Tag: Workforce

Most hospitals still lag when it comes to employee satisfaction. Notably, rather than sticking with the conventional human resource management approaches that hospitals insist on using, they should leverage innovative models used outside the health care sector. One such innovative approach for improving the workforce is People Analytics. Organizations operating in the technology industry use People Analytics to enhance their workforce. Similarly, hospitals can utilize People Analytics technology to improve their workforce.

Read also Google Experiences with People Analytics

People Analytics refers to an analytical approach that leverages technology to help managers make informed decisions about their workforce. The analytical model utilizes statistics and technology to large sets of talent data, consequently informing organizations regarding how best to drive the return on their investment in the workforce (Nasril, Indiyati, & Ramantoko, 2021). According to Shrivastava, Nagdev, and Rajesh (2018), given the unique needs of modern employees, the traditional approaches of gut feel are no longer sufficient. By using the People Analytics technology hospitals can make relatively better, more informed, and more strategic talent decisions. The technology helps organizations find better job candidates, make smarter hiring decisions, and improve employee retention rate and performance (Nasril, Indiyati, & Ramantoko, 2021). Thus, it provides a holistic solution for improving the workforce.

Additionally, People Analytics technology has addressed the problems facing most feedback tools. DiClaudio (2019) elucidates that the problem with most feedback tools is that they do not provide a way for the users to verify the validity of the answers. Employees are most likely to answer the survey questions positively to allude that everything is fine since they fear the feedback might be used against them. According to Shrivastava, Nagdev, and Rajesh (2018), People Analytics’ surveys is not about just evaluating the pulse of the workplace; its surveys constantly strive to improve the workplace and the workforce. People Analytics allows organizations to continuously and passively collect data that can help management optimize different aspects of its workforce and align them with organizational culture to achieve desired outcomes (Nasril, Indiyati, & Ramantoko, 2021). Therefore, People Analytics can prove significantly resourceful to hospitals that find it challenging to collect useful data due to their flawed data collection methods.

Moreover, People Analytics allows organizations to ensure that every decision they make concerning talent management is data-driven. The nature of human resource management dictates that it emphasize interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Notably, this can prove challenging, especially when it comes to making assessments based on input and output metrics alone Shrivastava, Nagdev, and Rajesh (2018). Shrivastava, Nagdev, and Rajesh explain that whereas productivity metrics are significantly important to evaluate effectiveness, they do not tell the entire story. To address this shortcoming, organizations can utilize People Analytics to integrate the human aspects. People Analytics combine qualitative and quantitative data to allow leaders to dig deep into the workforce’s dynamics. Consequently, this allows a company to come up with tailor-made solutions for different employees based on their unique needs (DiClaudio, 2019). Such an approach can significantly benefit hospitals.

In conclusion, hospitals should embrace the paradigm shift from conventional human resource management approaches to modern and improved ones by leveraging technology. Using People Analytics can help hospitals improve their workforce. The technology can help hospitals make relatively better, more informed, and more strategic talent decisions.

 Three Key Drivers of Labor Costs within A Specific Health Care Service, Facility, Or Other Health Sector-Related Occupation

For the past decade, the labor share of hospital total expenses has been increasing. According to the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), hospitals in the US have created 586,500 new jobs in the past decade, significantly increasing cost pressure (Daly, 2019). Some of the factors driving labor costs within hospitals include new staff needed to fulfill their missions embarked in the past decade, labor supply, and productivity improvement efforts.

Read also Managing Diversity and Promoting Multi-Cultural Competency in Healthcare Workforce

Read also Using Human Resource Analytics to Improve Health Care Workforce

            Over the past decade, hospitals have created new job positions to fulfill the missions they have adopted in response to increasing quality requirements. This includes staff needed to implement electronic health records (EHRs), tracking social determinants of health, and other information technology initiatives (Daly, 2019). The additional staff required to implement these initiatives has considerably contributed to the increased labor cost. Hospitals can control this cost driver by fully leveraging technology. Automating most information technology functions can help minimize the number of staff required to oversee the initiatives.

Read also How Federal Healthcare Policies Impact Consumer Costs

            The tightening labor market has also contributed to the increased cost of labor within hospitals. Due to population increase and increasing competition from private hospitals, the tightening labor market has led to higher wage demands. Hospitals, therefore, have more staff than they used to have, and these employees are demanding relatively higher wages. Besides the high salaries, the hospitals are compelled to offer attractive personnel benefits to retain their staff (Aksenova et al., 2020). Thus, decreased labor supply has contributed to the increased cost of labor. Hospitals can address this factor by investing in strategies aimed to improve employee retention. This starts in the recruitment process by identifying employees who will stay the course and providing a favorable working environment undergirded by the organizational culture.

