The aim of this report is to explore a recently appointed trainee Human Resources Officer at St Patrick Nursing Home which is located in Central London and to explain the factors to be considered when planning the recruitment of individuals to work in this nursing home, the strategies for building effective teams, the systems for monitoring and promoting the development of individuals and the approaches for managing people working in the health and social care. Planning is very important in both our lives and the health and social care.
A plan has to be made for all the processes and activities of the health and social care. It is Human Resources that oversee and implement these processes and activities and it is also important that health and social care sector plans for the people who would be entrusted with the job of making the organisation an effective and efficient entity. The Human Resources plans for what sort of people the organisation should have and how many people that would be required for the job.
Human Resource Planning is about striking a match/fit as defined by Bulla and Scott, 1994 “The process for ensuring that the human resource requirements of an organization are identified and plans are made for satisfying those requirements”. Similar to the lines of Bulla and Scott, Reilly (2003) defined it as “A process in which an organization attempts to estimate the demand for labour and evaluate the size, nature and sources of supply which will be required to meet the demand. “
HR planning sees the business plans with the lens of human resource requirements and tries to establish a fit where business plan is achieved with the availability of right person at the right job at the right time with the right resources. Quinn Mills (1983) indicated that human resource planning is: “a decision-making process that combines three important activities” Selecting the right number of skills personnel. Achieving the desired performance by motivating the human resource. Establishing an interaction between business objectives and people-planning activities, thus there is a unity of direction.
The caring professions industry is a huge industry covering a range of settings including public authorities, independent, private, voluntary and community organisations. Within this sits health and social care which employs around 2 million people, approximately 7% of the UK workforce. It is a vast service sector which is undergoing rapid change with new government initiatives giving it a higher profile than ever and increasing the demand for well-trained, multi-skilled employees. There are a number of factors to be considered when recruiting individuals to work at St-Patrick nursing home.
The staffing needs of St-Patrick nursing home should be decided. Whether to hire employees with qualifications or previous experience or to use independent contractors. The best employees should be recruited and trained and it should be ensured that they are high performers. Personnel and management practices should conform to relevant legislative and policy frameworks of the home country in order to develop a well trained and flexible work-force. The problem of potential surpluses and deficits of employees should also be anticipated.
The policy and procedure of recruitment and selection for St-Patrick’s Nursing Home should be aimed to support the recruitment and selection of people with the necessary skills, qualifications and competencies to contribute effectively to the delivery of institutional goals and to the collegiate life of the nursing home. The underlying principle in recruitment and selection is to appoint the best candidate for the post on the basis of merit and fair and open competition. Recruitment and selection decisions are critical to the success of St-Patrick Nursing Home and the costs of appointing the wrong person can be immediate and substantial.
The decision to recruit should be set in the context of business needs. Therefore it is essential that posts are advertised, selection is fair and objective at every stage, selection criteria are agreed against the requirements of the post and application of the principle of fair and open competition is demonstrated Responsibility for implementing the policy lies with each manager involved in the recruitment process. Managers are ensured that recruitment and selection procedures and decisions comply with practices outlined in the policy.
Equality act 2010 has been produced with the aim of supporting St-Patrick Nursing Home overall strategy to embrace diversity and welcome individuals from all backgrounds. St-Patrick Nursing Home expects members of staff to treat all colleagues fairly and with respect and will take action against acts which breach the policy on diversity. All post applicants will be asked to complete a form for diversity monitoring purposes. The information collected will be used for this purpose only. The Nursing Home will ensure best practice and in so doing ensure compliance with relevant legislation.