Hiring a Team Manager Mental Health for Queensland Health - Case Study Example

Human resource planning, recruitment and selection Table of Contents Human resource planning, recruitment and selection 1 Table of Contents 2 2 Executive Summary 3 1.Recruitment strategy 4 1.1.Selection criteria 4 1.1.1.Team management and decision making 5 1.1.2.Clinical practice 6 1.1.3.Communication & other skills 7 1.1.4.Education & professional qualification 7 1.2.Recruitment process 8 2.Selection strategy 9 2.1.Demonstrating key skills 10 2.2.Practical expertise 11 2.3.Collective decision process 11 Reference 12 Appendix A: Job advertisement 14 Appendix B: Assessment tools 16 Executive Summary The report analyses a vacant position in an organisation and the steps taken to recruit and select a candidate for the position. Queensland Health is looking at hiring a Team Manager Mental Health (Program Coordinator Continuing Care) in permanent position (See Appendix A for more information). As a HR practitioner, I am required to develop the recruitment and selection strategy to be adopted for hiring a suitable candidate for the position. Queensland Health provides quality health services to the people residing in Queensland and has more than 60,000 people in its roles, which makes it one of the largest organisations in Australia. The organisation offers varied opportunities in medicine, nursing, patient care etc and provides a steady growth path to its employees. It also gives competitive remuneration along with flexible working conditions and employee benefits. Due to the strong reputation in the market, the organisation also has stringent selection procedures which need to be taken care of while hiring a candidate. The selection process within Queensland Health is conducted by a selection panel that has two or more people. The process starts with the review of the resume and the covering letter of the applicants. Further, the written answers pertaining to the particular profile given by the applicants are reviewed. Thereafter, interviews are conducted, which includes telephonic interviews as well. The panel also reviews the work samples, demonstrations and presentations of the candidates. Reference checks of the selected candidates are also conducted. Such a selection procedure is very detailed and helps in selecting a candidate with the right level of aptitude, abilities, skills, qualifications and experience. The rigorous levels of interviews, presentations and past work expertise ensure that the person selected is the best among the applicants. Further, due to the involvement of two or more members in the selection process, an unbiased decision could also be taken. However, such a selection process also has some disadvantages. In today’s fast world of instant results, such a long selection process might mean losing the interest of the candidates in the position. The organisation may have to forego the better candidates as other companies may hire them before Queensland Health makes a decision. 1. Recruitment strategy 1.1. Selection criteria In order to select the right candidates from the pool of applicants, it is essential to conduct a formal screening of the applicants by analysing their resumes and cover letters (Stone 2006). Thereafter, their skills sets and abilities mentioned needs to be matched as per the job responsibilities provided in the profile (Dale 2006). Thus, the first and the foremost step to be taken for hiring the right candidate is to screen the resume that has been submitted by the applicant. While screening the resume it is essential to understand that the skills and abilities mentioned by the applicants should match with the requirements of the vacant post. However, in order to carry out the function of matching the abilities as per the position, the HR staff should be well aware of the requirements of the profile. Further, it is necessary to create a well-drawn strategy to screen the right candidate (Cook 2009). For this given position, I would adopt the following selection criteria: 1.1.1. Team management and decision making Excellent coordination & team management abilities: The position requires providing operations and clinical leadership and management of the Ault Mental Health Community Care Services. Therefore, it is required that the candidates are able to demonstrate excellent coordination and supervision abilities as well as managing multiple and multi-speciality teams. The HR professional should screen the resumes carefully and look for candidates who have such expertise and have worked in organisations that required handling multiple teams as well as networking with external stakeholders. Planning & strategic-decision making: In order to succeed in a team manager profile, it is important to undertake proper planning and strategic decisions (Yeung 2008). Therefore, for this profile as well, I would shortlist candidates who have proven track for taking strategic decisions and implementing them successfully. In order to do so, the candidates would be asked pertinent questions about their decision-making abilities over the phone and asked to explain past situations where they had faced issues and had undertaken strategic planning and decisions. Ethical consideration: A mental health professional needs to undertake many ethical decisions and abide by the ethical committee regulations (Compton & Nankervis 2009). Thus, the past work record of the applicants would be scrutinized carefully to understand any gap areas. The candidate would be asked about various ethical issues that a mental health professional may face to understand whether the candidate knows about the rules and regulations governing ethical consideration in mental health. Ability to control human & financial resources: A team managerial level position requires a person to not only regulate and provide directions to the team but also to look after the revenue aspects of the organisation as well (Rothstein & Goffin 2006). Therefore, the candidates would be selected on the basis of their past abilities to generate revenues for the organisation and managing a large team. The candidate should also be able to identify the training needs of the staff and conduct them regularly by coordinating with the seniors and colleagues. Further, the candidate should have understanding about employment equity, workplace health and safety and anti-discrimination regulations. The HR should ask some standardised questions about workplace regulations to understand whether the candidate is aware about such policies. Further, the HR professional may ask certain leading questions to understand how the candidate would solve certain administrative and financial problems. 