Rea also Key Drivers of Labor Cost within a Hospital

             Due to the increasing competition in the healthcare industry, hospitals have been compelled to find ways to bolster their productivity. Consequently, hospitals have spent considerable amounts of money and time enhancing employee productivity in the past decade. Some of the strategies used to improve productivity include employee training, giving perks, and other bonuses (Emanuel, 2018). A solution that can help address this factor is focusing on intrinsic motivators instead of extrinsic motivators when designing frameworks for attracting and retaining employees.

Future Changes that Might Accelerate or Exacerbate the Solutions ro Labor Costs

            Whereas the proposed solutions have a high potential to slow down the increasingly growing cost of labor costs within hospitals, various trends deter the proposed solutions from achieving the desired outcomes. To start with, the growing trend of consumerism can prove challenging to the solutions. Hospitals will be forced to respond to consumerism by adding staff as navigators to guide patients requiring by answering non-clinical questions and guide patients requiring cosmetic surgery, among other needs driven by consumerism. Additionally, the increasing entry of Generation Z into the workforce means that Generation Z and Millennials will soon constitute most of the workforce. Notably, the two generations have unique employee needs that will require organizations to devise new strategies for attracting and retaining them as well as motivating them to enhance productivity. Lastly, the shrinking labor market means that the labor supply will continue to shrink, causing wages to rise. Nonetheless, through proper planning, the healthcare industry can counter these threats.

Read also Variance Analysis of Labor and Material Costs

Scenario

Imagine that you manage a department in a health care organization of your choosing. The organization recently merged with another, layoffs occurred, and departments are now being consolidated. Your department now has employees whose ages span four generations, three different cultural groups are represented, and conflict is brewing between them. The conflict is affecting performance, shift scheduling, and cooperation with other departments.

Write a 700- to 1,050-word directive to address these conflicts. Do the following in your directive:

• Assess the situation that your department is facing.
• Create clear and reasonable expectations and goals to achieve cohesion, cooperation, and communication in your department.
• Lay out a strategy to overcome these conflicts and improve workplace performance.
• Explain how success will be measured based on your strategy and goals.
• Consider using tables, matrices, or other visuals.
• Evaluate what leadership traits you need to incorporate in order to lead your diverse department.

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Conflict Management in Multi-Generational Workforce In My Department

Situation Assessment

            Having recently merged with another organization and departments being consolidated, my department now has employees whose ages span four generations and three different cultural groups are represented. Whereas diversity in a workplace is beneficial to an organization, if not managed properly, the unique differences can pose challenges such as the conflicts brewing between the within the workplace. The conflict is negatively affecting performance, shift scheduling, and cooperation with other departments. As a department manager, I will not seek to merely resolve the brewing conflict but will also emphasize creating a workplace environment that promotes inclusivity and cohesion.

Read also Conflict Management , Negotiation and Dispute Resolution Approaches and Models

Expectations and Goals to Achieve Cohesion, Cooperation, and Communication           

Given the conflict brewing within the department and its adverse effects, my management goals and expectations will include establishing an organizational culture that emphasizes tolerance and inclusivity, team-spirit, and cultivating strong relationships based on trust. Meeting these set expectations and goals will see the department achieve improved cooperation, communication, and cohesion.This necessitates the formulation and implementation of a viable strategy to overcome conflicts and improve workforce performance.

Read also Use of Johari Window, MBTI, TA or DISC to Analyse and Reflect on Conflict Management

Strategy to Overcome Conflicts and Improve Performance

• Tools for managing diversity for managers include:
• Understanding discrimination and its consequences.
• Ability to recognize prejudices and biases.
• Developing, maintaining, and implementing ongoing diversity training.
• Promoting a friendly environment for employees to communicate.
• Implementing policies that will allow employees to interact and access information as well as opportunities.

Read also Conflict , Why Conflict Occur And Conflict Management

Measuring Success

 Measuring success will be based on how well the above-described strategy impacts employee relationships in terms of cohesion, cooperation, and communication. Desired results will be exhibited through the enhancement of the identified goals and expectations. Therefore, performance measurement indicators will include:

• Tolerance and inclusivity.
• Multi-generational employee relationships.
• Team spirit within the department.
• Communications between employees.

Read also Using HRM Metrics To Measure Success and Strategic Value of HRM Policies and Practices

A positive outcome is one that improves the three aspects. Notably, this will consequently improve the relationships between the employees, which will, in turn, minimize conflicts, thereby improving performance. Schreier, Udomkit, and Capone (2019) elucidate that reduced conflicts translate to improved productivity through improved employee morale and enhanced teamwork and collaborations.

Read also Strategies for Managing and Measuring Sustainable Change

Leadership Traits           

Leading a diverse department requires a blend of transformational leadership and change leadership. A transformational leader is well suited to work with teams to identify the needed change, create a strategy to guide through the change, and inspire the team to embrace the change (Miranda & Allen, 2017). On the other hand, change leadership skills will help me influence and enthuse the department by building a reliable platform for the much-needed change. Other essential traits include effective communication, emotional intelligence, and resilience.

