Introduction
Human resource management is an organizational function aimed at maximizing employee’s performance about their strategic objectives. HR management encompasses: conducting job analyses, recruitment of the right people for the job, planning needs of the personnel, salaries and wages management, training and orienting, incentives and health benefits provision, performance evaluation, disputes resolution and communication with employees at various levels. The professionals in human resources manage the organization’s human capital and focus on the processes and policies implementation. About health care, human resource management entails various kinds of non-clinical and clinical staffs responsible for individual and public health interventions (Sadatsafavi, Walewski, & Shepley, 2015). It is essential for the performance, inputs of the health system and service delivery to the individuals at the health care facilities.
Roles of human resource management in healthcare field
HR management oversees the administrative affairs of the employees in an organization. Challenges in medical fields such as care regulations, the demise of experienced personnel and economic instabilities have made it vital to ensure a proper human resource management. It is, therefore, important to understand the following roles of HR management in a health care set-up.
Management of employees
The expertise of reliable and qualified members is needed in a health care facility to ensure that the delivery of healthcare services is adequate with limited patients’ complaints and devoid of possible sanctions from the authorities. The evaluation of organizational employees is carried out by the human resource manager who ensures that the employees’ and recruits’ performances are up to par. He also addresses the possible disputes that might arise between the management and staff by providing a lasting and amicable solution to such conflicts.
Staffing and placement
Staffing a health care facility with suitable personnel is essential regarding quality service delivery. It is the role of a human resource manager to organize and conduct the selection of fit and appropriate candidates for specific positions within the health care facility. In addition to that, he decides and advice the management on the benefits and pay for both the existing employees and the recruits. HR manager carries out the staffing role in four main steps: development of a staffing plan aimed at determining the people to hire, developing policies that encourage multiculturalism during work, recruitment by finding those to fill the positions and finally selects the right person by carrying out an interview (Oppel, Winter, & Schreyögg, 2016).
Decision making
Human resource management is responsible for the planning process and decision making within the health care system. The manager addresses the employees concerns, which is crucial in preventing any possible unrest and disputes within the medical facility. The manager is also responsible for the development of a reliable and stable team and for the establishment of management strategies that govern the workforce thereby ensuring an organized system within the health care facility
Legal Research on Health Care
Human resource management is involved in the research about rules and regulations in which the health care systems are governed concerning employees which at times requires the collaboration with the hospital lawyers. Medicare and Medicaid Patient Protection Act of 1987 are relevant laws that the facility should always be well-versed (Condrey & Perry, 2005). HR management department also does a scrutiny of legal contracts involving medical practitioners, their recruitment, and retention.
Training and development
Once new employees are recruited in the health facility, it is important that they continue growing and developing their skills as far as the service delivery is concerned. This development is the mandate of human resource manager as it is aimed at ensuring a higher productivity within the facility. The management identifies the team; individual and organizational requirements for development and training then implement to the staff. Some of the training programs are communication training, team building policy and legal training among others.
Compensation and benefits to the staff
Human resource management professionals ensure that there is fair compensation for health care workers. The management also makes sure that the pay is fairly done based on the year of experience and education. In addition to proper compensation, the HR management also ensures that all staff members get their due benefits
Functions of human resource management regarding support to health care field
Human resource manager carries out the functions of human resource management to ensure that the organization’s goals and objectives are fulfilled. The manager is in charge of all functional areas of management including financial management, marketing management, and production management. There are two sets of functions performed by the manager: operative functions and managerial functions. Operative functions involve activities that are exclusively carried out by the human resource managers for all the departments whereas managerial functions involve essential functions that the HR managers perform in their capacities as heads of their departments. Below are among the functions of human resource management aimed at ensuring support to health care fields.
Succession planning: These plans deal with possible vacancies in primary positions purposely to avoid any financial losses and problems that might be associated with lack of leadership and the future domino effect on other leaders. It is the obligation of human resource to develop and ensure the maintenance of succession plans.
Providing proper code of ethics: Ethics has been a complex issue in the field of health care and it is the mandate of human resource to ensure that the health facility has a code of ethics that is properly understood by all members of the staff. It is of paramount importance to make sure that the code includes an anti-bullying policy. Proper regulations enforced by the HR supports the health care fields in realizing their laid objectives without any compromise.
