Introduction
Compensation strategy that a firm uses has a major influence on the output of its employees. According to Spitzer (2013), effective compensation strategy does not necessarily mean giving your employees very high salaries above the market average. It entails identifying individual employee’s effort and rewarding it in the most appropriate manner. Employees who are appropriately rewarded always tend to be motivated in their work, unlike those who feel that their efforts are not appreciated by the relevant authorities. It is, therefore, very critical to find an effective way of rewarding employees in the healthcare sector to ensure that they deliver the best service in their assignments. In this paper, the primary aim is to describe an effective compensation strategy for Jackson Memorial Hospital in the city of Miami.
Objectives
The following are the primary objectives that this paper seeks to achieve:
- To develop a strategic map of Jackson Memorial Hospital’s compensation strategy
- To conduct performance appraisal of a charge nurse to understand how best the holder of that position can be compensated
- To offer advice to the management of Jackson Memorial Hospital on how the compensation strategy can be improved.
Jackson Memorial Hospital
Jackson Memorial Hospital is a nonprofit teaching and referral hospital that was founded in 1918. Situated in Miami, this hospital has grown and now has a bed capacity of 1550 and offers a wide range of medical services to its clients. Currently, this institution works very closely with the University of Miami. It is also affiliated to Leonard Miller School of Medicine. These two teaching institutions have had a mutually beneficial relationship with this hospital as each of them try to find solutions in a practical context through research.
This hospital offers a wide range of medical services to the patients, most of whom are locals residing within the county (Finkelman & Kenner, 2010). However, its reputation as one of the best Ophthalmologic centers within the United States, the facility has also attended to patients from various parts of the nation. Given the nature of this organization, its activities are not profit driven. It means that it has to find the best way of retaining some of its best doctors, nurses, and other employees who are working tirelessly to enable it achieve success. This is one of the biggest challenges that this institution is facing in its operations. Some of the leading hospitals it is competing with such as Massachusetts General Hospital and Cleveland Clinic are for-profit institutions hence can afford to pay its employees attractive salaries. However, most of the funds that run this institution are obtained from the donors, patients who visit the institution, and the well-wishers. It is important to note that the small fee that patients pay for filing and services are not meant to generate any form of profit to the organization. The financial constrain that this institution faces means that its compensation strategy should be defined in a unique way that will satisfy its employees without jeopardizing the resources needed for the normal expenses.
Strategic Map of Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Compensation Strategy
Jackson Memorial Hospital is a non-profit making organization hence it must select its compensatory strategy with utmost care. According to Waxman (2013), institutions are currently determining their employees’ salaries based on the value they offer. Highly valued employees are often given better compensation compared to the less valuable ones. The need to develop trust between the employees and the employer and the desire to maintain a team of highly motivated workforce may also influence the compensation strategy that a firm uses. Based on the five decisions contained in the pay model, Jackson Memorial Hospital can use the compensation strategy shown bellow.
Figure 1: Compensation Model.In this model, there are five areas that the firm will consider when determining the salaries of all its employees. The first factor is the organizational objectives. According to Schlick, Frieling, and Wegge (2013), the objectives of an organization must be matched with its compensation strategy. This firm is a non-profit making organization, and the strategy must take this fact into consideration. The second factor is the requisite knowledge and abilities of the individual employees. The pay must be based on their skills and ability to undertake different tasks. When determining the compensation strategy, an organization will always need to ensure that potential employees are promised salaries based on what the current employees earn. The work experience of the employee will also determine the amount of money they can earn. Feldman and Alexander (2012) also say that non-monetary rewards may also help in promoting satisfaction among the employees.
Job Description of Charge Nurse
As a Charge Nurse, there are specific tasks that one has to undertake to ensure that there is success in the assigned department. Charge Nurse is one of the low-level managerial positions that are very important in the normal operations of a health care facility. The officer coordinates individual nurses who work within the wards and other departments in a hospital. The first responsibility is to oversee the activities taking place within the assigned department. The researcher was working in the critical care unit. Delegation of assignments is another important duty. Junior nurses should be assigned duties as appropriate. Charge Nurse is also responsible for overseeing patients’ admissions, preparation of schedules and discharges within the department. The officer is also charged with the responsibility of monitoring of supplies of medicine and other equipment needed within the assigned unit. In some cases, a Charge Nurse may carry patient load when not undertaking managerial duties, especially when the unit is under pressure due to high admissions or minimal number of nurses on duty.
Performance Appraisal
The performance appraisal helps in determining the capacity of employees and their value to a given organization. This way, it becomes easy to determine the best salaries that match the output of such an employee. The performance appraisal conducted in the template provided shows that the researcher has taken time to gain experience at Jackson Memorial Hospital and now has a better capacity to deliver the best service to this or any other institution in the future.
Conclusion
Developing an effective compensation strategy is one of the most challenging tasks to any entity in the modern world. On one hand, there is the need to ensure that employees are offered the best salaries possible to motivate them and ensure that they are retained within the organization. On the other hand, there is the need to protect the finances of the institution by ensuring that expenses, including salaries, are rational. Based on personal experience, institutions should always try to base their compensation on the value of their employees and the availability of the resources. Performance evaluation is, therefore, of critical importance when developing an effective compensation strategy. The researcher has gained important information about compensation strategy that may be critical in the future. It is clear to the researcher that there must be a clear formula of defining compensation of every single employee in an organization, even if the institution is a non-profit making firm.
References
Feldman, H. R., & Alexander, G. R. (2012). Nursing leadership: A concise encyclopedia. New York: Springer.
Finkelman, A., & Kenner, C. (2010). Professional nursing concepts: Competencies for quality leadership. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Schlick, C. M., Frieling, E., & Wegge, J. (2013). Age-differentiated work systems. Berlin: Springer.
Spitzer, R. (2013). Nursing management desk reference: Concepts, skills & strategies. Philadelphia: Saunders.
Waxman, K. T. (2013). Financial and business management for the doctor of nursing practice. New York: Springer Publishing Company.