Smart managers pay attention to the past but understand that they and their organizations must change with changing times. This is why, in today’s world, innovative concepts continue to emerge to address emerging challenges and take advantage of opportunities. An area that has seen continuous is management, as organizations seek innovative approaches to improve their workforce since they understand that employees are the most important asset they possess. An innovative management technology deployed outside of the health care sector in various industries, including retail, banking, and manufacturing, is human resource (HR) analytics.

Read also Managing Diversity and Promoting Multi-Cultural Competency in Healthcare Workforce

Human Resource Analytics

Human resource analytics refers to the automation of workforce management processes to facilitate data collection that is then analyzed to produce real-time insight regarding employee performance. It is concerned with many workforce management areas, including monitoring day-to-day operations and procedures efficiency (Bharti, 2017). According to Bharti, this innovative management technology allows for the isolation of particular issues that are negatively impacting workforce performance through monitoring and tracking behavior for productivity and efficiency. The tool flags behaviors associated with poor performance, consequently informing workforce improvement efforts.

Human Resource Analytics Best Practices

Human resource analytics facilitates data-driven workforce management. There are three best practices associated with HR analytics. Firstly, it sets benchmarks for performance and tracks individual employee performance to measure future potential. Secondly, it identifies training and skills gaps in the workforce, thereby informing appropriate training or support measures. Thirdly, it maps high-performing employees to facilitate successional planning (Edwards & Edwards, 2019). Based on these practices, it is evident that HR analytics is suitable for healthcare facilities such as a hospital. In hospital settings, the technology can be used to identify training and skills gaps in the workforce. A hospital can then use the information to carry out training or support specific employees in areas where competence and skills gap have been identified. Notably, HR analytics pinpoint factors that impact employee performance, including personality traits: hence, it helps managers effectively manage employees (Bharti, 2017). Armed with information, a hospital can effectively invest in workforce improvement to achieve desired results since the efforts are evidence-based.

Read also How Toyota’s Lean Approach to Production Can Be applied in the UK National Health Service

In conclusion, when properly used, Human resource analytics can prove to be a significantly useful technology for managers. The tool is currently being used in various industries, including banking, manufacturing, and retail, and has posted positive results. Therefore, health care facilities, such as hospitals, need to adopt Human resource analytics to enhance their workforce improvement efforts. The technology will help hospitals efficiently implement data-driven workforce management; as a result, facilitating increased productivity and enhanced quality of work.

General Motor is an automotive company that focuses on designing, manufacturing, and selling cars and automotive parts. The company’s success is highly based on human resources skills, knowledge, creativity, and innovativeness. One of the company’s main competitive advantage is based on having great talents, with a high level of experience in automotive design and production. The company thus values its workforce, especially the old individuals with more years of experience and deep knowledge in automotive manufacturing. This means one of the current trends that are likely to impact the company negatively is the aging workforce. General Motor Company has a huge number of old workers who will need to retire shortly. The company has a huge number of aging workforce from the baby boomers generation across all departments.  This means the company is likely to experience a “bow wave” as baby boomers started retiring in huge numbers (Shea, 2015).

This is likely to impact the company operation if the group would leave without ensuring effective knowledge transfer to the younger workforce. The aging workforce is likely to be a serious issue in a situation where the majority of the aging workforce is working in a sensitive department such as product designs, research and development, and product manufacturing. These among other working stations require individual knowledge, skills, expertise, and experience, which play a significant role in determining overall product quality and performance efficiency. The aging workforce in all other departments has also mastered the art of solving problems and working effectively for better results. This means that the company is likely to lose essential talents and knowledge if proper knowledge transfer is not enhanced before their retirement.

HR Strategies to Address Aging Workforce

To address the aging workforce threat, the company needs to create an effective knowledge transfer strategy from the aging workforce to the younger workforce. To make this strategy a reality the HR department will need to carry out the following action plan:

• The company should develop a talent development system that enhances mentoring of the young workers from each department by the older workers
• The company should assess the knowledge and skills levels of the younger generation to determine the knowledge gap between what one possesses and what is needed for effective operation in their area of operation.
• A mentorship program should be developed based on individual protégé/protegee knowledge deficiency
• The company should also develop a succession plan where the younger junior workers are slowly introduced to a higher working position which they will occupy after the older workers retire.
• A rotation program can be established in each department to ensure younger workers acquire all-round knowledge required to ensure effective operations in the department.
• The company should also have online training programs where senior experienced workers can explain essential operation procedures, tips, and knowledge in videos. This can be referred to in the future even in their absence
• The company should also establish a workers retention program to reduce turnover among younger worker force trained on product knowledge and secretes that enhance the company’s competitive advantage.

