The Recruitment Process at London Nursing Home

1.1 The Factors That Need To Be Considered When Planning the Recruitment of Individuals Working At London Nursing Home. 3

1.2 How Relevant Legislative and Policy Frameworks of the Home Country Influence Selection, Recruitment and Employment of Individuals to Work in London Nursing Home. 4

1.3 Evaluate the Different Approaches That May Be Used To Ensure the Selection of the Best Individuals, and Make Recommendations for London Nursing Home. 6

2.1 Explain the Theories of How Individuals Interact In Groups In Relation To the Types of Teams That Work In Health and Social Care. 7

2.2 Evaluate the Approaches That May Be Used By Staff At Different Levels To Develop And Promote Effective Team Working At London Nursing Home. 8

3.1 Explain the Ways in Which the Performance of Individuals Working In Health And Social Care Can Be Appraised. 10

3.2 Assess Of How Individual Training and Development Needs Can Be Identified At London Nursing Home. 11

3.3 Analyze The Different Strategies For Promoting The Continuing Development Of Individuals In The Health And Social Care Workplace. 12

4.1 Explain Theories of Leadership That Apply To the Health And Social Care Workplace. 14

4.2 Analyze How Working Relationships May Be Managed At London Nursing Home. 15

4.3 Evaluate How Your Own Development Has Been Influenced By Management Approaches That You Encountered In Your Own Experience. 16

1.0 Introduction

The provision of qualitative services in the healthcare sector is critical considering the sensitive nature of services being offered. The hospital administration must ensure that the staff is adequately trained and equipped to handle diverse issues that emerge in the care environment. The implementation of strategic human resource management is critical since it ensures that only competent and reliable staff are recruited; hence, preventing incidents of potential carelessness, negligence or dereliction of duty. The organization’s recruitment policy should emphasize the rigorous vetting of candidates to ensure that they have the prerequisite qualifications, skills, and competencies to work in a highly demanding healthcare environment. The human resource management function has a mandate to ensure that employees are allocated duties accordingly while taking into consideration key factors such as motivation through performance incentives and opportunities for job mobility.

1.1 The Factors That Need To Be Considered When Planning the Recruitment of Individuals Working At London Nursing Home

The recruitment process entails the identification and hiring of the most qualified candidates to fill the available vacancies.  The recruitment process should take a number of factors into consideration since it determines the quality aspect of employees who join the institution. The process must be rigorous since there can be no room for error. The recruitment process should only take into consideration candidates’ skills, qualifications and accreditation by the relevant oversight body. Issues such as nepotism or favoritism should not be allowed in the process.

The recruitment process for the London Nursing Home can be improved in various ways: during the pre-selection period, the HR department will conduct a needs analysis to determine whether there is need to hire new employees and availability of adequate resources for the process. The institutions recruitment policy will be adhered to the latter to ensure that issues of favoritism are eliminated. The candidate and role specifications will be clearly set out describing the duties, responsibilities for the job and the candidates’ professional qualifications. The nature of the job will be clearly defined and advertised to the public through print and electronic media.

The selection stage will entail the determination of the candidates’ skills, experience and professional qualification. An in-depth understanding of standard of practice and code of conduct will be among the factors checked to determine a candidate’s suitability for the role. Only qualifying candidates will be hired towards ensuring that the quality of care is enhanced, any complaints made by patients on the basis of employee competency are eliminated. The process will integrate the Equality Act 2010 and the Employment Relations Act 1996 to ensure all applicants are considered in a fair and equitable manner.

In the Post selection period, the new hires will be subjected to an induction program for their initial training and orientation prior to starting their duties. The induction process entails orienting the new hires with the rules, and standards of practice within the London Nursing Home. Essentially, the process is intended to ensure that employees have settled in their respective roles, enhance their productivity and ensure that employee turnover is significantly reduced.

