HR Pulse - Spring 2009 - (Page 36) A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE Problem vs. Reality Exercise STEP ONE: Ask employees to brainstorm everything they enjoy about the nature of their work, the resources that exist to help them be successful, and their positive relationships with peers, customers, and managers. Have them describe “peak performances” or high points when members of the team went above and beyond the call of duty to exceed customer expectations. Have them cite examples of times when the hospital’s mission and values were realized through employees’ words and deeds. STEP TWO: Ask employees to brainstorm every obstacle that serves as an impediment to their success. (Do not ask them to identify obstacles to job satisfaction. The goal is not to make employees happy, it is to help them be successful. Happiness is a bi-product of success, a result of employees taking pride in their work and seeing the positive results of their efforts.) STEP THREE: Ask employees to determine which identified obstacles are problems (within your team’s total control to solve) and which obstacles are realities (inherent within the work environment). Examples of realities may be financial constraints, space limitations, documentation requirements, patientstaff ratios, patient acuity levels, insurance/government reimbursement processes, or ancillary departments that do not provide the quality service your employees expect. STEP FOUR: Choose the top three problems to work on based on the following criteria: • The payoff for solving this problem is significant. • The success probability is high. It is within our complete control. • The degree of effort is reasonable. • The financial resources are available. The benefits outweigh the cost. Get S.M.A.R.T. Develop a method and a timetable for solving the top problems. For each identified reality, facilitate a team discussion on how best to accept and adjust to the obstacles, stop complaining about them, minimize their negative impact, and respond effectively. Identify roles, responsibilities, action steps, timeframes, indicators of success, monitoring and evaluation strategies, rewards, and consequences for results. Throughout this process, keep in mind that your goals should be: Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Timely While we can’t overcome all the negative aspects of our working environment, we can choose not to be inordinately distressed by them. We can graciously accept realities and learn to live with them, even if we don’t like them. In this way, we don’t empower the imperfect situation to control us. We can place these frustrations into proper perspective and take full advantage of what is good and right within our work team. ■ Michael Cohen specializes in management consulting services and leadership and organizational development. He can be reached at (708) 386-1968 or canoepress@yahoo.com. Let us make your healthcare staffing all better. Adecco’s Recruitment Process Outsourcing ( RPO ) offers multiple solutions to significantly increase qualified candidate traffic (by as much as 80 percent) for your clinician openings, resulting in more timely hires. • Hourly (on-demand), project-based and long-term • Rapid staffing, rapid deployment • Candidate sourcing and screening • Full lifecycle solutions through candidate onboarding • Recruiting events, market expansion, cyclical hiring, large staffing initiatives • Dramatically reducing your high-vacancy expense Contact us today to learn how our RPO services can immediately help your healthcare recruiting get better. 419.720.0111 RPO.adeccousa.com ©2008 Adecco 36 390414_Adecco.indd 2009 HR Pulse Spring 1 7/3/08 4:06:54 PM http://rpo.adeccousa.com
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