Apparently, every person is affected by a health condition either themselves or loved ones. It can be a severe health condition that requires an employee to take some time off from work. Therefore, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was developed in the United States to reduce the stress that employees have about their job security when they take a leave to sort out personal or family issues (Mullins, 2012). Americans supported the signing of the FMLA bill into law in 1993 because they believed it would help men and women meet the dual demands of family and work. Through FMLA, an employee can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year to attend to medical and family reasons without losing his or her seniority or health insurance benefits. Any private or public organization in the United States with more than 50 workers and has been in business for at least a year is required by law to grant its employees who have worked at least 1,250 hours over the past one year a family and medical leave. An excellent example of an organization that practices FMLA on its employees is the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center.
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center
UCSF Medical Center is a private teaching and research hospital located in San Francisco, California. It is among the best medical facilities in the United States where patients with complex diseases from around the world seek treatment. The hospital has the most competent and qualified medical practitioners that have made the hospital to be ranked as the best in California and the fifth best in the United States regarding patient care and facilities. The facility receives more than a million patients annually, and it has more than 10,000 employees in the various health care fields (The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, 2015). The hospital management believes that the success of UCSF Medical Center is due to the values they expect employees to follow and the firm's mission and vision statement. All the employees are expected to conduct themselves with professionalism, respect all patients, act with integrity, understand and embrace the diverse expectations and beliefs of the community and the patients, and always strive for excellence (The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, 2015). Their mission statement and the reason why they exist is to care, heal, teach, and discover innovations in the medical field. Their vision statement is “to be the best provider of healthcare services, the best place to work, and the best environment for teaching and research” (The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, 2015).
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Effect of FMLA on both Teamwork and HR Retention of Workers at UCSF Medical Center
The concern of every manager is how a particular business project will be impacted if a member of a team leaves for a personal or medical reason. It is evident that a company's productivity, as well as the morale of the remaining members of the group, is affected negatively. And when some employees are dissatisfied with a particular team or when a project fails because one key member of the team left on leave, some of the remaining employees may start looking for other better avenues to work (The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, 2015). Therefore, FMLA has had adverse effects on UCSF Hospital, just like it does on any other firm. In a health facility where collaboration among the healthcare providers is vital to comprehensive care when one-member leaves in the middle of a process, it has negative implications on the outcome of the process. However, the management has come up with strategies to deal with change when an employee leaves or retires (Mullins, 2012). The firm has started a program where every sector has more than two employees, and each employee is supposed to study and gain expertise in another area of interest. Through frequent training programs, most workers are in a position to step-in for their colleagues who are absent without any problems with the outcome.
Employee-Centered Approaches
Employee-centered approaches are programs, processes, and systems geared towards helping employees to become successful in their endeavors. Most businesses today are focused on empowering employees so that they provide excellent services that go a long way into enabling an organization to achieve its goals (Sahoo, Das & Sundaray, 2011). To achieve an environment where all the stakeholders gain, the management is supposed to design strategies that are aligned with employees' success. Therefore, the best employee-centered approaches can only be achieved where the workers are consulted before a decision is implemented.
How the Human Capital Management Strategies Related to HR Retention at UCSF Medical Center Align with the Organization's Mission, Vision, and Values
With the stiff competition in the market today, only businesses with a sound business strategy survive in the sector. Therefore, it is crucial for a firm to outline the skills and human resources needed for a company to achieve its goals through proper workforce planning. It is the role of human resource (HR) manager to ensure the most competent employees are acquired, trained, and retained in the firm (Sahoo, Das & Sundaray, 2011). UCSF Medical Center boasts of having the lowest employee turnover rate due to the human capital management strategies that they have employed to retain their workers.
