Discuss about the Well-being of Professionals in Public Sectors.
The well-being of an employee is quite ambiguous since it focuses on different areas that helps him maintain an equilibrium between the resources he has and the challenges that comes along his way (Nash 2014). Well-being of an employee can be classified into psychological, physical and social well-being. It can be termed as the experience of an employee in a certain organization, that is, if the employee feels a sense of satisfaction while doing the job. The extent at which an employee feels as part and person of an organization can also help in determining his well-being. Another key determinant of well-being of employees is the kind of relationship between leaders and their juniors. This has a way of influencing how the employees view their work. Let us focus on the nursing profession. It’s a profession that demands a lot of commitment from them. Their well-being has a direct effect not only to themselves but also to the patients they handle daily (Kreitzer & Koithan 2014). This makes their well-being to a matter to be considered important. What are their experiences? Do they feel they have enough resources to counter the challenges they face daily? Are they satisfied in their profession? How is their productivity? This are some of the question that can help in answering the question of their well-being.
In New Zealand, the health sector seems to be unique. According to research, this country has quite a long history of building a stable NHS. The nurses in this country depict a high sense of satisfaction and their input toward building a stable NHS is evident (Hally 2009). Recently, the country launched a health sector’s strategy called ‘The New Zealand Health Strategy’. This was a move aimed at defining the direction of the health sector in this country for a decade. The nurses’ response to this strategy was amazing. From the chief nursing officer, they interpreted it in five simple guidelines. First, is to be people-centered so as to understand their needs and desired results. Secondly was to take services closer to where people are located. This includes workplaces and homes for more convenience. Thirdly, the nurses also hold on valuable and high-performance healthcare services. Fourthly, the nurses believe that they are one team and they will work to enhance their relationship at work. Lastly, they have decided to be at the forefront in embracing the new technology so as to cope with the world’s new trends. This clearly indicates a high level of satisfaction among the nursing profession. Countries such as the UK can learn so much from New Zealand should they consider to emulate their model ensuring well-being in the health sector (Tschudin & Davis 2008).
As indicated earlier, the well-being of an employee can take three directions. We will start by understanding psychological well-being. This a state of fulfillment and satisfaction with what one is doing. Some would term it as being happy with the profession (Chin 2012). In the case of nursing, this kind of well-being can affect the relationship between a nurse and the patient and also the relationship with other health professionals. It has been seen to help in improving the level of employee performance and innovativeness. An organization which considers the psychological well-being of their staffs tends to use programs that reduce employees stress. This state of well-being can be enhanced by a number of activities. To begin with, one has to accept and appreciate his or her profession and give the best out of it (NSchwarz, Diener & Kahneman 1999). One has to feel that he is advancing as far as his profession is concerned. He must be able to see that he is a better nurse today than she was yesterday. There must be a certain state that this nurse wants to reach and this acts as a guide and a motivator in his profession. One must also learn the art of developing a relationship with others, especially in his field.
Social well-being is the extent someone feels as part of a certain group or even environment. For a person to fully experience the full state of well-being, he must have the sense of belonging in that field (psFigart& Marangos, 2011). This kind of state is built on the commonly shared values, traditions, beliefs, and norms. This link helps in one in upgrading his profession and eventually improving the overall performance. They also bring happiness and satisfaction in one’s career. This state is enhanced by allowing an employee to join social groups that will suit his needs at will. This was the major reasons for the introduction of trade unions. They ensure that once social needs are taken care of accordingly. This could be working conditions, entitlements or even appropriate remuneration for the work done. In the UK, the Royal College of Nurses is one of the biggest union that stands in the front line of protecting, supporting and advising nurses all across in the country (Ambrosio 2018).
The third face of the well-being of an employee is the physical well-being. This focuses on the health of an employee. This helps an organization not to suffer from the effects brought about by the bad health of the employees such as low productivity due to absenteeism (Bach & Edwards 2013). For example in the health sector, the government can choose to introduce programs that ensure nurses enjoy good health. This can be done by helping them access healthcare and exercise facilities. It can also be done by giving appropriate meals. It is also possible by introducing some affordable health plans such as NHIF in Kenya. An employee can also be given free medical checkups from time to time to ensure they are in good health conditions. In every year, every Kenyan nurse receives a leave to just rest away from work. This is also a trend in many organizations in the quest for the physical wellness of their employees (Eby & Allen 2012). It is worth noting that physical well-being is not the absence of an ailment but it is measured by the strength required to easily perform a certain task.