The above-identified steps will be used to protect the company from suffering from unbearable knowledge and skill loss after all baby boomers retire from the company. The main intention of these steps is to ensure that the company has managed to transfer and retain knowledge from the aged and more experienced workforce to the younger workforce. The younger workforce is anticipated to take care of the company operation fully after the retirement of the baby boomers. It will be necessary to ensure that the remaining workforce can maintain the level of operational efficiency, and accuracy, and continue producing automotive products with the same or even higher quality as the experienced workforce (Ulrich, Younger, Brockbank & Ulrich, 2012). This can only be achieved by ensuring that the younger workforce has all operational knowledge and secrets learned by the aging workforce during their many years of operation in the company. The company should thus take advantage of their remaining time in the company to facilitate knowledge transfer through mentorship. To ensure the sustainability of knowledge transfer in the company, the company should establish a talent development system in the company. This system should ensure a constant preparation of junior workers to take over from their senior workers at all levels of operation. By so doing, the company will never experience operational or leadership shock when any of its employees leave the company abruptly or even after retirement (Kats et al., 2010).

Diversity as a Predictor of Higher Productivity

Maintaining a homogenous workforce can be costly for an organization. Diverse companies may outperform non-diverse firms by significant margins. This phenomenon occurs because homogenous groups are likely to think alike and are unlikely to discover problem areas that are not directly related to their experiences. They may repeatedly use the same problem-solving techniques even when vast organizational resources are at stake and more innovative solutions are required (Hewins-Maroney & Williams, 2013). A homogenous workforce will, therefore, stunt the growth of the organization, impede innovation and increase operating costs significantly. However, a diverse team that incorporates perspectives from different members of the society is expected to come up with innovative ideas, discover new ways of navigating challenging situations (Hewins-Maroney & Williams, 2013). This set of capabilities drive organizational growth, encourages innovation, and ultimately generate value for the firm.

A diverse workforce increases workforce productivity. A diverse workforce fosters the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Individuals learn, process information, and solve problems in unique ways. The presence of multiple perspectives encourages the development of alternative solutions to complex problems (Hewins-Maroney & Williams, 2013). Developing new ways of solving problems may provide better results and decrease the time, energy, and resources required to do those tasks. These resources can then be diverted into other organizational programs. Outliers are also more likely to notice errors that may not be apparent to the mainstream workforce (Hewins-Maroney & Williams, 2013). Thus, firms with a diverse workforce are less likely to generate products with multiple flaws.  A diverse workforce will also generate more ideas for product improvement and facilitate the creation of products that have utility for all members of society. Harnessing the vision of every member within a heterogeneous group will, therefore, increase productivity.

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A diverse workforce facilitates the development of inclusive work culture. Companies with a highly diverse workforce recognize the inherent differences that exist among their employees. This recognition enables a formulation of inclusive work practices that preclude feelings of exclusion and discrimination within the workplace (Haar & Brougham, 2013). Employees who feel secure and valued within their jobs are more productive than those who do not. Heterogenous teams may have fewer instances of conflict. Employees within these groups have a differing set of capabilities, experience, and training (Haar & Brougham, 2013). Each of these factors provides a unique and invaluable contribution to the team’s activities. Members in these groups must, therefore, collaborate to fulfill their roles within the organization.  Adopting collaborative practices leaves little room for competition and pride within the group, which lowers conflict rates. Decreased conflict reduces the amount of time and energy diverted to conflict resolution, which improves productivity within the group.

Diversity as a Predictor of Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is an essential predictor of overall life satisfaction, employee mental health, organizational commitment, and employee turnover. Job satisfaction can be measured by the level of affective orientation the employee displays towards his/her job (Haar & Brougham, 2013). In determining their level of satisfaction, employees may use financial or non-financial factors. Economic factors may include pay, promotions, and benefits (Haar & Brougham, 2013). Non-financial factors include opportunities for advancement, working conditions, and individual internal desires (Haar & Brougham, 2013). Employees who feel valued, respected, and appreciated by the organization are likely to be more satisfied with their jobs (Haar & Brougham, 2013).

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Diverse firms actively support the generation of ideas through inclusive practices, genuinely consider multiple perspectives and incorporate employee input into decision making frameworks (Butner, Lowe & Billings-Harris, 2006). These firms effectively meet individual employee expectations for inclusion, fairness, and support. These factors generate affective feelings for the company and the workplace which leads to higher job satisfaction (Haar & Brougham, 2013). On the other hand, poor inclusivity within the organization is likely to increase the perceived distance between minority and majority members of the organization. These perceptions may increase feelings of isolation with the minority group, which creates a negative work environment and lowers job satisfaction. Employees working in such a firm are likely to request more sick days, have lower productivity, and may ultimately quit their job.

Read also Things Employers Could Do To Increase Job Satisfaction Of Their Staff

Workplace diversity stimulates employee growth and development. Personal and professional development are essential predictors of motivation and job satisfaction in the workplace.  Exposing individuals to people from different cultures, with differing opinions, and personalities stimulates skill development and diversity sensitivity within the mainstream workforce. These employees will have a higher capacity to work around people with different personalities, from different cultures, religions, or nationalities (Haar & Brougham, 2013). Employees working in diverse firms will, therefore, have an endless capacity to acclimate to different organizational environments, have markedly reduced levels of ethnocentrism, and have enhanced critical thinking, problem-solving and conflict resolution skills (Haar & Brougham, 2013). By creating a diverse and inclusive workforce, firms generate value for their employees. 