The recruitment process at London Nursing Home will ensure that there is no mismatch between the job description provided and the responsibilities that are expected to be fulfilled. In order to attract and retain competent people, HR director should ensure employees are offered competitive packages that include opportunities for job mobility. Ensuring that patient needs are adequately addressed may require the recruitment of an adequate number of employees.

1.2 How Relevant Legislative and Policy Frameworks of the Home Country Influence Selection, Recruitment and Employment of Individuals to Work in London Nursing Home

The recruitment process must adhere to legislative and policy frameworks even through the process are being conducted by the Human resource function of the organization. The government has enacted laws that aim to ensure all qualified individuals are given equal opportunities to be hired and work in the organization. Among the primary policies that influence the recruitment processes include, “Employment Relations Act 2004, The Race Relation Act 1976, Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Equality Act 2010” among others (GOV.UK, 2018).

There are numerous laws and regulatory frameworks that function collectively towards ensuring that the selection, recruitment, and employment processes are above board. The Employment Relations Act 2004 mediates the relationship between employers and employees by ensuring that their respective rights are respected and upheld. Similarly, the Equality Act 2010 describes the rights of employees and ensures that organizational functions such as selection, recruitment, and employment (GOV.UK, 2018). The Race Relation Act 1976 is applied during the selection, recruitment and hiring of new employees by ensuring that qualified candidates are not discriminated on the basis of their race, religion, color, ethnicity or creed (Legislation.gov.uk, 2018).

Essentially, the act ensures that all employees are given a fair chance on the basis of their competencies, qualifications, and skills. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 ensures that the recruitment and hiring practices of organizations such as the London Nursing Home are not influenced by prejudice against certain sex (Legislation.gov.uk, 2018). Discrimination on the basis of gender is prohibited by the law, and the recruiting officer must take into consideration the individual’s professional and academic qualifications in order to make an informed and impartial hiring decision.

The integration of such legislative and policy frameworks will help London Nursing Home by eliminating processes and practices that allow incompetent and poorly qualified people to be hired. Issues such as favoritism and bias in the recruitment process will be eliminated and ensure that the London Nursing Home adheres to prescribed guidelines, rules and regulations. Therefore, the London nursing home will benefit by recruiting the best qualified candidates on the basis of professional merit irrespective their gender, race, ethnicity, disability or religion.

1.3 Evaluate the Different Approaches That May Be Used To Ensure the Selection of the Best Individuals, and Make Recommendations for London Nursing Home

The recruitment of new employees should be designed to ensure that the most qualified candidates are hired to join the London Nursing Home staff. The recruitment process should mat involve approaches such as;

Conducting one-on-one interviews

Conducting a comprehensive assessment of a candidate's professional qualifications, accreditation, and job experience

Conduct on the job assessment to determine skill levels, ability to adapt to dynamic work conditions and decision-making skills when under pressure.

Perform a psychometric test

The identification and selection of the best people to work for London Nursing Home entail a rigorous process aimed at ensuring that only the most qualified individuals are recommended for hiring. Interviews are conducted by professionally experienced individuals who understand the role, what it entails, and the type of candidate is being sought to fill it (Cai, 2013). Personal interviews can be conducted by a single person or a panel comprising of experts in their respective fields. Since London Nursing Home needs employees that are able to communicate and develop positive relationships with patients, the interviews can focus on the individual, interpersonal and communication skills; however interviews cannot be effective in gauging a candidate’s competency in the job environment. A comprehensive assessment of the candidate examines academic and professional qualifications including accreditation by authorizing organizations such as the NHS. The assessment examines job experiences, technical skills and any additional qualifications that a candidate may have. Similar, to the interview, assessment of qualifications on paper is not enough to determine an applicant’s competency. Psychometric assessment are instrumental in determining mental and psychological condition of a potential employee and is critical in assessing whether he or she is fit for the role. By performing an on-the-job evaluation in an assessment center the recruiter aims to observe how well a candidate responds under different conditions in the work environment.

After evaluating the various recruitment approaches available, London Nursing Home should implement adopt an integrated approach for the selection that includes. These would be designed on a stage-by-stage basis. A candidate that succeeds in all stages should be recruited.

