BUS301 Human Resource Management

Using examples from a minimum of two actual organisations, I need to critically evaluate the impact of contemporary HR practices on organisational growth. These practices may include areas such as talent management, training and development and reward management.

Introduction

Within the health and social care arena all over the world, there has been increased attention on the human resource management. In fact human resources in an organization that acts as one of the major inputs in the health system while the other two principle inputs are the consumables and the physical health (Chartier 2014). There is a complicated relationship among the inputs in the health system, expenditure categories and the budget elements. The following figure rightfully describes the interrelationship between these elements.

 

Figure 1: Relationship between health system inputs, budget elements and expenditure categories

Source: (Chartier 2014)

When considering the health and social care sector, the human resources specifically may be defined due to the involvement of various types of non – clinical and clinical employees for the individual and public inputs of the health care systems. Arguably, the most significant input of the health and social care system is the performance of the health care professionals which mostly depend of the skills, knowledge and the motivational factors of the individual professionals (Kulzhanov and Rechel 2016). Along with that there should be a balance between the physical and the human resource within the organization, therefore this is necessary maintaining a suitable mi between the various health caregivers and the other professionals who can ensure the success of the organization. However, there is a significant and quite obvious difference between the physical and human resources, therefore it is essential that both the human and physical resources are managed and controlled in two different methods. Furthermore it can also be understood that the relationship between the health care and human resources is complicated, therefore it needs a careful study and evaluation (Drummond et al. 2015). This report critically evaluates the impact on the contemporary human resources on the organizational development in respect to two of the famous healthcare organizations in USA, Children's National Medical Center and George Washington University Hospital. The report will shed light on the specific areas of human resource practice such as talent management, training and development and reward management.

Description of the Organization

Both the chosen organizations are located in the Washington D.C in the United States. The George Washington University Hospital has been founded by the medical depart of the George Washington University, formerly known as the Columbian College. The medical school is in the first place in the capital of the nation. The hospital offers a number of services such as emergency medicine, trauma and critical care, cardiovascular care, Comprehensive Stroke care etc (George Washington University Hospital 2017). Each department of the hospital cares for millions of patients including serious and severe patients. It is also known as one of the best service providers in the entire nation. On the other hand the Children's National Medical Center only provides service to the children care. It is a nonprofit organization with three hundred three beds that include millions of visits all around the year. This hospital is also considered as one of the best pediatric caregivers in the entire nation (Children's National Medical Center 2017). The health care organization includes department of oncology, cardiology department, neurosurgery department, intensive care unit along with the research unit of the pediatric care. Both the organization have been considered to be dealing with serious and severe conditions, therefore they have considered both the physical and human resources to be the most significant resources for delivering an outstanding service to the patients.

Talent Management

While reviewing the talent management sector of the health care organizations, it is necessary to consider the concept of talent management first. The notion of talent management can be defined as “systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement, retention and deployment of those individuals who are of particular value to an organization, either in view of their ‘high potential’ for the future or because they are fulfilling business/operation-critical roles” (Glendon, Clarke and McKenna 2016). It can also be said that talent management is generally the strategic management of the talent flow within the organization. The talent management within the health care sector has a significant role to play in terms of cost control, patient safety and the rightly access to the care which are mostly the major operational issues within the health care organizations. The career and talent development generally include all the individuals within the organizations which fundamentally maximizes the potential of the health care professionals. The talent management is also necessary for the employee retention procedure regardless of their seniority within the organization and the position they hold. Okoye and Ezejiofor (2013) has indicated that in the health care organizations, talent management is more necessary for creating strong leaders and the engaged work force. However, there can be different kinds of issues regarding the shortage of nursing and clinical employees, higher turnover rates of the clinical and non clinical employees, continuous retirement of the senior executives etc. In The George Washington University Hospital, the management has implemented an effectual talent management program that includes development of the internal leadership along with the external and internal succession planning. Therefore these programs have provided the organization a competitive edge within the healthcare sector. Furthermore, it should also be considered that the competition in the healthcare sector in USA is fierce and scholars predict that it is supposed to intensify in the forthcoming years. At the same time, the Children's National Medical Center faces a severe shortage of talents for the nurses and physicians. Glendon, Clarke and McKenna (2016) indicates that this can be for the limited career opportunities within the comparatively flat career ladder in the medical arena. However, Children's National Medical Center has also started effective programs that include the external and internal leadership development that enhances the retention of the employees within the organization.

