003) Particularly, the limited number of health care practitioners in line with the increasing number of patients admitted to the hospital could result to ‘burnout’ employees. For these reasons, studies have shown that one of the best solutions in preventing the main causes of human errors in the field of medicine is by having good leadership skills. (Moore & Simendinger, 1999) In order to determine how leadership could minimize and lessen the number of medical errors and the incidence of preventable deaths, the researcher will conduct a literature review with regards to the importance of collaborative efforts in achieving human resource management activities; the impact of implementing a good leadership within the health care vicinity as well as the negative impact of bad leadership over the lives of the patients who are admitted to the hospital. Prior to the main discussion, the researcher will discuss the significance of body language in leadership behavior and office politics. Literature Review Qualities and Role of a Good Leader/Manager within the Health Care Settings Winston and Patterson (2006) defined a good leader as someone who could not only influence, select, equip and train his/her follower(s) that has different sets of abilities and skills but also enables their follower(s) to willingly participate with the leader when it comes to achieving the health organization’s goal. According to Dessler (2001), leaders with a competent leadership skill are individuals who are capable of inspiring another person who often times have the “drive to achieve their goals; the desire to lead; self-confidence; cognitive ability; honesty and integrity; as well as having sufficient knowledge in doing business.” On top of these personality traits, a leader should always be influential among his/her followers without having the need to use coercion. Instead, a good leader uses his personal power through good communication skills such as the ability to write and speak effectively in public; aside from his/her ability to know the specific needs and wants of his/her subordinates. (Huth, 2001) Murphy (1996) and DePree (1989) reveals that the secret behind the successful leaders within a certain group is to select the right people. Collins (2002) explained that getting the right people means that these people should be “in the right seats on the bus.” It only means that the leader should know the strength and weaknesses of each follower in order to distribute tasks based on the capabilities of his/her followers. The role of the leader is not limited to gathering the right people; it is also their responsibility to “move the followers beyond their own self-interests for the benefit of the whole group.” (Bass, 2000) Managers are required to have analytical minds needed in solving management problems aside from having the ability to influence, supervise, and lead his/her subordinates belonging to the different levels of the organizational structure. It is also equally important for them to have emotional competence in order to surpass any emotional and interpersonal crisis within the business organization as well as a good communication skill to effectively send his/her message to the workers. (Dessler, 2001: 11 and 291) Unlike a leader, health care managers are given the authority to get a task done with the help of his/her staff members. They often become impersonal rather than emotional when it comes to attaining the organization’s goals. The major role of a manager is to plan, organize, control and lead his subordinates within the business group. (Huth, 2001) Aside from being a good role model within and outside his/her department, managers also function as ‘negotiator’ in case the need arises; and a ‘leader’ by motivating and encouraging employees. Basically, being persistence is one important characteristic that allows managers to get things done and get good result from his people. Therefore, it is important for health care managers to have good leadership skills in order to maintain collaborative activities between the health care practitioners and managers within the hospitals and other health care settings. Importance of Collaborative Efforts in Achieving Human Resource Management Activities A collaborative effort between the health care practitioners and the leader is one of the main factors that contribute to an effectiveness of Human Resource Management. In general, physicians are not only responsible in creating a good relationship with their patients but also among the other physicians and hospital administrators in order to determine the status of the services rendered to the patients. (Crosson, Weiland, & Berenson, 2004) In line with this matter, the authors discussed the importance of physician leadership as a way of preventing the re-admittion of in-patients and minimizing the preventable higher operational costs that is associated with the higher rate on employers shift.1 A research study shows that investing on equipping the health care practitioners with proper skills through trainings and development as well as with putting the competitive people in the right place during the promotion of the top leadership roles is highly correlated to the level of quality performance a hospital could offer to its patients. (2005 Hospital CEO Leadership Survey, 2005) It only means that a two-way communication between the health care workers and the physicians could significantly improve the quality of care being provided to each of the in-patients. In the process of having a collaborative efforts among the health care personnel could prevent or minimize the number of accidental deaths and deaths that occur due to improper caring or mishandling. (HealthGrades, 2004) In line with the downsizing of manpower within the U.S. health care institutions (Chadwick et al., 2004; Bazzoli et al., 2003), healthcare workers are often reported with a high level of work related stress which is causing a decrease in the level of their ability to supervise and support the staff members when providing quality care to the patients (Hickman et al., 2003; Aiken & Clarke, 2002). To avoid a stressful working environment, collaborative efforts among the health care personnel