Nurses find themselves in very tight programs that are likely to cause burnouts. Maybe you are wondering what this is. It is a condition of extreme physical and mental exhaustion. It is mainly characterized by disengagement. In other words, it can also be termed as the highest order of stress (Goad 2016). This has been a major contributor of some problem associated with nursing as we are going to see below. At times this can be unavoidable though there are measures to reduce its probability. Nurses at times work for so many hours without rest. They also operate in an environment that has quite a high number of activities. They also tend to be driven by their calling and at times may lead to overworking. All this contribute to this effect. However, they can cub this deadly condition by knowing they are human being too who need rest despite the zeal to serve others Tau (Franceschi 2013). Sometime grief and sadness can pile without them knowing and if it is not addressed it can be dangerous. They can address this always acknowledging when they’re not ok. This effect has reduced the efficiency of these sector in diverse ways. A nurse suffering from burnout cannot deliver health services well and this results to unsatisfied patients. This can promote spread of infection since at this state, nurses can be reckless. It is evident that any patient being served by a nurse in this condition is directly affected. A study conducted by one journal called ‘The Conversation’ showed that nurses in UK suffer high levels of burnouts causing some to drop their professions. This has consequently caused a shortage of nurses despite the rising demand of health services (Gordon 2005). This is the opposite of what is happening in New Zealand where nurses seem to be enjoying their profession due to the improved conditions.
Another major problem that faces nurses is over-working. This is simply working beyond the limit that an employee or a normal human being. This is mainly caused by the overwhelming demand that revolves around their profession. It’s evident that the kind of role nurses play, patient or health center can do without (Callara 2008). These are the major of cause of burnout that we have just discussed above. In this state, they suffer the risk of contracting some deadly infections. Death rates also seem to increase since, in this state, nurses cannot respond to emergencies accordingly. This has also contributed to the high rate of nurses leaving their profession. This occurs once a nurse feels he/she is at his/her breaking point and cannot take it anymore. This is a state that cannot be controlled without government intervention. This is because it is mainly caused by a shortage of nurses compared to the rising need for health services. Research shows that this is the majority of the nurses in the UK. The number of nurses outdone by the rate of health service demand (PDellasega 2011). On the other case, the rate at which nurses are overworked in New Zealand is quite lower to that of UK. This consequently reduces the productivity of nurses since they can only do so much in that state of exhaustion.
A study in different health centers in the UK and New Zealand shows that many nurses suffer from bullying. This is sort of repeated bad actions that are intended to humiliate and diminish them. This may not be so popular to many but it is a sort of culture that tends to thrive in this industry. This action lowers the esteem of a nurse and consequently lowers the overall productivity (Dellasega & Volpe 2013). To some, it has gone to extent of them leaving their job when it becomes too much to bear. Some of the people who suffer from this are new graduates or them that are being promoted and the colleagues feel they did not deserve. It can also be contributed by envy or certain norms in a certain environment that might be new to the new nurses. This makes them feel out of place. The phrase ‘nurse eat their young’ has also been used widely in this profession to promote bullying. In New Zealand, this rate has been broken the record. In a study that was entitled ‘New Zealand Study’ all the nurses who were approached, about 1170, said that they had encountered bullying in their profession. This calls for serious measures to be introduced by the government to reduce it.
In every profession, motivation is very key and is one way of ensuring the well-being of the employees (Swansburg 1996). This is an inner force that works in a person making him act toward some objectives or goals. The motivation of nurses is very key in the process of improving the overall health sector. This can be done by small actions but at the end of it all, they really make a large difference. This is also one of the biggest roles of the human resource management especially in such stressful environment (Booker & Waugh 2007). One of the best ways to do this is to indirectly provoke open discussion so as to know what is happening. A delegation is also a great tool in motivation. This can be done by giving the nurses chances to perform some task such as leading departmental meetings. Communication is also key to a strong relationship. Nurses can be motivated by talking to them in a good way and acknowledging their efforts. This help- them in getting rid of some stress that accumulates from their daily activities of handling the dead and the sick. They also improve productivity and make the field more attractive hence solving the problem of shortage of nurses. This will have contributed to a plus in their well-being.