2.1 Explain the Theories of How Individuals Interact In Groups In Relation To the Types of Teams That Work In Health and Social Care 

Teams involve a number of people that work together in an organization such as the Long Nursing Home with the aim of attaining a common goal. Therefore, individuals depend on each other to successfully complete tasks and succeed in their respective roles. Team dynamics can be examined on the basis of various theories including Tuckman, Belbin, McClelland, Gross and Wood Cock. Among these, the two theories that are suitable for the London Nursing Home are Tuckman’s theory and Wood Cock’s theory.

Bruce Tuckman’s theory of forming can be applied in the initial stages of team formation. In this stage, it is not yet clear what the roles of each team member will be and individuals attempt to identify with the new group dynamic. The following stages if storming, brainstorming and difference often involve arguments and counter-arguments as group members attempt to assert their position and contribution to the team. During these stages, individuals often form cliques as they attempt to gain power in the group; hence, it is difficult to reach a unanimous decision. The norming stage is less chaotic as team members begin to accommodate each other’s perspective and contributions. Therefore, decisions are made collectively and there is unity of purpose as they aspire to work together with the aim of attaining a common goal. The performing stage is characterized by clarity of purpose where the team is adequately controlled and managed. Issues and challenges that arise are dealt with accordingly as the team members’ work together in harmony while looking out for one another. Once the team has obtained its objective, it is adjourned.

Wood Cock’s theory examines group dynamics on the basis of progressive development of teams through various stages. The theory asserts that teams are often formed by bringing together individuals with a common goal. Team development will be in stages beginning from, the undeveloped, experiment, consolidation and maturity stages. The experimental stage incurs various challenges such as tedious working process, bias and open dialogue among members; hence, the team is subjected to self-criticism. The consolidation stage involves cooperation among team members with the aim of attaining common objectives. The maturity stage will depict a systemic and structured group dynamic where each member is aware of his or her role within the group; hence the group is highly functioning. The adherence to the theory results in the development of an efficient and reliable team that is critical for London Nursing Home towards the retention of staff and enhancing the quality of care. Team members adhere to clinical care standards and protocol towards the improvement of quality of care.

2.2 Evaluate the Approaches That May Be Used By Staff At Different Levels To Develop And Promote Effective Team Working At London Nursing Home

The approaches that may be applied to promote effective teams include team communication, empowerment of team, diversity and coordination through the integration of leader-member exchange approach (Levi 2014). Team member willingness to express voice is an aspect of team communication important for decision-making and innovation outcomes, and voice behaviors, as opposed to broad team communication. In team settings, team supervisors may actively facilitate communication within the team to elicit technical information from members, avoid hindrance to creativity, and focus member attention where appropriate. For instance, team leaders may also ask members to participate is a discussion, or express voice, in an effort to hear diverse perspectives and build trust (Levi, 2014).

Team communication is thought to influence team coordination by enhancing interconnectivity between members as they manage the workflow among interdependent tasks (Kozlowski & Ilgen, 2006), whereas communication focuses mainly on the frequency and content of information exchanged between individuals. Team coordination is responsible for driving towards the team’s end goal. For example, effective communication between nurses and nurse leaders ensures that clinical codes of conduct are adhered to during the administration of care; therefore, patients will not need to complain regarding issues such as negligence or poor service delivery.

