Brief Introduction to the Topic
The recruitment and selection of applicants are the first stages of the staffing process. They are necessary to provide healthcare organizations with highly competent human resources, and they tend to have a significant effect on organizational performance. Therefore, it is necessary to align recruitment and selection with nursing departments’ needs, and nursing leaders can achieve this outcome.
Significance of the Topic
Staffing activities are essential for the management of a healthcare organization due to the industry’s reliance on skilled human resources (Marquis & Huston, 2015). Recruitment and selection are the starting points of staffing, which emphasizes their importance for providing the healthcare industry with employees. Ineffective recruitment efforts can result in understaffing, which negatively affects the quality of care, and ineffective selection leads to the absence of skilled and required workforce, which has the same consequences. Moreover, in many areas, there is a shortage of healthcare workers, which complicates the process of recruitment (Mbemba, Gagnon, & Hamelin-Brabant, 2016). Therefore, the knowledge of successful recruitment strategies is necessary for leaders and managers working in the healthcare industry.
Brief Literature Review
Recruitment efforts have to correspond to the staffing needs of an organization. The needs can be predicted by considering multiple factors, including typical employment lengths, resignation rates, available funding, and so on (Marquis & Huston, 2015). Then, recruiting efforts need to attract the targeted population by highlighting the advantages of an organization, including monetary and non-monetary ones. Monetary benefits are especially effective in poorer regions (Mbemba et al., 2016), but non-monetary ones are also significant for applicants (Marquis & Huston, 2015). The choice of the exact recruitment methods depends on the organization’s funds and needs; examples include various forms of advertising, employment agencies, university recruitment, and so on (Dim & Akpunonu, 2017).
The selection process is based on the consideration of the qualifications of applicants. In particular, criteria like education, references, and job experience are often reviewed (Dim & Akpunonu, 2017). A major selection tool is interviewing, which provides additional information on the abilities of a candidate, including their teamwork abilities, which are exceptionally important in healthcare (Adams & Anantatmula, 2010).
Marquis and Huston (2015) report that nurse leaders and managers are not always engaged in recruitment and selection. Decentralization efforts may pay off due to the increased understanding of nursing departments’ needs, but they also tend to be costlier than centralized approaches. Since recruitment is an expensive process (Dim & Akpunonu, 2017), the decision to involve more nurse leaders in recruitment and selection needs to be considered carefully. In any case, however, it is essential to communicate the needs of nursing departments to recruiters, and recruiters should be interested in these needs to be able to design and carry out the recruitment and selection efforts successfully.
Application to Nursing
In a centralized organization, nursing leaders are less likely to be involved in recruitment and selection, but in less centralized companies they can have more freedom in choosing the personnel (Marquis & Huston, 2015). However, in any organization, a leader is instrumental in ensuring a team’s performance (Mind Tools, 2012). Nursing leaders are likely to be involved in socializing the new members and helping them to become productive parts of their new team (Adams & Anantatmula, 2010; Kaufman, 2012; Marquis & Huston, 2015). As a result, leaders are likely to experience the impact of recruitment choices. Therefore, both nursing leaders and recruiters are interested in establishing communication, in which the former should make the needs of their units known.
Conclusion
Recruitment and selection are of great significance to healthcare organizations and nursing leaders. There exist strategies that can improve both processes, but it is most important to ensure their alignment with organizational needs. As a result, nursing leaders need to find a way to communicate the needs of their units either by directly participating in recruitment and selection or, if their organization does not involve them in these processes, by establishing a dialogue with recruiters.
References
Adams, S. L., & Anantatmula, V. (2010). Social and behavioral influences on team process. Project Management Journal, 41(4), 89–98. Web.
Dim, E., & Akpunonu, U. (2017). Effect of recruitment challenges on public healthcare organisations: A study of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi. International Journal of Business Administration and Management Research, 3(1), 21-28. Web.
Kaufman, B. (2012). Anatomy of dysfunctional working relationships. Business Strategy Series, 13(2), 102–106. Web.
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2015). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
Mbemba, G., Gagnon, M., & Hamelin-Brabant, L. (2016). Factors influencing recruitment and retention of healthcare workers in rural and remote areas in developed and developing countries: An overview. Journal of Public Health in Africa, 7(2), 61-66. Web.
Mind Tools. (2012). Forming, storming, norming and performing: Helping new teams perform effectively, quickly. Web.