Health Field Human Resource Management

HCA 5306, Health Field Human Resource Management 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Explain the importance of human resource management activities performed in health care organizations. 1.1 Summarize the current state of the industry for health care professionals. 1.2 Identify human resource challenges in health care.

2. Examine the role of human resources within health care organizations.

2.1 Consider the competencies for health care human resources. 2.2 Summarize the importance of measurement and analytics in human resource management.

Required Unit Resources Chapter 1: The Nature and Challenges of Healthcare HR Management Chapter 2: Healthcare HR Competencies, Structures, and Quality Standards Unit Lesson Human resource (HR) professionals are increasingly using the term competency today to portray a complex set of related and interrelated skills, abilities, and knowledge that are associated with the success in a specific HR job. This competency-based process reflects the fact that the acquisition of specific knowledge and experience, and the application of that knowledge and experience does not necessarily produce the desired performance requirements for today’s HR professional in the health care field. For today’s HR professional, success in the job appears to require certain innate characteristics that may be hard to identify and measure but in today’s business environment must be measured so that hiring managers can make effective decisions. HR competency frameworks are being used in many professions and industries including health care. These competencies must have a measurable and observable criterion such as knowledge, skill, ability, and possibly other characteristics that are critical to successful HR job performance. There is increasing evidence that HR management competencies in the health care field adopted by organizations can have a significant effect on organizational performance. These HR competencies oriented toward health care organizations provide a better path of delivering quality health care outcomes. Embracing these HR competencies could assist hospitals to improve operational efficiency and job behaviors of staff. These health care outcomes have consistently been cited as priorities for the health care sector, which today is faced with constant change in the workplace and many challenges to the delivery of quality health care services. One of the more important competencies for HR professionals to develop in the health care field is employee engagement. These competencies are aimed at retaining high-performing talent. Higher employee engagement in the health care field would go a long way in improving the relationship between employees, the organization, and patients. HR professionals with a high engagement competency can provide systems that energize the workforce and develop effective strategies to address appropriate performance expectations from employees at all levels of the organization. Through these higher employee engagement processes, hospitals have adopted a commitment-based approach that requires the development of more of a mutual commitment between employer and employee that results in higher levels of trust and empowerment.

UNIT I STUDY GUIDE Health Care HR Challenges and Competencies

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Employee motivational theories have consistently suggested that the health care sector adopt a type of control orientation to people management. This control orientation can be applied to jobs that require low levels of skill and a basic level of autonomy. The benefit is that it creates a minimization of expenditure on people management. Perceived control is one of the most robust predictors of employee motivation. Employees who are confident and optimistic about their future are more likely to be motivated by challenging tasks. In contrast, employees who doubt their own efficacy are more likely to show a helplessness and prefer easy tasks, remain passive, and therefore less motivated on the job. However, this control approach has been found to be misaligned with today’s health care reforms, and it demoralizes health care staff. Another very important competency for the human resources professional, especially in a health care setting, is the ability to provide sound employee relations decisions. Health care is unique for the HR professional because not only are there employee/management issues but there are also employee-patient behavioral situations that must be handled with a professional and objective process. A health care organization’s success in benefiting from its extensive investment in its employees depends heavily on its ability to manage the employment relationship over time. In addition to employer-employee-patient relationships, there may be groups or third parties that create challenging situations. These third parties such as labor unions are becoming more familiar on the health care landscape. In health care, this employment relationship is affected by many factors such as the culture, history of the organization, laws, and ethical and moral concerns. Other factors are economic issues that we are seeing play-out in the health care industry as health care organizations are coming under more pressure to fill beds and become cost-effective producers of health care services. Within many of these conditions, HR will play a critical role in developing and implementing the organization’s employee relations strategy. One typical employee relations situation that requires a competency-based approach is the investigation of a sexual harassment charge. An investigation of any type within the workplace has many unintended consequences. The approach to an investigation must begin with the end in mind. How will this investigation affect the alleged victim? How will it affect the alleged harasser? How will it affect the workforce? How will it affect the organization? The alleged victim has rights as well as the alleged harasser. A poorly conducted internal investigation can cost the organization financially and damage its reputation with employees and customers. On the other hand, a properly conducted investigation that is prompt, thorough, and impartial can defend an organization in a legal battle and help build morale and trust among employees. Human resource management in the health care field is responsible for developing systems that improve the utilization of human capital and productivity through developing relationships and objectives of employment between staff and their health care organization. This competency-based approach to HR management in the health care field increases the odds of that effect. Professional human resources certification is becoming more important in today’s complex workplace. A professional certification establishes credibility and shows that a person has mastered today’s HR body of knowledge and has remained current on HR developments through some type of recertification process along with the certification process. HR certification also recognizes professional achievement, and it becomes a very visible reminder to senior management and to coworkers of the HR professional’s HR expertise at many levels in the organization. This type of certification even elevates the status of the HR professional and the HR function within an organization, creating more trust and influence for the human resources department. As HR certification grows, so does the status of the HR professional and the prestige of that certification. Thinking as a business first and an HR person second, an HR certification allows the HR practitioner to make a greater contribution to the organization’s success. The knowledge and visibility that the HR professional gains provide them the opportunity to make a real difference in the health care organization. An HR certification provides a sense of personal satisfaction of achieving a goal based on having undertaken and succeeded in a very difficult task. Many newly certified HR professionals do it for themselves, but there are many other reasons including being more marketable in the career field. This highly valued HR certification gives the HR professional a distinct advantage in the job market because of the competency- based process where the CEOs and senior leaders want to know that the HR professional not only has the knowledge to do the job but can show the how, when, and where HR processes should be applied. The employer has a better sense of predicting job success when they know the candidate is certified. Another important point is that HR certifications are portable. HR professionals work in many different jobs and industries. Certification is portable across different companies and positions. The certification moves with the

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HR professionals as they change companies and careers. It also helps the public sector, such as federal employees, transition to the private sector because many HR processes are very different in the public sector versus the private sector. The HR body of knowledge is vast and complex in today’s 21st century workplace. One minute the HR professional is challenged with an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charge or federal lawsuit, and the next minute they are counseling employees during a layoff. An HR professional must process the skills and knowledge required to perform sound human resource management practices in an effective manner. Technical expertise or knowledge is the foundation. Knowledge of strategic planning, talent acquisition, employee engagement, learning and development, employee and labor relations, just to name a few, are all critical for the HR practitioner to be successful. However, with that knowledge comes the application, or competencies, of that knowledge. How does an HR professional develop an effective talent acquisition process? How do they know when and where an HR professional conducts an effective sexual harassment investigation without the fear of unintended consequences? This combination of technical and competency-based knowledge contributes directly to successful outcomes for the organization. Suggested Unit Resources In order to access the following resource, click the link below. Like many other facets of the workplace and health care, human resources (HR) has faced many challenges in the past several years. Resiliency allows many organizations and departments to stay viable but, more importantly, improve and grow. In the article below, Van Dyke (2022) discussed many examples of the resiliency of HR departments. Please take the time to review the article and learn more about resiliency within HR departments and how they affect health care organizations. Dyke, M. V. (2022). The path of most resilience building a strong and fulfilled healthcare workforce.

Healthcare Executive, 37(3), 8–15. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire ct=true&db=bsu&AN=156719912&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Learning Activities (Nongraded) Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information. After reading the suggested reading article, think about the role of the human resource professional in a health care organization. What is different about the health care environment versus other organizational workplace environments? Please discuss in the student break room.