The health care industry is an ever changing, rapidly advancing industry. Each health care facility tries to be the leader in the industry and outshining the competition. To accomplish such tasks, it is essential for an organization to have the best technology and the best employees; this requires an efficient human resources department. Human resource management has many applications in the health care setting, both clinically and non-clinically.
A human resource manager must ensure that the systems that are put in place for the delivery of care to ensure positive outcomes from the clientele that they serve. Human resource management is an exhaustive process and requires special skill especially in the health care setting. The success or failure of the organization depends on how well a human resource manager can function in their position.
A human resource manager has many functional roles within the company; the most crucial role involves selecting the right candidates to carry the vision of the company. It is only through a familiarity with the company’s policies and procedures that employees know how they should function on a daily basis. “Once an individual starts working with the organization, the human resources department will evaluate him or her over a given amount of time to ensure that the employee is fulfilling his or her duties for the organization.” (Clark, 2011).
In addition to hiring, there is also the issue of compensation and benefits for employees. “This will include salary, medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, and retirement packages. This can be an extensive job in itself because most health care organizations have a large number of employees.” (Clark, 2011). The department must ensure that there is fair pay for everyone, proper compensation based on position and years of service and that there is medical coverage available for all. These types of packages are crucial when it comes to attracting staff as well as maintaining current staff, especially when it comes to highly qualified staff that would be an asset to the organization.
Another functional role of the human resource department is to ensure that the organization is compliant with all of the laws and statutes that govern the business. This means that should any issues arise with state or federal laws, the human resource department must ensure that all of the necessary paperwork is in place to handle such issues. The department must ensure that all training, standards, policies and procedures are current and compliant with what is required by law. This will protect the company from any liability or sanction.
Finally, the human resource department must find innovative ways to stay ahead of the competition as well as to retain their talented staff to accomplish this goal. According to Gomez-Mejia, Balkin & Cardy’s book titled Managing human resources; it is the belief that employees are “valuable” and “irreplaceable”. This is why it is important that management do their best to motivate the employees and boost their morale. Using evaluation techniques as a benchmark will give the department the information they need to know what areas require focus. Getting feedback from the staff will also let the department know areas where employees are unhappy or areas where there can be improvement.
Human resources play a vital role in the health care field. As competition evolves, organizations must find innovative ways of staying ahead. Human resources accomplish this through, hiring the right staff, training, compliance, compensation, benefits and retention of skilled employees. Being in human resources is no easy task. The roles and functions associated with this job are exhaustive and require a lot of skill, stamina and innovation. This skill will only work in a positive way to shape the success for the company, keep the staff happy and satisfy the patients which they serve.