HR Pulse - Summer 2008 - (Page 42)

From Tedious Task to Strategic Process Employee Performance Management for Health Care Gets Vital By David Bird 42 HR Pulse Summer 2008 H care organizations to the next level where HR can use these programs to strategically drive recruitment and retention. Opportunities to Boost Quality and Focus on Strategy Health care facilities currently relying on a paper-based appraisal system are faced with the administrative headache of managing the process from start to ﬁnish. The employee performance management process quickly becomes a year-round job, leaving little time for addressing strategic HR issues or actually using the information from appraisals. Automating the process allows for a fundamental shift in efforts and focus: from manually processing paperwork to leveraging strategic information about employee performance. On the process administration side, major productivity gains can be made by automating the workﬂow and eliminating the tasks associated with paper-based systems. For managers and employees alike, automation helps drive up the value of the entire process while decreasing the time commitment required. For example, managers and employees can use online journals to keep track of performance year round, making it easier to recall details at review time. Most health care organizations ﬁnd that by making it easier for managers and employees, they get better quality reviews, which impacts not only performance, but employee satisfaction and retention as well. The most important gain from automating the process is the new found ability to use the information gathered in the performance appraisal process strategically. Leaders can now easily see ealth care organizations of all sizes are continuing to struggle with finding ways to recruit and retain the best and brightest in the industry. The realities of a tight labor market, a retiring workforce, and the need for constant skills development and compliance concerns can make talent management particularly challenging and complex for HR professionals in the health care market. Without the right tools, HR will be hard pressed to win this war. A large number of health care providers still are relying on manual paper or Word/Excel-based methods to manage employee appraisals, clinical assessments, compensation, succession planning, and other key HR functions. In the current climate, health care organizations simply cannot afford to fall behind their peers—who are automating all aspects of the talent management process—and then expect to recruit and retain the highly skilled workers required to deliver topnotch patient care. In fact, talent management solutions have moved from being a leading-edge solution adopted by only large organizations to a mainstream, industry standard for medium-sized and even small health care providers and hospitals. The true value of automating talent management functions goes beyond automating time-consuming administrative tasks; it is about taking HR within leading health

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of HR Pulse - Summer 2008

HR Pulse - Summer 2008 Contents Pulse Points Executive Director's Letter President's Message HR Leader Profile: Carol Bank, SPHR Special Report: Building a Thriving Workforce Creating A Best Place to Work Employee Morale Don't Set Up Your Managers to Fail From Tedious Task to Strategic Process Employer-Assisted Housing Changing the Paradigm of Nurse Recruitment Workforce Recognition: Simple Gestures Go a Long way Advertisers' Index

HR Pulse - Summer 2008

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