Essay: HR policies / department in a health care organization

It is easy to overlook the vital role of the Human Resource (HR) department has within an organization. After the initial hiring process, most individuals may not interact with the department again until the exit interview. A strong HR department can help build a strong organization with collaboration among all divisions. They focus on employee recruitment, job safety, employee relations, compensation and benefits, labor law compliance and staff training and development (Mayhew, 2018). HR places value on the employees, an organization’s most valuable resource. The HR department along with the executive team develops an organization’s employee handbook. There are many key policies and procedures that a handbook should govern including time and attendance, disciplinary actions and expectations.
In a health care organization’s employee handbook, time and attendance policies need to be identified. The handbook must include rules regulating overall attendance, tardiness, and breaks as well as leave policies for vacation, sick days, personal days, family leave and leave of absence. While employee satisfaction should be a high priority, overall productivity must be the central pillar. In the ambulatory care setting, the provider (whether a medical doctor or nurse practitioner) drives the revenue for the organization. Typically, there is a daily patient panel ranging from 20 to 30 patients. When a provider calls out, the impact in the organization is higher when compared to the calling out of another employee. The patients need to either be rescheduled or accommodated on another provider’s schedule. While call outs are inevitable, policies should be in place that dictates notice and frequency. Calling out with ample time allows for a window of opportunity to notify morning patients and staff to readjust schedules. If a provider is chronically missing work, then their overall commitment to the organization may be questioned. Indeed, this policy is universal to all employees and providers were used as an example.
The organization should not tolerate absenteeism without a valid excuse. Employees who will arrive late to or be absent from work should notify a supervisor in advance, and in the event of an emergency, as soon as practicable. Chronic absenteeism may result in further disciplinary action. Employees are always expected to arrive on time and ready for work. An employee who arrives 1 minute after their scheduled arrival time is considered tardy. Managers and supervisors should recognize that unexpected situations may arise affecting punctuality, but excessive tardiness is subject to disciplinary action.
Disciplinary action is any one of many options used to correct unacceptable behavior or actions. Disciplinary action may be an oral warning, written warning, probation, suspension, or even termination. The course of action should be determined by the organization as deemed appropriate. Creating a multi-step approach to disciplinary actions help the employees and supervisors understand warnings and develop corrective action plans. It is essential for an employee to be aware of his/her duties and responsibilities and abide by the organization’s policies and procedures. Employees also must perform his/her duties as outlined in his/her job description and to the best of his/her ability. Multi-step progressive disciplines are used to address issues of employee misconduct or poor performance. A good progressive discipline policy is designed to create a process of corrective actions to improve and prevent continued recurrence of performance issues or undesirable behaviors.
A verbal warning should be issued by a supervisor to discuss a specific issue of concern relating to job duties. The purpose of the conversation is to remind the employee of precisely what the rules or performance expectations are, and also remind him/her that it is his/her responsibility to meet those expectations. While only a verbal warning, a written record of the conversation should still be placed in the employee’s personnel file. Written warnings should be used when a verbal warning has not changed behaviors or for a violation that a supervisor or managers consider severe. Written warnings should be kept confidential and in an employee’s personnel file. When an employee that has been received disciplinary action and continues demonstrated the unsatisfactory work performance or the neglect of responsibilities, the employee should be placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP) and given a final warning or for a pre-determined amount of time (NFIB, 2012). “If training produces no improvement, if complementary partnering proves impractical, and if no nifty discipline technique can be found, you are going to have to try the fourth and final strategy, which is to rearrange the employee’s working world to render his weakness irrelevant” Buckingham, 2005). Employees must demonstrate a willingness and ability to meet and maintain the conduct and work requirements as specified by the supervisor and the organization. At the end of the PIP period, a reassessment must be made to determine if agreed upon goals were met or if termination is to occur.
An employee handbook, along with outlining the requirements of the day-to-day, should also describe employee expects that the organization has. The culture of an organization and its reputation needs to be clear. Most handbooks include a mission statement and an “About Us” section but must also include the values. “It only takes one unethical act by one employee to damage the company’s good name overnight, perhaps permanently (From Values to Leadership, 2008). Employees represent the organization and therefore must conduct themselves following the company’s ethics.