Competency Modeling and Assessment Strategy for the Weston Family Practice Clinic - Research Paper Example

? Competence modeling and assessment strategy Introduction It is apparent that, in any organization, office managers are very instrumental in terms of overseeing smooth learning of the organization. Nevertheless, not everybody can fit to occupy the position of an office manager. Specific skills, knowledge, and abilities are required in order to qualify to be an office manager. This is arguably true because an office manager should have mastery of facts and range of information in all duties related to managerial competence. Managers should have expertise and competence that enables them to execute their mandates effectively. In addition, office managers should be willing to demonstrate performance in all his/her tasks. a. Key knowledge, skills and abilities Interpersonal and team skills In order to oversee smooth learning of the Weston Family Practice Clinic, the clinic requires having an office manager that can effectively manage office operations. In this regard, the office manager needs to possess the ability to deal with conflicts and other forms of disagreements in a positive manner. This would help in minimizing personal impact in the organization. In addition, the office manager should be able to deal with others in favorable and unfavorable situations (Spears, 2010). Such skills are paramount especially when one is dealing with different persons in regard to cultural diversity. Communication It is indispensable for any office manager to possess communication skills. The office manager should present and express themselves in a concise manner to fellow employees. This includes both junior employees and senior employees. One trait that is apparent in regard to possessing communication skills is the ability to have active listening trait in order to achieve understanding (Spears, 2010). studies have documented that office managers that does not have the ability to actively listen to others tend to have conflicting ideas. This leads to ineffective office management. In addition, the office manager should be open, straightforward and honest with fellow employees and clients. Planning and organizing The office managers should be able to establish course of action in order to help the clinic accomplish its goals. This may include establishing strategic plans that helps the clinic to accomplish its mission and vision statements. The office manager should be able to clearly identify, arrange and obtain resources required in order to effectively meet the goals of the clinic (Marques, 2007). Nevertheless, most managers possess the ability to identify needed to accomplish certain goals, but fail to have the ability to manage the resources effectively. In this regard, Weston Family Practice Clinic manger should be able to implement strategies identified comprehensively. Organizational knowledge and competence Since Weston Family Practice Clinic office manager will be mandated to manage all administrative operations, which among them will have an impact on how patients will be handled, it is indispensable for the office manager to have the ability to acquire accurate information. This is crucial because managing a clinic involves dealing with both formal and informal concepts. This is arguably true because some patients might have illnesses that lead to very informal issues. Problem solving and analytical ability It is apparent that in any organization, the ability by office managers to solve problems amicably is a critical. In regard to Weston Family Practice Clinic, the office manager should be able to gather relevant information related to the problem raised or identified. In a professional manner, the manager should be able to evaluate all relevant information that can lead to solving the problem. In addition, the manager should be in a position to identify specific causes of the issue at hand. This also means that the manager should have skills of developing recommendations as well as determining appropriate measures t be taken on order to solve the problem. When making judgments, the manager should be able to make well reasoned and informed decisions with many deliberations on objective review. Self development It is crucial for the manager to accurately evaluate his or her own performance. This could be achieved by identifying skills and abilities that are required in order to lift the clinic to a higher niche. The manager should have the ability to set both realistic short-term and long-term goals, which would help in developing the clinic (Marques, 2007). b. Approach for assessing potential office manager The process of identifying that the office manager will fit the clinic could involve several steps. Nevertheless, it is critical to evaluate qualities that the clinic is looking for before getting into the actual selection process. Right from the beginning, the clinic should identify organizational culture that the office manager will be expected to adopt (Scott & Reynolds, 2010). This may include identification of specific personal knowledge, skills and abilities that would enable to manager to harmoniously work with the rest of the clinic employees. In order to understand the clinic’s organizational culture, it would be essential to conduct an extensive clinic’s organizational assessment. This includes evaluation of the types of people and values that have raised the clinic to its current status. This implies that the incoming manger should posses the same or higher qualities than those that have helped the clinic to develop into its current status. The next step will involve defining specific qualities that the clinic will be looking for (Scott & Reynolds, 2010). For example, the clinic should consider recruiting a manager that can meet the current work style. In addition, it would be critical to have someone who can advance the current status of the clinic to a more advanced one. In another dimension, the selection panel should ascertain if the kind of the manager needed for the running of the clinic should possess an approach similar to that of the directors or a more authoritative manager. The last step involves developing an assessment tool that will be used to select the appropriate individual to fill in the vacant (Weihrich, Koontz & Cannice, 2010). In the case of the Weston Family Practice Clinic, interview would be ideal for conducting the selection process. Job interview is one of the powerful instruments through which an organization can identify and recruit a qualified employee. In contrast with a questionnaire that can be used for the same purpose, interview offers an opportunity for the recruiting panel to closely scrutinize the interviewee in order to grasp an in-depth insight of the person being interviewed. An interview allows the interviewer to identify additional information that relates to the ability of the candidate to respond to issues raised especially those that relate to office management. Some of the important skills that can be identified through interview include the ability by the candidate to apply his or her communication skills. In addition, personal traits that related to using analytical skills to solve problems will be identified. c. The strategic link between competency modeling, assessment, and the organizational objectives The above approach can be deemed right because the Weston Family Practice Clinic needs someone competent enough to independently run all the office affairs with minimal supervision. In addition, since Dr. Eric will be concentrating on building the practice through affiliations and cooperative partnerships with other care clinics, it is crucial for the above approach to be used because the new manager will be taking over from where Dr. Eric stopped. In this regard, the new manager should be thoroughly vetted in order to meet the standards that Dr. Eric had set the pace. In another dimension, the new manager will be working hand in hand with the rest of the employees and Dr. Emily, it would be proper to follow the above approach that would ensure that the manager would harmoniously work with them. The above approach ensures that the correct candidate needed by the clinic is selected. On the other hand, unlike in other organizations that would be looking for somebody to just fill in the position, the Weston Family Practice Clinic is in need of an individual that would help the clinic to grow further. That is why having an assessment approach that comprehensively evaluates potential candidates is crucial. Besides, considering that the new office manager will be reporting to the chief physician, Dr. Emily, who happens to be a co-founder of the clinic, the new manager should be thoroughly vetted in order to continue with the same pace as that of Dr. Eric, who worked harmoniously with Dr. Emily. Conclusion In order to oversee smooth learning of the Weston Family Practice Clinic, the clinic requires having an office manager that can effectively manage office operations. The manager should be able to deal with conflicts and other forms of disagreements in a positive manner. The office manager should possess communication skills. This should involve the ability to have active listening trait in order to achieve understanding. The office manager should have planning and organizing skills. This may include establishing strategic plans that helps the clinic to accomplish its mission and vision statements. It is also important for the new office manager to have organizational knowledge and competence. This is crucial because managing a clinic involves dealing with both formal and informal concepts. In light with this, problem solving and analytical ability is also necessary. The office manager should be able to gather relevant information related to the problem raised or identified. The process of identifying that the office manager will fit the clinic will involve evaluating qualities that the clinic is looking for before getting into the actual selection process. The next step will involve defining specific qualities that the clinic will be looking for. The last step involves developing an assessment tool that will be used to select the appropriate individual to fill in the vacant. References: Marques, J. (2007). On Impassioned Leadership: A Comparison Between Leaders from Divergent Walks of Life. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 3, 1: 98-125. Scott, J. C. & Reynolds, H. D. (2010). Handbook of Workplace Assessment. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons. Spears, L. (2010). Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders. The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, 1, 1: 25-30. Weihrich, H., Koontz, H. & Cannice, M. (2010). Management: a global and entrepreneurial perspective. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill. Read More