Empowerment of teams is an important aspect of effectiveness because members of groups tend to remain committed to group tasks and perform better when members desire to remain part of the group. Empowerment makes employees feel appreciated and their abilities are recognized; hence, their contribution is needed towards the attainment of set goals. For example, the team leaders can empower individuals by giving them authority and autonomy to take charge of tasks that they are best qualified for; hence, they act as leaders in the management of such tasks. Members of empowered teams tend to function more effectively and are attuned to each other well and desire to remain in the team to complete team tasks (Luo et al., 2016). Effective teams in London Nursing home can be created by enhancing team morale. Team morale is essential since it drives individuals to function optimally; hence, the members are effective in their respective roles through enhanced performance. Team morale creates groups that know how and when to exchange behavior, information, and effort and maintain high levels of teamwork throughout a team’s transition, action, and interpersonal tactics may lead to the development of self-efficacy, which may allow teams to be more adaptive to their environments in addition to demonstrating better performance. For example, morale can be enhanced through recognition and giving credit for individual contributions towards the realization of team goals.  Team morale is applicable to London Nursing Home by enhancing employees’ commitment to their jobs and ensures that shifts are not considered as just something they have to go through before going home. Morale enhances employees’ interest in their roles, improved productivity and commitment towards the realization of positive outcomes.

3.1 Explain the Ways in Which the Performance of Individuals Working In Health And Social Care Can Be Appraised

Performance evaluation is an equitable measure of an employee’s effectiveness and efficiency in the designated jobs. This aims at establishing an employee’s contribution to the organization while producing precise appraisal documentation aimed at obtaining improved levels of quantity and quality in the work environment. Performance evaluations are critical to the development of powerful workers and work teams. Performance evaluations enforce the acceptable and expected levels of performance, creating effective communication, encouraging staff recognition and motivating workers to perform exemplary. However, performance evaluations should be conducted in a fair and consistent method to prevent deviations from performance evaluation objectivity. This protects the interests of the employee and the employer.

The performance appraisal at London Nursing Home should integrate 360 degree feedback criteria. The evaluation results should be communicated to the employees in balanced criteria. The strengths and weaknesses of the employee at London Nursing Home should be pointed out. The weakness should be pointed out to ensure they are understood; hence they can own their performance creating room for corrective action on their part. In addition, the 360 Feedback appraisal methods ensure employees are given adequate support to correct their weakness; however, an outline of their expected areas of improvement should be provided. This illustrates the employer expectations and areas of assistance to be provided in an effort to improve performance (Poister, 2003). Hence, the 360 Feedback criteria encourage employees to give feedback on the basis of the evaluation; this provides a forum for information exchange that enables the employee and employer to understand each other opinions and perspectives. However, if an employee continues to perform poorly despite the employer's efforts, disciplinary action and termination procedures should be implemented. These define the action taken in the event performance does not improve. 360 feedback appraisals make use of questionnaire or an employee satisfaction survey may be needed with the aim of determining the extent of employee’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their jobs. Hence, reliable and accurate results on employee satisfaction are obtained through questions developed by professionals. These professionals are required to illustrate an understanding of acquiring unbiased information while considering the organizational culture in conducting effective research and analysis (Poister, 2003).  Employee satisfaction surveys aim at building integrity, honesty, and trust with the organizational, human resource structures. Therefore, the survey results should be adequately communicated and acted upon by the management. The application of 360 feedback appraisal method at London Nursing Home can resolve issues leading to complaints from resident families regarding quality of care, and issues relating to supervision, safety and efficiency in the delivery of care to patients

3.2 Assess Of How Individual Training and Development Needs Can Be Identified At London Nursing Home

The assessment of individual training and development needs may entail the determination of the information to be collected for training purposes, the methods for gathering the information and identification of learning needs. The information collected includes employees past performance indices, the current level of skills, employee attitudes and knowledge, current or any anticipated gaps that may occur in training and development (Beevers and Rea 2013). The methods of collecting such information may include the use of documentation, interviews, questionnaires, pre-existing data available online, observations, surveys; performance management and appraisal data among others. Identification of training and development requirements will be based on the needs analysis that is conducted. Therefore, a report will be developed that delineates the overall learning needs at the individual, group or organizational level.

Training and development needs at London Nursing Home can be identified through the integration of the 360 method. This method is effective since it examines employee performance from diverse sources; hence, training can be designed to ensure that all issues including insufficient knowledge or application of clinical care standards and protocols can be effectively addressed.

