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Managing Human Capital
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Managing Human Capital
Nursing leadership is an intricate part of each healthcare establishment who are utilized
to manage staff members. As the healthcare industry grows, the nursing profession has seen a
perilous demise as many of its members choose to leave the occupation either from retirement or
burn-out. Nurse leaders are faced with enhancing their leadership skills to induce a favorable
margin of retaining staff. Nurse administrators who find success in leading will often have
positive qualities that include emotional intelligence, integrity, good communication skills,
respect for others and a commitment to excellence. These leaders impact retention because they
are directly involved in the satisfaction of their employees recognizing that this will directly
correlate with safe, equitable patient care. When a robust leadership plan is instituted, it sets the
leader up for success that thereby affects staff and patients alike (Cummings et al., 2018). This
paper will reflect on the principles of diverse management that encourages effective operational
performance and patient care outcomes.
Theoretical Reflection
The theory this writer has chosen to reflect on throughout this paper will be the Human-
centered leadership in healthcare. This theory wishes to understand and imitate the essence of
nursing which when recognized and instituted should help the nurse leader to “address structure,
process and outcomes”(Leclerc et al., 2020, p. 294). The foundation of this theory include an
atmosphere of excellence and caring, and trust in leadership. While the nursing world has often
borrowed leadership verbiage such as “transformational or servant leadership” focusing on what
nursing actually encompasses, that of the human centered part, enables nurse leaders to do what
they are naturally called to do which is focus on the human aspect which includes their staff and
their patients. The nursing profession was built on its humanity and while this theory may have a
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contemporary undertone its focus is to bring a framework that involves over 3 million nurses
driving them into the future.
Two driving questions from Leclerc, Kennedy, and Campis (2020) were what kind of
leader would you follow and what kind of leader’s actions has made you leave a job. The survey
was a raw understanding that the culture of nursing leadership needed to grow and change to
enable a healthy, viable workforce. Leading by example, competent, team player, supportive of
growth, and visionary was feedback that led to the development of this theory (Leclerc et al.,
2020). While it took several years to collect and analyze the data the final culmination provided
three types of leaders in this theory: the awakener, the connector, and the upholder.
The awakener is the leader who nurtures those in their care or part of their team. This
leader is committed to their team members growth and development by mentoring and
advocating (Leclerc et al., 2020). They are also the leaders you will find working side-by-side
with their staff. Staff members are confident in their leader’s competence because they can do the
very things they ask of their staff showing their clinical expertise. These leaders are visionary
while having a good means of communicating how the team will be a part of building that vision.
The connector creates an empowering environment by inviting autonomy. They will
encourage problem solving and provide support to staff even when defending staff’s ideas to
executive administration. Embracing, collaborating, and engineering change are key
characteristics of this leader (Leclerc et al., 2020). This leader will earning trust and respect by
seeking and listening to opinions and acting upon that information. The connector is also a great
communicator and will implement ideas from staff members even when they may not see eye to
eye because they see the balance in the grand scheme.
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Incorporating self-care, fairness, kindness, self-awareness, and humility are
characteristics of our last leader, the upholder (Leclerc et al., 2020). Recognizing when others are
in times of distress outside of work are times when a leader can express humanity, knowing that
work is just one aspect of life. This leader can understand that a team is whole when it is healthy
and encourages a balance that family and home take precedence. The upholder expresses that
staff cannot give fully of themselves if there are unresolved issues at home. This leader will help
the team by suggesting modes of help from each other or the organization and their strength lies
by being emotionally aware, thoughtful, and altruistic.
Relationship Management
Each of the leaders from this theory encapsulates the importance of developing
relationships with each team member. While relationships are important part of the leadership
process, leaders must be aware of the positive and negative implications those relationships may
have and be aware to cultivate the positive. Developing strong relationships between leaders and
staff can prove precarious as strategic planning and disciplinary actions can appear to have a
negative connotation. A successful nurse leader must marry interpersonal and team relationships
with the organizational culture (Bellack & Dickow, 2019). The first step according to Bellack
and Dickow (2019), is for the leader to know oneself, understanding their strengths and
weaknesses, display social awareness, and recognize others’ emotions to be successful in
management of others. When a leader is self-aware and manages themselves they have the ability
to lead others with clear-cut goals and engaging team members to acquire their vision.