UCSF Medical Center believes that human capital management is a long-term business strategy. Therefore, it has aligned most of its business initiatives with the human capital so that all the leaders adopt and support the overall business plans. It is a step taken to ensure managers believe in what they are doing so that they feel they are part of the organization. It helps in driving forward the objectives of the organization and retaining them for longer. In their vision statement, UCSF Hospital strives to provide the best working environment that is supportive of senior leaders' commitment to what is essential for the firm (Mullins, 2012). By involving both employees and middle managers in making the decisions for the facility, they feel like their efforts are noticed which encourages them to remain loyal to the firm.
The overall managers of the health facility strive to foster collaboration throughout the organization from one department to another and at a personal level. Even though most employees hold tight to the practices within their area of duty, UCSF has set common goals which the HR department teaches both existing and new employees (Mullins, 2012). The objectives are specific to the various skills employed at the facility which ensures every worker feels recognized and respected at the facility. In return, they work harder for the betterment of patient care. Leaders are also trained to be able to identify the capabilities of the team members that he or she is given to lead. The corporation believes that by yielding a full, balanced, and accurate picture of the skills that the employees have is the only way that they can assign each worker to a role he or she is best suited to handle. Capitalist and economist, Jeremy Boating stated that the best motivation an employee can have is by working in a place where his or her skills and talent is respected (Sahoo, Das & Sundaray, 2011). It will help in retaining the employee and improving performance.
Quality human capital management (HCM) strategies are naturally complex. However, UCSF Medical Center keeps its HCM processes and technology comfortable for managers to be able to handle. Therefore, managers can be able to explain their plans easily to their subordinates or managers in other departments which promotes communication and commitment to providing the best healthcare services. Also, the firm has placed HCM as the overall firm's priority and not just the work of one department (HR Department) (Sahoo, Das & Sundaray, 2011). Therefore, everyone works believing in the values, goals, mission, and the vision of the hospital which improves accountability and determination among the employees. In return, HR organizes recreational programs and attractive incentives that help in retaining and attracting the most competent labor force.
Effect of the Actions and Consequences of Human Capital Management Strategies on Employee Satisfaction
The strategies taken by management in any organization may have right actions or devastating consequences towards satisfaction of the employees. The perceptions that employees have towards the human capital strategies, organizational outcome, internal opportunities, employment security, training, compensation, customer satisfaction, and participation in decision-making are some of the factors that affect how employees receive HCM strategies (Sahoo, Das & Sundaray, 2011). A firm like UCSF Medical Center that involves both the management and the employees when laying down plans and strategies ensures employee satisfaction because they feel that they are part of the organization. Therefore, at the individual level, employees become satisfied with the activities of the firm and works towards the goal of the business. Through proper communication and collaboration, members of a team can engage at a personal level. As a result, they can understand each other and work as a team (Mullins, 2012). An employee who is working in an environment supported by his or her members even in times of problems is bound to be satisfied as an individual and a member of the team.
Recommended Employee-Centered Strategies that HR Managers could employ to mitigate the Negative Effects on Teamwork
Human Resource managers can cultivate open communication by encouraging team members to speak out and share their ideas or problems freely. Since communication is a two-way street, managers should first build respect and trust with the employees by socializing with them. Once trust is established, team members will be able to work together and speak to upper management when there is a problem. As a result, there will be no conflicts, and people will work together peacefully (Sahoo, Das & Sundaray, 2011).
The managers can also outline the roles and responsibilities of each team member with clarity so that each member focuses on the logistics of his or her actual work. As a result, there will be no confusion, and when a member is absent, it can be easy to delegate their duties to someone else. Therefore, managers can set a common goal that is clear so that every team member becomes committed and eventually lead to the success of the whole team.
References
Mullins, L. B. (2012). Balancing work and family: How does family responsibilities discrimination affect career advancement? Doctoral Dissertation, Rutgers University-Graduate School-Newark.
Sahoo, C. K., Das, S., & Sundaray, B. K. (2011). Strategic human resource management: Exploring the key drivers. Employment Relations Record , 11(2), 18.
The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. (2015). Mission, Vision, and Values of the Organization. The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center Annual Journal.
