Identifying practices to improve the healthcare workforce
What is management innovation? It is stepping outside of what is known as traditional management. It is building trust from and with your employees and allowing them the freedom to be creative, to have faith in them to handle problems as they arise and to prevent future problems before they occur. “Having a solid management structure in place helps drive the business forward. It’s important to remember that success isn’t about what you accomplish: it’s about what you inspire others to do” (igbaffiliate.com, 2019).
One of the most important things a leader should know is what KIND of leader they are. Are you a positional leader or an authority leader? To know the answer to these questions, we need to look at what it means to be each type. A positional leader is one who uses their position, rank, and status to demand respect from those they lead. An authority leader is one who gets respect because they deserve it, those they lead respect them because they know that they can go to them at any time for anything and things will be taken care of. These are the type of leaders that are liked by all. You can be one of these type of leaders, but each have their limits to how far they can go. A leader that is part of both types, are the ones that are limitless. They don’t demand respect because of their position, they are given respect because they show respect to their employees and allow them the freedom to be the best that they can be. According to billzipp.com (2011), “Here is how to become this kind of leader. 1. Practice what you preach. In other words, lead by example. 2. Honor your word. When you say you’re going to do something, do it. No exceptions. 3. Be real. Drop the chest-thumping bravado and ego-driven head games. 4. Give credit to others and accept blame yourself. Most leaders do just the opposite. 5. Day sorry. When you make a mistake, admit it, openly and honestly. 6. Never give up. Cling to the courage of your convictions, even (especially) when things go bad”. This is the type of leader that employees learn to look up to and want to emulate. They are the ones that bring out the best in their employees.
We have found that we need to look towards other organizations to see what they have done in their management styles to improve their workforce and therefore their overall business. In this research, we have also found that what improves their workforce is allowing them to be MORE. This means, loosening the reigns and allowing your employees to do more than just what is in their job titles. Gary Hamel (2006) wrote about Toyota and how they did this for their employees. “Unlike its Western rivals, Toyota has long believed that first-line employees can be more than cogs in a soulless manufacturing machine; they can be problem solvers, innovators, and change agents. While American companies relied on staff experts to come up with process improvements, Toyota gave every employee the skills, the tools, and the permission to solve problems as they arose and to head off new problems before they occurred. The result: Year after year, Toyota has been able to get more out of its people than its competitors have been able to get out of theirs. Such is the power of management orthodoxy that it was only after American carmakers had exhausted every other explanation for Toyota’s success-an undervalued yen, a docile workforce, Japanese culture, superior automation-that they were finally able to admit that Toyota’s real advantage was its ability to harness the intellect of “ordinary” employees”.
We have seen how allowing your employees the ability to use their creativity and seeing them as more than just a job title can do for an organization. Toyota was just one example, but we also know that Google is one of top companies that employees want to work for because they take care of their employees and allow them to be creative and innovative.
We believe the same can be done in any healthcare organization. Yes, employees have a job title and specific duties for that position, but if they want to do more, allow them to spread their wings. Keep communication open and allow them to feel that their suggestions are valid and that no idea is a bad idea. Teach them and give them the skills to not only have suggestions but to build a game plan towards putting those suggestions to work for the organization. Allow them to have a sense of emotional satisfaction towards a job well done.
“Organizational innovation, perhaps even more than technological innovation, has been the force behind dramatic cost reductions and value creation. Since cost reduction and quality improvement are the holy grail of health care reform, scholars are now promoting-with growing urgency-organizational innovation as a key component of health policy” (Mitchell, Richman, & Schulman, 2013). As leaders in the position of management, we need to look beyond the traditional styles of management and the way that we have always done things. Inventions and creativity come from doing things outside of the norm.
Conclusion
The practices that we have found have been most successful in other organization such as manufacturing plants that we believe will work in any healthcare organization all leaders follow the guidelines, are that of being the type of leader (positional authority or relational authority) that makes your employees want to follow you and respect who you are as a leader and what you stand for. Allow them to be creative and problem solve yet also allow them to accept responsibility for their actions without fearing the retributions of their mistakes because in the end we all make mistakes and that is how we were meant to learn. Healthcare organizations of all types need to make changes outside of just the costs associated with healthcare in order to see dramatic changes to healthcare that will satisfy not only the patients but the healthcare providers as well.
References
Hamel, G. (February 2006). The Why, What, and How of Management Innovation. Retrieved from http://https://hbr.org/2006/02/the-why-what-and-how-of-management-innovation
Richman, B. D., Mitchell, W., & Schulman, K. A. (2013). Organizational Innovation in Health Care. Retrieved from http://https://hmpi.org/wp-content/...n-Organizational-Innovation-in-Healthcare.pdf
Zipp, B. (2019). What Kind of Authority do you have as a Leader? Retrieved from http://http://billzipp.com/authority-as-a-leader/
iGB Affiliate. (2019). Six Innovative management techniques to grow your affiliate business. Retrieved from http://https://www.igbaffiliate.com...ement-techniques-grow-your-affiliate-business
What is management innovation? It is stepping outside of what is known as traditional management. It is building trust from and with your employees and allowing them the freedom to be creative, to have faith in them to handle problems as they arise and to prevent future problems before they occur. “Having a solid management structure in place helps drive the business forward. It’s important to remember that success isn’t about what you accomplish: it’s about what you inspire others to do” (igbaffiliate.com, 2019).