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Managing Diversity in the Workplace

The need for a diverse workforce has never been greater. As society becomes more globalized, firms must develop the capabilities and competence to serve a global consumer base. Organizations will need to boost workforce resources and maximize productivity. These objectives can be achieved by moving towards a less homogenous workforce. Diverse workforces have been proven to contribute to increased organizational growth, improved employee job satisfaction, increased productivity and an enhanced corporate image (Hur & Strckland, 2015). A diverse workforce also enables organizations to attract a more extensive consumer base by promoting service from employees belonging to similar backgrounds. Ignoring the benefits of having a heterogeneous workforce can have far-reaching consequences on the health and future of any organization. The recent incorporation of women, and migrants, to the workforce, are some of the opportunities managers can utilize to manage diversity within their workforce.

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Opportunities Managers Can Utilize to Manage Diversity within their Workforce

Gender

Gender diversity management provides an invaluable opportunity for managers to foster gender equity and inclusivity in the workforce. In the past, women’s roles in society were limited to taking care of the home and children. This paternalistic norm was so widespread that women would often leave the workplace as soon as they got married or got pregnant (Bukhari & Sharma, 2014). Thus, companies would only hire women to fill temporary, low-risk positions where they could easily be replaced (Bukhari & Sharma, 2014). However, these workforce dynamics have undergone a tremendous transformation over time. Today, a vast majority of women are taking up more challenging careers, and becoming more engaged in the workforce. Some women have prioritized their jobs so much that they have no time for familial responsibility (Bukhari & Sharma, 2014). However, although women have shown overwhelming interest in joining the workforce and scaling corporate ladders, they have encountered several obstacles in their attempts. Compared to men working in the same field, women get promoted less, earn less, and are less likely to occupy top-managerial positions before retirement.

Minority groups, migrants and indigenous people

As can be observed from the condition of African Americans, Native American, Hispanic American, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Australia) communities, indigenous people, migrants, and minority communities are often composed of poor and socio-economically challenged people. (Haar & Brougham, 2013). Racial bias and discrimination in hiring practices accounts for the lower numbers of minority groups, migrants and indigenous people within the workforce. Systemic and institutional racism ensures that members of these communities are, receive moderate levels of education, are paid less, and have fewer opportunity for growth and career advancement in their respective organizations. Managing diversity for these groups should encompass activities that aim to facilitate minority group inclusivity in the workforce, foster transparency in hiring, promotion, and compensation practices.

Managing Diversity

Managing diversity should aim to counter the challenges that may preclude job satisfaction and the achievement of career success within the organization. Women have unique work styles. Research has indicated that although these styles may still lead to the accomplishment of the organization’s objectives, women are rarely rewarded for their efforts (Bukhari & Sharma, 2014). Moreover, women are expected to adopt male work styles, characteristics, and traits. Members of minority communities often have limited formal education (Haar & Broughma, 2013). However, at times, they may have the same or significantly higher levels of education to their white counterparts. However, these groups are still vastly unemployed and underpaid in organizations that choose to employ them. Managers should aim to provide equal incentives for all genders in terms of promotions, benefits, or vacation days (Hewins-Maroney & Williams, 2013). Furthermore, managers should increase transparency in hiring practices to prevent the exclusion of minority applicants.

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Organizations must increase the number of women and minority groups in the workforce. The undesirable consequences of having a homogenous workforce on minority groups can be alleviated by increasing the number of the minority group. Thus, if people from the same race, gender, religion, age, and socio-economic background dominate the workforce, management should consider increasing the number of workers with opposite characteristics. To achieve this objective, managers should adjust their hiring practices to attain numerical balance of people from all demographics (Hewins-Maroney & Williams, 2013). Once the representation of minority groups within the workforce reaches critical mass, communication, and interactions within the group are likely to improve.

Despite changes in employee composition, stereotypic attitudes, biases, and chauvinistic attitudes may still prevail within the workforce. Thus, increasing the number of any minority group is unlikely to bring about the expected benefits for the firm. Without proper diversity training, the organization may create a suitable avenue for discrimination, sexual harassment, and exploitation of the minority workforce (Hewins-Maroney & Williams, 2013). Thus, women and minority group acceptance into the organization need to be promoted by initiating gender and diversity sensitivity training (Hur & Strickland, 2015). This kind of training should allow employees and managers to identify personal or professional biases against women and minority groups and attempt to correct them. It should also facilitate the identification of the systemic issues that reproduce gender inequity and ethnocentrism even in an incredibly diverse workforce (Hur & Strickland, 2015). This identification should be followed by a conscious managerial decision to correct these issues to create a favorable environment for its workforce.

