If the quality of care is dependent on the quality and talents of staff, selecting, developing, and evaluating staff is a critical process. This is a key responsibility of managers and involves staff input in critical ways.
What we will learn here will answer some key questions about: [Read slide]
This information puts the idea of selecting, developing, and evaluating staff in a context of role theory.
Role acquisition refers to how one takes on a new role. This aspect focuses on how to perform and what is expected.
Role clarity refers to distinguishing the role from that of others. This aspect of role development refers to such tasks as seeing how the role of a staff nurse in hospital A differs from the role of a staff nurse in hospital B. It can also relate to what differences exist between serving as a charge nurse as opposed to a staff nurse or nurse manager. Many people think of this aspect as a clarification of “whose job is what.”
Role performance relates to how the role is actually enacted. Legal and organizational parameters are established by law and the employer, but the insight of the role is derived from the individual. So, when differences of opinion arise between two staff members about what to do next or how to approach a problem, in part these differences may derive from how an individual believes he or she must perform his or her role.
Another aspect of role development is ambiguity. In this situation, individuals do not have a clear understanding of what is expected of their performance or how they will be evaluated. Lack of clarity is frustrating in most situations and especially so in work settings.
Role conflict is easier to recognize. Employees know what is expected of them, but they are either unwilling or unable to meet the requirements.
All of these comments about role theory are equally important for managers and followers. If anyone on the team is confused, the possibility exists that others may also become confused.
[Ask for participation; be sure that people are positive (and, if negative, show how they can turn that around) and that the answers include such things as specific feedback, timely feedback, personal relationships that form trust, and consistency in messages.]
[Read slide] Acquisition of a role is fairly time intensive. The role of the manager and other staff (or in the case of a new manager, all of the staff) is to be open and honest about how the role is seen and whether or not the performance matches the expectations.
Two critical points about position descriptions are these: [Read slide] Position descriptions have to be analyzed on a regular basis to be sure they reflect what is accurate for practice expectations. If they aren’t reviewed on a regular basis, they must at least be reviewed before a position is opened for applicants. Advertising one thing and then really expecting another puts the organization at risk.
Irrespective of what position you hold, you need to understand position descriptions beyond your own to be sure that you are working appropriately within the full context of positions, and especially that you are delegating properly.
Position descriptions play an important role in each of the key areas of selecting, developing, and evaluating staff.
As already stated, position descriptions must be reviewed before applicants for a position are sought. A set of standard questions should be used with all applicants, and these questions should derive from the position descriptions. The purpose, of course, is that interviewers should be able to garner information that can be compared across candidates to determine the best fit of an applicant with the available position.
In developing staff, position descriptions serve to guide the educational efforts. In other words, if an individual is insufficient in performing the expectations of the role, those discrepancies, if educational in nature, form the basis for a remediation program. If these insufficiencies emerge because of changes in a set of position descriptions, the discrepancies form the basis for a reorientation to the role type or program. If an individual is changing positions, differences between the two position descriptions indicate where coaching or professional development needs to be geared.
Evaluating staff obviously has to be based on a common understanding of what performances should be. Again, position descriptions form the basis for determining how able an individual is in meeting stated expectations. If, for example, a group of nurses is not meeting a particular expectation, the manager must ask if institutional failure did not make clear what was expected, or if some disincentive to perform the role function was present. The manager should also consider if some change occurred that basically caused the position description to be outdated.
Each of these areas requires that the manager be actively engaged in coaching.
