Why the Nursing Staff May Want To Unionize
The quest to unionize could be informed by the desire to get better pay. In support of this statement, some nurses in The Saga of Truly Good Hospital were complaining about low salary increments. The desire to get proper remuneration is highlighted in a report produced by Sanders and McCutcheon (2010), which suggests that unionized workers enjoy a better pay than non-unionized employees do.
Three Steps to Take When Addressing Unionization Attempts
In my workplace experience, I have noticed that management’s first instinct when in a situation where they have to address employees’ quest to unionize is to defeat any such attempt. However, this should not be the case. Instead, the steps below should be followed.
The first one is to allow the workers to go on with their activities without being subjected to any disciplinary action. In other words, preventing them from unionizing (if there was no such prohibitive policy in the first place) would mean that management is engaging in unfair labor practices (Neil & Robinson, 2011; Fulmer, 2018). Therefore, the managers should allow the employees to put up posters communicating their intent to unionize as was highlighted in The Saga of Truly Good Hospital.
The second step managers should take in addressing attempts to unionize would be to communicate to the employees what the administration can do for them, relative to their grievances, as recommended by Stubbs (2017). The point here is to enable the workers to understand that the company is not an “enemy,” but a partner that can listen to them and address their needs without necessarily unionizing.
Based on the outcome of the second step above, the nursing manager should work with employees either through the union (or without it) to address their grievances. Working with the union would mean that the employees chose to unionize anyway, regardless of the overtures of the administration. However, if no such attempts were successful, the managers should always be ready and willing to address any concerns that the employees may have as recommended by Fulmer (2018) and Porter (2010).
HR’s Role in Helping to Legally Address Labor Relations and Unionization Attempts
If a union becomes part of the employee relations structure of the workplace, it is imperative for the human resource department to understand all relevant laws pertaining to unionization and inform the nurses about the same (Brooke, 2011; Lussier & Hendon, 2016). Additionally, the human resource department should have an in-house expert who handles labor relation laws, especially concerning how nurses should be treated in a unionized environment (Matthews, 2010). Generally, the human resource department should play a collaborative role in making the union succeed in meeting its goals because by doing so, the managers also excel.
The Recruiting Process
The recruitment process in my organization follows five key stages as described below. The first step is characterized by a review of the institution’s policies regarding recruitment. Normally, this review happens before the advertisement of a job position. As Mayhew (2018) suggests, union representation may be necessary at this point of assessment. Extensive consultations also happen regarding the terms of the hiring process, thereby making sure that the right candidates are hired.
The second step in the recruitment and selection process is the review of all possible sources of potential applicants. Typically, the vacant positions are advertised in the newspaper, local listings and on the institution’s website. The third step in the recruitment process involves a determination of the optimal mode for publicizing job vacancies. The institution’s website has often emerged as the official point where the organization publishes vacant positions.
The fourth stage involves the ascertainment of the job needs and requirements, which must be stated before publishing vacant positions. The most important principle followed in this step of recruitment is the combination of behavioral and targeted interviewing techniques to make sure that the right candidates are assigned the right jobs. The goal of making sure that this step is followed is to ensure that the nurses employed possess all the necessary skills. The same approach has been adopted at Baton Rouge General Medical Center (BRGMC) as explained by Markey and Tingle (2012). The last stage of the recruitment process involves reviewing the response to the recruitment process. Here, adjustments are done as deemed fit. Since my institution is relatively small, the human resource manager is responsible for overseeing all the above-mentioned steps.
Effectiveness of the Recruitment Plan
The recruitment processes identified above is effective because one person heads the team that controls it. Since she is knowledgeable about the overall recruitment process, there is a synchronized and integrated effort of all human resource personnel to identify the best candidates for a specific job position. For example, the human resource manager in the organization is familiar with all the employees. She understands their strengths and weaknesses and can assist them to achieve their full potential much easier than bigger organizations that do not know all their employees in person (Lussier & Hendon, 2016).
There is an instance where one employee had absconded duty for a week and it was speculated that she had probably resigned without notice. However, the human resource manager believed that something wrong had happened to her. She said that her personality and professionalism would not allow her to abscond duty without a proper explanation. It was later established that she had been involved in a car accident and was unconscious the entire time in a hospital miles away from where she worked. Therefore, the manager’s ability to understand each employee in-depth is an asset to the organization.
References
Brooke, P.S. (2011). Legally speaking … When can staff say no? Nursing Management, 42(1), 40-44.
Fulmer, W. (2018). Step by step through a union campaign. Web.
Lussier, R.N., & Hendon, J.R. (2016). Human resource management: Functions, applications, & skill development (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Markey, L., & Tingle, C. (2012). Screening RNs: A change in hiring practice. Nursing Management, 43(2), 13-15.
Matthews, J. (2010). When does delegating make you a supervisor? Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 15(2), 3.
Mayhew, R. (2018). What challenges do unions pose for human resource management? Web.
Neil, A., & Robinson, J. (2011). Making a union/management partnership really work. Nursing New Zealand, 17(11), 32-33.
Porter, C. (2010). A nursing labor management partnership model. Journal of Nursing Administration, 40(6), 272-276.
Sanders, L.G., & McCutcheon, A.W. (2010). Unions in the healthcare industry. Labor Law Journal, 61(3), 142-151.
Stubbs, B. (2017). Building a better benefis: Why nurses support a union. Web.