Human Resource Management Found of Master Stud in HC Adm. assignment 2

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Leadership and Group Collaboration

Learner’s Name

Capella University

MHA-FPX5001: Foundations of Masters Studies in Healthcare

Administration Instructor Name

March 1, 2023

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Lynnette -

I am thankful and excited to take on the proposed project. I strongly believe effective

leadership in health care is a critical component in the success of an organization. This

project is a great opportunity to enhance my skills in solving organizational issues such as

the diversity issue at Lakeland Medical Clinic. I understand from your e-mail the primary

issue we must focus on is the staff’s lack of cultural competence. Culture affects the way we

comprehend our reality, how we communicate, and how we perceive our surroundings

(Center for Community Health and Development, 2019). As our population becomes more

culturally diverse, it is important for health care centers to be culturally competent. For an

organization to be culturally competent, it is important for employees to communicate

effectively and appreciate the diversity of cultures (White et al., 2019).

To handle the diversity issue effectively, a health care leader must possess skills such as

excellent communication, strategic thinking, interpersonal skills, and the ability to plan

efficiently. A leader should communicate to the staff the vision and the goal of the diversity

project in a manner that creates a sense of unity and purpose among the staff members. A

leader must plan strategically to change the system by anticipating problems the staff might

face while implementing new processes. A leader should encourage staff members from

interdisciplinary teams to actively voice their opinions to validate the processes that have

been implemented and suggest changes that could enhance the efficiency of the staff's

involvement in these processes.

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An individual I would choose to lead a project such as this would be Dr. Lisa E. Harris,

medical director and chief executive officer of Eskenazi Health, Indianapolis. For 30 years,

Dr. Harris has practiced medicine and has been committed to improving medical services

for minorities. She is constantly engaged in research, teaching, and patient care.

Today, the Eskenazi Health campus is one of the largest health care campuses to achieve a

gold certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Eskenazi Health,

n.d.). Dr. Harris is an excellent example of a leader who practices the transformational style

of leadership. Dr. Harris’s success can be attributed to her ability to take risks to achieve her

goals. She has actively worked toward developing the quality of health care services in local

communities. She ran a successful campaign to seek voter approval for the construction of a

new hospital that could solve existing health care issues, revolutionize health care, and

provide affordable health care. There are certain similarities and differences between Dr.

Harris’s and my leadership style. The similarities include leading by example, being

approachable, demonstrating a strong work ethic, being willing to train and motivate

subordinates to achieve their goals, and working to fix issues in the system.

For the proposed project, I would implement a process flow that provides enough room for

innovation. Dr. Harris implemented a complex workflow that could reduce the bandwidth

for innovation within the organization. This approach might not be ideal for a clinic setting,

especially when tackling sensitive issues such as diversity. Consequently, my approach

would differ from Dr. Harris’s; I would encourage a diverse and inclusive workplace that

also promotes interprofessional collaboration. This, in turn, encourages the sharing of

experiences and expertise among staff members and opens avenues for innovation.

Steps to Address the Diversity Issue

When leading the project at Lakeland Medical Clinic, I will utilize key qualities of both

transformational and collaborative types of leadership to effectively address the

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diversity issue. One approach is to set up a multicultural collaboration between the staff at

the clinic and the residents. This can be achieved by forming an interdisciplinary committee

that consists of staff members from different disciplines as well as members from the

community. Collaborations between physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals

promote knowledge sharing and can make the processes that have been set up to achieve

staff and patient satisfaction more efficient.

Mutual respect, trust, and collaboration are some characteristics of an effective team.

Collaboration in a health care setting involves professionals taking on complementary roles

and working together, sharing responsibility to solve problems, and formulating effective

plans for patient care. An important aspect of collaboration is open and effective

communication, which builds respect and fosters trust. The roles and responsibilities of team

members must be clearly communicated to prevent conflicts of interest. Another approach

would be to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of team members through an internal

assessment and delegate work based on their capabilities. Training sessions should be set up

for team members who lack certain skills. It is important to motivate and encourage team

members by identifying and valuing their contributions. My approach would be to mandate

shared decision-making within the team to encourage negotiation, openness, and trust.

Shared- decision making can make way for various innovative strategies for handling the

clinic’s diversity issue (Morley & Cashell, 2017).

Diversity issues can arise from practical problems such as language barriers and cultural

practices or from deeper systemic issues such as staff prejudices and racism. To address

diversity issues stemming from practical problems, we will initiate training programs for

staff to sensitize them to Haitian culture and values. Diversity coaches can be hired to train

staff members. Diversity training provides information about dietary needs and restrictions,

language barriers, and psychological triggers (Cooper-Gamson, 2017). Staff

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members who actively participate in improving their cultural competency should be

recognized and rewarded to motivate and encourage other staff members to do so. To

address systemic issues, we will require an organization-wide assessment of employees and

their cultural biases and provide mandatory antiracism and diversity training (Shepherd et

al., 2019).

Another approach would be to tweak existing hiring policies. We should assess the cultural

competency of candidates, rather than just their academic qualifications and previous work

experience, before recruiting them. A more diverse workforce can help improve an

organization’s cultural competency (Rahman, 2019). We can provide employment

opportunities to individuals from the local community by setting up training camps that can

equip them with the required skills to work at the clinic, thereby improving cultural

diversity in the workforce.

In this e-mail, I have presented multiple strategies to address the diversity issue such as

initiating staff training and hiring diversity coaches along with suggestions to change

existing hiring policies. Implementing these strategies can increase the organization’s

cultural competency and workforce diversity. Improving an organization’s cultural

competency assures improved efficiency of clinical staff as well as patient satisfaction

(White et al., 2019).

References

Center for Community Health and Development. (2019). Section 8. Multicultural

collaboration. Community Tool Box. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-

contents/culture/cultural-competence/multicultural-collaboration/main

Cooper-Gamson, L. (2017). Are we bridging the gap? A review of cultural diversity within

stoma care. British Journal of Nursing, 26(17), S24–S28.

https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2017.26.17.S24

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Eskenazi Health. (n.d.). Lisa E. Harris, MD. https://fsph.iupui.edu/doc/news-events/Lisa-

Harris-Bio.pdf

Morley, L., & Cashell, A. (2017). Collaboration in Health care. Journal of Medical Imaging

and Radiation Sciences, 48, 207–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmir.2017.02.071

Rahman, U. H. F. B. (2019). Diversity management and role of leader. Open Economics,

2(1), 30–39. https://doi.org/10.1515/openec-2019-0003

Shepherd, S. M., Willis-Esquesa, C., Newton, D., Sivasubramaniam, D., & Paradies, Y.

(2019). The challenge of cultural competence in the workplace: Perspectives of

healthcare providers. BMC Health Services Research, 19.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-3959-7

White, J., Plompen, T., Tao, L., Micallef, E., & Haines, T. (2019). What is needed in

culturally competent healthcare systems? A qualitative exploration of culturally

diverse patients and professional interpreters in an Australian healthcare setting. BMC

Public Health 19, 1096. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7378-9