1.1.2. Clinical practice Clinical expertise: The candidate needs to have well established clinical knowledge and expertise in mental health division. The candidate should be able to demonstrate knowledge about the State and National mental health policies and regulations and implementation of Acute and Specialised Service rules. The candidate should also need to showcase abilities for establishing networks with other such initiatives of Queensland Health so that standard practices could be adopted throughout the region related to mental health. Mental health team lead requires management skills so that the specialised services can be provided to the patients in a proper manner (Cook 2009). Therefore, the candidate along with excellent clinical expertise should have managerial abilities as well. This would help in serving the patients in a better manner. Mental health patients require specialised care and therefore, the candidate although being employed in a more administrative role should have thorough professional knowledge and expertise about mental health practice. 1.1.3. Communication & other skills Excellent communication skills: In order to provide and facilitate good working condition within a team, a manager is required to demonstrate excellent communication skills so that the concerns of the team are addressed properly and the management is also being aware of the team’s progress (Garavan 2007). The interview process would be excellent selection opportunity to understand the communication skills of the candidate. The candidate should be able to demonstrate high level of oral, written as well as interpersonal skills, which would help in negotiating and taking decisions. Further, in order to motivate the team, influence the patients and put forward ideas and solutions to the management, the candidate is required to posses good communication and interpersonal skill sets. Networking: In a mental health setup, it is essential for a team lead to create and maintain networks with various governmental and non-governmental agencies and organisations, along with maintaining relations with the community (Ismail & Long 2009). Thus, the candidate would be selected based on his or her ability to network in the community through the analysis of the past work. The candidate should be asked about his or her past work in the field and asked to give references for his or her networks, who should be called up to validate the claim. 1.1.4. Education & professional qualification The candidate needs to be registered with or member of the required association or registration authority. Thus, at the time of screening itself, the required qualification would be checked for validity. In case the candidate is a psychologist, the candidate needs to hold a general registration with the Psychologists’ Registration Board of Queensland. In case of an occupational therapist, the candidate should have a degree in occupational therapy. Also the person should be a member of the Australian Association of Occupational Therapists. This position also needs the candidate to have a licence for operating vehicle of class C in Queensland. Thus, during the screening process, all these pre-requisites would be evaluated so that only the right candidates are selected. During the selection process, the HR should take care of validating the certificates and evaluate their authenticity, so that candidates are not hired on the basis of fake or duplicate educational qualifications. 1.2. Recruitment process In order to evaluate the selected candidates, it is important to undertake a stringent recruitment process as per the policies laid down by Queensland Health. The following steps would be undertaken to assess the candidates: Reviewing of the resume and covering letter: The first step towards selecting the right candidate is to screen the resumes that are best fit for the position advertised (Lengnick-Hall et al 2009). Resume is defined as a written piece of document that provides the skills, abilities, educational qualifications and work experience of a candidate (Ramlall 2006). Thus, it is a perfect first step to shortlist the candidates. The HR professional would screen all the resumes of the applicants and shortlist those whose abilities match with the required skill sets for the profile. Screening of the application: In order to understand the abilities and expertise of the candidates, it is important to ask a few pertinent questions in the screening stages itself by including these questions in the application form (Afiouni 2007). Queensland Health also undertakes such a policy, which helps in short listing those incumbents who are able to demonstrate certain key skills and abilities. These questions would be analysed in detail to understand whether the candidate is the best fit for the position or not as the questions would be customised as per the post advertised for. Interviews: Interview is the most important process in the entire recruitment system as it helps in gathering maximum information about the candidates (Buchen 2007). Two types of interview process are carried out in most organisations, i.e. structured and unstructured interviews. During a structured interview, candidates are asked set questions that are pre-determined. Every candidate is asked the same questions. However, in case of unstructured interviews, the questions are mostly leading in nature and are customised as per the candidate’s skills and experience (Adler 2007). In this case, I would undertake both structured as well as unstructured interviews, with the first selection process being more structured in nature wherein general abilities would be screened. In later stages, the candidate would be questioned for particular skill sets and therefore, an unstructured method of interview would be used. Practical knowledge: Together with theoretical knowledge, it is also very important to access the practical expertise of the candidate (Buchen 2007). Thus, various tests, demonstrations and review of work samples should be carried out (Afiouni 2007). In this case as well, the candidates would be asked to demonstrate their skills by asking them to solve case studies and real situations. 