Principles of Organizational Performance Management - Admission/Application Essay Example

Principles of Organizational Performance Management Introduction Healthcare organizations often experience poor performance with respect to qualityof services. In this context, it can be stated that it is the responsibility of nursing professionals to preserve their respective performance engaged in varied healthcare organizations. While maintaining the performance, it is quite essential to establish an evidently described set of performance measures and indicators. This might be owing to the reason that the performance measures can help in operationalizing the performance with respect to nursing leadership by a greater extent (Zelman et al., 2003). Based on this aspect, the essay is designed to develop a performance management scorecard for a healthcare organization. Furthermore, amidst various domains of performance management scorecard, the essay discusses about the notion of employee engagement in order to enhance the performance of a healthcare organization. The prime objective is to define a plan, which drives organizational performance in healthcare organizations. A. Performance Data Scorecard It is quite difficult to design and implement an effective performance management system without identifying patient population. In this regard, it can be stated that the patient population, which has been addressed in the context of performance management system is those who suffer from acute medical illnesses and thus require urgent care in hospitals. There are several outcome measures that can be apparently identified with respect to the above discussed population, which encompass performance, quality, patient safety and employee involvement. These have been described in detail in the following. Performance Performance is an important measure in the area of performance management domain. It is worth mentioning that patients suffering with acute illnesses are required to be provided with improved medical care as well as treatment services. Performance is often measured based on patients’ safety, working environment and healthcare security. In this regard, performances of nurses will certainly assist in improving the service standards of healthcare (Smith et al., n.d.). Quality Quality signifies the clinical component of care delivered to the acute patients. Although it is possible to derive certain broad quality measures that relate to varied aspects of healthcare system (such as infection rate and ulceration rate), most of the quality measures reflect acknowledged patterns of treatment for precise clinical circumstances. There are several measures that are related to quality namely structure, outcome and procedure. Structure implies the characteristics of healthcare organizations that comprise healthcare plan and healthcare system. It can be measured by evaluating the existence of patient safety committee, assessing the policies for managing hazardous chemicals and examining the system for studying death of acute patients. On the other hand, process signifies the functionality of healthcare organizations. It is generally measured based on length of stay and visit rate of acute patients in hospitals. Then again, outcome reveals the measurable changes occur in healthcare conditions of the acute patients (Nerenz & Neil, 2001). Patient Safety Patient safety is the other useful performance management domain. There are three key measures for patient safety namely ‘underuse’, ‘overuse’ and ‘misuse.’ Underuse signifies the level to which essential services are not delivered such as failure to prescribe data blocker, failure to provide immunization, failure to deliver proper dosage and failure to undertake regular screening. Overuse implies the level to which extravagant, unproductive and unconfirmed examinations are provided to the patients. Finally, misuse denotes incorrect use of procedures, which could be helpful if correctly utilized. Most examples in relation to medical errors fall in this outcome measure (Nerenz & Neil, 2001). Employee Involvement Employee involvement is the condition of demonstrative and knowledgeable participation that inspire employees to perform best. It is dependent on different aspects including individual psychological and behavioral condition. An involved employee consistently acts positively in order to suffice the needs of both the healthcare organizations and the patients as well. Notably, involved employees put additional efforts and contribute towards attaining organizational success in terms of meeting the needs of acute patients (Aon Corporation, 2012). B. Necessary Procedures for Driving Outcome Measures Additional Indicator Effectiveness. In healthcare context, there exists another additional performance indicator, which reflects organizational effectiveness. In general, effectiveness measure the medical activities by concentrating on inpatient day per 100 acute patients, length of stay per patient, cost of hospital charge, bed occupancy rate, readmission rate and visit rate of acute patients (Russell et al., 1996). C. Advantages of the Performance Data Scorecard