Profitable Steward Health Care Led By Experienced CEO & Execs in Dallas - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Steward health care is private for-profit health care that is located in Dallas. The health care organization is led by a CEO named Ralph De La Torre. Also supporting him in the management role is a team of other qualified physicians who take up other roles serving as executives in various departments. The executives head major departments such as finance, medical, information, marketing, and the human resource department. The organization has set up thirty-seven hospitals across nine states and others in the country of Malta. To ensure the delivery of quality services, the organization has employed over forty thousand individuals.

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Steward health care ensures that its patients get the best that they deserve. This has made it possible for the organization to be nationally recognized in terms of quality and safety. The medical personnel emphasizes on preventive health care to make sure that the patients enjoy active lives with their families back at home other than spending most of the time in urgent care hospitals.

Besides promoting health care to the patients, the organization engages in major socio-economic activities. It gives back to the community by creating employment opportunities and contracting with local businesses. Hence a lot of investment is done in hiring the local workers and also in setting up new clinical facilities. The hospital also contributes to the local economy by paying taxes. In extending its hand of compassion, the health organization ensures that every patient can access health insurance. This makes sure that the patients have unlimited access to medical services. This helps in keeping chronic diseases at check as one can consult the medical staff without any limitation. Furthermore, health insurance not only protects the family but also protects the savings as well as ensuring one gets quality treatment.

Human Resource Strategic Planning Process

With a full understanding of its goals, the Steward health care has to get into critical analysis of the current human resource capacity. The organization has also to be fully aware of any shortages or surpluses in labor. In carrying out this analysis, the organization has to put certain demographic data into consideration. This includes the current number of employees, qualifications, and skills of each employee as well as their experiences, age, terms of contracts, and performance rating. It will also have to conduct an internal scan within its departments so as to identify its main areas of strength and build upon them while minimizing risks and challenges.

After analyzing the current human resource platform, Steward Hospital should forecast on the future of human resource requirements. The company should evaluate whether there is likely to be any shortage of personnel in a particular department in the years to come. It should also evaluate whether there are any technological improvements that could automate certain processes and also carry out an industry analysis to be certain of the advancements the competitors have made since it's a private company.

Through that forecast, the organization is now in a position to conduct a gap analysis in human resources. It can determine the gaps that exist and how they hinder the attainment of its in long term. If the company notices a gap in technology advancement then it should seek specialized trained and experienced personnel who can operate such equipment after it is acquired. This improves on its radiography sessions for the patients. Contrary, when the organization notices that there are surpluses, then it can start planning for layoffs or direct the excess labor to other departments where it can be more useful but if deficits are encountered then extra personnel is required.

The Steward Hospital now has to evaluate the human resource plan after the planning process is completed. It will assess whether the plan has aided the company in achieving its goals in terms of profits, employee retention, and employee satisfaction. If the organization affirms that the plan has is effective and that it has produced the best results, then the organization can embrace the plan and integrate it within its strategy. However, this needs cooperation and relevant finances in order to ensure that the plan is implemented. In case the plan doesn't produce the anticipated results, there is always room to make some changes while changing certain aspects to ensure that the plan blends well with the organization's goals, mission, vision, and objectives.

Empowering and Engaging Employees

It is very significant for the Steward Hospital to engage its employees as well as motivate them as this will highly boost their performance. When the personnel is actively involved, their morale is boosted and this will highly reduce employee turnover in the organization. Additionally, it promotes better health care and also drives patient satisfaction. Employee engagement can be achieved through the following ways;

Compensation Management

The Steward hospital should put in place a proper compensation strategy that ensures that every employee receives their share of compensation equally and without bias. The compensation includes wages, promotions, salaries, and bonuses. A good compensation strategy helps in retaining quality employees. Proper compensation adds flavor to the terms of the contract and ensures that the employees perform even better at work. It will increase their loyalty to the Steward Hospital hence increasing productivity which consequently results in greater profit margins.

