- are not likely to reach their full potential in the workplace and thus productivity suffers (Tierney, 2013).
- Nurturing Innovation:
- Shortcomings- Providing the right platform for innovation can be a challenging task for the department.
- Advantages- If steps are undertaken to foster innovation then it can bring fruitful results for the department as the employees can come up with new and innovative ways to conduct existing jobs (Scott, 2013).
- Justification
KAUH is the first educational hospital in Saudi Arabia; it originally opened in 1955 and became a teaching hospital in 1975. The hospital provides specialized medical services and clinical support services.
In KAUH due diligence will be applied in order to have checks and balances. Workers will have to into an agreement before conducting any business that will affect the hospital. With the implementation of the new structure, all the department needs will have to comply with the organizational regulations. They will have to give assurance of commitment to achieving the organizational goals and objectives.
The target clients for the hospital is the local and international clients that are people neighboring KAUH where the hospital is centered, it also targets foreign clients who will be interested in getting treatment from the hospital and furthering their education. It will also provide medical education for the local and international students alike. According to the Health, statics released last year KAUH was ranked among the most preferred hospital for both medication and education (Scott and Bruce, 2013).
Satisfied workforce is the key to success for any organization. Currently the academic department is seeking ways to improve the satisfaction of its employees and to ensure greater productivity through this. I have outlined some of the key areas where they can bring about a change. Eight types of recommendations have been made which may help in increasing the productivity and streamlining the operations of the academic department. These recommendations are also likely to overcome the problems and shortcomings as reported by the employees themselves; and lead to greater recognition and motivation for them in the long run (Harrison, 2005).
Finally, it will be an expensive task for the implementation of recommendations as the costs are very high. The cost and time frame of implementation will be as follows;
- Implementation Proposal
The first step for proper implementation of the new proposal is to create a realistic vision, mission, and objectives that are aligned with the identity of KAUH and the academic affairs department in particular. This will give each and everyone at the organization the force or push to strive for organizations performance. It will also improve the quality of work done by different departments within its premises.
Next, the employees should be given a clear set of achievable goals for their individual departments so they can know what they are expected to carry out. By doing these employees’ will be accountable for their time and work, and they will .also have personal driving force at the work place.
Another action that needs to be taken is to rebuild the training department and structure to improve the performance and maximize effectiveness. Through the rebuild staff members will be trained in different skills therefore increasing reliability and effectiveness. Through the training there will be collaboration, proper communication between staff members, which will in turn lead to better performance. From the employees’ perspective, the work environment seemed to be a major contributor to their satisfaction.
There should be seeking of internal feedback to assess employees' satisfaction, and developing recommendations to enhance the work environment. For example, the academic affairs department does not have any method to collect feedback to assess employees’ satisfaction or enhance the work environment. When that is implemented the organization will know more of what needs to be corrected and when.
Outlining what the incentives of fulfilling the goals are, should also be clearly outlined and communicated to the employees. This would also act as a motivational factor for the employees as they will clearly know what they will achieve. Any person would want to get a reward, so by having incentives staff members will work well.
Implementing newer technology to assist the employees is highly preferable as this would help the employees and at the same time cut back on the time required for them to do the work. Efficiency and effectiveness is always made possible through technology. By introducing the latest technology performance at the hospital will significantly increase.
The management will have to rewriting and editing the staff job descriptions and distributing tasks, responsibilities, and reporting relationships of each job. This will give a clear direction on what a staff member needs to do when at work place. Through this, there will be improvement in efficiency at the organization, as work will be done looking at set goals, and personal work description.
Lastly, recommendations should be developed to enhance the work environment. Through this weaker departments could be helped to catch up with the rest. Recommendations are also necessary to help fix problems within the organization and its departments.
With the rapid growth, changes and the many new hospital sprouting every day it is important to run some evaluations that could be helpful to KAUH to meet its daily expectations of its clients. Frequent evaluations will help in putting up right organization structure that will manage the changing business environment.
References
Bryman, A. (2004). Social Research Methods. 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Duane D., (2004), Business Research for Decision Making. 6th edition. Thomson-Brooks/Cole. ISBN: 0534404820
Javalgi, R., Granot, E., & Alejandro, B. (2011). Qualitative Methods in International Sales Research: Cross Cultural Considerations. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, vol. XXXI, no. 2 , 157–170.
