University of Alberta

Course Guide for SPH 582-X01 Fall 2015 Main Campus

HUMAN RESOURCES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH Monday 5:00 – 7:50 pm ECHA 1-173

Instructor: Dr Kent Rondeau, PhD Phone: 780-492-8608

Email: [email protected] Office: 3-269 Office hours: By appointment

Course Description

Course Objectives/ Student Competencies

Welcome to PHS 582! Human Resources for Public Health is an elective, three-credit course designed to introduce you to the management of human resources in contemporary healthcare organizations. This course presents a broad overview of the field of health human resources management while providing students with an opportunity to acquire the knowledge, skills and competencies for effectively managing people in health service delivery contexts. Attendance in all classes is mandatory.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: 1) Identify the challenges confronting health care organizations in Canada in the context of managing their human resources. 2) Understand the role of healthcare professionals in the human resources management function of healthcare organizations. 3) Construct effective human resource policies for the effective management of people in health care organizations. 4) Discuss the impact of legal considerations on key human resources management activities and functions. 5) Explain the changing nature of jobs and how jobs in healthcare settings are being redesigned to enhance productivity and patient care quality. 6) Identify strategies for dealing with shortages or surpluses of human resources. 7) Discuss the strategic importance of the recruitment and selection function in healthcare organizations. 8) Explain the role of employee training and development and its contribution to the mission of the health care organization. 9) Understand the business case for diversity and inclusion in healthcare organizations. 10) Describe the characteristics of a performance management system. 11) Discuss the role of compensation and benefits management for the rewarding and motivating health care employees. 12) Summarize the relationship between health and safety issues and human resource management. 13) Describe the strategic importance of employee relations practices.

Resources

* Textbook: Fried, B.J., & Fottler, M.D. (Eds.). Fundamentals of Human Resources in Healthcare, Health Administration Press, Chicago, 2012. (Available for purchase in bookstore).

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** SPH 582 Course Outline and Notes (Fall 2015). Health Policy and Management, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alberta (Course Package)

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*** SPH 582 Course Readings/Case Book (Fall 2015). Health Policy and Management, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alberta (Available on e-class)

Library

The University of Alberta library system’s website www.library.ualberta.ca details the range of services offered to students on and off campus.

Course Mid-Point Evaluation:

The course instructor and the School of Public Health are interested in improving this course. I need to hear from you in order to do that well, so will gather feedback and recommendations from you at the mid-point of the course, by asking a student to administer and deliver an anonymous course evaluation.

Final Course Evaluation:

Student Evaluation Assignment Case Analysis

Following completion of the course you will receive a standardized summative evaluation. The standard University of Alberta course evaluation procedure will be followed. This will involve a standard questionnaire with anonymous responses returned to the Student Services Coordinator

Percentage 25%

Date Week 5 / Week 7 / Week 9

‘Licensing and Regulation Issues in a Healthcare Profession’ Exercise ‘Is That a Good Idea?’ Exercise

30%

Class Presentations: Week 4 / Week 6 Week 8 / Week 10 Due: Week 10 Class Presentation and Due Date: Week 11

Executive Summaries

15%

30%

Weeks 2 – 11

The University of Alberta Grading System The University of Alberta uses a letter grading system with a four-point scale of numerical equivalents for calculating grade point averages. Grades reflect judgments of student achievement made by instructors. These judgments are based on a combination of absolute achievement and relative performance in a class. Some instructors assign grades as intervals during the course and others assign marks (e.g. percentages) throughout the term and then assign a letter grade at the end. Instructors must adapt their approaches to reflect the letter grading system. Grade distribution should reflect those shown in this document. (EXEC 03 FEB 2003)

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Descriptor Excellent

Good Satisfactory Failure

Academic Integrity

Grading in Graduate Courses Letter Grade A+ A AB+ B BC+ C CD+ D F

(95 – 100%) (90 – 94.5%) (85 – 89.5%) (80 – 84.5%) (75 – 79.5%) (70 – 74.5%) (67 – 69.5%) (63 – 66.5%) (60 – 62.5%) (55 – 59.5%) (50 – 54.5%) (0 – 49.5%)

Grade Point Value 4.0 4.0 3.7 3.3 3.0 2.7 2.3 2.0 1.7 1.3 1.0 0.0

Plagiarism is a serious offence. The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour online and avoid any acts which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University. University of Alberta policy about course outline can be found in Section 23.4(2) of the University Calendar. (GFC 29 SEP 2003)