Conclusion

By diversifying its workforce, an organization creates avenues that allow its employees to encounter multiple perspectives which enhances critical thinking and problem-solving initiatives within the workforce and simplifies approaches to organizational challenges. Improved workforce competence enhances productivity by facilitating innovation and rapid product error correction. Employees working in inclusive firms recognize the organization’s efforts to promote fairness in its hiring practices and promotion, as well as compensation packages. These employees are likely to have more affective feelings towards their jobs and the organization, which translates into improved job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Managing diversity involves disposing of factors that may impede inclusivity, facilitate discriminatory hiring and promotion practices and encumber minority group and female career advancement.

Over the last decade, the role of HR has evolved to include a variety of areas. These areas include, but are not limited to: (a) the value of having a diverse workforce, (b) inshoring and outsourcing personnel management, (c) repatriating employees from foreign assignments, (d) ethical leadership methods and corporate culture, (e) local and global security against terrorism, and (f) upward career pathing to counter possible perception of a glass ceiling.

For this interactive assignment, you will take on the role of an HR professional who has been tasked with researching potential areas that have evolved over the past decade. You will create a business case, to be delivered to the director of HR, justifying the value of an area of your choosing.

Select one of the areas above, and evaluate the potential challenges and conflicts of your selected topic.

Value of Having a Diverse Workforce – Sample Paper

Researching potential areas that have evolved over the past decade is the foremost task of any Human Resource professional. Pursuant to this aim, the value of having a diverse workforce was selected as an ideal area of focus that has, over the years, undergone numerous transformations. This business case will justify the aforementioned area of choosing by focusing on how a diverse workforce drives economic growth, increases market share, results in a more qualified workforce, and a reduced employee turnover cost. Furthermore, a comprehensive evaluation regarding why a diverse workforce is necessary for a competitive economy in a global market will also be provided.

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How a Diverse Workforce Drives Economic Growth

 Diversity in the workplace has recently emerged as a significant force driving economic growth. The unique talents and aptitude introduced by a diverse workforce facilitate innovations currently linked to high returns. It is estimated that 85% of successful enterprises attribute their growth to a diverse workforce utilizing innovation to drive economic growth (Brief, 2014, p. 23). Top entrepreneurs in leading economies such as the United States now serve as a representation of a diverse workforce. They painstakingly ensure that diversity is implemented in the workforce with a specific focus on driving economic growth within a varied talent pool.

Read also Managing Diversity and Promoting Multi-Cultural Competency in Healthcare Workforce

Increased Market Share

            Diversity shapes the entire business environment and is responsible for an overall increase in market share. Major firms typically set goals with the aim of realizing them within a specific period. According to Mor-Barak (2015), a diverse workforce is an essential constituent when seeking to achieve company objectives and increase market share (p.40). An immediate impact of a diverse workforce is an increase in a firm’s bottom line. Coupled with improved financial performance, diverse management teams now attribute their success and increased market share to an assorted workforce. Revenue is, thus, generated successfully using fresh approaches and ideas which introduce new modes of operation.

A More Qualified Workforce

 Diversity in the workplace incorporates uniquely talented employees, which results in a more qualified workforce. Sourcing staff members from a diverse pool results in the selection of the best candidates bound to introduce a new set of skills to an organization. These in-demand skills often include multi-lingual capabilities, experience working in an international setting, and ideas that will aid a firm transition into the global arena (Scott, 2012). The current wave of diversity witnessed globally after the outgoing Boomerang generation presents a progressive culture based on competence and qualification.

Read also Importance of Cultural Diversity in Multinationals

Reduced Employee Turnover Cost

 Lower turnover costs typically result from enterprises with a diverse workforce. The implementation of policies that focus on reducing discrimination is standard in business entities with a diverse workforce.  The effect is a company that embraces cultural and ethnic diversity while motivating staff members to display a level of social responsibility. Inclusivity introduces a low turnover cost since it avoids exclusionary policies, which may be regarded as hostile by a diverse workforce. Diversity in the workplace also attracts talent from across the globe, attracting top performers who are more likely to be retained by the company.

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Value a Diverse Workforce for a Competitive Economy in a Global Market Place

 A diverse workforce is a critical element of a competitive economy since it markets the goods and services on offer to diverse demographics. Tapping into staff members with a diverse background enables businesses to increase their competitive edge and are, therefore, better positioned to market their goods to a broader consumer base. A diverse workforce is also fecund and regularly offers solutions that will increase a firm’s competitive advantage within a global market place. A heterogeneous workforce is ideal for brainstorming and introducing new insights in a rapidly transforming global economy.

