There are many healthcare accreditation organizations. However, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is the most prestigious accreditation organization. JCAHO enables healthcare facilities to provide high quality services to their clients. This leads to a significant increase in the competitiveness of he healthcare facility. Patients who demand high quality services may consider accreditation of healthcare facilities in determining where to seek medical services. However, getting JCAHO accreditation is not easy. Healthcare facilities must meet various standards. Compliance may necessitate the healthcare facility to change its processes, policies, and procedures. Therefore, employees of the healthcare facility should be able to accommodate the changes. To do so, the employees must be highly skilled in their jobs. JCAHO requires employees to have performance evaluations that are specific to their job descriptions. JCAHO may train employees of the healthcare organization on how to improve the quality of their services. This would help in reducing the risks that the healthcare facility or patients face.
Therefore, it is critical for a healthcare facility to develop job descriptions that would enable employees to perform their duties in accordance with JCAHO standards. In addition, the healthcare facility must have performance evaluation mechanisms that ensure that employees always perform their prescribed duties effectively. This leads to significant improvement in the quality of services that the healthcare facility offers. In addition, accreditation leads to a significant improvement in the efficiency of business processes of the healthcare facility. JCAHO may provide advice that would help in recruitment and retention of employees (Wolper, 2011). JCAHO accreditation may enable a healthcare facility to improve its accounting processes. This may lead to a significant change in the accounting processes. Therefore, it is vital to include the changes in the job descriptions of the employees. Failure to do this would make the employees claim that they are undertaking duties that are not in their job descriptions.
In a healthcare facility, recruiting and selecting employees are the crucial steps in creating the right organizational culture. An organization should ensure that it selects the right candidates for job openings. The candidate’s qualifications should match the organizational culture. In addition, the candidate should be able to form good relationships with patients, their families, and other employees. Hiring employees who match the organizational culture of the healthcare facility increases employee retention. This is because the employee would fit into the organization seamlessly (Capelli, 2000). However, if the healthcare facility hires an employee whose qualifications and behaviors do not match the organizational culture, the employee may be dissatisfied with the healthcare facility. This may make the employee seek employment elsewhere. In some instances, the management of the healthcare facility may have to fire the employee, as the employee may violate the policies of the healthcare facility repeatedly. Therefore, as the HR Vice President, I would ensure that the healthcare facility always hires the right employees.
The sensitive nature of healthcare facilities necessitates them to conduct background checks before hiring new employees. Background checks make the interviewers discover flaws in the prospective employee’s character that may hinder efficient provision of services. This would help the healthcare facility to avoid expensive litigation in the future due to the employee’s activities (Bradley & Moore, 2004). Healthcare facilities should ensure that they employ people of high moral character. Therefore, as the the HR Vice President, I would ensure that background checks are a critical part of the recruitment and selection process.
Organizations should not discriminate job applicants based on their sexual orientation, marital status, or age. Interviewers should not ask questions regarding the marital status of the candidate. In addition, the interviewers should not ask questions on the sexual orientation or religious beliefs of the candidate (Greenwood, 2012). As the the HR Vice President, I would ensure that interviewers only ask questions that would enable them to determine the competency of the candidate.
It is critical for a healthcare facility to desist from hiring employees after just one meeting. An organization should not offer a job to the prospective employee on the spot pending the outcome of background checks. This method of selection and recruitment is not efficient in creating the right culture within the healthcare facility. A healthcare facility should only hire the prospective employee after the background checks have not yielded anything of major concern. In addition, interviewers should have several meetings with prospective employees to ascertain their suitability. Hiring new employees in a hurry increases the likelihood of the healthcare facility hiring people who are unsuitable for the job. This increases the chances of the healthcare facility undertaking the process again due to the high turnover of the employees. Therefore, an organization should take all the time it needs to hire competent employees. As the HR Vice president, I would ensure that interveiwers have several meetings with the prospective employee and take all te time they need to hire a suitable individual.
The mission and values of the organization help organizations in hiring the right individual. Interviewers should ask questions that relate to the mission and values of the healthcare facility. Interviewers should use the values of the organization in asking behavioral questions that would help in determining whether the values of the individual are similar to those of the organization. In a healthcare setting, it is vital for an employee to put the needs of the patients and their families first. Therefore, interviewers should formulate questions that would enable them to determine whether the individual would prioritize the needs of the patients and their families. In addition, interviewers should ask behavioral questions that relate to the work environment. The employee should have the ability to form good relationships with patients, their families, and other employees. Interviewers should ask follow up questions to clarify various issues. The behavior of the individual in different cultures would help in determining how the individual would perform in the healthcare of the organization.