Evaluation of the Course 1. Health Human Resource Management Case Analysis (25%) Students are responsible for critically analyzing and writing up any one (1) HHRM case study from the three cases which are examined in this course. The choice of which case to submit for grading is left to the discretion of the student. Regardless of which case is submitted, students are expected to have thoroughly read and reflected upon all assigned cases and must submit the written case at the beginning of the class on the date it is reviewed. Late cases will not be graded. Cases will be graded on the basis of: the breadth and depth of understanding of the circumstances, problems, or challenges in the case; the clarity, logic and completeness of analysis; the innovativeness and originality of the chosen solution; and the quality of writing style and presentation. The main body of the written analysis for each case must be not more than 10 pages (2500 words) and should follow the format as described below. The following provides a brief overview of the three cases being analyzed in this course, including the practice case that cannot be submitted for grading: SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

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Practice Case—Medictest Laboratories (A): The manager of a medical laboratory must determine the best way to handle necessary layoffs. She has designed a new supervisory structure that will better facilitate the company's objectives toward empowerment and will provide profitable operations despite

funding cutbacks. In order to implement the revised structure, she must eliminate five supervisory positions, necessitating the layoffs of five long-term employees. The remaining supervisors' responsibilities will greatly increase. She must determine the logistics for communicating these decisions to the supervisors and their staff without hindering morale and productivity. (Issues--change management, employee termination, organization restructuring) Case A—QiLing Research Hospital: The QiLing Research Hospital (QiLing), located in Beijing, China, headed by Dr. Tien Tzu, CEO, is in a partnership with the China Research Network (CRN). This partnership was formed in an effort to mutually benefit both parties in terms of becoming a leader in health-care quality standards and creating more effective health-care techniques. Due to the intertwined nature of this relationship, the acquisition of human capital for specific positions within the hospital requires CRN to provide the candidates. Dr. Tien Tzu is increasingly concerned that CRN’s hiring conditions are hindering QiLing’s potential – specifically referencing the latest batch of candidates CRN has provided to fill a key spot in the neurology department. She is aware that the right people are the key to maintaining QiLing’s growth and loyalty and has analyzed how the candidate selection process, overall compensation, and job retention efforts affect the quality of the human capital pool. She is entertaining thoughts about overhauling the process for the benefit of QiLing, and is unsure how CRN will respond to any proposals she might make. (Issues--career development; employee selection; manpower planning; intercultural relations) Case B—Filling the Gaps. The Decision to Utilize Agency Nursing in Tarman Hospital: Due to a chronic problem with the shortage and availability of staff nurses, a unit manager must decide whether she will continue to juggle short-term vacancies with existing staff nurses, pursue a program aimed at increasing nursing retention, employ nurses provided by a temporary help agency. What are the cost and quality considerations for utilizing agency nurses? Given the advantages and disadvantages for using agency nurses, what policy should the hospital adopt? Should there be an overall hospital policy, or should decisions be made on a unit-by-unit basis? (Issues—staffing options, employee retention; labour costs) Case C--St Joseph’s Health Care London: The director of occupational health and safety services at St Joseph’s Health Care London reviewed a report which stated that roughly half of the staff working at the veterans care facility at the Parkwood Hospital was vaccinated against the influenza virus. With the flu season quickly approaching, the director knew that she had to motivate a larger number of staff in the veterans care facility (as well as other staff at St. Joseph's) to be vaccinated against the influenza virus in order to reduce the risk of life-threatening flu outbreaks among the patients. She wondered what specific actions she could take improve the vaccination rate at Parkwood Hospital and other St. Joseph's facilities. (Issues—occupational health and safety, leadership, motivation, employee relations)

2. Licensing and Regulation Issues in a Healthcare Profession Exercise (30%) For this assignment, students are required to examine issues associated with the licensing and regulation of a designated health profession in the Province of Alberta. This requires the student to identify and describe: a) the means by which the profession is regulated and licensed, including its legal mandate and regulatory framework (see Alberta Health Professions Act); b) the content, regulation, and accreditation SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

