Assessment # 4 Compensation and Training
Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Part I:

After first completing the reading for this assessment, I had a difficult time deciding what kind of HR strategy would work best for this organization. I wasn’t sure if the focus should be on cost or differentiation. Due to the type of work handled in the health care profession I decided that the organizations focuses more on providing excellent service to its patients. When this is combined with its desire to hire individuals and train them for long-term employment, I figured that the HR strategy that fits best is Committed Expert. Thusly, that is how the compensation strategy will be derived. Northwestern Memorial prides itself on its physicians and hospital staff so of course they pursue the best of the best to be employed by the organization. In order to recruit those types of candidates, the organization has to provide a very competitive compensation strategy. We’ve learned that compensation packages are made up of base pay, employee benefits, individual incentives, and group incentives. When it comes to base pay NMH needs to set the standard in order to draw in the talent they desire. They can’t offer what’s below market or the equivalent of the market. They have to set the bar. They have to show potential candidates that they are willing to pay more than other organization for a person with the right set of skills. Plus, due to the high level expertise, the candidate is going to expect more pay to be offered. So I would check with BLS and research comparable salaries for the job position in other markets similar to Chicago and devise the salary to be paid accordingly. In addition to salary, an organization’s benefit package can really set it apart from other organizations. In particular I am referring to discretionary benefits. In regards to health-care plans NMH would offer a number of HMOs, POS, and PPO plans for the employee to choose from. Also, the employee will have the option to sign up for a flexible spending account which would set aside money to be used for medical/dental expenses not covered under the employee’s plan. There will also be a basic life insurance policy offered at no cost in addition to a variety of supplemental life insurance policies that would require the employee to pay a very small monthly premium. These would be dependent life insurance as well as accidental death and dismemberment insurance. Also, the employee would receive a retirement plan. There would be one that he/she will be required to enroll whereupon the hospital would match part of the contribution, and there would also be the option to enroll in a 401(k) that only the employee would make contributions towards. NMH will also provide the employee with 3 weeks of paid vacation per year in addition to paid sick days. The employee will also have access to the hospital’s employee gym to be used at their discretion. There will also be a discount program that the employee can enroll in that can be used at various vendors for various services around the Chicago area. Lastly, the employees will be able to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement program, for those individuals needing to taking courses for a program not offered through the hospital’s Academy. The last part of this package will be incentives, both individual and group. The employee would be entitled to merit pay increases based on work performance. This can be used to motivate employees because they know the amount they receive will be reflective of their quality work. If the employee knows that there is always a chance that their status with the organization can be improved either through a promotion or through some other pay increase, then they are more likely to stay with the organization for the long-term. By giving variable relational compensation, it ensures that employees receive a reward to making a portion of their goal, thus keeping them from becoming discouraged in their job. In addition, the organization will offer profit sharing and stock options. This compensation package should help improve retention and motivate employees because it shows that the organization is vested in them. It lets the employees know that company is interested in keeping them around for a long tem and doesn’t want to lose them to the competition. It sets precedence by letting them know that are committed to being the best and providing the best for their employees.

Part II

Northwestern Memorial Hospital prides itself in its ability to develop and train its employees. The training should be geared toward providing better service for its patients. This can be done by being more knowledgeable about new clinical methods as well as the use of new technology in the field of service. This type of training should focus on being proactive, not reactive. With the use of a proactive needs assessment the organization can determine who needs to be trained on what. You can do assessment of the organization to determine what areas of training the employees need to focus on. This can be done with an organizational analysis. With the proactive needs assessment we can determine whether an employee needs a certain type of training to be able to do the job effectively. For instance, a neurosurgeon wouldn’t need to attend a seminar or training class that dealt with new ways to treat Athlete’s Foot. It wouldn’t be in his professional field and would have nothing to do with how he did his job. It would be a waste of time for him and a waste of money for the hospital to have him attend such a class. Something that could work for the Neurosurgeon would be a team task analysis. It would provide information on how effective the neurosurgeon can be as part of team and if any improvements are necessary. Some things that could be covered with neurosurgeons training could be interpersonal and managerial skills to help communication amongst team members. Also, there could train on new methods and techniques of performing certain surgeries. In addition to that, one could be taught to use various new equipment and software. The training will take place using various methods. There will be a presentation to get the employee familiar with what we are trying to get accomplished with the training program. I would also take the time to talk about this new technique in surgery, how it came about, and how it should be used. After the presentation I would provide time for discussion to see if they had any questions and to get their feelings about the new technique. The next step would be some behavior modeling. I would demonstrate how the new technique worked while the employee look on. Afterwards, I would let them break into groups to practice while I observe them to see how they are doing. Of course the last part of the behavior modeling would be to give them feedback. After much practice and once I felt that they were ready to use the technique, I’d pair them up with someone who has already mastered the new technique and see how they did during an actual surgery. I figure the best way to determine if the employee has picked up the new technique would be to observe him/her using it on his or her own and determine whether this new technique helps with precision and provide excellent patient care.