Discussion Instructions

Sample Discussion

Friends of Youth is a non-profit organization found in Redmond city, Washington. The organization serves to provide prevention services, treatment and housing for the youth and their dependents to enhance healthy relationships and individual growth among the youth. Therefore, it is an organization that deals with the young people in respect to drugs, homelessness truancy, early parenting among many other issues that affect the youth negatively.  60% of the population in Redmond is married, and that means that most of the population consists of workers who make there living in the various industries and organizations in Redmond. Since most of the population is working, a change in demographics can have an adverse effect on the working population. An influx of immigrants can lead to jobs being given to them at a lower wages while laying-off some of the residents of Redmond (Hendry, 2012). Workforce planning in the Friend of Youth organization is mainly centered on the various activities that are done by the organization especially in restoring youth to better living and rehabilitation.

Therefore, people work in the organization is counselors, volunteers and other staff that deal with the daily takes involved in the organization. A change in demographic trends especially the increasing demand for youths, and the high number of aging people at the workplace poses a challenge at the workplace (Purce, 2014). The human resource management should thus come up with a means of controlling the workforce development, particularly when the aged can have more years added while looking for young people to fill any vacancies.  Since aging workers are more at the workplace and approaching retiring age the HR should ensure that, it has a recruitment strategy to deal with the looming shortage.  There is more diversity in gender and religion among the workforce and therefore the human resource management needs to handle the workers in a particular manner to prevent any conflicts that may arise due to diversity issues (Jiang et al., 2012). The human resource should further find ways to train workers in a cost effective way since the experienced aging workers are approaching the retirement age.

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Health or Nursing Public Policy Issue

Health care/ nursing profession public policy issues affect the providers together with the patients they serve at various levels and in a number of divergent manners, some critical.Being at the top of the current health care concerns the surrounding legislative issues helps us in general to become a vital component of the planet earth. That is, making us to constitute a socially conscious, caring and informed healthcare professionals with an explicit understanding of the underlying issues and the willingness to advocate for the best of their patients (Harrington & Estes, 2008).

This paper looks at a health/ nursing profession public policy issue of “Workforce and Physician Shortage Policy.” This analysis of the workforce and physician shortage policy would encompass scrutinizing the policy background concepts, the reasons and relevance of the health public policy issue to the population, the policy’s financial impacts on both the organization and the community, and lastly the impacts of ethical values on the

Workforce and Physician Shortage Policy Issue

Physician and the general nursing workforce shortages are the makings of news headlines on a regular basis. There is a continuous debate on the policy circles among different analysts, stakeholders and researchers on whether the shortages are because of insufficient numbers of health care service providers, or the misdistribution of the health care providers.

The debate of the technocrats  revolve on seeking solutions on whether to build more schools and ensure enlargement of  classes for graduating more physicians, sought for the incentives that would attract the care providers to areas with shortage of health professionals,undertake an expansion of the number of residency slots, or rather change the way health care is delivered.

Reasons for selecting Workforce and Physician Shortage Public Policy Issue

First, the functionality and quality of a health care delivery system is dependent of the essential infrastructure for providing needed services and the availability of medical personnel. There such critical shortage hampers the outcome of the care services and the general patients’ health performance (Kronenfeld, 2012). Secondly, looking specifically at American society, the five million health care providers directly influence the quality and cost health care through their prescriptions, diagnosis, treatments and orders. Experts deduce that the health care professionals are too few today, and there is a predicted shortage of up to 200,000 physicians and about a million nurses. This aspect makes the workforce and physician shortage inevitable public policy worth formulation and long-term solutions sought.

Relevance of the Public Policy Issue

The enactment of the health reform law in March 2010 is slated to provide additional 32 millions individuals who were previously uninsured to the rolls by 2019. This is a fundamental factor in the degree of relevance to the workforce and physician shortage public policy as it is expected to worsen the already existing shortage of workforce and physicians in the next decades (Shi & Singh, 2011).Hence, one analysis “Projected Physician demand and Supply” deduced that by 2025, this shortage could grow by as much as 25%.

Furthermore, there is need to undertake comprehensive health care audit to enable formulation of practicable cushion against the menace. This would facilitate the coverage of the extra 32 million American citizens and the legal residents as the primary aim of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of March 2010.This coverage expansion increases the demand on the future and current provider supply (Kronenfeld, 2012).

Financial Impact of the Public Policy

Seeking solutions to the workforce and physicians shortage public policy would partly entail a long-term economic investment in Graduate Medical Education (GME). Undertaking an investment in the training of physicians would ensure that the future of workforce is sufficient to provide effective, efficient health care delivery emphasizing on access, value and quality to fix the increasing demand being faced. Such an initiative of having a workforce of students graduating with a medical degree usually have huge financial impact of about a debt averaging to $145,000 for those students graduating from public medical schools, and an average of $180,000 for the ones graduating from privates schools.

Impact of my values on the position I take over the public policy.

