Managing People in an IVF Clinic in the 21st Century
Denise Donati
Director
Fertility Solutions Sunshine Coast
Buderim, QLD, Australia
1
Managing People
Executive summary
Changes resulting from fluctuating trends in both national and global economies have resulted in a rewriting of the rules on how the modern workforce operates and how it is managed in terms of employee-employer (or organisational) relationships. This has resulted in human resource managers and organisations as a whole, having to learn and adapt to an entire new set of policies, procedures and mores focused on managing and motivating the workforce in the 21st century.
Earlier approaches to human resource management fall short of being able to provide for the workforce of the 21st century and it is therefore up to the organisation and its managers to learn how to manage this complex working environment so that there is a win-win for both parties. Faced with these new challenges, some organisations have been forced to focus on creating a diverse work force whereby employees are able to adapt to their changing environment. This adaptive ability enables employees to instinctively react to market fluctuations and therefore able to rapidly acknowledge and respond to not only the needs of the organisation but, ultimately the needs of themselves as employees. This type of organisational diversity can ultimately create issues in terms of human resource managing as it requires an organisation to be able to offer flexible working arrangements, rewards and incentives to motive and retain key personal. In essence it requires an employer to set itself up as an employee of choice.
An area of great concern within the health care sector and particular the IVF industry is the acquisition and retention of its key personal. Exploring potential solutions to this problem sets enormous challenges for organisations and their human resource managers however; there is a need to evaluate the current situation in terms of the organisation needs balanced with the needs of employees in the 21st century. By identifying relevant issues a plan can be developed so that the organisation and employees can move forward creating a foundation that offers flexible human resource services with the ultimate aim of creating a strong bond between the organisation and each significant employee. Fertility Solutions has responded to the challenges set by changes in business practices in the 21st century and is currently establishing itself as an employee of choice.
2
Managing People
Table of Contents
Executive summary ................................................................................................ 2
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 4
Changes in the 21st Century Workforce and their impact on the IVF Industry ........ 5
Trends affecting the recruitment and retention of staff in the IVF industry .............. 7
Staff Demographics
7
Diversity in the workplace as a competitive advantage
8
The changing nature of the employee-employer relationship
8
Recommendations ................................................................................................. 9
Employee of Choice ..............................................................................................10
References ...........................................................................................................12
3
Managing People
Introduction
The theory of managing people in the work place was first described by Fredrick Winslow
Taylor in the 1880s. Taylor is reported to have developed a concept of management that analysed and synthesized workflows and called it scientific management or ‘Taylorism’
(Wikipedia, 2012). The main objective of Taylor’s scientific management theory was to improve economic