Performance data scorecard is the procedure of measuring and evaluating the key performance indicators for managing the internal procedures. Thus, every employee can observe and understand how their activities are associated with the operation and success of an organization. There are several advantages of performance data scorecard that have been demonstrated in the following. It helps in following the best nursing practice methodologies in the entire organization It assists in aligning performance measures with organizational strategies It delivers an inclusive picture of the healthcare operations It enhances collaboration amid the team members It helps in initiating desired behavior among employees Source: (Balanced Scorecard, 2010) Thus, it can be affirmed that the idea of performance data scorecard supports strategic planning and strategic implementation by combining the activities of employees around a common understanding of objectives (Balanced Scorecard, 2010). D. Trends in Employee Engagement in Healthcare Diverse industry demonstrates dissimilar level of variance in employee engagement. According to the survey of Quantum Workplace (2013), industries such as real estate, food service and construction has high level of employee engagement with average 74.6% of engaged employees. However, healthcare organizations face moderate level of employee engagement. The survey of Quantum Workplace (2013) also found that in healthcare context, the percentage of hostile employees was about 4.4. Over previous decades, healthcare organizations and employees have faced challenges regarding indeterminate economy, which reduced the level of employee engagement. The findings of Towers Watson in the year 2010 suggested that healthcare employees remained highly negative concerning the possible influence of healthcare reforms. However, at present, most healthcare employees are starting to possess positive viewpoints on healthcare organizations as healthcare employees are found to be provided with an average of 43 working hours in a week (Caldwell, 2011). Furthermore, the report of Caldwell (2011) also found that considerable portion of healthcare employees also feel proud about their engagement with different healthcare organizations. Relationship between Employee Engagement and Healthcare Quality There lays an apparent relationship between employee satisfaction and healthcare quality. Nurses who are satisfied with their employment demonstrate high level of patient safety and accordingly make low level of medication errors, which in turn enhance healthcare quality. Employee satisfaction also helps to minimize stress, absence rate and turnover rate (Lowe, 2012). Lowe (2012) stated that engaged employees are dedicated to their organizations, gratified with their work and eager to provide additional efforts in order to accomplish organizational objectives. Evidences also suggested that employee engagement influences human resource objectives of an organization in relation to retention, increased job performance, low level of absenteeism, increased reputation of organization and better recruitment opportunities. Thus, employee engagement assists nurse professionals to perform their activities effectively based on organizational goals, which aids in improving healthcare service quality (Lowe, 2012). Current Tools to Provide Nurse Leadership Nursing leaders have an imperative role to play in enhancing employee engagement. Although it is a fact that engagement is a personal prerogative approach, nursing leaders can influence the degree of engagement by understanding the existing reality, owning engagement and mapping the course for enhancing engagement as well as patient satisfaction. In order to perform effective nursing leadership practices, there must be an inventory tool, which helps to appraise every performance area ranging from minimal to expert skill of the employees (Lowe, 2012). E. Plan to Improve Employee Engagement Goals In accordance with the information derived from performance data scorecard, it can be stated that the work environment is required to be improved in order to enhance the level of employee engagement (University of California San Francisco, n.d.). Strategies There are several activities that require to be performed in order to enhance the work environment. Amongst various activities, the most important is to provide the employees with the understanding of the worthiness of their duties along with responsibilities towards the attainment of organizational success. The employees require a clear feedback and guidance in order to accomplish the organizational objectives successfully (University of California San Francisco, n.d.). After proper understanding of the importance of employees’ tasks on the fulfillment of organizational objectives, there is a need to enhance the level of communication in the organization. Communication is the major component of employee engagement. Thus, in order to enhance communication procedure, employees will be provided with positive response concerning their efforts and training from time to time (University of California San