3.3 Analyze The Different Strategies For Promoting The Continuing Development Of Individuals In The Health And Social Care Workplace

Learning needs analysis critical since it ensures that the organization’s leadership can develop and implement a comprehensive plan that promotes the determination of learning objectives, empower managerial staff and facilitate the development of effective development programmes.

Learning design is often provided for the organizations and describes the learning and development process. The selection of learning design involves the consideration of various factors that include the intended outcome that is determined through learning needs analysis for both employees and trainers. Learning design promotes the development and delivery of professional instruction that aid trainers or instructors to go beyond the theoretical comprehension of basic features to a practical understanding of real-life applications. This is achieved through appreciation of the critical attributes, the purpose, connection to other techniques and meaning for both the individual and organization. Induction is a critical period for new employees and may range from one week to one year depending on the organization. Specialist and technical development are directed at specific employees within the organization with a specialized skill set that may require periodic or progressive learning and development (Beevers and Rea 2013).

Most professional fields are constantly changing as a result of innovations and developments in the field; hence, the learning and development process is required for them. Coaching and mentoring are vital components of the learning and development processes. These are strategies that focus on assigning staff to new recruits to show and guide them how things work within an organization. Coaching ensures that new recruits are familiar and aware of the various job demands and expectations. Mentorship is an ongoing relationship between old and new employees that aims to motivate, encourage and inspire new employees to become more productive and innovative in their work as they seek to attain higher milestones in their careers.

For example, at the London Nursing Home, new recruits can be coached to ensure that they understand and apply clinical standards of care and protocols through adherence to prescribed guidelines and policies for care delivery and management. Therefore, the older employees at London Nursing Home can mentor the younger ones to ensure that there is transference of organizational culture, values and practices towards the provision of qualitative services to patients.

4.1 Explain Theories of Leadership That Apply To the Health And Social Care Workplace

Leadership can be defined as the capacity of an individual to lead groups, teams or organizations and the ability to do so effectively. The HR director at the London Nursing Home is the leader of the human resource function within the institution; therefore, he or she is responsible for all employees in the hospital. Similarly, departmental heads and team leaders are responsible for employees serving under them.  Leadership theories include Great Man theory, Traits Theory, Behavioral and style theories, Situational and contingency theories, functional theory, transactional theory and transformation theories.  Leadership should seek to inspire employees to realize and exceed the set objectives; therefore, health and social care workplaces can integrate both motivational theory and transformational theory of leadership (Northouse 2016).

The motivational theory of leadership is premised on motivating employees with the aim of attaining common goals (Northouse 2016). Motivational leadership inspires employees to achieve and exceed set goals characterizes the ideal philosophy in leadership. In order for leaders in healthcare to motivate and inspire employees, it is essential that those employees be challenged to improve upon themselves. Leaders at London Nursing Home should follow the motivational theory of leadership because it inspires a shared vision; consequently leading to people re-focusing their thinking. The motivational theory of leadership enables others to act with the aim of attaining common goals (Northouse 2016). Motivation strategies such as pay and performance incentives are significantly instrumental in ensuring that the leader’s goals are realized; within the stipulated time frame.

The transformational leadership is based on the transforming unhealthy employee attitudes, behavior and culture to more positive, constructive and result oriented dynamic. The transformational leadership style is optimal in the creation of strategies for individual development within the health institution. The transformational leader listens to others, places significant value on honesty, enthusiasm and strives to earn the trust of those he/she leads. As such, the establishment of personal relationships with employees is premised on the transformational leadership style that integrates individual charisma and capacity to inspire others.

For instance, in the London Nursing Home, it can be assumed that issues such as employee frustration and burnout are among the contributors to low morale in the work environments since employees work their shifts for the sake of recording completed shifts. As such, the leader should have the time to listen to employee’s problems, identify issues that affect morale and performance while seeking solutions (Northouse 2016). It is essential for employee issues to be addressed as promptly as possible to avert a crisis, which may affect both employees and patients, as well.

