Background

Human resources and workforce planning are the core of the strategic planning process. Leaders of health care organizations must recruit, train, and retain engaged employees who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to accomplish the organization's strategic objectives. To effectively execute the strategic plan, all employees, from the executive leadership team to midlevel management and frontline employees, must be able to support the mission, vision, and goals of the organization. As an organizational leader, what strategies might you use to help facilitate this process?

This week, as you explore human resources, you recommend strategies for short-term and long-term organizational development, workforce planning, and succession planning.

Learning Objectives

Students will:
- Recommend strategies for short-term and long-term organizational development
- Recommend strategies for short-term and long-term workforce planning
- Recommend strategies for short-term and long-term succession planning

Discussion Topic: Organizational Development, Workforce Planning, and Succession Planning

Organizational development is focused on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of a workplace. As part of this process, strategic planning professionals often work with leadership teams to develop strategies for short-term and long-term organizational development, including workforce planning and succession planning. This helps ensure that health care organizations recruit, train, and retain employees that are capable of meeting strategic objectives. For this Discussion, examine the following scenarios and suggest strategies for organizational development, workforce planning, and succession planning.

Scenario 1: Park Post-Acute Care Services has been providing quality nursing home and home health services for 70 years in rural Texas. It is a family-owned business that has been passed down through the generations to family members eager to provide service to citizens in the community. About three years ago, the leadership team created a five-year strategic plan in anticipation of some members of the leadership team retiring after fully accomplishing the plan. The remaining members committed to serving as chief executives of larger health care organizations. However, the strategic plan failed to include a succession plan for identifying talented professionals who will be able to lead the organization after the long-standing leadership team of 15 years vacate their positions in two years.

Scenario 2: Whitesville Medical Center has been providing quality patient care in Louisiana for over 100 years. However, during the last five years, the organization has experienced significant turnover in middle management positions in the Housekeeping Department. In fact, the average tenure of a middle manager is only six months, and there is a current vacancy in the day and evening shifts. Because of the unstable management team, no one has been able to hold supervisors accountable for facilitating appropriate orientation of new staff, ongoing training of the seasoned employees, and routine audits of the employees' performance. Unfortunately, the breakdown in management oversight has led to a lack of employee training in cleaning and sanitizing patient rooms, surgical suites, and public areas including the restrooms and waiting areas. The lack of cleanliness and sanitation has led to an outbreak of nosocomial infections impacting several patients and causing them to remain in the hospital for a longer period of time. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Joint Commission have received anonymous tips about this outbreak and have sent survey teams to conduct unannounced visits at the facility, which could lead to fines until the issue is fully resolved by the medical center.

Scenario 3: Myrtle Healthcare System is an integrated health care organization providing health care services in Colorado. Recently, an investigative reporter from the local television news station reported that leadership at Myrtle's flagship hospital, Jackson Hospital, will be getting annual bonuses of $25k in December and a 10% increase in their salaries for the next year. This story comes at a time when frontline staff members have been complaining repeatedly about the deplorable working conditions and lack of pay increase in five years. Unfortunately, leadership has consistently refused to host an employee town hall meeting to discuss their concerns collectively. The employees are now asking for the union to intervene so that this matter may be quickly resolved to restore the employees' trust in leadership and the public's trust in the organization's ability to provide quality patient care.

To prepare:
- Review the scenario assigned to you by the Instructor.
- Consider strategies for short-term and long-term organizational planning, workforce planning, and/or succession planning.