Human Resources Selection and Retention Processes

Introduction

A job description is a summary of the duties and obligations of the job i.e. what the job entails. It’s designed for the employee by the employer. It’s a list that has all the general tasks, duties, responsibilities and functions that the successful candidate has to perform. The document includes all the details such as the immediate head of the successful candidate to whom he will be reporting to, the requirements of the job i.e. qualifications and the skills required. Creating a good job description is a difficult task that can only be done successfully by enlisting the help of the human resource department and the affected head of department. It’s done by conducting an analysis of all the job requirements which includes task examination and the sequences needed to perform the job. (Henema and Judge, 2005)

The following is a job description for the position of Assistant Director of Nursing- Hospital Job Duties: All the duties must be in line with the medical standards board regulations and also in line with the joint Commission On Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) policies and requirements.

a).Identify and define nursing services department human resources goals and objectives by recruiting, training, orienting, scheduling, communicating job expectations, disciplining, monitoring, appraising and enforcing policies and procedures.

b).Achieve the objectives of nursing services by volunteering information and evaluating functional strategic plans such as reviews, preparing action plans, implementing production plans, identifying and resolving work related problems, determining system improvements and implementing required changes.

c).Estimating the financial requirements of the nursing services objectives, preparing annual forecasts and budgets, controlling expenditures, analyzing and correcting variances.

d).Create a professional work environment by encouraging innovation and collaborating with other hospitals and health facilities, facilitating and actualizing human caring, ensuring commitment to excellence, demonstrating and recognizing respect for diversity and also facilitating research and developing professionalism in nursing practice.

e).Maintain and encourage patient relations by developing open systems for communication with patients and their family members, between departments, physicians and resolving patient complaints.

f).Introduce and evaluate new programs, improve on quality results and provide sufficient optimum learning environment for all the health and nursing students.

g).Implement and maintain legal requirements needed at the hospital and the state nursing laws, investigate reported breaches, Sturdy and implement the existing and new legislation and advice the Director Of Nursing on all needed actions, Comply with Joint Commission On Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) needed requirements.

h).Identify future needs of nursing services, requirements identifying rapport across all the interdisciplinary services, obtaining and evaluating information from all potential and actual patients in the hospital.

i).Establish and implement nursing professional and the technical knowledge by adopting sound policy formulation, achieved through scholarly presentation and medical publications, participating in educational seminars and workshops and providing professional leadership.

j).Accomplish all nursing services and hospital targets and goals, exploring new ventures and opportunities that add value to the nursing profession.

The Assistant Director will be required to possess minimum skills and qualifications of Nursing Skills, Administration of medication, FDA Health Regulations, Patient Services, Management and administration of people, Emotional control, Procedural skills and quality management.

Employee selection is the procedure or the process of identifying and putting right persons on the right job. It’s the criteria of matching organizational staff requirement with the skills and standard qualification of people. Effective selection and staffing can be done there is subsequent matching. By selecting the most qualified or the best candidate for the vacant position, the company will end up with quality performance from the newly recruited staff. More over the company will definitely face less absenteeism and regular employee turnover problems. Staff selection involves obtaining and choosing the best candidate, with the best skills, knowledge, and abilities for the advertised or vacant position. (Buttigieg and West, 2013)

The following is the order of employee selection process-

Preliminary Interviews– It’s used to select and eliminate those candidates who are below the standard set for eligibility criteria laid down by the company or organization concerned. The qualification, skills required, academic and general family background, interests, competencies and experiences are examined at this stage. Preliminary interviews are not so formalized and less planned than the last and final interview. The candidates are also briefed about the organization and the job profile. This interview is also known the screening interview.

Application blanks– The candidates who succeed in the preliminary interview will proceed to fill in the blank job application forms that detail all the relevant information about the prospective employee in a format applicable to the organization. It includes details on the employee personal records such as age, marital status, reasons for leaving previous job, past experiences and other personal details.

Written Tests– Most written tests presented or conducted during the selection process are normally aptitude test, reasoning and intelligence test, personality and interpersonal skills. These tests are used to evaluate and objectively assess the suitability of the potential candidate. These tests should not contain any form of segregation.

Employee’s interview– It’s the one on one interaction between the interviewer and the top most candidates who have succeeded in all the other processes. This process is used to verify the details about the employee and also assess the personality of the potential candidate. This interview is about the individual responsibility of the candidate, his physical presentation and oratory skills depending on the nature of the job. They should be conducted without any bias.

Medical examination– Medical tests and check ups are conducted on the potential employee to ensure that the potential employee is physically fit and able to work effectively without any hindrance. These will reduce chances of regular absenteeism.

Appointment letter- A reference check is done to ensure that all the documentations presented by the potential candidate are all genuine. Finally he’s appointed and given the formal appointment letter.

Employee retention is the process of maintaining the current number of employees and prevent staff turnover. The best approach to maximize staff retention is by providing incentives and motivation for the employees. Incentives are promises for greater action. It’s also referred to stimulus to further action. It’s recommended in staff retention processes as when the employees are busy and are well remunerated they will certainly not be thinking of leaving. A reward is a powerful incentive to motivate employees. Besides monetary benefits, the employees can be assured of job security, promotion, job satisfaction and recognition of any accomplishment. Besides job retention, motivation also leads increased productivity, job commitment, and psychological job satisfaction. Employee turnover discourages and destroys customer’s confidence in the organization. The retention processes focus on what the employees get out of the job, their relationship with the management and also the customers. Employees should also be treated like customers in order to retain them. Positive customer service policies and other practices can satisfy and keep customers and keep external customers also the employees should be allowed also to benefit under similar arrangements in order to retain them.

Termination of employee whose performance is below average and are not fit to work for the company. This is an involuntary termination of work or employment. Discharge may be for any reason such as inability to perform, indiscipline or performance difficulties. Before the involuntary termination, the company must give consideration to the employee past performance and contribution to the organization. Before the termination all options must be explored i.e. Demotion or transfers except in cases of gross misconduct. (Henema and Judge, 2005)

Before the process of discharging the employee, the line manager in charge of the employee must request the employees review from the Termination Review Board. The review board is made up of the Company President, vice President of the HR department and the employee’s director. The board’s prime duty is to assess the circumstances surrounding the employee’s termination reasons and decide whether dismissal is necessary. If the board recommends the employee be dismissed then it’s the supervisor’s duty to inform the employee and liaise with HR to ensure that the dismissed employee follows all the rules.

The employee has to return all the company property which includes keys, ID cards, parking passes. He will also be required to give a review of his benefit status i.e. if there are any loans pending or allowances not paid. These will be countered checked by the accounts department.

The manager who was responsible to the dismissed employee fills the Employee change form or sends an email to the HR to confirm the last day of work.

References

Henema, H., Judge, T., (2005). Staffing Organizations. USA: McGraw-Hill.

Buttigieg, S., West, M., (2013) Senior management leadership, social support, job design and stressor-to-strain relationships in hospital practice Journal of Health Organization and Management Volume: 27 Issue: 2 2013

Hsiang R., Bor-Wen C., (2012) process approach and service blueprint to hospital management systems

The TQM Journal Volume: 24 Issue: 5 2012

Erja W., Kivimäk, M., Elovainio, M., Virtanen, M., (2007) Organizational justice and employee

Perceptions on hospital management Journal of Health Organization and Management Volume: 21

Batten, D., Goodman, G., Distefano, S. (2008) Protecting the patient: Collaborating to achieve the

Ideal hospital work environment. Advances in Health Care Management, Volume: 7, 2008