2. Selection strategy After conducting the recruitment process, the selection of a candidate is the most crucial step towards hiring the right candidate. While the selection and recruitment processes determine the short listed candidates and evaluate them, the selection stage is the actual step wherein the right candidate is short listed for the profile (Hunt 2007). The entire process is the single most crucial stage as any wrong decision at this point cannot be retraced as the selected person would already be appointed for the position. Therefore, this process takes the maximum amount of time and requires input and brainstorming from all the members involved in the entire recruitment process (Hunt 2007). In order to recruit the right candidate for this position, the following strategy should be adopted: 2.1. Demonstrating key skills Knowledge expertise: The candidate who would be able to demonstrate the required knowledge level not only in terms of clinical skills but also problem solving and understanding of the required rules and legislations as well as various initiatives of the government would be considered for the post. Communication skills: The candidate needs to have expert level of communication skills in not only oral communication but also written as well as interpersonal skills. This would ensure that the person is able to make important decisions and create and maintain associations with various network partners and internal team (Jacobson 2008). Planning & strategising skills: The candidate who is able to demonstrate the ability to plan, research and develop strategies while taking care of the policies of Queensland Health would be selected for the position. Continued improvement in terms of quality of service would also be a pre-requisite for selection (Adler 2007). Leadership & management skills: The position being a managerial and team lead one would require the candidate to demonstrate proven management and leadership skills. The candidate who had in his or her past work experience being able to demonstrate these qualities effectively would be considered for the post. 2.2. Practical expertise Not only theoretical knowledge but also practical expertise is essential for the candidate to be selected for the profile. Therefore, practical demonstrations would form the major part of the selection criteria. Along with the interview, practical tests would have at least 50 per cent of the marks for the selection process. Some of the tests that would be conducted during the selection process include: general ability tests, specific ability tests, achievement tests, integrity tests and personality-based tests (See Appendix B for more details) (Edenborough 2007). The scores from all these tests would be considered to arrive at the right candidate. 2.3. Collective decision process After evaluating all the candidates and ranking them as per their results the top 10 candidates would be re-evaluated and all their strength and developmental areas would be assessed carefully. All the stakeholders or members of the selection panel needs to be included in this process as they would be able to provide a consolidated overview about the candidates (Cook 2009). It is also important to engage the higher management before taking the final decision about a candidate (Cook 2009). As once selected a candidate cannot be retrenched easily, therefore it is essential to select only the right person for the position after taking feedback from all the members involved in the selection procedure. Reference Adler, L 2007, Hire with your head: using performance-based hiring to build great teams, John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey Afiouni, F. 2007, “Human Resource Management and Knowledge Management: A Road Map Towards Improving Organisational Performance”, Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 11(2): 124. Buchen, I H 2007, Partnership HR: new norms for effective recruitment, performance, and training of today's workforce, Davies-Black Publishing, Mountain View, CA Compton, R. L. and Nankervis, A R 2009, Effective recruitment & selection practices, CCH Australia Limited, pp. 12-15. Cook, M 2009, Personnel Selection: Adding Value Through People, Wiley, Chichester, England. Dale, M 2006, The essential guide to recruitment: how to conduct great interviews and select the best employees, Kogan Page Publishers, London, UK, pp. 6 Edenborough, R 2007, Assessment methods in recruitment, selection & performance: a manager's guide to psychometric testing, interviews and assessment centres, Kogan Page Publishers, London, UK, pp. 185. Garavan, T. N. 2007, “A Strategic perspective on human resource development”, Advances in Developing Human Resources, 9 (1), 11-30. Hunt, S T 2007, Hiring success: the art and science of staffing assessment and employee selection, John Wiley and Sons, San Francisco, CA Ismail, W. K. W. & Long, C. S. 2009, “Analyzing the strategic contributions of HR professionals: A framework for developing future leaders”, Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 1(1), 116-135. Jacobson, T 2008, The Complete Guide for Recruiting and Hiring Executives, Dog Ear Publishing, Indianapolis, IN Lengnick-Hall, M. L., Lengnick-Hall, C. A., Andrade, L. S. & Drake, B. 2009, “Strategic human resource management: The evolution of the field”, Human Resource Management Review, 19, 64-85. Ramlall, S. J. 2006, “Strategic HR management creates value at target”, Journal of Organizational Excellence, Spring: 57-62. Rothstein, M.G. and Goffin, R.D. 2006, “The use of personality measures in personnel selection: What does current research support?” Human Resource Management