Strategic planning is one of the most important approaches to the development of any organization. Having a strategy is especially crucial for a healthcare institution, as the increase in services’ quality allows them to improve patients’ health and creates a competitive advantage. This paper will determine a small privately-owned hospital’s objectives based on the SWOT analysis from the previous assignment to form a strategic plan for this facility.
Strategic Goals
The main goal of creating a strategic plan is to address weaknesses and use the facility’s strengths and opportunities. According to the SWOT analysis, the hospital’s main disadvantages are high turnover and lack of educational support for staff. These shortcomings are related but form two strategic goals that can be determined by the SMART approach (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) (“Write your plan,” n.d.). First, the hospital needs to provide the staff with two educators and develop an effective interaction system within six months. Secondly, managers need to reduce turnover by 40% within five years.
The first goal requires the involvement of senior staff and leaders who can mentor other nurses and doctors. However, this step means a need to decrease their direct responsibility of caring for patients and, therefore, increases the junior staff’s workload. However, with the successful implementation of the goals, the level of employee satisfaction will rise, since, despite the additional responsibilities, nurses will be able to complete them faster due to educators’ help in acquiring skills. Therefore, the success of goal realization can be measured by the level of staff satisfaction and patient feedback. At the same time, reduction of employee turnover will also be achieved through increased job satisfaction and measured by the percentage of employees leaving and hired.
The opportunity determined by the SWOT analysis is also a strategic goal for the hospital. A good reputation and patient feedback allow the hospital to create a successful marketing strategy that will attract new clients. Therefore, the strategic goal is to increase the number of patients from the local community by 25% within five years. This goal is easily measurable, since the hospital keeps records of its patients, and the manager only needs to compare the numbers to understand its development. These profits can also be used to achieve the first two goals, for example, raising employee wages to motivate work or hiring educators to distribute the workload. Thus, these three strategic goals contribute to the development of the hospital at low resource costs.
Matching Goals with the Vision and Environment of the Hospital
The hospital’s strategic goals must align with its mission, vision, and values and be realistic for the environment in which they are implemented. The mission of a small privately-owned hospital is to offer quality service to the community while maintaining its individuality and compactness. At the same time, the hospital’s vision is to create comfortable conditions for the treatment of patients, staff work, and community development, which is reflected in the values of quality, education, friendliness, and respect. Therefore, the goals of reducing staff turnover, improving the quality of education, and, hence, services are appropriate for the hospital.
An essential part of building a strategy is also the analysis of the external and internal environment. Rodrıguez Perera and Peiro (2012) highlight for this purpose such stages as analysis of stakeholders, internal capabilities of the hospital, SWOT analysis, definition of objectives and alternatives. The hospital’s primary stakeholders are patients, employees, competitors, and owners. The goals of improving the working environment, education, and quality of services and attracting customers satisfy all stakeholders’ interests and give an advantage over competitors. High-quality service means more satisfied customers and profit for the owner, which is reflected in pay and staff development opportunities. At the same time, these goals do not require high financial costs, but a change in management approach, so even the small privately-owned hospital can implement them. Consequently, strategic goals are consistent with the mission and environment of the hospital.
Role and Skills of a Leader
The main method to achieve strategic goals is to change the approach to management, which requires a leader. Previous experience in reducing patients’ hospital-acquired wounds demonstrates that the most appropriate leadership style is a transformational style that encourages collaboration (Manning, 2016). This management style will allow the leader to inspire and guide employees by enabling them to take the initiative (Manning, 2016). This approach is also most useful to achieve the goal of developing the culture of educators. The primary skills of a leader, in this case, are communication and motivation of employees, conflict resolution, and demonstration of interest in every employee’s problem. At the same time, these qualities are essential both for the leader of the organization and nursing mentors, who will take the role of educators.
Moreover, this approach increases collaboration in the small hospital team and makes all employees feel more valued and supported. Consequently, this leadership style will improve employee skills and reduce staff turnover by creating a culture of collaboration and understanding within the team. In turn, these features will allow the hospital to more efficiently attract and serve patients, receive profit, and direct it to the further development of the hospital. Thus, all set strategic goals will be achieved in parallel.
Conclusion
Therefore, SWOT analysis of the hospital and its environment demonstrated the most relevant strategic goals for the development of this healthcare facility. The transformational leader plays a key role in the process of goals’ implementation because he or she must inspire and guide employees, encourage their cooperation and initiativeness. Thus, the right approach to management will help achieve the main strategic goals of reducing staff turnover, improving employee skills and job satisfaction, as well as attracting new customers, and increasing profits.
References
Manning, J. (2016). The influence of nurse manager leadership style on staff nurse work engagement. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 46(9), 438-443. Web.
Rodrıguez Perera, F.P & Peiro , M. (2012). Strategic planning in healthcare organizations. Revista Española de Cardiología (English Edition), 65(8):749–754
Write your plan. (n.d.). Web.