Paper Example. Management and Employee Satisfaction

Job satisfaction refers to the extent to which employees within an organization feel self-motivated, satisfied, and contented with their jobs (Koys, 2001). Job satisfaction happens when staff members of an organization feel that they are having job stability, career growth, peace of mind, and a comfortable work balance (Koys, 2001). Employee satisfaction in a healthcare facility is essential since it determines productivity among employees. When healthcare professionals such as nurses and doctors feel satisfied with their jobs, they become more productive as compared to those with no job satisfaction. Satisfied employees are usually happy while conducting their roles, and they are ready to take up challenging tasks. Management refers to the process of staffing and controlling employees within an organization (Perkins, 2010). Good management within healthcare facilities involves the process of planning, leading, organizing, and staffing. Good management increases job satisfaction among employees in a specific organization (Perkins, 2010). The paper focuses on management and the satisfaction of employees at their work. Also, the paper focuses on tactics and strategies that are used to address low employee satisfaction.

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Scenario

I am assuming to be a human resource manager in a health care organization. It has come to my attention from many sources that morale and employee satisfaction have declined in one of the health care's organizational department. The employees in the health care organization have been working longer shifts due to an increase in patient demand.

Part 1: Problem identification

A decline in job satisfaction among healthcare employees can be caused by many factors, such as poor management and long working hours (Koys, 2001). Low job satisfaction refers to negative or unhappy feelings about colleagues, work, or work environment. Some of the indicators that I would use to examine the reason for job dissatisfaction among employees in the healthcare facility include lower productivity, boredom, and distraction. For instance, when employees keep on browsing over the internet on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, it is an indication of boredom at work. Distraction from factors such as phone ringing, delicious smells, and noises is also another indicator of job dissatisfaction. Therefore, I would check the behaviours of nurses and doctors while at work to observe if they are using their phones at work or engaging in distractive actions such as gossiping at work.

Also, I would check on the productivity of the employees to observe a decline in their output. For instance, if a nurse would previously handle ten patients in one hour, I would observe the current number of clients handled within an hour. When employees are doing something that they like, they are able to do it fast and in large volumes. Other indicators that I would use to determine the nature and extent of a decline in job dissatisfaction include high rates of turnover, irritability, Monday morning blues, and taking off work more often. Besides, I would also look for indicators such as arriving to work late, addressing personal issues during work time and failure to put the best effort towards the attainment of individual and organizational goals.

Part 2: Management Plan

After analyzing and evaluating the indicators, I observed that the causes of a decline in job satisfaction among employees were as a result of long hours, uneven scheduling practices, and no clear end in sight. Some of the recommendations that I would make to deal with the issues would include developing efficient shifts that accommodate all employees, allowing breaks in between shifts, and measuring the results and not time. Also, I would introduce habits that would help employees to start working, such as energizers to make them feel motivated at all times. I would engage in a consultative approach with all the employees when developing the shifts. For instance, I would request the input of all employees on their best time to work and come with a shift that best suit each staff member. For example, there are nurses who would prefer working at nights, afternoons, and during weekends. Therefore, I would consider such time frames to ensure that all employees are scheduled in shifts that will enhance their maximum productivity. I would introduce even scheduling practices where I would also ensure that nurses and doctors are aware of their shifts one month prior. Besides, I would embark on the recruitment of new doctors and nurses to solve the challenge of uneven scheduling practices and long hours. For instance, by recruiting more nurses, I would ensure that staff members work normal hours without extending on the recommended working hours.

The core human resource function that would be most critical to my plan is employee recruitment. Since the decline in employee motivation is caused by no clear end in sight, long working hours, and uneven scheduling practices due to patient demand, I would ensure I recruit and train skilled nurses and doctors to help solve the challenges. Therefore, I would solve the challenge by attracting, evaluating, and hiring employees for the health care facility so that the existing doctors and nurses can ease their workloads, thus solve the challenge of long working hours and uneven scheduling. Besides, training of staff would also be essential to help solve the issue of no clear end in sight (Madlock, 2008). Therefore, it would be important to involve other stakeholders of the healthcare organization in the process of recruitment and training.