Review 16: 155-180. Stone, R 2006, Managing human resources, John Wiley, Milton Queensland Yeung, R 2008, Successful Interviewing and Recruitment, Kogan Page Publishers, London, UK, pp. 46. Appendix A: Job advertisement Job ad reference: H10RK09163 Role title: Team Manager Mental Health (Program Coordinator Continuing Care) Status: Permanent Full Time Unit/Branch: Adult Mental Health Continuing Care Team, Central Queensland Mental Health Service, Central Queensland Health Service District Division/District: Location: Rockhampton Classification level: HP5 Also advertised under the Nursing Award (Nurse Grade 7). Please apply under H10RK09587 if you are eligible for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. Salary level: $95, 650 - $99, 801 p.a. Closing date: Monday, 11 October 2010 (Applications will remain current for 12 months) Contact: Lindsay Farley Telephone: (07) 4920 6100 Online applications: www.health.qld.gov.au/workforus or www.smartjobs.qld.gov.au Fax application: (07) 4920 7250 Post application: Statewide Recruitment Services - Central Queensland Hub Queensland Health Shared Service Partner PO Box 4028 Rockhampton Hospital ROCKHAMPTON QLD 4700 Deliver application: Statewide Recruitment Services - Central Queensland Hub QHSSP Building Rockhampton Hospital Canning Street ROCKHAMPTON QLD 4700 Job description Fulfil the responsibilities of this role in accordance with Queensland Health’s core values, as outlined above. Leadership / Work Unit Management Provide clinical and operational leadership, strategic direction and management to the Adult Mental Health Community Care Services. This involves the day to day co-ordination and supervision of multi-disciplinary/multi-speciality teams to ensure that each team meets service delivery objectives and adheres to polices and procedures of Central Queensland Mental Health Service Actively participate in service and district strategic planning processes consistent with State and National Mental Health Policies and Plans and State-wide priorities, ensuring appropriate consultation occurs with key stakeholders. Accountable for the administration, direction and control of human and financial resources (as per delegations) to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of the health service within a defined budget. Manage the performance appraisal and development of subordinate staff and identify staff training and developmental needs, in conjunction with professional seniors and the Director. Lead ethical decision making in the achievement of organisational goals including leading the service toward the achievement of best practice standards and evidence based initiatives, policies and procedures. Lead, manage and integrate safety and risk management to ensure high level quality mental health service delivery by developing and co-ordinating quality improvement and service evaluation and research activities at the team and district level. Evaluate and continuously improve the delivery of services through objective data analysis, national and state benchmarking and through consumer/stakeholder feedback mechanisms. Understand and apply contemporary human resource practices including workplace health and safety, employment equity and antidiscrimination. Clinical Practice Utilise well developed clinical knowledge to provide leadership and expertise in the management of complex clinical problem solving with subordinate staff to ensure high quality and standard of clinical practice. Implement State and National mental health plans and policies through the development of Acute and Specialised Service policies and implementation plans. Establish and maintain links with evidence based practice networks and other state-wide initiatives of Queensland Health and other organisations to identify and develop appropriate expert clinical knowledge and skills within a multidisciplinary, multi–specialist team environment to ensure compliance with contemporary clinical standards. Contribute to the development, implementation and administration of information systems which support service provision. Apply well-developed clinical knowledge and skills to the management of various clinical components of the adult acute and specialised services to patients in alignment with District and/or Health Service imperatives. Communication/Team Participation: Facilitate optimal communication and effective working relationships between staff, clinical service units, multidisciplinary teams, relevant health professionals, government, and non-government organisations. Establish and maintain links with government, non-government and community sectors to maximise access to a range of social and disability services for people with a mental illness. Use high level communication skills, including advanced written, oral, and interpersonal skills to provide input into, negotiate with, and influence those in decision making positions. Lead regular team meetings in order to facilitate smooth operational management of services provided and to promote positive team function. Appendix B: Assessment tools Mental & physical ability tests General ability tests: Would include mathematical, verbal and reasoning ability testing through reading, analysis and computing tests. Specific ability tests: Would measure the mental and physical skills of the candidate by evaluating the time taken to react, analysing the written tests etc. Achievement tests Knowledge tests: Evaluating the knowledge of the candidates through a paper-and-pencil test as well as through one-on-one structured and unstructured interviews. Practical demonstrations: Accessing the performance of the candidates through practical demonstrations and solving case studies. Integrity tests Multiple type questions to understand the attitude of the candidate towards employee theft and delinquency. Also, questions would be asked to understand the ethical considerations in the candidates and the inclination towards unlawful activities. Personality-based tests Multiple type questions to understand the personality traits of the candidate and find out about absenteeism, lack of respect for authority, disciplinary issues and substance use. Read More