Question

• What are some strategies you can use, as a health care manager, to overcome human resources challenges?
• What current or future challenges do you believe you will have to overcome?

Answer 1

Some strategies one can use, as a health care manager, to overcome human resources challenges are:

Landing, and Keeping, Talented Employees:  The backbone to any great business is having an outstanding group of employees to rely on. For an health care manager, landing these talented individuals is a job in and of itself. In order to attract potential employees, businesses must work to set themselves apart from the competition.

Retaining Great Employees: Promoting a positive work environment and sustaining employee morale is a critical task for health care managers. There are certain things one can do to keep the workers happy and performing at their very best, such as:

• Encouraging continued education: Offering employees the chance to consistently better themselves and improve their skills is not only good for them on a personal level but will also benefit the health care organization.
• Offering incentive programs
• Establishing a positive workplace culture: Focusing on the wants and needs of the staffs as a whole and providing them with an atmosphere that will challenge them professionally and promote camaraderie should be a top priority for any health care manager.

Workplace Security Issues: Reevaluating current policies and determining whether they work for present day demands is essential.

Utilizing Emotional Intelligence: Staffs want to know that they are appreciated for more than just the work they turn in. It’s essential that health care managers look out for more than just their own professional gains and focus on the fair treatment of their staffs. They must promote a level of appreciation for what their team needs on an emotional level.

Invest in Leadership Development: Good leadership is an imperative part of any organization success. In order to maintain positive leadership, health care managers are challenged to support these individuals. This can mean offering a variety of things, including:

• Enhanced training opportunities
• Communication encouragement

Some current challenges we believe will have to overcome are:

#1 Compliance with Laws and Regulation: Keeping up with changing employment laws is a struggle

#2 Management Changes: As a hospital grows, its strategies, structure, and internal processes grow with it. Some staffs have a hard time coping with these changes.

#3 Leadership Development: Hospitals must do its best at implementing leadership development programs which is not happening.

#4 Workforce Training and Development: Investing in the training and development of staffs is another common health care manager's problem. Some have trouble finding the resources to do so. The staffs on the front lines are some of the hardest workers, and may not have the time to take a training course.

#5 Adapting to Innovation: Technology is constantly changing. We must be quick to adapt, or risk being left in the dust by the competitors.

#6 Compensation: Many hospitals are struggling with how best to structure employee compensation.

#7 Understanding Benefits Packages: Since good benefits packages can be a deciding factor for potential hires, understanding them is key.

#8 Recruiting Talented Employees: Attracting talent is a huge investment of time and money. In addition, it’s impossible to know whether a candidate will actually be a good fit until they’ve worked for a period of time.

#9 Retaining Talented Employees: Competition for talented employees is fierce. Employee turnover is expensive and can negatively impact business growth.

#10 Workplace Diversity: Multiple generations. Ethnic and cultural differences. These are just a few of the many factors that make workplace diversity a continual challenge.