Human Resource Management in Health Care Organizations

What Is Human Resource Management?

Human resource management (HRM) covers considerably more ground than many people initially assume. Some describe it simply as the exchanges between employer and employee during the period between hiring and separation, but in reality HRM begins even before that — with the strategies formed by the institution and the laws that govern workplace organizations. Human Resource Management is the process of working with people so that both they and their organizations achieve their full potential, even as accelerating change creates the need to acquire new talents, take on new tasks, and build new relationships (Blessinger, Human Resource Management; L. Dobb and P. Dick, 1993).

HRM is defined as that part of management which deals with plans, decisions, issues, ethics, processes, routines, work, performance, and systems associated with the management of people as employees in any type of organization — including small, micro, and virtual enterprises. Its scope encompasses all matters connected to people in their employment relationships and all the dynamics that flow from those relationships, including recognition of individual employees' ambitions. The ultimate aim is to add value to the delivery of goods and services, to improve the quality of work life for staff, and thereby to help guarantee sustained organizational achievement in a transformative environment (The Definition and Scope of Human Resource Management).

The main activities of the HRM function include deciding whether to use independent contractors or employ workers, determining staffing needs, recruiting and preparing the best employees, managing performance, addressing productivity problems, and ensuring that personnel and management practices comply with applicable regulations. Organizing approaches to staff compensation, maintaining employee records, and developing personnel policies are also central activities (Human Resource Management, mapnp.org).

For an organization to succeed, individuals in a team must work toward common goals — something achievable only through effective communication. In practice, however, the goals of the organization often differ significantly from those of individual employees. True organizational effectiveness emerges when employees genuinely work toward organizational goals because they can see their own goals within them. This alignment is possible only when employees are recognized and rewarded through both intrinsic and extrinsic means, and it requires leadership and motivational tools. Most employers today regard HRM as a strategic process through which the gap between organizational and individual goals can be substantially reduced. The growing popularity of HRM reflects a shift away from traditional personnel management — which focused on employee benefits — toward actively managing individuals so that their goals align with those of the organization, while simultaneously providing meaningful intrinsic and extrinsic rewards (Human Resource Practices and Policies).

Smaller businesses typically must perform these functions themselves, as they cannot afford part-time or permanent HR assistance. However, they must still ensure that staff have access to, and are aware of, personnel policies consistent with current standards — typically provided in an employee handbook. There has long been debate about where HR-related functions should be positioned in large organizations. Over the past twenty to thirty years, both the HRM function and the HRD profession have changed enormously. In earlier decades, large organizations looked to the "Personnel Department" mainly to manage the formalities of hiring and paying people. Today, organizations view the "HR Department" as playing a major role in recruiting, developing, and helping to manage people so that both the individual and the organization perform at their highest capacity in a fulfilling way (Human Resource Management, mapnp.org).