STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE IN HEALTHCARE

Strategic management of Human Resource in healthcare

Strategic management of Human Resource in healthcare

Introduction

In the context of quality management initiatives, strategic human resource management (HRM) can be critical to the efficacy of healthcare errors, error reduction barriers, quality management processes and practices, program results, and competitive advantage. Many studies demonstrate the critical impact of employee-oriented strategic HRM practices on the outcomes of quality management programs (Bowen and Lawler, 1992; Lawler, 1992; Lawler et al., 1995, 2001; Simmons et al., 1995; Snape et al., 1995; Talaq and Ahmed, 2003). Furthermore, strategic HRM practices can act as a moderator of the impact of a quality management system on organizational performance (Bou and Beltran, 2005; Challis et al., 2005; Schonberger, 1994). Specifically for healthcare quality management programs, strategic HRM systems improve organizational success (Caron et al., 2004; Chen et al., 2004a; Manion, 2004).

For healthcare quality management systems, strategic HRM has recently demanded greater importance. Employee commitment is critical to maintain quality program success when 40 percent of healthcare workers reported intentions to leave the field in the last few months (Wilkins, 2004). Comparing the AON Corporation annual national surveys of 2003-2004, healthcare workforce commitment has increased from 91 to 97.6 percent, while commitment for the overall US workforce has dropped from 99.7 to 97.6 percent (AON, 2005). A study of healthcare employee commitment revealed key predictors are organizational support, job skill enrichment, quality control, and a culture of continuous learning (Kontoghiorghes and Bryant, 2004). Finally, from research on the not-for-profit sector in general, employee commitment is enhanced by organizational vision, effective communication, and internal marketing of organizational values to employees (Alatrista and Arrowsmith, 2004). Therefore, this study explores the relationships among healthcare error sources, error reduction barriers, quality management processes, quality management practices, strategic HRM, quality program results, and sustainable competitive advantage. The research framework that drives this empirical study shown in Figure 1 and is discussed.

Strategic human resource management

In research on healthcare quality management, strategic HRM commands paramount importance for program results and sustainable competitive advantage (Zairi, 1998). Strategic HRM can be implemented as high employee commitment practices leading to quality program effectiveness (Bou and Beltran, 2005). Successful implementation of employee empowerment and team-building is essential for healthcare quality programs (Adinolfi, 2003). Furthermore, strategic HRM in healthcare has proven to be imperative for a sustainable competitive advantage (Kanji and Sa, 2003). Strategic HRM has been conceptualized by the high commitment work practices (HCWP), configurational fit, and contingency fit approaches (Takeuchi et al., 2003).

The HCWP perspective emphasizes employee empowerment and progressive practices in selection, training, rewards, recognition, information sharing, team-building, and socialization (Geisler, 2005; Sullivan, 2004). Arthur's (1992, 1994) studies of HRM systems in steel minimills concluded that a commitment-based HRM system results in higher productivity, lower scrap rate, and lower employee turnover. To achieve a competitive advantage, HCWP are highly correlated to customers' ratings of service quality (Schneider and Bowen, 1993). In studies of HCWP, such as progressive employee selection, training, skill development, and motivation, there were ...