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Improve Employee Productivity in the Healthcare Organization

Today leaders now find that they must ensure a positive employer brand, create initiatives that increase employee engagement and productivity, and establish relationships between the company and employees beyond just their tenure at the organization. Because HR has so much to do, improving existing employee engagement and productivity is not always given top priority. For a solid productivity plan to work, companies should be focusing on accomplishing future goals with strategies that increase employees’ overall productivity. HR can make employees happier and more productive by providing positive training and enjoyable work environments that help retain talent. Productivity is the relationship between the quantity of output and the quantity of input used to generate that output. It is basically a measure of the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization in generating output with the resources available. It is defined at the ratio of output to input. A healthcare organization will sometimes need to hire external resources to supplement staff in order to deliver superior care to patients. This strategy is a makeshift measure. Temporary workers, who won’t be as familiar as the internal staff regarding specific hospital systems and workflows, can have a negative impact on productivity and quality. Providing needed training and development can be useful. Also giving employees an incentive can help increase productivity.

It is essential the organization’s leadership team link the vision and values of the organization to its strategy for improving productivity by educating, mentoring, and holding all levels of management accountable for positive results. Fostering an atmosphere of collaboration and learning. Creating an open environment where managers are comfortable learning from, and sharing with, their peers is crucial. Making the right thing to do the easy thing to do ensures everyone understands how their decisions and actions contribute to removing waste and lowering costs without sacrificing quality. Advanced technology is one of the ways an organization can increase productivity. “Because the productivity of employees will depend on the quality of systems serving them, management decisions about information technology are important determinants of the effectiveness of a health care organization” (Pynes & Lombardi, 2011). Integrating programs to enhance employee health is a strategy that many health organizations utilize (Pescud et al, 2015). Some organizations incorporate gym membership and some sort of training. Productivity was the most frequently mentioned outcome of importance in relation to having healthy workers (Pescud et al, 2015). Greater productivity was believed to translate into higher business profitability (Pescud et al, 2015).

“Operational-level systems support operational managers by helping keep track of the elementary activities and transactions of the organization, such as the clinical and administrative health care information related to patient encounters” (Pynes & Lombardi, 2011). Bar coding and scanning has been used in many organizations to decrease errors and improve efficiency. Knowledge level systems are used “to help the organization integrate new knowledge into the agency and control the flow of paperwork” (Pynes & Lombardi, 2011). Knowledge level systems enhances productivity because it keeps record of specific data which can be retrieved when needed. Successful organizations have ways of identifying high performing employees and ensuring that they receive regular training to prepare them for their next role. In addition to the top employees benefitting from increases in engagement and learning opportunities, companies will benefit from more productive employees (Sapovadia, Patel & Patel, 2015). A 10% increase in workforce training results in an 8.6% gain in productivity (Sapovadia, Patel & Patel, 2015). Expert based systems are used for “information for clinical and administrative decision making, and they rely on it to stay abreast of changes in their discipline, to remain professionally competent, and to discover the latest techniques and procedures in their field” (Pynes & Lombardi, 2011). Knowing your employees’ skills and behavioral styles is essential for maximizing efficiency. Communication is the key to a productive workforce. Technology has allowed us to contact each other with the mere click of a button. “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches” (Proverbs 24:3-4). Having the right strategy gets us closer to our goals.  

References

Pescud, M., Teal, R., Shilton, T., Slevin, T., Ledger, M., Waterworth, P., & Rosenberg, M.

(2015). Employers’ views on the promotion of workplace health and wellbeing: a qualitative study. BMC public health, 15(1), 642. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-2029-2

Pynes, J. E. & Lombardi, D. N. (2011).  Human Resources Management for Health Care Organizations: A strategic approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Wiley.

Sapovadia, V., Patel, S., & Patel, A. (2015). Policy Design & Delivery: Undermanaged Human

Resources as Determinants of India's High Growth & Low Productivity. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2589671