One of the major challenge facing the health sector in many countries is the shortage of nurses. Despite this being a knowledge-intensive kind of service, research shows that this shortage is caused by the job quality. The quality of a job directly determines its attractiveness. According to the OECD framework, the quality of a job can be measured in three dimension namely earning quality, labor and market security and quality of the working environment (Pilichowski & Arnould 2007). In the area of earning quality, these framework focuses on the extent the earnings adds up to the well-being of the employee and its distribution along the workforce. The government can make this sector attractive by providing the nurses better pay that equals their work. In the labor market security segment, it focuses on the job security and the risk of unemployment. The government also has a role to play in ensuring nurses work without this fear. The last and the most important segment of this framework is the quality of working environment. This focuses on the non-economic nature of the job such as workplace relationships and the nature of work. These is the area that the government needs to focus on since the health sector working environment is not attractive. They can do so by addressing the problems such as over-working, bullying and the likes
Lately, there has been an introduction of a concept called ‘value for money’. This concept helps in making decisions on the use of resources in the health sector. It tend to compare the resources spent in the healthcare and the ultimate delivery of its system (Sorenson, Drummond & Kanavos 2008). With the help of this concept, the government can allocate some money to facilitate the well-being of nurses. In many countries, nurses are seen striking and demonstrating because they feel what they receive as a pay is not enough for the services they offer. The government can decide to offer nurses some cheap loans to acquire houses. This will have contributed positively to their well-being. Considering also that the sector suffers shortage of nurses, the government can also allocate some resources to facilitate the employment of new nurses. This will reduce the probability of the nurses being overworked and also the level of burnout. The major hindrance of good value of money in this sector is misplaced priority. The government seem to concentrate resources in other area that do not seem to matter. The fact is that without nurses, the health sector can collapse.
The well-being of an employee and his performance are two things that cannot be separated. The AMO model of performance shows this by showing how human resource management affects the performance of an employee. A stands for the ability to perform. Employees always perform a task in a better way once they have the required skills in a given field. On the other hand, M stands for motivation to perform a given task. If an employee motivated enough to perform a certain task, the results will always be better. Lastly is O which stands for opportunity. Here the model indicates that the performance of an employee will always be good when he is given necessary support and channels of expression. These three aspects contribute to the well-being of an employee (Wilkinson & Johnstone 2016). It then becomes an indication that for the productivity of the health sector to improve, their well-being should be a priority. This can be done by giving them additional training in the course of their work, motivating them by appropriate actions and communication and lastly by giving them a chance to speak their thoughts.
Employee voice is important as far as their well-being is concerned. This is defined as giving employees a chance to have a say and influence decisions that touch their interest. Many people tend to look at the well-being of an employee in economic terms only which is wrong. It revolves in three levels namely: legal aspect, sociological aspect, and the management aspect. In a legal aspect, an employee speaks for his human rights and the labor rights. The sociological aspects aim at the trade unions and other collective bargaining societies. In the management aspect, it aims at improving the overall performance of the organization. Employees are affected by how the manager exercises their power and they will always react to any approach that threatens their interest (Wilkinson, Donaghey, Dundon & Freeman 2014). Some of the steps that can help in strengthening employee voice in the health sector is allowing more formal methods of voicing. This may include employee survey and formation of the consultative committee.
Talent management is also an important action in the health sector since it is faced with problems such as under-staffing. It provides ways in which managers can renew and modify the workforce to conform to the needs of the organization (Scullion & Collings 2011). It focuses on the quantity of the workforce in terms of under-staffing and over-staffing and also the quality of the workforce which looks at the skills and abilities in a workforce. Labor shortages and unqualified people challenge a firm productivity. It also strains the few existing qualified staffs as it has been the case with the health sector. Talent management can also be enhanced through training development and performance appraisal. On-job training helps in improving the skills of employees and boosting their confidence too. This can be a strategy in the health sector to improve the well-being of nurses. On the other hand, performance appraisal is done by evaluating the employee performance so as to give them assistance where there is a need. PA helps also in determining where promotion or salary increment is due. Pay is also considered in talent management. It is evident that pay is a vital extrinsic motivator to an employee.
It is evident that much need to be done to improve the well-being of the nurses. These will help in improving the productivity of the entire health sector. From the study above, implementation of innovative human resource management frameworks can help in improving the well-being of employees. These strategies include talent management, AMO performance model, and employee voicing among others. However, their implementation relies on government support (Richard, Emener & Hutchison 2009). This is because health sector is managed by the government in every state. Among the above mentioned frameworks, talent management turn out to be the best as far as the case of nurses is concerned. This is because it will address the major problems such as labor shortage and a fair pay to the nurses. Performance appraisal can also be helpful since it acts as a motivation tool to the employees. It also helps in knowing the areas that need to be improved for better performance of the staffs.
References
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