Introduction
The human resource management function is an organization function whose main concern is to manage people within organizations focusing on the organization policies and systems (Siddiqui & Kleiner, 1998). Siddiqui & Kleiner (1998) argue that effective management of the human resources is essential to the success of the organization. Human resource management function is tasked to oversee the welfare of the employees’ administrative affairs in the organization. Traditionally, in the healthcare sector, the importance of the human resource management has not been fully appreciated (Kabene, Orchard, Howard, Soriano & Leduc, 2006). However, over the years, the benefit of the human resource in the health sector has gradually gained recognition (Kabene, et al., 2006). The paper will discuss the role and function of the human resource management in the health care sector as well as the role of the human resource to the strategic plan of the organization.
Discussion
Over the past years, the role of the human resource management in health care has gained significant recognition ( Kabene, et al., 2006). Kabene, et al., (2006) argue that the recent recognition of the importance of the human resource management in the health sector has been influenced by factors such as the need to retain experienced, healthcare regulations and economic instabilities. According to Fottler, Khatri & Savage (2010), various studies have shown that the presence of the human resource management function in healthcare facilities has contributed to the effectiveness of service delivery.
Siddiqui & Kleiner (1998) in their article claims that the human resource management plays the following essential roles in the healthcare sector;
Staffing and placement
The effective provision of the health care services depends on ensuring healthcare facilities are staffed with suitable personnel. As such the human resource management function the responsibility of organizing and conducting employee selection to ensure appropriate candidate for the vacant positions. The HRM function advises the organization management on the pay and benefits for both the existing employees and recruits. In a situation where employees are required to obtain certain certifications before practicing, the HRM function may provide the necessary assistance to the employees.
Conducting research on legal issues relating to the healthcare sector
Different studies conducted showed the human resource management are not only concerned with the management of the organization human resources but also with conducting research on the legal issues affecting the sector. As such the role of the human resource management function extends to the conduct of research on regulations and rules relating to the employees in the healthcare sector. To effectively carryout this function the human resource function may engage hospital lawyers. In the modern society, there are various laws that govern the healthcare sector as such the healthcare facilities are expected to be conversant with, to avoid increased legal litigations. For example, the healthcare facilities need to understand the relevant legal aspects when writing employment contracts for the medical practitioners. This role is quite essential as it helps healthcare facilities avoid situations that could lead to the penalties associated with the violation of healthcare related laws.
Employees’ management
Decision making
The healthcare sector has witnessed a paradigm shift in the role of the human resource functions. Recent studies have shown that the human resource management function is increasingly being involved in the planning and decision making. Traditionally the role of the human resource was restricted to record keeping and personnel recruitment. The involvement of the human resource function in management provides a platform for the managers to address personnel concerns. Addressing employees’ issues at early stages minimizes employees’ unrest and strikes thus increasing efficiency and productivity of the healthcare facilities. In the health care sector, proper management of the employee is essential to the delivery of quality health care services. The existence of the human resource function in health facilities plays an important role in ensuring personnel satisfaction.
According to Shi (2007) the functions of the human resource management in the health sector includes the following;
Strategic planning
In any organization strategic planning is an essential element to its success as it involves matching the organizational resources to its objectives and goals. In the health care sector, the human resource management function is involved in matching the organizational human resources to the objectives and goals of the healthcare facilities. Thus, the human resource function is actively involved in the process of determining the levels of skills and the number of personnel required to ensure the effectiveness and success of the healthcare facilities. Strategic planning is essential since it helps identify the gaps in skills and personnel and hence guide the recruitment exercise.
Recruitment and selection
After the identifying the gap in skills and the number of employees required to facilitate to the efficiency and the success of the health facilities. The human resource function has a duty to ensure the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection programs to attracting appropriate skills and enough personnel to the organization. As such the human resource function should put in place proper measures to attract the desired candidates and to ensure only the most suitable candidate are selected to fill the position.
Compensation and benefits
One of ways of motivating the employees and ensuring their commitment to the organization goals and values is by ensuring proper compensation. As such, one of the functions of the human resource function is to advise the management on the matters relating to personnel compensation and benefits. An appropriate compensation policy should consider the level of education and the skills needed to perform an activity. To reward organization loyalty and ensure personnel retention the compensation policy should take into account the period the employee has worked for the organization.
