Case Study Analysis

Question 1: The Situation

President Obama’s time in the office has seen a change in the health care system due to ensuring that every American citizen has a health insurance cover through the Affordable Care Act. The Act received great support from low-income population as compared to high-income population since it has enabled them to get health care services regardless of their being insured or not. The signing of the act has led to an increase in revenue due to a rise in affordable insurance offered to citizens as states expanded their financial healthcare incentives. However, the act has come under intense scrutiny and had a negative impact on many public hospitals since the services they offer are below usual standards (Cunningham, Garfield, & Rudowitz, 2015). The act has increased the burden on hospitals due to a growing demand for health services and an increase in patient revenue as new patients who are insured seek medical cover. There has been a complaint that ever since the Act was signed and came into effect, hospitals have not been performing as they should. The case study shows the negative impact of the Act on the hospitals, which forced the health care sector to make changes in its operations and services offered to patients (Cunningham, Garfield, & Rudowitz, 2015). The state gave funding to insurance programs for low-income families instead of funding the hospital. As a result, it is forced to operate within minimal budget and reduce its expenses so that it can pay the deficit, which has contributed to the closure of some departments.

Question 2: Issues at Stake

Compliance with the regulation has led to changes in the hospital strategies since it has to work with low funding and increased deficit. The country’s workforce is bound to be affected because some of the employees will have to be dismissed and no new staff will be hired. The level of service delivery to patients will be greatly affected as well. This is because some programs and medical emergency care will be closed, reducing patient services. The capabilities and integrity of the hospital are also at stake since the services offered are not as efficient (Cunningham, Garfield, & Rudowitz, 2015) as they should be according to the end goal of the company, which is to increase productivity of the hospital and not the services offered to satisfy patients.

Problems to Be Solved

The hospital has a large deficit. In order to eliminate this deficit, the expenses of the hospital have to be reduced. This is achieved through decreasing the number of hospital staff, refusing from annual pay increase and closing some programs. An increase in patients given the decreasing number of staff has led to overworking of the health care personnel. If this problem is not solved, the services delivered to patients will be inefficient (Cunningham, Garfield, & Rudowitz, 2015). In addition, there is an increased conflict between staff and even managers, which if not tackled, will lead to a stressful and competitive work environment. An unfriendly working environment affects not only operations of the hospital but also family lives of the staff due to an increased level of stress at work. Reduction of the number of employees has contributed to increased distress among employees, who work with the fear of losing their jobs. If this issue is not tackled, it will lead to a challenging working environment. The morale of the employees has lowered, resulting in an increased rate of absenteeism among the staff. Therefore, the management has to address this problem so as to provide timely delivery of services and avoid offering the patients dissatisfactory services.

Question 3: How to Communicate the Strategic Plan

Any changes that arise in any institution are bound to face a lot of opposition and resistance before they are accepted fully. To communicate a new strategic plan, the Psychiatry Department staff should be informed about the challenging situation that the hospital encounters and how the new budgetary strategy plan will help the department cope with the increased number of patients without affecting service delivery. The businesses strategy should be explained to employees thoroughly by determining how it can be incorporated into the department. This can be achieved provided that the employees are effectively trained and informed of their roles in the strategy and the way it can be applied in their operation (Everse, 2011). If the plan is progressive, employees should be inspired. In order to ensure that the new plans are accepted, Leon should encourage unity within the department, which will build trust among the members of staff that are left in the department (Everse, 2011). The new strategy should be reinforced in the department through effective communication in order to ensure that employees have knowledge and confidence in this strategy.

Question 4: HR Involvement

HR department plays a managerial role in any organization since it is concerned with the employment of staff while ensuring that the staff complies with the set institution policy. In the case study, the HR is able to ensure that there are no internal conflicts between the staff in the department by informing the head of the department about the issues affecting the employees. The HR can implement a time clock that will record the time when the employees arrive and leave. This is a managerial strategy that aims at ensuring that the employees work efficiently and within their stipulated time.

HR Implications of the Plan

Noting the arrival and departure time of employees is a positive managerial policy as it will discourage employees’ absenteeism. These records can be used by the human resource department to find out which department is underperforming. In the case study, this action led to the dismissal of an employee after the union employee was transferred to the department. This, therefore, contributed to a negative attitude of employees towards this policy.

How Better Alignment with HR Mitigates the Issues

To reduce the negative attitude of the staff towards policies set, the HR should listen to the suggestions and grievances of the employees (Everse, 2011). The actions being implemented should be acceptable to the employees in order to avoid the need to transfer and fire the staff. Alignment of the employees’ behavior to the set standard will create a friendly and stress-free working environment. This will increase productivity of the employees while ensuring that the hospital’s mission is accomplished.

Question 5: How to Reduce Turnover

Any change in an institution is bound to cause a high rate of employee turnover, which has a negative effect on the company. Turnover in any institution leads to over-working of the staff and low morale of employees, which leads to poor services and a lot of vacant positions. To ensure that the institution continues to operate effectively, the employees pressing needs should be addressed (Jacobsen, 2013). In the case study, the Department of Psychiatry is facing a high employee turnover, which will affect the department unless it is addressed. However, if the morale of the workforce increases, the cases of desertion will reduce. Despite the budget constraint, the department should be equipped with the right tools so that the services offered are not affected. The employees should also feel appreciated by being granted small benefits, which will give them have a sense of belonging to the company and prevent them from leaving. There also should be flexibility within the department so that the staff does not feel oppressed in their workplace (Jacobsen, 2013). Leon can also engage employees in the operations of the department by letting them highlight their visions and goals in the areas they find necessary to be addressed. In addition, respect among employees needs to be cultivated in order to avoid cases of sabotage and jealousy that can negatively affect the performance of the company. Corporate culture should be fostered in the hospital in order to increase productivity and the level of satisfaction among employees.

Relation of Turnover and Department Success

A high employee turnover will hurt institution’s operations and, if not addressed quickly, it may lead to the closure of the business, especially a small business. To replace health care professionals who have left will force the institution to hire new employees, which is usually a very costly process. The greatest costs are associated with the recruiting and training of the new staff (Jacobsen, 2013). The department’s budget deviates from the pressing matters and more spending is allocated for hiring and training staff, which ultimately negatively affects the performance of the department. The staff left behind usually ends up tired and working extra hours to fill the gaps and compensate for the work that is lagging behind. It is, therefore, important to reduce turnover in the department in order to achieve the goals and vision of the department.

HR Implications

Turnover has a negative impact on the HR department since the managers have to vet and hire new staff (Jacobsen, 2013). The new staff may need training on various operations of the hospital, which may weigh heavily on the hospital budget. The remaining staff may find the working environment unfriendly, which can affect their productivity. This will force the HR to take other measures to ensure efficiency of the services offered. Reduction in the number of employees in the hospital is a negative step to any country’s economy but, on the other hand, a small number of employees can be easily supervised. It can also reduce spending on human resources and discourage absenteeism.

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