4.2 Analyze How Working Relationships May Be Managed At London Nursing Home

Work relationships at London Nursing Home can be managed through the integration of motivation and addressing issues that affect employees’ ability to do their jobs. These goals can be attained by establishing smart objectives and goals. Smart goals in this respect would include challenging employees to improve performance by setting targets (Gomez 2014). Working relationhipps can be enhanced by effective communication, constructive feedback and accountability. Constructive feedback is critical after management has conducted performance assessments to determine the extent to which employees have achieved set targets. Constuctive feedback ensures that employees foster a sense of purpose and linking employees to organizational goals.  For example, team leaders can provide contructive feedback to employees at London Nursing Home by providing guidance on how to integrate clinical codes of conduct into practice; therefore, preventing further complaints from patients. The attainment of smart goals will be realizable by providing the employees with the assistance they need thoguh effective communication and empahsizing on accountablity. Since these goals will be based on specific targets, they will be assessed on a monthly basis. For isntance, accountability can be implemented by making employees to take responsibility for their actions; as such, any issues of misconduct are subjected to strict disciplinary action. At the end of each month, the leader will make an assessment to determined if the set targets have been realized as expected. Since working conditions at London Nursing Home are affected by inadequate pay, and deteriorating working conditions attributable to poorly qualified hires, working relationships are strained. In addition, lack of innovation and room to think outside the box often causes employees to be unable to solve problems when they arise. By encouraging innovative thinking and thinking outside the box, employees will be able to develop innovative solutions that will enhance individual and organizational performance.

London Nursing Home can integrate effective communication to ensure that duties and roles are clearly defined. For example, effective communication can be in the form of daily briefings before and after shifts where issues affecting work are addressed and identified solutions are communicated immediately. In addition, core objectives and goals are communicated in a way that is understood. Constructive feedback will ensure issues such as failure to adhere to clinical standards of practice are addressed as soon as they occur. Integrating accountability at London Nursing Home ensures that all employees are held responsible for their work and ensure adherence to standards of practice, legislative and policy frameworks that govern health care services.

4.3 Evaluate How Your Own Development Has Been Influenced By Management Approaches That You Encountered In Your Own Experience

My experiences with strategic management have contributed to the development of key skills that have been instrumental in the realization of individual and organizational goals. The interaction with management approaches has led the development of a desire to influence change in health care delivery dynamics in modern settings. In addition, management is crucial in decision making especially in the increasingly volatile healthcare industry that has seen significant changes in policy and practice.

My experiences with training are that it contributes towards enhancing individual skills and experience when discharging roles in different capacities. Training enhances knowledge and integrates evidence-based practice in care environment. New developments in care management are integrated into practice through training; therefore, it enhances an individual’s competency and effectiveness in the work setting. In my experience, performance management is instrumental in ensuring that the right skills are applied in the right way. Performance management has been instrumental in my development as a professional since it provides feedback on areas that require improvement and prescribes the methods for making such improvements. Mentoring is an important part of career development and creation of competent professionals. It is through mentoring that I was able to have a proper direction when working in demanding roles. Mentoring provides guidance and inspiration towards self actualization in the chosen field. Therefore, it contributes in the creation of competent and skilled employees who are happy and satisfied with their jobs.

Conclusion

Management is a critical function of any organization including London Nursing Home. The integration of strategic management leads to efficient execution of core functions including recruitment process, coordination, and control of organizational dynamics such as teams. Furthermore, management is not merely a professional program, but it has the potential to influence employee performance through increased efficiencies in making personal decisions such as time management, strategic decision making, and leadership. As such, the quality of services provided to patients is enhanced.  The identification of issues affecting employee performance and the quality of care is critical since it allows for solutions to be identified.

In addition, management approaches enhance experiences in cultural competency, especially when working with all kinds of ethnicities and cultures. Health care workers are exposed to diverse ethnicities and cultures, which makes working in healthcare a continuation of the learning experience. Essentially, something new is learned every day especially through interaction with researchers, technology expert