Training and Development

Training and development is the most significant feature of the human resource management within the organization. Glasby and Dickinson (2014) explain that the each organization should design their training and development according to the need of the employees and the expectation of the organizations from its employees. According to Stellefson, Dipnarine and Stopka (2013) within the health care sector it is necessary to provide number of opportunities to the health care professional through the training and development along with distributing the burdens of the health care system amongst all the professionals within an organization. However this is an ongoing procedure in the health care sector. As within this industry there are thousands of specializations, a health care professional requires to continue his or her studies throughout their career, their education do not stop after pursuing the degree. Therefore George Washington University Hospital has a well organized and effective career development plan for the professionals. In measuring the effectiveness of the development plan, the organization has implemented a measurement procedure of the knowledge and skills of the employee along with the training process. In the health care sector, it is important to have a clear knowledge regarding the skills of the professional as patient safety depends entirely on that. The health care sector is quite technical with the specialties that cover a wide range of patient care related topics. Both the organizations cover such complicated fields therefore the health care professionals require to sharpen their skills and knowledge continuously. This continuous career development is a little different than the conventional training as it always deals with the forthcoming requirements and other potential promotions. Marchington et al. (2016) defines the specific difference between training and development, as he states that in the training procedure, the focus is mainly on the present job, however in the developmental programs the focus is on both the existing job band the potential future job of the employees. In health care sector, measuring the competence of the professional is significant as this indicates the weak points of the individual that the management needs to take care of. Measuring such competence would be possible from the initial training of the health care professionals and the performance appraisals. Both the chosen organizations train their fresher health care professionals by an internal procedure covering all the guidelines and regulations provided by the government. There is always an internal training program for the new joiners, regardless of their past experience. However the training process is always reviewed during different time as that will help the organization to track the weak points of their professionals. Most of the times, it has been found that they pay little attention to the training development policies that may encourage the further career development and the other opportunities for the health care professionals. However, both the chosen organizations have shown adequate amount of attention in the training and development of the existing and new employees, which clearly has contributed to the development of both the organizations.

Reward Management

The reward and recognition system within the organizations is significant as it tend to motivate the employees to work towards the shared goal. Each organization requires a certain strategic reward system for their employees. The rewards and recognition system plays a significant role in the organizational growth. There can be several kinds of reward and recognition system such as, monitory rewards and the non monetary rewards. The monetary rewards include the tangible returns such as the increment, bonus, incentives and the other benefits such as the allowances and the protection of income. Along with that the monetary rewards can also be rating of the merits, job evaluation and the sharing of profit amongst the employees (Campbell et al. 2013). In the health care sectors the professionals are generally the individuals who are bound by their code of ethics and have the responsibility of performing well for rendering quality service to the patients. However the organizations should ensure that there is a clear and transparent reward management system within the organization that helps the health care professionals to have a motivated attitude towards their job. Not only that, but there can also be non monetary reward systems which are the non tangible return such as recognition of the employee security of their employment, praising for their job or acknowledging their performances (Abdelhak, Grostick and Hanken 2014). The George Washington University Hospital has followed a pay for performance model that initiates an improved efficiency and quality of the job along with eliminating the additional costs. The reports have shown that in the year 2005, around seventy five per cent of the American organizations had followed this model. The payment method in the health care system is conventionally known as the rewards; also the health care service providers are given rewards depending on the quantity of their services in place of the quality services. Yet, they can also earn the performance incentives along with their payment by providing the organization an outstanding quality service. Children's National Medical Center also rewards its employees as it has become a norm in the United States and in most of the leading organizations. The loyal and dedicated employees are acknowledged and recognized within the system, as they do not lose their motivation. The organization has noticed that most of the unrecognized employees tend to lose their morale and sincerity for their job. () has also noticed that the dedicated and loyal employees who have been recognized by the system, also impact the organizational performance in a positive way. The more dedicated employees an organization has, the more it is capable of providing a quality service. The significant increase in the motivational level of the health care employees influences the other to provide greater performance which ultimately leads to a significant organizational growth.

Conclusion

In conclusion it can be said that these three human resource practices such as the talent management, training and development and reward management have a huge impact on the organizational growth in both positive and negative way. These practices work as an entire system that tend to attract, motivate, develop and retain the employees in order to ensure that there is an effective implementation. These practices are also designed in a way that facilitates the development of the competencies within the organization. These practices value the human capital of the organizations, which are the most essential and significant part in the health care organizations. The higher performance and productivity indicates a greater human resource practices within the health care sector.

References

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