I hold the perspective there is undisputable need for critical reforms in the health care sector collectively across the various stakeholders to curb the steep challenges healthcare service provision as we facethem. This is due to the alarming retirement of the baby boom generation and the health care reform increasing the demand that hugely drives the necessity of growing our healthcare workforce (Lohr, K. N., Vanselow, N. A., Detmer, D. E., & Institute of Medicine (U.S.), 2010). This perspective underpinned on the values and ethical principles as highlighted herein:

Team-based health care

Meeting the shortage of workforce and physicians in a healthcare setting calls for a highly coordinated team-based healthcare approach to pursue high-quality health care services provisionto individuals and the communities by two or more healthcare professionals working collaboratively with caregivers and patients to ensure accomplishment of shared goals. This would create an effective framework of timely, fast and broad coverage of health care services.

Justice

The ethical principle of justice further gives an underpinning frontier of the public policy concept of workforce and physician shortage on the aspect that if the shortage is as a result of indiscriminative or uneven distribution and placement of the health care provides, then the country or department concerned should exercise a fair and equal distribution of resources on the basis of burdens and benefits of decision. Justice refers to a scenario in which every citizen have an equal right to the distribution ofgoods, services among other resources irrespective of who they are or what they have contributed.

Equality in the Work place

Persistent inequalities in organizations, employment, housing together with a wide range of other social domains has been renewing interest in the possible discrimination role. Most of research especially involving African Americans and other racial minorities have proved that there is discrimination in the work place, in housing, and also in the other every day social settings.

A lot of social and economic inequality in the United States and the other industrialized countries in the world have been created in the organizations, in day to day work and activities and organizing the work. Activists in unions have laid their demands in such understanding, as have civil rights and feminist reformers. Race, gender and class dynamics may lead to power discrimination and differentials in an organization. These deleterious effects are specifically troubling for non-profit agencies which possess diverse community and employee bases and such endeavor to redress inequality socially through program and service provision (Hideg & Ferris, 2016).

Race, gender and are profoundly influential in the health of the human services win any given organization. How they are structured, form identity, decision making on the service delivery, and prioritizing the work. Discrimination and discriminatory practices are the common foci of race, gender and class in the organizational studies. Simple as it seems, a question that preoccupy the co temporally literature over discrimination acts will center on its continuing relevance. Almost half a century ago, the discrimination acts were widespread and overt. Today, it is difficult to assess the degree in which every day’s opportunities and experiences are shaped by the ongoing discrimination forms. Nevertheless, it is necessary to know when and how discrimination does play a role in resource and opportunities allocation.

Read also Discrimination in the Public School System – Social Injustice Essay

Employment discrimination may occur when a job applicant or an employee is unfavorably treated due to his or her skin color, race, gender, national origin or age, mental or physical disability, genetic information or the parenthood.  Work discrimination in an organization may occur in any of the following situations; suggesting or stating a preferred candidate in a job advertisement, excluding potential job applicants during recruitment, denying compensation to particular employees including the benefits, paying different salaries to equally qualified employees, discriminating while assigning disability leave retirement options or a maternity leave, disrupting or denying the use of firm’s facilities and also discrimination while issuing lay-offs or promotions (Sarvaiya & Eweje, 2016).

Example 1: Gender Discrimination

Quick Numbers which is an accounting company gives workers annual pay rise. Mary has been passed over for the pay rise two years in a row. She now has discovered that the company only gives a pay rise to male employees, and only to male employees. This amounts to gender discrimination, because the female workers have not been afforded equal benefits as male workers.

Example 2: Racial Discrimination

A law firm with one open position for a lawyer who is specialized in handling financial cases and to which they are intending to promote an existing employee. One candidate is a white man and who holds a bachelor degree in accounts, and who has handled the company’s cases for four years. The second candidate is an African-American employee holding accounts master’s degree and another degree in law.

The firm goes ahead to promote the white male candidate, and alters the position to make a junior attorney to work together with him. This made the other applicant to believe that he did not receive the promotion due to his race, rather than on lack for the job qualifications.

Example 3: Religious Discrimination

Catherine’s new employer, at her orientation, she explained that all workers were to meet in the main break room before the workday had started for a group prayer. The next day when Catherine tried to give thanks to her supervisor for the chance, and explained that she preferred not to participate, she was informed that pre work day group prayer was required for every employee. The employer does not require altering its own custom religious practices, which requires a worker to participate may be considered religious discrimination.

The effects of discrimination in a firm may be small or huge and this depends on the employee’s reaction. When significant, it can hurt the businesses’ progress and productivity as;

It creates tension as if an individual is being discriminated based on gender, a woman employee working the same as a man but not receiving the same compensation may bring tense in the business environment. A tense atmosphere can never be conducive when getting work done.

Decreased production as an employee will less likely want to work with others as a team when some of the employees do not receive fair treatment and with the same consideration and respect as others. Employees may respond to the lack of fairness by not being able to work to be best of their abilities, and which means low productivity than in a congenial atmosphere.

Causes conflicts which naturally arises after workers are discriminated against based on their gender. Workers can have problems related to one another when there is unfair treatment by the top management to some particular employees (Dipboye & Colella, 2013).