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of the professional education that they receive, and the institutions that deliver their education, including their continuing professional education; c) their scopes of practice and limitations associated with these scopes, d) how professional misconduct is handled; e) the nature and role of their professional associations and/or labour union arrangements, f) their relationships to other healthcare professionals and other health care workers and; g) the most salient issues that both divide and unit those persons who share the profession, including the impact on the profession of new and emerging technologies and professions. Students will chose from among the following list of health professions. Each is regulated in the Province of Alberta, normally through the Health Professions Act, under the auspices of a regulatory college (and their professional association) Audiologists (Alberta College of Speech Language Pathologists-Audiologists) Chiropractors (Alberta College and Association of Chiropractors) Denturists (College of Alberta Denturists) Midwives (College of Midwives of Alberta) Optometrists (Alberta College of Optometrists) Paramedics (Alberta College of Paramedics) Podiatrists (College of Podiatric Physicians of Alberta) Psychologists (Alberta College of Psychologists) Regulatory colleges are not professional associations. Professional associations usually operate to represent the interests of their members and to advance the profession. For a complete list of Alberta’s regulated health professions, their regulatory colleges and labour associations, please see: http://www.health.alberta.ca/professionals/regulated-professions.html. Each student will give a thirty minute class presentation on their chosen health profession, and submit an 8-10 page (2500 word) review to the instructor.

3. ‘Is That a Good Idea?’ Exercise (30%) From a list of approved topics provided by the instructor, students will critique and contextualize a management innovation that has potential utility in public health human resources management. Students are expected to determine if the idea/concept is a “fanciful fad” or has “enduring merit as an important innovation” in the management of health human resources. A review of the academic literature on the topic is expected. Each student will give a thirty minute class presentation on their topic, and submit an 8-10 page (2500 word) review to the instructor.

4. Executive Summaries of Selected Course Readings (15%) Each student is expected to prepare and informally present in class four (4) written summaries among the assigned course readings this term. The executive summary of a reading should summarize the assigned reading, identify its major themes and conclusions (its “lessons learned”), and provide a brief yet succinct critique of its contents. The Executive Summary should be written on a single piece of paper (300 words maximum) and be distributed to the instructor and to the other students in class SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

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DETAILED COURSE OUTLINE BY WEEK FALL 2015 WEEK 1:

September 14 Course Overview Introduction to the Strategic Management of Health Human Resources

Overview Strategic human resource management refers to the effective integration of human resource management strategies and systems as a means of better enabling an organization to attain its overall mission and objectives while meeting the needs of its employees and other stakeholders. Human resource managers are required to adopt a strategic perspective by recognizing the critical link between the pursuit of organizational strategies and human resource strategies. This unit emphasizes that human resource management strategies are performed within the context of the overall activities of the organization. These diverse functions are influenced and constrained by the environment, the organization’s mission and strategy, as well as the organization’s culture. Achieving high performance requires health care organizations to optimally manage their human resources. Learning Objectives After completing this class, students should be able to: 1) Identify the challenges confronting health care organizations in Canada in the context of managing their human resources. 2) Outline the major human resources management functions. 3) Understand the role of human resources to the creation of organizational value. 4) Discuss the meaning of strategic human resource management. 5) List the steps in managing health human resources in a strategic fashion. 6) Explain how human resource management departments in health care organizations are organized and how they function. 7) Understand the contribution of human resources to an organization’s culture. 8) Explore the relationship between human resource management practices and high performance in health care organizations. 9) Describe the future roles of the human resource management profession in Canada. Readings Textbook – Chapter 1 Buchan, J. (2004). What difference does (“good”) HRM make? Human Resources for Health, 2: 1-7. Khatri, N. (2006). Building HR capability in health care organizations. Health Care Management Review, 31(1): 45-54.

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Discussion Questions: 1) Oakwood Nursing Home, a 650-bed for-profit long-term care establishment, is carefully considering making a major financial investment in its human resource management function. The CEO has asked you to prepare a brief memo that can provide convincing reasons for making such an investment. What would you tell her? 2) You have been hired to be the director of human resources in a 300 bed community general hospital that employs more than 800 persons. Your previous job was director of personnel in a call center employing about the same number of persons. Nevertheless, the two organizations do different things and require very different approaches in the management of their human resources. In what ways is the human resource management function similar, and which ways is it different, in the two organizations?