Employee Morale: Morale has a direct influence on how employees execute their duties thereby having a direct impact on patient’s lives. A quality and conducive work environment, which has factored in worker-oriented initiatives such as career development programs and training, transparent management and empowerment programs for employees, give employees strong incentives to perform best. These strategies that aim at boosting the morale of employees are laid and implemented by the HR management.
Formation of unions: Health care professionals always form unions for reasons other than pay. Their primary concern is to counter adverse effects on patients that might come as a result of cutbacks. HR identifies union-eligible staffs and proactively addresses them to join various unions.
The primary function of human resource management in furthering health care field is succession planning as this will ensure that there is always high quality health care delivery without any compromise resulting from lack of personnel at any given instance. High quality care is very significant to both the health care providers and those receiving the services. As a result of the quality services, there is an improvement in access to services, improved operational efficiency, improved preventive care, reduced wait time, improved outcomes, reduced health disparities, and above all, there is an improved patient and provider satisfaction.
Role of human resource management in an organization’s strategic plan
Strategic planning involves the opportunities identification and exploitation alongside risk mitigation, through the alignment of goals and initiatives of the organization and allocation of the appropriate and necessary resources aimed at delivering desired results of the stakeholders. Some of the key components of good strategic planning are that it has to incorporate internal and external information, be iterative, and have a different functional expertise and even a continuous cross-divisional management. The understanding of the strategic planning process of an organization and the process involved in its decision making is critical since there will be an analysis of information at every stage of the strategic planning process. It is imperative to include human resource function at every step of the process.
When an organization has in mind the strategic end state, the strategic human resource planning makes the comparison of the current employees in the organization and the talents needed in the future. In a nutshell, the human resource strategy captures what an organization intends to achieve both in medium and long term by ensuring that human resource function are adequately met. Strategic management is the achievement of both competitive and sustainable advantage aimed at the deliverance of the organization’s value propositions and more efficiently meeting the customers’ need than the competitors. This vital role of achieving an organization’s set objectives and the demonstration that human resource functions understand and support the desired direction of the organization is achieved by the human resource strategy.
Human resource plays a vital role in ensuring that the top priorities during an organization’s strategic plans are successfully achieved. To realize this, HR takes the responsibility of connecting people, ideas, and even the tools. It has to have a full understanding of the organization’s primary financial indicators, products, and all competitors that are present in the market. The HR management brings ideas for the development of new products and innovations. In addition to that, human resource monitors newly trending markets, develop new approaches and upgrade traditional markets within the organization. Human resource determines the modality of a real business with the strategic plans. To achieve this, HR has to understand the strategic directions and be in a position of translating them into initiatives and steps. It is the mandate of HR to create and build strategic alliances with managers and employees so as to push forward the solutions
In understanding the organizational development role of human resource management in strategic planning, it is imperative to realize that strategic plan entails the change in processes or workplace systems. As opposed to individual departments that might have the knowledge of only their departments, human resource managers are aware of changes and group initiatives of the entire organization making them very conversant with how these changes impact on the systems and processes within the organization. Goals and objectives are usually set by organizations of which their attainment relies on proper Selection of the staff. These goals are the organization’s guidelines, and so it is prudent to have mechanisms that will ensure the actualization of the goals. For the ultimate realization of the set goals and objectives, it is fundamental to have the right people at the right place and so in the case of hiring; it is very vital to find the right people. It is the mandate of human resource to get the right employees for an organization that will achieve the set goals and objectives.
Conclusion
Based on the roles and functions played by human resource management in the healthcare field, it is evident that management of the human resource is essential to enable the effective and efficient delivery of medical services and the achievement of patient satisfaction.
References
Condrey, S. & Perry, J. (2005). Handbook of human resource management in government. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Gordon, G., Grant, L., & Stryker, R. (2003). Creative long-term care administration. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher, LTD.
Mathis, R. & Jackson, J. (2003). Human resource management. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-western.
Oppel, E., Winter, V., & Schreyögg, J. (2016). Evaluating the link between human resource management decisions and patient satisfaction with quality of care. Health Care Management Review, 1.
Sadatsafavi, H., Walewski, J., & Shepley, M. (2015). The influence of facility design and human resource management on health care professionals. Health Care Management Review, 40(2), 126-138.