Training and education
Healthcare sector is one of the sectors which are highly regulated. As such education and training are not just for the purpose of ensuring organization efficiency but also as a matter of regulation. To satisfy the education and training legal requirements as well as to enhance the healthcare facilities efficiency, the human resource department has the responsibility of facilitating personnel training and education. The healthcare information is rapidly growing hence the need to ensure the employees are up to date with the new developments in technology, treatment and diagnostic. Therefore, the human resource department has a duty to ensure healthcare facilities have employees having the required level of knowledge by facilitating relevant training and education programs.
Performance evaluation
Performance evaluation is essential in an organization to ensure employees met certain standards. Performance evaluation can also be used as a way of motivating the employees. In the healthcare facilities, there is the need to ensure the performance of personnel is up to par. As such the human resource management department has the duty to constantly appraise and evaluate employees. Performance appraisal is also relevant when deciding the kind of training and education required by the employees to enhance their productivity. The majority of the healthcare facilities have adopted “pay for performance” compensation schemes as a way of encouraging performance evaluation culture.
In consideration of the above discussed functions of human resource management in the healthcare sector, I consider strategic planning to the primary function of the human resource management in the sector. As earlier discussed, strategic planning enables the human resource department to determine the gap in the skills and the number of the employees required to facilitate the efficiency and success of the healthcare facilities. According to Fottler, et al., (2010) various studies carried out strategic planning is the basis of all the other functions of the human resource management. As such if the designed strategic plan is inappropriate there is the possibility that all the other functions will not achieve their desired objective. As such the human resource department should ensure sufficient allocation of resources in developing a human resource strategic plan for the healthcare facilities. It should also be noted that inefficient strategic plan could negatively affect the organization's effectiveness and productivity. Over the years, the healthcare sector has experienced a human resource shortage. However having an appropriate human resource strategic plan, healthcare facilities can be able to overcome the current human resource crises in the sector. It is on these bases I consider, strategic planning as the primary function of the HRM function in the healthcare sector and for which more resources should be devoted to ensuring its success.
Over the years, the roles of human resource management in the organization have been underutilized and misunderstood ( Kabene, et al., 2006). Kabene, et al., (2006) claim that traditionally the role of the human resource function basically involved ensuring the employees welfare. However, over the past decade, a majority of the organizations have started to appreciate the importance of human resource management in organizational strategic planning. According to Fottler, et al., (2010) the appreciation of the importance of human resource management in strategic planning has contributed to the concepts of strategic human resource management. Various studies have shown that more business executives are incorporating human resource management while designing the organization strategic plans (Fottler, et al., 2010). Fottler, et al., (2010) argues that a strategic plan is supposed to guide the organization from its current state to the desired state. However, failing to recognize the role of the human resources in attaining the organization's objectives and goals could contribute to the failure of the strategic business plan. The strategic human resource assists to identify the gaps that exist in skills and the number of the employees required to ensure the fulfillment of the organization's strategic plan. The aim of the strategic human resource is to capture the people component to facilitate the organizational effectiveness and success. For example, Failure to recognize the skills of employees required to successful perform a task could end up de-motivating the employee, hence resulting in the failure of the organization strategic plan. Strategic human resource management plays a significant role in facilitation to the realization of the organization strategic plan through motivating the employees by ensuring proper allocation of the human resources to the achievement of the organizational goals.
Conclusion
The human resource management in today’s organization no longer takes the back stage. The development of the strategic human resource has helped a majority of the organizations achieve their objectives and goals (Sethi & Schuler, 1989). According to Sethi & Schuler (1989), the concept helps the management to appreciate that human resources are one of the most essential resources in the organization. The failure of the management to recognize the importance of the human resources in realizing the organization's goal could contribute to the failure of the organization. In the health care sector, the growth of the realization of the importance of the human resource function has contributed to increased efficiency and improvement in the provision of the health care services. It is the high time that healthcare facilities also appreciate the role of human resource management when designing their strategic plan. Adoption of the Strategic human resource management function could help healthcare facilities to overcome some of the human resources challenges they are facing.
References
Fottler, M. D., Khatri, N., & Savage, G. T. (2010). Strategic Human Resource Management in Health Care. Journal of Health Management, 2(2), 292-327.
Kabene, S. M., Orchard, C., Howard, J. M., Soriano, M. a, & Leduc, R. (2006). The importance of human resources management in health care: a global context. Human resources for health, 4, 20.
Sethi, A. S., & Schuler, R. S. (1989). Human resource management in the health care sector: A guide for administrators and professionals. New York: Quorum Books.
Shi, L. (2007). Managing human resources in health care organizations. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Siddiqui, J., & Kleiner, B. H. (1998). Human resource management in the health care industry. Health manpower management (Vol. 24, pp. 143-147).
