Human resources management at NYC Health & Hospitals

HR Managerial - Interview Questions

Mike K

NYC Health & Hospitals

Mike K. is a Russian immigrant and is the current head of HR at NYC Health & Hospitals (HHC) under the title of Chief of Staff of human capital. He has over 15 years' experience with this organization as he began his first entry level position in 2000. He first came to the country as a student and he attended City University of New York and was first hired by HHC in 2000 as a HR recruiter for the organization.

The HR Director role is responsible for maintain the human resources for the nation's largest public health care delivery system that includes a network of forty thousand employees in different hospitals, treatment centers, and related organizations that provide treatment to over 1.4 million people annually. The mission of the HHC is to:

Our promise to New Yorkers: Empower every New Yorker -- without exception -- to live the healthiest life possible by providing equitable, high quality, culturally responsive, and affordable health care in every community.

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation which consists of a network of 11 hospitals, trauma centers, neighborhood health centers, nursing homes, and post-acute care centers providing essential services to more than one million New Yorkers every year in more than 70 locations across the city's five boroughs (HHC, 2017). The director of HR is responsible for setting high level strategic goals for the entire organization's HR function. Given the size, diversity, and complexity inherent in the NYC system, this role can be very dynamic and challenging at times as there are often a series of projects underway at any given point.

HRM in the health care sector entails that the top line managers effectively allocate various types of healthcare providers and caregivers available within the system so that the best healthcare outcomes are obtained. The human resources should be managed in such a way that the allocation of personnel meets the requirements and demands of care and promote the public health in the area that are responsible for in the most effective manner possible (Karstadt, 2012). It is important that organizations improve continuously for the purpose of creation of a sustainable operation in a volatile and highly evolving market environment (Edwards, 2009). The empowerment of employees in every organization is gaining prominence in relation to organizations gaining sustained levels of operating excellence and this has enhanced the importance of the efficient management of human resources to meet the strategic organizational objectives (Oh, Blau, Han, & Kim, 2015).

Interview Questions and Response Overview

How long have you held the position as Associate Executive Director of Human Resources? What is your educational background and career experience? Can you describe the role/responsibilities of an HR Director?

Since he first joined the organization, he has had a string of different position that were all related to the HR department in one capacity or another. More recently, he began a position in 2008 as the Manager of HR Shared Services for HHC. Then in 2014 he became the Assistant Director of Human Resources, followed by a promotion to the Director of HR Transformation & Special Initiatives, and then finally landing his latest post of the Chief of Staff of Human Capital for HHC.

How do you collaborate with other company departments in your role as HR Director? And what is your role in assisting them in improving their practice and adhering to policies?

Most of the internal interdepartmental collaboration is all performed online at this point in the organizations development. However, for high-level and strategic planning, the HR department works closely with all of the other functional departments to ensure that HR is providing a solid foundation that supports all of the organizations objectives. There is a great deal of coordination between the individual HR departments as well. There are many different activities that must be completed continually to ensure that the organization operates efficiently and supports its large workforce at all times. The employees have their own self-service website that hosts all of their relevant employment information and much of the information they need about their employment with the healthcare system which is continually improving and streamlining as many processes as possible.

How would you define the company's culture? Has it changed due the company's growth and expansion? What can HR do to influence company culture?

For most organizations, HR is one of the most important influences upon company culture. However, given the fact that HHC is such a large and diverse organization with so many different moving parts, it can be difficult to manage the culture across the entire organization. However, HR sets the values statements and many of the expectations that are relevant to the employment positions and thus has some control over some aspects of the culture. That being said, one of the most fundamental aspects of the culture is that it values diversity. Therefore, having diverse cultures within the organizational culture is one of the main characteristics of the overall organizational culture.

How does the company's HR needs influence strategic planning? What do you do to ensure the HR department's objectives are aligned with the hospital's strategic goals?

The HR needs influence strategic planning in a number of ways and the demand for employees is directly connected to the demands of the healthcare consumers in the market. There must be a balance between supply and demand and this balance must continue to address issues in the system such as escalating costs, providing affordable access, and expanding the access to healthcare services.

How do you stay current and ensure compliance with employment laws?

The HHC has a dedicated team that handles legal matters and we work with this department as well as local governmental representatives to ensure that our policies are in compliance at all times. Our policies are continuously updated as new requirements emerge and we also offer extensive training to all HR recruitment and hiring professionals to ensure they are abreast of the laws and regulations as well.

Interview Summary

Although Mr. K was definitely distracted by a number of his obligations pertaining to his role in the organization, the interview was able to gain insights into the HR department and its operations at the HHC. The HR director in this organization has a demanding job that must manage over forty thousand employees in a dynamic environment that is continually evolving due to both internal and external pressures. The human resource policy and the manner in which the implementation occurs is responsible for ensuring that the staff maintains a high level of responsibility and fulfills their duties because it has a large impact on the health care organization in general. The efficient management of employees and the effective design of human resource policies is one of the primary functions that the HR director is responsible for that has a significant impact on the health care system and its outcomes.

In any healthcare setting, the role of the nursing staff is a cornerstone of the organization's performance. The ultimate objective of the organization is to efficiently utilize its resources to deliver quality healthcare services at the most cost effective manner possible. This cost effectiveness is required from both the perspective of the patients and the organizations and much of this metric is dependent upon a nurse's performance. The delivery of quality health care services is dependent on the skills, the knowledge and the motivation of the health care professionals at all levels of the organization, but nurses often provide the bulk of the care delivery directly to the patients (Munda, 2015).

Given the role of the nurses in relationship to the patients, they are often the members of the organization that are directly responsible for upholding the strategic aims and objectives of the policies that are enacted consistent with the vision and mission of the organization. Since the quality of healthcare on a broad scale is not possible without efficient human resource, efficient management of the human resources becomes a critical success factor in the organization attaining the strategic objectives. Although the HR director seems to fully appreciate the role of the nursing staff in the HHC, it is argued that more could be done to support the staff in terms of training and ongoing support.

The policies that human resources enact are often changes that represent major redesigns in the existing work environment. Since achieving the strategic plans of organizations often seem like a moving target, the nursing staff must adjust to the evolving objectives which often requires a considerable amount of education and training to keep pace with these changes in effective manner. Therefore, human resource experts must support their frontline employees and nursing professionals as full as possible as they are often responsible for implementing the strategic goals on a more tactical level. Therefore, it is absolutely critical the human resources must be given adequate training and support the importance it deserves while making policies to address the organizations strategic plans.