Work Environment

It is the quality of an employee's workplace environment that most impacts on the level of employee's motivation and subsequent performance (Ollukkaran and Gunaseelan, 2012). Therefore, the Steward company must strive to maintain a healthy and favorable working platform if it is determined to reduce employee turnover. A working environment where there is a continuous supply of all medical requirements such that there no shortages or delays. It should ensure that its employees are engaged in decision making. Such a working environment makes the employees feel a sense of value and can thereby deliver their best. It makes them fully concentrate on their patients. A favorable working environment allows the employees to rest so that they can strike a balance between life and work. This will increase productivity at work and also favor the employee. Hence, both will mutually benefit from the strategy.

Encouraging Open Communication

Communication is the key to achieving improved health care. Either through debate or conversation, the Steward Hospital should ensure that there is a definite and clear flow of information within the organization. Such that managers can communicate with the employees and employees can freely communicate with the management without any fear. Employees feel more motivated and satisfied when their ideas are incorporated into decision making. They have a sense of self- worth and a feeling that their input also matters. Through this, every employee will have equal involvement and contribution to the success of the hospital. Open dialogue also enhances an efficient flow of ideas and boosts creativity. Such a strategy allows the employees to familiarize themselves with the goals of the hospital and what is expected of them in the attainment of those goals. Weekly, employee surveys, focus groups, and monthly meetings will help in achieving this. It makes them feel they have a voice in the organization.

Employee Development

The Steward hospital has to engage in staff development. It is an important aspect that should be encouraged and established within the organization and also monetary funds set aside to promote it. Staff education encompasses orientation and job training by providing basic information about the practice of health care. This promotes both personal and professional growth amongst the employees. By encouraging a culture of learning, the hospital will be creating a positive and committed workforce. It results in a team that is confident, competent, and result-oriented. Not only does employee development enhance the well-being of individual employees by providing benefits such as skill acquisition and career development, but it also enhances the organization's productivity (Lee and Bruvold, 2003). The hospital can also promote staff development by organizing seminars for the employees and also workshops. It is a strategy that Steward should implement as it directly affects profitability. Through promoting staff education, the Steward Hospital will be acknowledging its employees and also valuing them.

Developing the Strategic Plan

Developing a strategic plan will enable the Steward group to set and achieve short term goals while keeping sight at its long term vision. Developing the strategic plan for the hospital will basically entail the following;

Formation of a Planning Team

The Steward Company has to come up with a planning team that is composed of the board of management, key staff members and other stakeholders including vendors, long term program volunteers, and respective community leaders. The first task of this team will be to develop an agenda for its meeting. The team must be aware that it is creating a plan to build up an existing one since the hospital is an already established entity with a firm market ground. More importantly, the team should clearly state the time frame that it is planning for but most preferably it should focus on a three-year plan since the hospital has a significant market share.

Gathering of Information

The planning team has now to go further and gather more valuable information on the history of the Steward Hospital. It must critically analyze the leadership of the organization and the mission. Why the organization exists and the steps undertaken to ensure that it is working to achieve its mission. It must also look at staffing and how finances are managed in the organization. This will also entail analyzing the opportunities that exist for the organization in the market as well as threats and how these risks can be mitigated. Through gathering information the team can be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Steward Group.

Decision Making

It is the next step that the planning team is going to take after they have got all the information they need. However, it must involve other stakeholders in determining what Steward's main goal is and what matters most to the organization. It must identify the milestones needed to achieving that agenda and also set objectives that are aimed at attaining those goals. It must, however, put more emphasis on objectives that will bring positive change to the Steward Group bearing in mind that it is an organization that is profit-driven.

Drafting the Plan

After establishing the strategic priorities and identifying goals and how they are to be achieved, then drafting of the plan can be initiated. This is done by the management team which also reviews the budgetary requirements needed in order to transform that vision into reality. The plan should then be revised by the planning team who in turn present it to the executive management. It is good if the organization sends the draft to community leaders who may have additional comments on how the hospital can possibly expand and increase its market share. After the board is fully satisfied with the plan after reviewing then the plan can be approved.

Promoting the Strategic Plan

Once the strategy is fully formulated, then the organization must engage in best practices possible to promote the plan. These are the means by which the organization will make sure that their plan is well known and understood by the patients. Hence, the hospital can undertake the following procedures to rea...