The Harvard Community Health Plan - Essay Example

 The Harvard Community Health Plan Introduction As part of promoting the Harvard Community Health Plan in eastern Massachusetts, the Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates was established back in late 1960s (Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, 2012a). Basically, the Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates is a non-profit organization that provides different specialty medical practices to adult and pediatric patients throughout its 20 offices. Today, Harvard Vanguard employs more than 4,100 employees on top of more than 1,000 other allied healthcare professionals and 630 physicians (Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates , 2012b). In order to deliver high quality healthcare services to the patients, Harvard Vanguard is focused on establishing a partnering relationship with its patients and community members (Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, 2012c). As part of delivering a complete healthcare services to the patients, Harvard Vanguard’s physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and the rest of the medical teams are required to work closely with other specialties such as internal medicine, OB/GYN, pediatrics among others (Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, 2012d). This is also the main reason why healthcare professionals at Harvard Vanguard are continuously collaborating with other Atrius health affiliates (i.e. Dedham Medical Associates, Granite Medical Group, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Reliant Medical Group, South Shore Medical Center, and Southboro Medical Group) (Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, 2012e). As part of the Harvard Vanguard ‘s human resource people plan, this report will explore the effectiveness of its organization's commitment to equality and diversity, individual and organizational learning, compensation, pay-for-performance and incentives, employee benefits, and employee rights. After the conclusion, some recommendations will be provided to ensure that the HR manager of Harvard Vanguard will be able to continuously support and implement necessary changes that aim to improve its current HR practices. Equality and Diversity ‘Equality’ means that work-related discrimination should be removed in order to guarantee that each worker within a business organization is given equal work-related opportunities whereas ‘diversity’ is all about the need to value the differences between two or more different people (Skills for Business, 2012). Basically, the human resource of Harvard Vanguard is committed in promoting workforce diversity and Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) (Employee Guide Book, 2012, p. 7). Without any forms of work discrimination (i.e. race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, and handicap or disability veteran status), each and everyone who is currently employed at Harvard Vanguard will be given the equal opportunity for employment (Employee Guide Book, 2012, p. 7). Individual and Organizational Learning Healthcare management is subject to change because of the presence of external socio-economic factors that could directly affect the way healthcare services are being managed. According to Aspin and Chapman (2001, pp. 39 – 40), some of the reasons why HR managers should provide opportunities for individual lifelong learning includes the need to continuously improve one’s own knowledge and skills for “economic progress and development”, for “personal development and fulfilment”, and for “social inclusiveness and democratic understanding and activity”. Basically, individual lifelong learning is a new perspective wherein the modern society is being strongly influenced. In response to the continuous improvements on science and information and communication technology, a lot of educational institutions around the world started promoting the importance of individual lifelong learning (Demirel, 2009). To empower each employee in meeting their individual role and responsibilities as identified in their job descriptions, the Harvard Vanguard offers different forms of job training programs and learning opportunities for its employees. In most cases, the in-house job training programs are being facilitated by the department manager, supervisor, and co-workers (Employee Guide Book, 2012, p. 11). Aside from the in-house job training programs, qualified employees will be given the opportunity to enroll in one of the corporate programs offered by Harvard Vanguard. Compensation, Pay-for-Performance and Incentives To be able to provide high-quality health care and excellent service to the patients, Harvard Vanguard is compensating its employees with competitive pay in order to attract and retain some of its talented healthcare professionals. On top of the regular pay, employees of Harvard Vanguard have the option to receive overtime pay except for the non-exempt staff unless otherwise allowed by their supervisor (Employee Guide Book, 2012, p. 36). Based on the written performance appraisal made by the supervisor or manager (i.e. exceptional, consistently exceeds expectations, consistently meets expectations, sometimes meets expectations, and/or unsatisfactory), each employee will be given the opportunity to qualify for the merit pay increase. However, qualification of the merit pay increase will highly depend not only on the individual work performance of each employee but also with the available merit budget and merit increase guidelines (Employee Guide Book, 2012, p. 37). Contrary to the merit pay increase, each employee’s disposable earnings are subject to a mandatory court order salary deduction called “wage garnishment” (Employee Guide Book, 2012, p. 38). Employee Benefits Among the Harvard Vanguard’s employees’ benefits include the rehire credit, retirement plan under the PRISM Retirement Program, and unemployment compensation (Employee Guide Book, 2012, pp. 28, 55 – 56). In case employees of Harvard Vanguard ended up losing their job, employees are compensated with Unemployment Insurance such as temporary financial assistance and/or re-employment assistance free of charge (pp. 55 – 56). Likewise, each employee could benefit from Harvard Vanguard’s paid time off programs like paid holidays, earned time, extended sick leave (ESL), bereavement leave, military leave, and personal ESL time (Employee Guide Book, 2012, pp. 39 – 42). In case an employee has already used up all of his/her paid time off due to serious illnesses, it is possible for such employee to solicit donation of earned time from his/her co-workers (p. 44). Employee Rights Aside from having the right to choose from a wide-range of work flexibility (i.e. flexi time option wherein each employee could choose to be a regular full-time, regular part-time, regular limited part-time, temporary staff, or per diem staff, compressed work week, job sharing, or telecommuting) (Employee Guide Book, 2012, pp. 27 – 29), employees of Harvard Vanguard are also given the right to have