Some of the key Stakeholders that I intend to use include healthcare providers, such as nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and social workers. Besides, I intend to involve other stakeholders in the healthcare industry, such as the government, institutions such as universities and research institutions to help in training. Also, I would involve the leaders of the healthcare organization, specifically the chief executive officer and industry representatives such as pharmaceutical and insurance companies. The management of the organization is an essential stakeholder since they provide the required resources needed to perform the human resource tasks of recruitment and training. Also, healthcare providers such as nurses and doctors should be consulted before conducting the tasks to air their opinions and suggestions on what ought to be done to ensure successful training and recruitment of all staff members.

Stakeholders such as the leaders of the healthcare organization help in setting policies regarding the remuneration of the doctors and nurses based on the financial capability of the organization, as well as advising on the training within the organization (Madlock, 2008). Besides, research institutions are important stakeholders since they help in the training of doctors and nurses on the performance of their roles.

I would incorporate all the stakeholders into my plan. For instance, I would involve nurses, doctors, and interested community members in my plan to ensure that the challenge of low job satisfaction is resolved. Some of the short-term tactics that I would employ in my development plan to solve the problem together with the stakeholders include improving the working conditions, ensuring proper support, counselling of employees, involving employees in decision making, and proper incentive schemes. For instance, I would ensure that I introduce incentives to healthcare providers for any work done past the stipulated working hours. I would introduce the incentives in the form of prizes, cash, and bonuses to boost the morale of the employees. Also, I would embark on the counselling of the employees since it acts as a motivation to employees during hard working conditions. Through counselling, employees feel valued and identify with the organization, thus leading to job satisfaction within the healthcare organization (Madlock, 2008).

The long-term strategy to address the challenge would be the recruitment of more staff members to ease the workloads. Also, I would introduce an organizational culture that creates opportunities for growth and advancement of an employee's career as a permanent solution to the problem. However, the cons of recruiting more employees would be an increase in expenditure due to increased salaries (Koys, 2001). I would ensure employees do not stagnate in their career. Therefore, I would introduce schemes where doctors and nurses have a chance of advancement and promotions based on their performance. The criteria to be used in evaluating the recommendations would include technical and financial capabilities of the healthcare organization. Conclusively, I would employ various strategies such as promotion policies, incentive schemes, and proper management support to solve the challenge of low employee satisfaction.

References

Koys, D. J. (2001). The effects of employee satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover on organizational effectiveness: A unitlevel, longitudinal study. Personnel Psychology, 54(1), 101-114. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=employee+satisfaction&oq=Employee+sa#d=gs_cit&u=%2Fscholar%3Fq%3Dinfo%3APY_DKoE66uwJ%3Ascholar.google.com%2F%26output%3Dcite%26scirp%3D1%26hl%3Den

Madlock, P. E. (2008). The link between leadership style, communicator competence, and employee satisfaction. The Journal of Business Communication (1973), 45(1), 61-78. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=employee+satisfaction&oq=Employee+sa#d=gs_cit&u=%2Fscholar%3Fq%3Dinfo%3AFMbdblh5zb8J%3Ascholar.google.com%2F%26output%3Dcite%26scirp%3D5%26hl%3Den

Perkins, L. D. (2010). Nurse managers transform nursing: A study of leadership behaviours and the relationship to leadership training and employee satisfaction (Doctoral dissertation, Capella University). Retrieved from https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Employee+satisfaction+book+from+Capella+library&btnG=#d=gs_cit&u=%2Fscholar%3Fq%3Dinfo%3As356kQxat8cJ%3Ascholar.google.com%2F%26output%3Dcite%26scirp%3D2%26hl%3Den