One of the most important things a leader should know is what KIND of leader they are. Are you a positional leader or an authority leader? To know the answer to these questions, we need to look at what it means to be each type. A positional leader is one who uses their position, rank, and status to demand respect from those they lead. An authority leader is one who gets respect because they deserve it, those they lead respect them because they know that they can go to them at any time for anything and things will be taken care of. These are the type of leaders that are liked by all. You can be one of these type of leaders, but each have their limits to how far they can go. A leader that is part of both types, are the ones that are limitless. They don’t demand respect because of their position, they are given respect because they show respect to their employees and allow them the freedom to be the best that they can be. According to billzipp.com (2011), “Here is how to become this kind of leader. 1. Practice what you preach. In other words, lead by example. 2. Honor your word. When you say you’re going to do something, do it. No exceptions. 3. Be real. Drop the chest-thumping bravado and ego-driven head games. 4. Give credit to others and accept blame yourself. Most leaders do just the opposite. 5. Day sorry. When you make a mistake, admit it, openly and honestly. 6. Never give up. Cling to the courage of your convictions, even (especially) when things go bad”. This is the type of leader that employees learn to look up to and want to emulate. They are the ones that bring out the best in their employees.
We have found that we need to look towards other organizations to see what they have done in their management styles to improve their workforce and therefore their overall business. In this research, we have also found that what improves their workforce is allowing them to be MORE. This means, loosening the reigns and allowing your employees to do more than just what is in their job titles. Gary Hamel (2006) wrote about Toyota and how they did this for their employees. “Unlike its Western rivals, Toyota has long believed that first-line employees can be more than cogs in a soulless manufacturing machine; they can be problem solvers, innovators, and change agents. While American companies relied on staff experts to come up with process improvements, Toyota gave every employee the skills, the tools, and the permission to solve problems as they arose and to head off new problems before they occurred. The result: Year after year, Toyota has been able to get more out of its people than its competitors have been able to get out of theirs. Such is the power of management orthodoxy that it was only after American carmakers had exhausted every other explanation for Toyota’s success-an undervalued yen, a docile workforce, Japanese culture, superior automation-that they were finally able to admit that Toyota’s real advantage was its ability to harness the intellect of “ordinary” employees”.
We have seen how allowing your employees the ability to use their creativity and seeing them as more than just a job title can do for an organization. Toyota was just one example, but we also know that Google is one of top companies that employees want to work for because they take care of their employees and allow them to be creative and innovative.
We believe the same can be done in any healthcare organization. Yes, employees have a job title and specific duties for that position, but if they want to do more, allow them to spread their wings. Keep communication open and allow them to feel that their suggestions are valid and that no idea is a bad idea. Teach them and give them the skills to not only have suggestions but to build a game plan towards putting those suggestions to work for the organization. Allow them to have a sense of emotional satisfaction towards a job well done.
“Organizational innovation, perhaps even more than technological innovation, has been the force behind dramatic cost reductions and value creation. Since cost reduction and quality improvement are the holy grail of health care reform, scholars are now promoting-with growing urgency-organizational innovation as a key component of health policy” (Mitchell, Richman, & Schulman, 2013). As leaders in the position of management, we need to look beyond the traditional styles of management and the way that we have always done things. Inventions and creativity come from doing things outside of the norm.
Conclusion
The practices that we have found have been most successful in other organization such as manufacturing plants that we believe will work in any healthcare organization all leaders follow the guidelines, are that of being the type of leader (positional authority or relational authority) that makes your employees want to follow you and respect who you are as a leader and what you stand for. Allow them to be creative and problem solve yet also allow them to accept responsibility for their actions without fearing the retributions of their mistakes because in the end we all make mistakes and that is how we were meant to learn. Healthcare organizations of all types need to make changes outside of just the costs associated with healthcare in order to see dramatic changes to healthcare that will satisfy not only the patients but the healthcare providers as well.
References
Hamel, G. (February 2006). The Why, What, and How of Management Innovation. Retrieved from http://https://hbr.org/2006/02/the-why-what-and-how-of-management-innovation
Richman, B. D., Mitchell, W., & Schulman, K. A. (2013). Organizational Innovation in Health Care. Retrieved from http://https://hmpi.org/wp-content/...n-Organizational-Innovation-in-Healthcare.pdf
Zipp, B. (2019). What Kind of Authority do you have as a Leader? Retrieved from http://http://billzipp.com/authority-as-a-leader/
iGB Affiliate. (2019). Six Innovative management techniques to grow your affiliate business. Retrieved from http://https://www.igbaffiliate.com...ement-techniques-grow-your-affiliate-business