WEEK 2:

September 21 Regulation of Health Professionals

Overview Healthcare professionals are central to the delivery of high quality healthcare services. Extensive training, education, and skills are essential in meeting the needs and demands of the population for safe and competent care. The healthcare industry is labour intensive and is distinguished from other service industries by the number of licensed and registered personnel that it employs and by the variety of healthcare fields that it encompasses. Distinct healthcare fields have emerged as a result of the increasing specialization of medicine, the development of public health, increased emphasis on health promotion and prevention, and technological advances and growth. Learning Objectives After completing this class, students should be able to: 1) Understand the role of healthcare professionals in the human resources management function of healthcare organizations. 2) Define the elements of a profession, with an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the healthcare profession in particular. 3) Relate knowledge of the healthcare profession to selected human resources management issues and systems development. 4) Describe the changing nature of the existing and emerging healthcare professions in the healthcare workforce. 5) Delineate the role of educational institutions in training the healthcare workforce for today and tomorrow. Readings Textbook – Chapter 2 SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

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Tzountzouris, J.P., & Gilbert, J.H.V. (2009). The role of educational institutions in identifying and responding to emerging health human resources needs. Healthcare Papers, 9(2): 6-19. Lundgren, B.S. & Houseman, C.A. (2002). Continuing competence in selected health care professions. Journal of Allied Health, 31: 232-240. Discussion Questions: 1) Describe the process of professionalization. What is the difference between a profession and an occupation? 2) To what extent is the concept “scope of practice” helping or hindering the ability of healthcare professionals to discharge their services in the most efficient and effective way possible? 3) Many people believe that nurse practitioners are an effective way to deliver a full array of primary care services, yet this role for them has not been fully embraced in Canada. Do you agree that nurse practitioners should be utilized in this way? Please explain. Why are they not more fully utilized?

WEEK 3:

September 28 The Legal Environment for Managing Health Human Resources

Overview Governments present major challenges to healthcare organizations because they generate and enforce a variety of laws that have a direct and immediate impact on the human resources function. Various federal and provincial labour codes, human rights commissions, and labour relations boards develop legally binding rules and regulations that create three responsibilities for human resource professionals in healthcare organizations. First, human resource managers must stay abreast of the laws, their interpretation by regulatory bodies, and court rulings. Second, they must develop and administer programs that ensure organizational compliance. Third, they must do so while pursuing their traditional roles of obtaining, maintaining and retaining an optimal workforce. Reading Textbook – Chapter 3 Cooke, M. (2006). Policy changes and the labour force participation of older workers: evidence from six countries. Canadian Journal on Aging, 25(4): 387-400. Martin-Misener, R. (2010). Will nurse practitioners achieve full integration into the Canadian health care system? Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 42(2), 9-16.

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Learning Objectives After completing this unit, students should be able to: 1) Understand the impact of legal considerations on key human resources management activities and functions. 2) Identify the jurisdictions of Canadian human rights legislation. 3) List the major provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Human Rights Act. 4) Distinguish between direct versus indirect (systemic) forms of discrimination. 5) Describe the strategies that organizations use to prevent and identify discrimination in the workplace. 6) Enumerate the grounds on which it is legal and illegal to discriminate in Canada. 7) Define workplace harassment and explain what is meant by the term sexual harassment. 8) Outline the elements of an effective employment equity program. Discussion Questions: 1) What conditions would have to be met before you could bring suit against an employer who has discriminated against you because of your age? 2) A candidate for a job of radiation therapist answers yes to the question of whether he is a smoker. He is the best qualified candidate, but you decide not to hire him. Does he have legal recourse? 3) You are the human resource manager in a hospital. A nurse informs you, in confidence, that he has been diagnosed HIV-positive. Are you required to take action? Please explain. What legal options do you have in dealing with this case? 4) You are the human resource manager in a nursing home. You have just learned that one of your employees, discharged from your establishment after sexually harassing another employee, has just been offered employment with another organization. You suspect the new employer does not know the grounds upon which the employee was discharged. Do you have a moral and/or legal obligation to inform/warn that organization about hiring this person? Please explain.