Therefore, having proper employee recruitment and selection processes is one the principal factors that may improve retention of employees. However, this is not enough in ensuring that healthcare facilities retain their talented employees. Performance appraisal is another method that organizations may use to retain employees. Most organizations use reward based performance appraisals to motivate their employees. Healthcare facilities should ensure that they reward high performing employees. Healthcare facilities may choose to punish low performing employees or withhold their benefits. For performance appraisals to be efficient, the healthcare facility should have efficient performance evaluation mechanisms. Most organizations use monetary rewards in performance appraisal. In addition, an organization may use promotions to reward high performing employees (Simons, 2011). An organization may also use a combination of employee loyalty and high performance in promoting employees. However, high performance is the major factor that determines promotions in various organizations. High performing employees may have a meteoric rise within an organization.
In a healthcare facility, performance is the main factor that determines employees who should get promotions. Professional qualification also determines employees who should get promtions. The medical profession is a knowledge intensive field. Therefore, it is vital for employees to be conversant with the latest developments in the industry. This is one of the main reasons why academic qualification is critical in promotions in the healthcare industry. Therefore, as the the HR Vice president, I would ensure that the healthcare facility uses a combination of employee, loyalty, academic qualification and performance in determing employees who are liable for promotion. This would help in determining the most suitable candidates for promotions.
From time to time, employees may violate the company’s policies. In addition, employees may performance levels that are unacceptable in the company. This necessitates organizations to have employee counseling and discipline programs. Ideally, an organization should strive to nurture employees. Organizations should overlook small faults in the employee. However, if the employee conduct threatens to tarnish the image or overall performance of the organization, the organizations should take measures to prevent the recurrence of the activities. Organizations use employee counseling to determine problems that the employee may face in conducting their duties. This helps the organization to devise strategies that may help alleviate the problem. However, if the problem persists even after the organization has tried to accommodate the needs of the employee, the organization may decide to take disciplinary action. The disciplinary usually depends on the gravity of the issue. An organization may issue warning letters to the employee or suspend the employee. In severe cases, the organization may fire the employee. However, the organization should not fire the employee after the first mistake. Organizations usually give their employees the chance to reform. An organization should ensure that it keeps a record of the warning letters that it may have issued the employee prior to the firing. This may be vital evidence if the employee decides to sue to the company after the firing (Gibson, Cotterman & Johnson, 2011).
As the HR Vice President, I would ensure that the healthcare facility has an efficient employee-counseling program. If after counseling, employees the employees do not change their conduct, the human resource department would issue the first warning letter. Continued misconduct would lead to the issue of the second warning letter. The management of the healthcare facility would suspend the employee after the second warning letter. The suspension would make the employee lose various benefits. If the employee does not reform even after the second warning letter, then the organization would fire the employee. Before firing the employee, one of the managers of the healthcare facility would explain the reasons behind the firing. This would reduce the probability of the employee suing the healthcare facility. However, the management of the healthcare facility would not be lenient to employees whose activities threaten the safety of the patient. This is due to the fact such activities may put the healthcare facility at risk of facing expensive litigation from patients. Therefore, it is vital for healthcare facilities to ensure that their employees have a high level of professionalism.
References
Bradley, D. B., & Moore, H. L. (2004). Preventing workplace violence from negligent hiring in healthcare. Journal of Nursing Administration, 34(3), 157-61.
Capelli, P. (2000). A Market-driven approach to retaining talent. Harvard Business Review, 78(1), 103-111.
Gibson, J. W., Cotterman, S. P., & Johnson, R. E. (2011). Discipline: Still a four letter word? Journal of Business & Economics Research, 4(1), 5-8.
Greenwood, M. (2012). How to interview like a pro: Forty-three rules for getting your next job. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse.
Simmons, R. (2011). Human resource management: Issues, challenges and opportunities. Oakville, ON: CRC Press.
Wolper, L. F. (2011). Health care administration: Managing organized delivery systems. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.