access to good working environment. As part of maintaining a work environment that is free from all forms of preventable work hazards, employees of Harvard Vanguard are required to attend employee training which includes issues on sexual harassment, HIPAA privacy training, and other issues related to code of conduct, etc. (p. 25). Furthermore, each employee is given the option to talk to the supervisor with regards to an ergonomic review or other related concerns and issues (pp. 23 – 24). As part of promoting work-and-life balance, Harvard Vanguard employees have the right to file for unpaid leave of 12 work weeks under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), medical leave, maternity and/or parental care leave, industrial accident leave, family illness leave, military family leave, military caregiver leave, educational leave, personal leave, extensions or other leaves of absence (Employee Guide Book, 2012, pp. 45 – 50). Overall Opinion with Regards to the Organization’s Ability to Apply Human Resource Principles and Practices The Employee Guidebook of Harvard Vanguard is very precise and informative with regards to how the organization managed to apply various HR principles and practices. In fact, most of the HR strategies used by Harvard Vanguard is up-to-date and effective in terms of attracting talented healthcare professionals to join the team. However, I consider the use of pay-for-performance as a minor flaw that Harvard Vanguard should take into consideration. In terms of motivating their staff in fulfilling their individual role and responsibility with the healthcare organization, I am questioning the effectiveness of using pay-for-performance. Basically, employee rewards can either be intrinsic or extrinsic by nature. In line with this, intrinsic reward applies motivational approaches such as the use of sincere acknowledgement for a good performance (i.e. thanking the employees for their effort at work) whereas extrinsic rewards can be in a form of increased salary or bonus given to employees (i.e. pay-for-performance or merit pay increase) (Shamir et al., 1993). Selecting the type of rewards is important since it could affect the quality of work performance and job satisfaction of its employees. Although the use of traditional reward system such as compensation and job promotions are still effective to some employees, the use of pay-for-performance as a form of reward can be ineffective in terms of motivating generation X and Y employees (Larkin, Pierce, & Gino, 2011). In line with this, several studies show that the use of ‘pay-for-performance’ strategy does not guarantee the improvement in employees’ work performance, retention rate, and job satisfaction (Bowley & Link, 2005; Sherwood & Wechsler, 1986). Conclusion and Recommendations The HR manager of Harvard Vanguard has been very successful in terms of compiling its most recent Employee Guidebook. Aside from being able to come up with a precise and informative HR rules and regulations, the HR manager of Harvard Vanguard managed to make use of up-to-date HR strategies into practices. In fact, Harvard Vanguard‘s commitment to the establishment of work equality and diversity, offering individual and organizational learning opportunities, the provision of attractive compensation and rewards, employee benefits, and employee rights is very strong except for the use of pay-for-performance strategy. Several studies pointed out that the use of pay-for-performance as a form of reward is ineffective in terms of motivating generation X and Y employees (Larkin, Pierce, & Gino, 2011; Ryan, Gerhart, & Minette, 2004). Since pay-for-performance may not be effective in terms of improving its employees’ work performance, retention rate, and job satisfaction (Bowley & Link, 2005; Sherwood & Wechsler, 1986), the HR manager of Harvard Vanguard should consider the use of other types of rewards system. For instance, since “group-based compensation” can lead to higher employee turnover rate, Guthrie (2000) strongly suggest the need to use “skill-based pay system” as compared to the use of “group-based compensation” method when improving employee retention. Eventhough extrinsic rewards such as the merit pay increase or bonus given to employees could still be effective in terms of motivating employees and increasing their job satisfaction (Heywood & Wei, 2006), a study shows that the use of intrinsic rewards such as congratulating the employees for a job well done either verbally, written on a personal note, through public recognition, or implementing a celebration for success in work performance is more effective in motivating employees to increase their work performance (Graham & Unruh, 1990). Therefore, the HR manager of Harvard Vanguard should focus more on promoting the use of its intrinsic rewards (i.e. staff recognition programs like the diamond awards, service recognition awards, key contribution awards, life-time achievement award, clinical innovation award, etc.) (Employee Guide Book, 2012, pp. 30 – 32). Not only does this strategy increase employees’ work motivation, it could also save the organization a lot of money in the long-run. References Aspin, D., and Chapman, J. (2001). Lifelong Learning: concepts, theories and values. Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of SCUTREA (Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research in the Education of Adults), pp. 38-41. In Biesta, G (ed) "What's the Point of Lifelong Learning . European Educational Research Journal, 5(3&4), 169-180. Bowley, J., & Link, D. A. (2005). Supporting Pay for Performance with the Right Technology. Compensation & Benefits Review, 37(5), 36-41. Graham, G. H., & Unruh, J. (1990). The Motivational Impact of Non-Financial Employee Appreciation Practices on Medical Technologists. Health Care Supervisor, 8(3), 9-17. Guthrie, J. P. (2000). Alternative Pay Practices and Employee Turnover: An Organization Economics Perspective. Group & Organization Management, 25(4), 419-439. Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates . 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Larkin, I., Pierce, L., & Gino, F. (2011). Harvard business School. Retrieved June 6, 2012, from The Psychological Costs of Pay-for-Performance: Implications for the Strategic Compensation of Employees. Working Paper. 11-056: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-056.pdf Ryan, S., Gerhart, B., & Minette, K. (2004). The importance of pay in employee motivation: Discrepancies between what people say and what they do. Human Resource Management, 43(4), 381-394. Shamir, B., House, R., & Arthur, M. (1993). The Motivational Effects of Charismatic Leadership: A Self-Concept Based Theory. Organization Science, 4, 577-594. Sherwood, F., & Wechsler, B. (1986). The 'Hadacol' of the Eighties: Paying Senior Public Managers for Performance. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 7(1), 27-41. Skills for Business. (2012). Retrieved June 5, 2012, from What does 'equlity and diversity' mean?: http://www.sfbn-equality-diversity.org.uk/meaning.html Read More