WEEK 4:

October 5 Health Human Resources Planning

Overview Human resource planning requires considerable time, staff, and financial resources. The return on this investment may not justify the expenditure for smaller organizations. Increasingly, however, many larger organizations and health systems use human resource planning as a means of achieving greater effectiveness. Human resource planning is an attempt by organizations to estimate their future SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

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needs and supplies of human resources. Through an understanding of the factors that influence the demand for workers, planners can forecast specific short-term and long-term needs. Internal and external staffing strategies can be used to meet changing human resource needs in the future. Reading Birch, S., Kephart, G., Murphy, G.T., O’Brien-Pallas, L., Alder, R. & MacKenzie, A. (2009). Health human resources planning and the production of health: development of an extended analytical framework for needs-based health human resources planning. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 15(6 Suppl): S56-S61. Learning Objectives After completing this unit, students should be able to: 1) Learn why and when workforce planning is undertaken. 2) Explain the various methods of estimating an organization’s supply of human resources. 3) Discuss the methods for estimating an organization’s demand for human resources. 4) Identify strategies for dealing with shortages or surpluses of human resources. 5) Delineate the major contents of a human resources information system. 6) Explain how job design considerations contribute to the difficulty of performing effective human resources planning. Discussion Questions: 1) Many health care organizations and health systems are trying to estimate the number and type of healthcare employees needed for the future but are having very limited success. Why is it so difficult to accurately estimate the number and type of healthcare employees that are needed? 2) Some hospitals are moving to a three-day, 36-hour work schedule. What are the individual and organizational adverse aspects to working this schedule? Please provide evidence to support your explanation. 3) Alternative work arrangements are useful approaches for both the healthcare employer and the employee. Do you see any drawbacks for expanding their use in healthcare organizations? Please discuss.

THANKS GIVING DAY:

WEEK 5:

SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

October 12 – No class

October 19 Recruitment, Selection and Retention of Healthcare Employees

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Overview In this unit, we are interested in the process of recruitment, selection and retention of health care employees. Each of these three human resource functions is highly inter-related—the development and stringency of criteria for selecting job applicants depends, at least partially, on the success of the recruitment effort. A health care organization can be more selective when a relatively large supply of qualified applicants is available. In a similar fashion, developing a recruitment plan for a particular position depends on the existence of an accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive job description. Successful employee recruitment and selection are the keys to employee retention. An important measure of the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection function is the ability of the health care organization to attract talented and committed employees who remain with the organization. Reading Textbook – Chapter 5 Shamian, J., & El-Jardali, F. (2007). Healthy workplaces for health workers in Canada: Knowledge transfer and uptake in policy and practice. Healthcare Papers, 7: 6-25. Baumann, A., Blythe, J., & Ross, D. (2010). Internationally educated health professionals: Workforce integration and retention. Healthcare Papers, 10(2): 8-20. Learning Objectives After completing this unit, students should be able to: 1) Explain the strategic importance of the recruitment and selection function in healthcare organizations. 2) Discuss the constraints that confront the recruiter of healthcare employees. 3) Appreciate the ethical and policy issues associated with recruiting healthcare employees from developing countries. 4) Identify the appropriate recruitment methods for attracting candidates for the diverse array of jobs available in healthcare organizations. 5) Know the ways and measures for evaluating the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection function in healthcare organizations. 6) Describe the various steps in the selection process. 7) Discuss the role of employment tests in the selection interview. 8) Outline the steps in conducting an employment interview. 9) Understand the costs associated with excessive healthcare employee turnover. 10) Describe the characteristics of magnet healthcare organizations. Discussion Questions: 1) The deputy minister of health is concerned with the appropriateness of recruiting nurses from Sub-Saharan Africa for the provincial health system experiencing an acute shortage of nurses. She has asked you to prepare a brief 200 word memo that can be used to shape health policy on this matter. What would you tell her?

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2) You have been hired by a local hospital to evaluate their employee selection process. The hospital is presently experiencing an annual turnover rate for it medical laboratory technicians that is 50 percent higher than other comparable local establishments. What information would you collect that would allow you to assess their selection process? Please explain and justify. 3) Many health care organizations pursuing magnet status for their nursing staff do so in the hope of becoming employers-of-choice in their local labour market. Is it possible to be a magnet hospital and still experience high levels of employee turnover? Please explain.

