HR Pulse - Spring 2010 - (Page 17)
Looking Beyond the Clinical Side of Performance By Tracy M. Maylett, Ed.D, SPHR changing health care environment has resulted in increased focus on performance, both at the organizational and personal levels. Health care leaders carry an added burden—an increased need to focus on both operational performance (clinical and functional) and non-clinical performance (behavior, leadership, and interpersonal skills). Many health care organizations are effective at measuring the clinical or functional components of job performance. Yet few are as equally competent when it comes to assessing the non-clinical or behavioral components. Without considering both performance elements, health care organizations may not have an accurate view of how their leaders truly perform. The Failing Performer One significant benefit resulting from increased legislation, monitoring, and public scrutiny (as well as auditing entities) is that the proficiency of measuring clinical and functional aspects of performance has increased. These include measuring job-specific skills considered as “must-haves” in a health care manager’s repertoire. Clinical knowledge and ability, education, training, licensures, and experience are prime examples. These skills are critical for professionals who work directly with patients, as well as those who are primarily administrative. Unfortunately, our ability to look at the behavioral aspects of performance has not kept pace with our capacity to understand and measure the technical, operational component. Performance measured solely from a clinical skills perspective misses a critical factor—behavior, or the “soft side” of performance. For patient-facing managers, this soft dimension is referred to as the non-clinical, operational, or interpersonal side of performance. Many organizations, however, fail to adequately consider both sides—clinical/functional and non-clinical/non-functional—when looking at manager performance. Managers lacking in the non-clinical/non-functional side of leadership typically experience significant issues that eventually decrease overall performance. On an individual level, this could take the form of ineffective leadership, poor relationships, inability to gain respect, and generally poor results. On an HR Pulse Spring 2010 ▲
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