Job Satisfaction Strategies For Quality Health Care

Issue Statement

Describe about the Job Satisfaction Strategies for Quality Health Care.

One of the goals of this organization is to deliver high quality health care services to the patients. However, this has been achieved as expected because of the challenges faced so far. High rate of turnover of the dentists is the issue that needs to be addressed. Over the years, the organization has been experiencing a turnover of dentists who cease from serving the facility in pursuit of greener pastures elsewhere.

Background Discussion

According to records from the Human Resource Management department, turnover of the dentists is a real challenge that has been facing the organization for very many years. This implies that it is not a new challenge because it has been affecting the organization since its establishment. Dentists’ turnover has been caused by different factors. First and foremost, just like any other workers, dentists need proper remuneration. Good payment is one of the motivating factors for the employees (Goetz, Campbell, Broge, Dörfer, Brodowski & Szecsenyi, 2012). However, a large number of dentists have been quitting the organization because of poor pay. Besides, dentists have been complaining of poor working conditions. A large number of dentists have been attributing their attrition to poor management system. They feel that they are neglected, not empowered and denied opportunities to advance their career.

The turnover of dentists is a major problem that greatly impacts on the organization. Its effects are felt by the management, patients and the general public. When dentists leave the organization, a gap is created that might, at times, be hard to fill. As a result of this, the organization gets inconvenienced in many ways. The first challenge that the transition of dentists pose to the organization is that it leads to loss of employees, an unfortunate situation that compromises the quality of service delivery (Shields, Brown, Kaine, Dolle-Samuel, North-Samardzic, McLean & Plimmer, 2015). A part from losing its productive personnel, the organization is compelled to use a lot of resources in constantly recruiting new staff. However, this can be costly because it might involve a lot of resources in hiring, training, orientation and remuneration. The patients are, on the other hand affected by this problem because it hinders them from accessing quality uninterrupted health care services.

Regardless of the magnitude of this challenge, it should be noted that dentists’ turnover is not restricted to this organization alone. It is major challenge faced by health care facilities within and out of the country. Meaning, dentists’ transition is a global phenomenon. Whenever it occurs, the turnover poses a challenge. Thus, it is regarded as a serious issue that requires a lot of efforts to eradicate (Parker, 2014). Whereas some organizations have been engaged in research on what exactly causes it, other organizations have taken measures to address employee satisfaction. It is argued that a satisfied dentist can not bother to compromise the quality of their services, think of quitting the employer or leaving the profession. Nevertheless, a lot of work still needs to be done because the challenge of dentists’ turnover has not been ultimately resolved.

Background Discussion

After identifying the turnover of dentists as a real challenge and acknowledging that it is a global problem. It is commendable to come up with well-thought and feasible recommendations (Kalra, Kalra, Kini, Jathanna & Prashant, 2015). Thus, it is recommended that a proper research should be done to determine the underlying causes of job dissatisfaction amongst the dentists. Information should be sought from former and current dentists on the various challenges that demoralize and compel them to make the decision of quitting current employment in pursuit for other employment opportunities (Mitchell, Gagné, Beaudry & Dyer, 2012). The knowledge of the causation should be the first step in the provision of remedial measures to the challenge of dentists’ turnover.

Besides, it is recommended that employer should take all the necessary measures to satisfy the diverse needs of the dentists. When it is identified that the job satisfaction results from factors like poor remuneration, lack of empowerment, and general poor working conditions, the employer should provide ensure that the same are availed to the employees (Eisele, Grohnert, Beausaert & Segers, 2013). This can be a better way of motivating the dentists and boosting their morale to serve the organization without complaining. Last, but not least, the challenge can be addressed if the employers work in conjunction with trade unions and empower dentists to form, join and support the activities of a dentists’ allied trade union (Parker, 2014). Here, the dentists can get an ample opportunity to air all their grievances and agitate for better pay, attractive incentives, empowerment, and conducive working conditions.  