WEEK 6:

October 26 Employee Orientation, Training, Development and Career Planning

Overview The gap between employee knowledge, skills and competencies and the demands and requirements of the work itself may be substantial. After new employees are selected, they must be oriented to the organization and to their jobs. Furthermore, employees must continually have their knowledge and skills updated. The introduction and orientation of new employees and the training of long-term employees are major responsibilities of the human resource department in health care organizations. In addition, these organizations must be concerned with creating and sustaining a learning culture; a requirement for developing the abilities of its’ clinical and management staff, including supervisors, mid-level managers, and executives. Career planning is a process by which employees formulate career goals and develop plans and strategies for reaching these goals. Assisting with career planning and development and implementing programs for enhancing future managerial and clinical effectiveness in health care organizations are usually the shared responsibilities of human resource departments. Reading Textbook – Chapter 6 Blouin, A.K., McDonagh, A., Neistadt, A. & Helfand, B. (2006). Leading tomorrow’s healthcare organizations: strategies and tactics for effective succession planning. Journal of Nursing Administration, 36(6): 325-330. Torstad, S. & Bjork, I.T. (2007). Nurse leaders’ views on clinical ladders as a strategy in professional development. Journal of Nursing Management, 15: 817-824. Learning Objectives After completing this unit, students should be able to: 1) Discuss the role of employee training and development and its contribution to the mission of the health care organization. 2) Identify the contribution of the human resources department and that of the line manager in employee orientation. SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

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3) Recognize the importance of formal and informal socialization. 4) Understand how to conduct a training needs assessment for health care employees. 5) Appreciate the benefits and drawbacks of using various on-the-job and off-the job training techniques. 6) Develop an evaluation procedure to assess the results of an employee training and development program. 7) Describe the characteristics of a learning health care organization. 8) Define strategic human resource development. 9) Express how human resource departments encourage and assist employee career planning. 10) Explain the process of executive succession planning and career development. Discussion Questions: 1) In what ways does a “learning” organization differ from a “traditional” organization? How can traditional organizations become true learning organizations? 2) Some people believe that if new hires are experienced, well-educated and well-trained there is no need for an orientation program. Do you agree or disagree with this view? Explain. 3) Your health care organization is having financial difficulty and your senior leadership is proposing to cut the staff development budget by 50 percent. What arguments can you use to persuade them that employee development money is well spent? 4) The board of a regional health system wants to begin to develop a proactive strategy to manage its executive succession planning. It has asked you to provide a brief memo on the characteristics of an effective succession planning process for health care executives. What would you say?

WEEK 7:

November 2 Diversity and Performance Management

Unit Overview Healthcare organizations across Canada are beginning to move toward embracing and fostering workforce diversity. This change in the culture of these organizations requires adopting new values that are inclusive while respecting and promoting individual differences. Increasingly, diversity will drive the business practice of health care organizations, yet it will require strong leadership. In this unit of study, a strong business case will be made for increasing human resources diversity in healthcare organizations. High performance healthcare organizations are characterized by their ability to successfully design and implement employee diversity programs that value the unique contributions of everyone. Performance management describes a set of tools and practices that consists of the setting of performance goals with healthcare employees, designing strategies with employees to make and sustain improvements in their behaviours, monitoring employee performance toward achieving their goals, providing ongoing feedback and coaching by supervisors, and measuring individual performance. The term performance appraisal is the term used to describe this process. Performance management has a SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

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strong relationship to many other human resource management functions, including job analysis, recruitment and selection, training and development, and compensation management. Reading Textbook – Chapter 7 Cohen, J.J., Gabriel, B.A. & Terrell, C. (2002). The case for diversity in the health care workforce. Health Affairs, 21(5): 90-102. Lowe, G., & Chan, B. (2010). Using common work environment metrics to improve performance in healthcare organizations. Healthcare Papers, 10(3), 8-23. Learning Objectives After completing this unit, students should be able to: 1) Define diversity management. 2) Understand the business case for diversity and inclusion in healthcare organizations. 3) Explain the various steps in managing diversity. 4) Describe the current diversity practices in health care organizations. 5) Discuss how healthcare leaders can develop a diversity program in their organization. 6) Work toward creating an inclusive organizational culture. 7) Explain the purpose of performance management. 8) Describe the characteristics of an effective performance management system. 9) Discuss the use of performance appraisals. 10) Identify evaluator biases in performance appraisals. 11) Know the commonly used appraisal methods. 12) Explain how to effectively conduct the appraisal interview. 13) Understand the contribution of organizational politics to the appraisal process. Discussion Questions: 1) Do you think that the demographic characteristics of employees in a healthcare organization should accurately reflect the demographic composition of the community from which it is drawn? Please explain. 2) Do you think that a higher quality of healthcare is delivered when the individual who is providing the service (ie. physician, nurse) has a similar demographic profile (ie. ethnic background, or gender) of the person/patient receiving the service? Please explain. 4) What does culture mean to you? How would you rate your level of cultural competency? Please explain. 5) A number of appraisal biases exist to confound the employee appraisal process. Identify and briefly describe three things that health care managers can do to minimize the impact of bias in the evaluation of employee performance. SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