should be promoted at all times when doing the human resource management activities. Impact of a Good Leadership vs. Bad Leadership on Work Performance and the Implementation of a New Policy within the Health Care Settings Nurses and other health care workers who are satisfied with their career contribute a lot to the patients’ satisfaction in terms of care provision and reducing preventable human errors. (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002; Tseng, Ketefian, & Redman, 2002) Several studies suggests that a more satisfied workers are less stressed and burnout are good results of having a supportive and empowering leadership aside from having a working environment that promotes collaboration and peer support. (Carr, Schmidt, Ford, & DeShon, 2003; Harmon et al., 2003; Parker et al., 2003; Tseng, Ketefian, & Redman, 2002) The study of Rhoades & Eisenberger (2002) and Ivancevich & Matteson (1982) also shows that employee satisfaction2 at work reduce the rate of absenteeism and turnover of competitive workers. Based on the survey that was conducted by Flynn & Deatrick (2003); Navaie-Waliser et al. (2004), other factors that contributes to healthcare employee satisfaction are: support for education, a dedication to quality care, a knowledgeable and supportive manager, and a strong supportive health care administration. In the absence of a good leadership within the healthcare system, there is a higher probability that the rate of dissatisfied employees would increase. Sochaiski (2004) and Irvine & Evans (1995) noted that dissatisfied health workers could result to a labor shortage within the hospital(s) and other health care settings since employee could easily decide to leave their job or change their career. As a result of a bad leadership within the health organization, a possible shortage in the healthcare worker is likely to occur. In line with the initiative of the health care organization in promoting patient safety measures, a strong leadership skill within each unit is necessary when implementing a new program or policy within the healthcare unit. (Leape et al., 2000) According to Leappe et al. (1999), it is possible to improve the patient safety even without the constantly changing technology. Instead, implementing a system that offers transparency in the delivery of patient care is more appriopriate with under a good management system. (Frankel, Gandhi, & Bates, 2003) Several studies show that it is possible to reduce the medical error by implementing a proper measurement and process change. (Bates et al., 1999; Bates et al., 1998; Leappe et al., 1995) In line with the implementation of proper prevention measures, Leape et al. (2000) suggests that a combining the cultural changes with leadership trainings in relation to proper care delivery would be the best solution to the problem. The end-result of a good leadership within the health care organization could create a significant improvement in the death prevention effort of the healthcare workers as well as the overall well-being of the people in each communities. Role of Body Language in Leadership Behavior and Office Politics Body language includes all non-verbal expressions such as facial expressions, eye contact and gestures, the body posture, where we put our hands when we talk, and so much more. Body language is a natural way of human interaction. For example: Keeping a direct eye contact with a stranger could make them get an impression of you being rude and aggressive. On the other hand, keeping a well maintained eye contact with the person you are talking with is considered a good sign of communication. (Kiggel, 2008) The knowledge on body language is an essential part of becoming a successful leader. Particularly the non-verbal signs that we unconsciously reveal to the other people constitutes a great impact on how a person could get positive feedback from our co-workers. For many years, researchers have spent so much time analyzing the impact of body language (Dean & Meyer, 2002; MaCafferty, 2002) on leadership behavior as well as office politics. Basically, body language is considered as: (1) a conscious replacement when we talk or conduct a speech; (2) a reinforcement of speech; and (3) a display of mood or attitude. (Harrison, 2005) Therefore, it is possible for a leader to build rapport with his/her co-workers in order to effectively enable them to willingly participate in achieving the health organization’s goal. (Dean & Meyer, 2002) Likewise, a wrong body language sent to other people could also break such rapport. Conclusion A good leader can anytime be a good healthcare manager. However, a manager does not always mean that he/she is a good leader or possesses a good leadership skill. The presence of a good leadership is an essential factor that could result to a better working condition among the health care workers. In line with leadership’s positive impact on the employees’ working environment, the health care practitioners could deliver the proper health care provision to the patients without being burnout or stressed. As a result, it is possible to lessen the rate of unnecessary hospital deaths caused by miscommunication, mismanagement, and neglect. Under a good leader, collaborative effort among the health care workers is necessary in order to make sure that proper medication and care will be equally provided to all in-patients. Such effort could also make the implementation of new policy and plans with regards to patient safety will be more effective and efficient. Lastly, body language allows other people to have either a bad or good impression about our personality as a leader. In order to avoid a biased judgement from the co-workers, it is important to learn and understand the positive and negative effect of body language in our chosen line of work. *** End *** References: 2005 Hospital CEO Leadership Survey. (2005). Cejka Search and Solucient, LLC . Aiken, L., & Clarke, S. (2002). Hospital Staffing, Organization, and Quality of Care: Cross-National Findings. International Journal of Quality in Healthcare , 14:5 - 13. Bass, B. (2000). The Future of Leadership in Learning Organization. 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