Proposed Approach to Developing the Recommendations

The most appropriate approach that can be adopted in developing these recommendations is the establishment of a sub-team to oversee its adoption and implementation. The formation of a sub-team is suitable because it can enable the management to come up with an autonomous team to work on the modalities of addressing the challenge of dentists’ turnover (Hayes, Douglas & Bonner, 2015). For the work to be perfectly done, the sub-team should compose of representatives from different areas including Human Resource Management, dentistry department, oral health and senior management (Goetz, Campbell, Broge, Dörfer, Brodowski & Szecsenyi, 2012). Once all these departments are represented, a conclusive and unbiased agreement can be made on the best possible ways of addressing the challenge (Manzoor, 2012). However, to accomplish its mandate, the sub-team should dedicate its time and commit itself to doing the best within its capacity.   

Recommendations

It is no doubt that the proposed recommendation will be the best way of resolving the issue of the turnover of dentists. The first way through which the recommendation will solve the challenge is that it emphasizes the need for carrying out a study to ascertain the real causes of the turnover of the dentists (Roslan, Manaf, Filzatun & Azahadi, 2014). The identification of all the factors resulting into job dissatisfaction amongst the dentists is good because it provides a roadmap on what actions to take. At the same time, the recommendation will lay out the necessary framework to adopt to address the challenge. This implies that it is a brilliant recommendation that, if properly implemented, can help in providing a permanent solution to the persistent challenge of dentists’ turnover.

The most outstanding benefit of the recommendation is that it advocates for the best alternative approach for the resolving the challenge. If fully implemented, it will benefit all the stakeholders including the employer, the patients, the government and the general public that seeks to benefit from a reliable oral health care service (O’Connor, Borkowski & Kemp, 2015). Even if it might be faulted from leaning too much towards the dentists, and requiring a huge amount of money to implement, the recommendation will be major milestone in oral health care services (Shields, Brown, Kaine, Dolle-Samuel, North-Samardzic, McLean & Plimmer, 2015). It will help the policy-makers to make reasonable decisions aimed at empowering the dentists for the sake of the entire society.

The recommendation will be implemented by involving an active participation of all the concerned stakeholders. Since the turnover of dentists has been found to be a persistent challenge, it will be resolved by seeking for the contributions of the dentists, the Human Resource Managers, trade unions, senior managers and government representatives (Skudiene & Auruskeviciene, 2012). The seeking of the opinion of these parties will help in understanding the magnitude of the problem before coming up with remedial measures. The sub-team will be expected to liaise with the management to ensure that all the recommendations are implemented as they ought to.

However, for better results, the implementation process should be done within a specified time frame.  And as a serious it will be better if it everything is done within 6 months. This is a suitable time limit within which all the activities can be completed. It is enough to enable all the stakeholders to analyze the situation and make viable decisions in line with the recommendations (Tuononen, Suominen & Lammintakanen, 2016). During this time, the implementers should be keenly involved in the evaluation of the implementation process.

Proposed Approach to Developing the Recommendations

Another important activity that should be undertaken during the implementation process is the evaluation of progress. A constant review of the progress is encouraged because it will enable the implementers to study and determine the extent to which the recommendations are implemented (Peng, Li, Zhang, Tian, Miao, Xiao & Zhang, 2016). At the same time, through the assessment process, the implementers will manage to ascertain and immediately address any obstacles that might stand on the way of a full implantation of the recommendations within stipulated time duration (Bates, Buehler, Boynton, Majewski & Inglehart, 2013).

Once all the activities are done, the recommendations should be effectively communicated to all the stakeholders especially the dentists, management and other parties who are directly or indirectly affected by the new changes. Communication should formally flow from the management in a properly coordinated manner. Use of a proper communication channel can be of great contribution in implementing the implementation (Healy, Harrison & Foster, 2015). It can help in ensuring that information about the new changes is communicated up to the individual employees in line with the organization’s corporate communication strategies.

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