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6) Your health care organization dismissed a nurse for consistently poor performance that was properly documented in employee appraisals. Nevertheless, she has sued the hospital for unjust dismissal claiming that the hospital’s performance appraisal tool is not valid since no woman was on the committee responsible for its development. How would you be able to persuade a judge that, despite the fact that no woman served on the committee, your appraisal instrument is a valid one? 7) The employee appraisal process in most organizations has been described as subjective and political. Do you agree with this assessment? Please explain. What can health care organizations do to minimize the subjectivity and political nature of employee performance appraisals?

READING WEEK:

WEEK 8:

November 9 – No class

November 16 Compensation Management, Employee Benefits and Services

Overview Employees need to be compensated for their performance fairly and properly. The human resources department assists healthcare managers in assessing the value of a job and determining an appropriate salary as well as administering a range of mandated and voluntary employee benefits. It is the shared responsibility of the human resource professional to create a motivating job environment. Compensation programs help to maintain the human resources of an organization. When wages, salaries and benefits are not administered properly, the organization may lose employees and the money spent to recruit, select, train and develop them. Reading Textbook – Chapter 8; Chapter 9 Pink, G.H., Brown, A.D., Studer, M.L., Reiter, K.L. & Leatt, P. (2006). Pay for performance in publicly financed healthcare: some international experience and considerations for Canada. Healthcare Papers, 6(4): 8-26. Learning Objectives After completing this unit, students should be able to: 1) Explain the objectives of effective compensation management. 2) Identify the major issues that influence compensation management. 3) Evaluate the advantages of disadvantages of various incentive systems. 4) Understand the potential of pay for performance for compensating health professionals and explain its drawbacks. SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

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5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

Explain the major approaches to group incentive plans. Describe the objectives of indirect compensation. Elucidate the costs of employee benefits and ways to control them. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of flexible benefit plans. Discuss the administrative problems of employee benefits and services and suggest ways to address them. 10) Describe the structure and function of employee assistance programs in contemporary organizations. 11) Identify the employee benefits and services that are likely to become more common in the future. Discussion Questions: 1) Money is considered a strong motivator, yet in surveys on what employees want from their job, money ranks low. How can you reconcile these two notions? 2) Explain the difference between “equal pay for equal work” and “equal pay for work of equal value” and elucidate the differences in implications for a human resources manager. 3) As a new employee at the Dynamic Medical Laboratories, a for-profit diagnostic laboratory, you have been given the option of participating in a defined benefit pension plan or a defined contribution plan. As an employee, your financial contribution to both plans is the same. Which plan do you prefer and why? What additional information do you require to help you make your decision? 4) Many healthcare organizations have established employee assistance programs in recent years to help employees with personal and family problems? Do you think that it is cost effective for these organizations to establish these programs for their staff? Please explain. How might you establish the cost effectiveness of these programs? 5) Should health care organizations pay educational assistance to their employees? Whose responsibility is it to ensure that staff has ‘up-to-date’ knowledge, skills and competencies?

WEEK 9:

November 23 Occupational Health and Safety

Overview A safe and healthy workplace helps to maintain a productive and satisfying workforce. A safe work environment facilitates productivity by reducing time lost due to work-related accidents and illnesses, as well as time lost to labour disputes and work stoppages focused on labour disputes. Having a safe and healthy workplace can eliminate worker dissatisfaction with unsafe and unhealthy working conditions. Disabling injuries and illnesses also deprive an employer of the full working life of an employee. An organization found guilty of practicing or perpetuating unsafe or unhealthy working conditions often pays a significant cost in the loss of reputation, labour disruptions, and in the ability to attract qualified applicants for job vacancies.

SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

University of Alberta, School of Public Health Page 17

Reading Textbook - Chapter 10 Ferns, T. (2005). Violence in the accident and emergency department—an international perspective. Accident and Emergency Nursing, 13(3): 180-185. McCaughey, D., DelliFraine, J.L., McGhan, G., & Bruning, N.S. (2013). The negative effects of workplace injury and illness on workplace safety climate perceptions and health care worker outcomes. Safety Science, 51(1): 138-147. Learning Objectives After completing this unit, students should be able to: 1) Describe the major Canadian laws relating to occupational health and safety. 2) Understand the key roles and steps in developing a safe workplace. 3) Outline the safety and health responsibilities of employers and employees. 4) Discuss the impact of stress on employees and the workplace. 5) Summarize the relationship between health and safety issues and human resource management. Discussion Questions: 1. What is the role of top management, supervisors, and individual employees in creating and nurturing a strong workplace health and safety climate? Whose role is essential? Explain. 2. What is employee burnout? What is the most important action that healthcare managers can take to mitigate employee burnout? 3. You are concerned by several reports of workplace abuse and violence perpetrated against various nurses by patient visitors in your emergency department. Briefly identify the strategies and approaches that healthcare organizations pursue to combat violence in the workplace.

WEEK 10:

November 30 Employee and Labour Relations

Overview Good employee and union-management relations are essential to effective management of human resources. Successful relationships improve organizational productivity, ensure the implementation of organizational strategies, reduce overall employment costs, help employees grow and develop, and improve workplace morale. Healthcare managers need to understand the role of formal employee relations in non-unionized work environments, as well as knowing how to effectively manage ongoing labour relations in unionized settings in order to create a climate of employee-management cooperation. SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

University of Alberta, School of Public Health Page 18

Reading Textbook - Chapter 11 Archibald, T. (2003). Collective bargaining by nurses in Canada: assessing recent trends and emerging claims. Health Law Journal, 11: 177-198. Davey, M.M., Cummings, G., Newburn-Cook, C.V. & Lo, E.A. (2009). Predictors of nurse absenteeism in hospitals: a systematic review. Journal of Nursing Management, 17: 312-330. Learning Objectives After completing this unit, students should be able to: 1) Understand the strategic importance of employee relations practices. 2) Discuss the importance of downward and upward communication in healthcare settings. 3) Identify the functions of employee counseling. 4) Differentiate the various forms of employee discipline. 5) Understand the employee dismissal process and the concept of wrongful dismissal. 6) List the various employee rights in the workplace. 7) List the underlying causes of workplace absenteeism. 8) Explain the different techniques available to improve the quality of worklife. 9) Delineate the structure of Canadian unions. 10) Discuss the major reasons why health care employees join unions. 14) Identify the conditions conducive to unionization. 15) Examine legislative and judicial rulings that affect the management of organized labour in healthcare settings. 16) Explain how a union organizing campaign is carried out. 17) Distinguish the different phases of the labour relations process. 18) List common techniques to resolve workplace disputes. 19) Identify means for creating an inclusive organizational culture. 20) Suggest ways to build union-management cooperation. Discussion Questions: 1. Discuss the differences between preventive and corrective discipline. Do you favour one form of discipline over the other? Identify the contexts in which each is most appropriate. 2. You are the nurse manager of a 30-bed unit and are concerned with high levels of employee absenteeism on your unit. How might you go about uncovering the reasons for such high absenteeism and identify effective strategies for mitigation? 3. In preparing to negotiate a collective agreement with a union, what types of information would you gather before arriving at the bargaining table? 4. In your opinion, what is the best way to minimize the potential of a union to form in your workplace? SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

University of Alberta, School of Public Health Page 19

WEEK 11:

December 7 Course Wrap-up and Review

Overview Course Review and Debriefing: Students will be asked to identify areas for improvement in the course to be incorporated in future course offering. Course Wrap-up activity (To be announced) ______

Schedule at a Glance Date September 28

Topic Practice Case: Medictest

Instructor Rondeau

October 5

Licensing and Regulation Issues in a Healthcare Profession Case A: QiLing Research Hospital

Rondeau

Assignment Practice Case (not submitted) Presenter #1

Rondeau

Case A

Licensing and Regulation Issues in a Healthcare Profession Case B: Filling the Gaps. The Decision to Utilize Agency Nurses at Tarman Hospital Licensing and Regulation Issues in a Healthcare Profession’ Case C: St. Joseph’s Healthcare London

Rondeau

Presenter #2

Rondeau

Case B

Rondeau

Presenter #3

Rondeau

Case C

Licensing and Regulation Issues in a Healthcare Profession ‘Is That a Good Idea?’

Rondeau

Presenter #4

Rondeau

Presentation & Paper

October 19 October 26 November 2

November 16 November 23 November 30 December 7

SPH 582 2015 Course Syllabus

University of Alberta, School of Public Health Page 20