Increased importance of human resource management is associated with health care organizational activities and operation. In particular, legal and ethical issues, safety and welfare of employees, and motivation and support initiatives are vital for enhancing collaboration and enriching organizational culture.
Due to the increased diversity of cultural backgrounds of both patients and employee, the human resource managers should pay closer attention to the influence of globalization and technology on healthcare delivery and teamwork training, leading to higher quality of patient care.
Because employees constitute the most valuable asset of an organization, managers should be concerned with their productivity and performance. In order to developed a well-organized and effective workforce, the human resource department should provide constant improvement in such areas as job analysis and recruitment, legal and ethical management framework, healthcare career promotion, distribution of employee benefits, motivation and support, and future trends in employees’ development.
The partnership between HR department and management is unique in the field of health care because the majority of healthcare organizations are premised on a dual managerial structure of health services managers and clinical managers who are responsible for monitoring two groups of employees with various responsibilities and training needs (Niles, 2012). For instance, clinical managers are more experience in training specific clinical area whereas health service managers are focused on specific requirements.
Regardless of levels of organization, employees should adhere to the ethical and legal standards accepted in healthcare industry. The legal issues should be established between the healthcare institution and the consumer, namely healthcare professional and provider.
Ethical codes of conduct should also be developed to cope with ethical dilemmas and conflict situations in the most efficient way (Niles, 2012). State and federal laws have been implemented to protect both patient and healthcare provider and, therefore, legislature is foundational in dealing with safety and welfare of the stakeholders. In this respect, the role of HR manager consists in introducing efficient standards that would allow them to enhance the cultural environment in an organization.
Job analysis and design is another important responsibility that HR managers should uphold to sustain motivation and enhance support for the employees. In fact, job design implies development of a set of duties, tasks, and responsibilities that employees should accomplish. In case, employees face misconception in terms of the requirements, they overall organizational framework might fail (Niles, 2012). Therefore, strict distribution of responsibilities is indispensible for sustain performance and establishing control.
Within the content of recruitment and motivation, HR managers should be endowed with efficient problem solving and decision-making skills (Muller et al., 2006). Problem solving is concerned with providing solutions to specific situations. Decision making is also important for managers to implement proactive facets of management (Muller et al., 2006). Project management is another functional dimension that focuses on development of multi-stage accomplishment of specific assignments.
In conclusion, HR practices are vital for arranging tasks, responsibilities, and performance of employees. The role of HR managers in healthcare industry is confined to managing safety and legal issues, ensuring efficient performance, and developing problem solving and decision-making skills.
Job analysis and design is among the priority for HR managers working healthcare environment. Employees should be worked out specific strategies for enriching organizational culture. Due to the fact that employee performance depends on the ethical environment as well, the human resource managers should introduce efficient ethical codes.
References
Muller, M., Jooste, K., & Bezuidenhout, M. (2006). Health Care Service Management. US: Juta and Company Ltd.
Niles, N. J. (2012). Basic Concept of Health Care Human Resource Management. US: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.