Joseph, F. and Arthur, H. (2006). Research Methods for Business. CA: Sage Publishers
KAU hospital Website. Retrieved from: http://hospital.kau.edu.sa
Colliers International. 2012. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Healthcare Overview. Retrieved on June 15, 2013 from Colliers International website: http://www.colliers.com/~/media/files/emea/uae/research/market-overview/ksahealthcareoverviewcihq12012
McNamara, C. (2011). Field guide to consulting and organizational development with nonprofits: A collaborative and systems approach to performance, change and learning. Minneapolis, Minn: Authenticity Consulting.
Roth, W.D. (2013). The costs and benefits of “Red Tape”. Vol. 43. 136-158.
Wears, R.L. (2010). Computer Technology & Clinical Work. 1197-1223.
Saleem, S. (2011). Impact of Financial Incentives on Employee Commitment. Vol 3, No 4.
Jun, L.K & Lan, W.M. (2002). The Classification of Human Capital. International Journal of Management. Vol.22. 1.
Hall, W.L. (2002). Strategic Management of Human Capital. The Public Manageer. Vol.31, No.3.
Harrison, G. M (2005). Regulations and Business Behavior: Doing business in Germany Berkeley: Univversity of California press.
Mokaya, S.O. & Gitari, J.W. (2012). Effects of Workplace Recreation on Employee Performance. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science. Vol.2, No.3.
Tierney, P. & Farmer, S.M.( 2013). The Pygmalion Process and Employee Creativity. Vol.38. 291-333.
Scott, S.G & Bruce, R.A. (2013). Determinants if Innovative Behavior: A Path Model of Innovation in the Workplace. Vol.37, 580-607.
Appendices
- The academic affairs’ vision, mission, and objectives:
I was assigned to create vision, mission, and objectives for the academic affairs department at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH). I had first to read and understand the hospitalvision, mission, and objectives to be able to write realistic vision, mission, and objectives for the academic affairs section that are aligned with the identity KAUH. I also sat with my supervisor and got all the necessary information about the academic affairs department. I was able then to write good vision, mission statements, and list of objectives. My supervisor read them, provided me with some suggestions, and approved them after I made all the necessary changes.
Vision:
Mission:
Objectives:
13. 2 The academic affairs’ old and new department structure
I was asked to assist in rebuilding the training department structure to improve the performance and maximize effectiveness. I search the Internet and collect some information about similar departments at similar organizations, and benchmark the internal data against external online data to build a better structure that allows smooth flow of operations between the different units under the department. Then, my supervisor and I integrated all the information and rebuilt the training department structure. Below are the old and new structures:
The old structure:
The new structure:
13. 3 The In-depth Interview Questions
I conducted the in-depth interviews in Arabic; therefore, the questions are translated from Arabic. The in-depth-interviews were conducted with the academic affairs department, which includes 15 employees. The interviews purpose was to rewrite and edit the staff job descriptions and distribute tasks, responsibilities, and reporting relationships of each job. Below is the list of questions:
- What are your responsibilities?
- Describe your work process.
- What is the most challenging part of your job?
- How many people do you have to manage? And who are they?
- How many people do you have to report to? And who are they?
- How do you enlist the help of others in your work?
- What do you do to ensure delivering projects on time?
- How do you delegate tasks?
- How do you handle conflict on a team project?
- How do you stay cutting edge?
- What do you do to put co-workers at ease?
- How do you seek feedback from your co-workers?
13. 4 The Survey Questions
I built the questionnaire in Arabic as well, and translated its questions below. The survey was sent to the academic affairs department, which includes 15 employees; however, only 12 employees completed it. The survey purpose was to assess the employees’ satisfaction levels and develop recommendations to enhance the work environment. The survey’s questions are:
1. How satisfied are you working for KAUH?
2. What do you like the most about working for KAUH?
3. Suggestions to make KAUH a better workplace
4. How satisfied are you working in the academic affairs department?
5. What do you like the most about working with the academic affairs department?
6. Suggestions to make the academic affairs a better place to work in
7. Please indicate to which extent you agree with the following statements:(Statements About Your Job)
8. Please indicate to which extent you agree with the following statements:(Statements About Your supervisor)