Teamwork, unity, communication, and consequences are all avenues of organizational
leadership management. Often teamwork and unity will be looked upon as positive while
consequences can be viewed as negative and concerning. Communication can be seen as
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challenging as it takes a development of skills (Schoberer et al., 2022). When communication is
successful cohesion is strengthened among team members. For successful relationship
management nurse leaders can survey their team members and implement the ideas that the
feedback brought. Daily communication through huddle time, emails or closed group social
media outlet can increase cohesiveness.
Empowering Employees
Nurse leaders are encouraged to find new innovative ways to connect with their staff.
Inspiring and educating their teams will enable staff to use their creative talents to solve
problems and improve patient outcomes (Saleem et al., 2022). This type of innovative thought by
empowering employees will help the organization grow and remain relevant in a growing and
changing healthcare industry. When staff are empowered, satisfaction rates increase, they are
more engaged, and this has been shown to positively affect patient care. Managers who are
empowered themselves will pass this along to their team increase performance, have a collective
vision, and a confidence between employees and management. Nurse leaders can utilize their
awareness by providing resources and a means to obtain them, overcoming barriers in the
process. The Human-centered leader will mentor and advocate for their staff. Using this type of
innovation will lead into the next talking point of retention.
Retention Strategies
Nurses leaving the profession has been a hot topic that has been exasperated by the
pandemic. Responsive leadership is an important skill in nurse managers that lead to innovation
which is a developmental part for continuity and engaged employees (Akkaya et al., 2022).
Added to their many responsibilities, managers are now expected to have supple leadership that
will maneuver with each employee helping them expedite their staff’s careers. Creating a
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positive workplace that empowers and engages staff while helping them balance life aside from
work has been one of the biggest indications to staff retention (Saleem et al., 2022).
Organizations need to recognize the need to put these type of nurse leaders in place that can
concentrate on staff retention, empowerment, and strategic planning all while balancing their
own work and life. A manager who encourages a work/life balance but ignores their own will not
be successful in the growth or staying power of an organization in their community (Schoberer et
al., 2022). Building upon what has been learned from previous sections in this paper, the
employees are the catalyst that brings success to an organization. Understanding one’s leadership
strength, building relationships, and empowering employees all lead to successful retention of
staff. Building retention goals for an organization also includes providing and encouraging
opportunities of development for all staff.
Professional Staff Development
Encouraging staff development by obtaining certifications and increasing education helps
the individual with confidence in conducting their duties but also helps the organization by
employing competent staff who practice through research and evidence (Saleem et al., 2022).
Continuing professional development is vital for nurses to acquire the knowledge and grow their
skills to provide safe and equitable patient care (King et al., 2021). Leaders must recognize the
importance to encourage staff to continue education, maintain or seek certification. Developing
an organizational plan to enhance development that aims directly to patient care is planned
strategy that nurse leaders must cultivate. Providing a means to support staff in these endeavors
can include reimbursement and time away from work to attend conferences and educational
symposiums. Nurse leaders who advocate for their staff as they improve and grow their
knowledge have a team who envelope the vision of quality patient care and outcomes.
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Christian Worldview
As nurse leaders Christ is our greatest example of empowering and engaging others. In
Matthew 28:16-20 Christ implores his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them. . .” (NIV, 2005). Christ had the authority and commissioned his team with his vision.
Christ was not apprehensive in this gesture because he believed in what he had taught them and
was confident they could carry out these goals.
A nurse leader must be confident in their staff, as Christ was, due to the investment that
has been bestowed in team members through professional staff development, empowerment,
relationships, and retention efforts. Encouraging staff to balance life away from work imparts on
them that their life is important and investing in them is an intricate part making an organization
successful and relevant. While leadership may seem like winning a race it can often feel heavy
when trying to balance a large amount of team members. When following Christ’s example,
advocating for staff, and empowering them these concepts will have an organization that has
team members enveloped in a communal vision for its members and community.
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References
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