Francisco, n.d.). Next, there is also a need to enhance the team building aspect. Several team-building exercises will be implemented in order to ensure that employees are able to perform their activities with each other more effectively. Team building exercises will also help in providing insights regarding inner work conditions and drive excellence accordingly (University of California San Francisco, n.d.). Evaluation Employees’ performances will be evaluated within three months of the implementation of the action plan. As a part of evaluation, the feedback of employees will be taken as an important aspect for increasing the level of employee engagement. Furthermore, the performance of employees will be evaluated based on employee engagement criteria. Respectively, according to the outcome of the evaluation, employees will be provided with training as well as growth opportunity (University of California San Francisco, n.d.). Follow-up A follow-up procedure will also be undertaken after six months in order to understand whether the objectives of employee engagement are fulfilled according to the plan. After evaluating the progress, additional improvement strategies will be implemented based on the information derived from the performance data scorecard (University of California San Francisco, n.d.). Timeline The entire timeline for the plan to improve employee engagement has been provided hereunder. Leadership Best Practices That Improve Employee Engagement Quality leadership also helps in nurturing an environment, which might help to enhance employee engagement. In this similar context, it can be stated that demonstrating genuine interests amid the employees and investing much time in understanding their respective requirements and aspirations can assist in enhancing employees’ contributions. Furthermore, it is the duty of the nursing leaders to motivate employees in order to improve the performance of healthcare. Employees can be motivated through delivering reward packages. It can be also suggested that taking a holistic view of compensation, benefits and learning can ensure employee satisfaction and drive towards increased employee engagement (Aon Plc, 2012). Conclusion Since healthcare organizations seek to increase their respective operational performance in terms of providing quality care at lesser costs, increasing employees’ ability and their engagement are more likely to satisfy the intended objectives of such organizations. In order to drive broader employee engagement, it is essential to develop a positive work environment, which would provide the employees with the requisite support and enthusiasm to perform effectively. Although the outcome of employee engagement cannot be realized immediately, there is a need to comprehend that the ultimate objective of employee engagement is to develop a patient cantered care. Establishing employee engagement necessitates considerable time and effort and it is a constant activity of nursing leadership to make employees engaged. Engaged employees enjoy the work, which translate in better service quality. To drive such engagement, organizations are required to remove barriers of higher performance through providing clear guidance, job role and motivation when required. References Aon Plc. (2012). Making employee engagement happen: best practices from best employers. Retrieved from http://www.aon.com/attachments/human-capital-consulting/2012_Making_Employee_Engagement_Happen_Best_Practices_from_Best_Employers_white_paper.pdf Aon Corporation. (2012). 2012 Trends in global employee engagement. Retrieved from http://www.aon.com/attachments/human-capital-consulting/2012_TrendsInGlobalEngagement_Final_v11.pdf Balanced Scorecard. (2010). Benefits from using the balanced scorecard. Retrieved from http://thebalancedscorecard.com/benefits_bsc.htm Caldwell, M. (2011). Employee engagement and the transformation of the health care industry. Harvard University School of Public Health, 1-8. Lowe, G. (2012). How employee engagement matters for hospital performance. Healthcare Quarterly, 15(2), 29-39. Nerenz, D. R., & Neil, N. (2001). Performance measures for health care systems. Center for Health Management Research, 1-38. Quantum Workplace. (2013). 2013 Trends report: the state of employee engagement. Retrieved from http://www.quantumworkplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Resources-Whitepapers-2013-Employee-Engagement-Trends-Report.pdf Russell, V., Mai, F., Busby, K., Attwood, D., Davis, M., & Brown, M. (1996). Acute day hospitalization as an alternative to inpatient treatment. Can J Psychiatry, 41, 629-937. Smith, P. C., Mossialos, E., Papanicolas, I., & Leatherman, S. (n.d.). Performance measurement for health system improvement. Retrieved from http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/135973/E94887_Part_IV.pdf University of California San Francisco. (n.d.). Team engagement action plan. Retrieved from http://greatmanager.ucsf.edu/files/Team%20Engagement%20Action%20Plan.pdf Zelman, W. N., Pink, G. H., & Matthias, C. B. (2003). Use of balanced scorecard in health care. Journal of Health Care Finance, 29(4), 1-16. Read More