Amanda McCann
University of Phoenix
Motivation Plan
As the director of Emergency Services for a moderately sized community health system, the responsibilities are many. In addition to the day-to-day operations of staff in a busy emergency department, the director is also responsible for budgeting, maintaining safety and privacy standards, meeting all state and federal regulations, fostering relationships with community members via community activities, as well as participating in leadership events and developments. The ability to effectively engage employees so that they are able to execute daily operations efficiently while feeling appreciated and valued is absolutely necessary for the department to successfully provide quality care and maintain a high level of both staff and client satisfaction.
Lead by Example
As a leader, the Director must be able to differentiate the various personality types within the department and address each one personally so as not to alienate any one staff member. The idea is to motivate each and every employee to be innovative and feel comfortable sharing his or her ideas, concerns, and praise with the entire team. Fostering an environment of trust allows staff the security necessary to “spitball” ideas without worry of being judged or rejected. The Director must lead this movement by example; completely open and honest with staff, without fear of rejection, using mistakes to develop new and better processes rather than punishing them.
DISC Assessments
One way for the Director to ensure that each personality type is addressed appropriately is to encourage staff members to participate in personality assessment like the DISC Assessment. This way the leadership team has firsthand access to specific traits that will assist in addressing and motivating team members. In this particular Emergency Department the three DISC Assessments were completed; there are two cautious styles and one steadiness style (University of Phoenix, 2014). The Assessors, or the Cautious style employees, tend to be tense when under pressure, have a natural curiosity about people and care deeply about what they think and feel. The assessors also have strong attachments to other people’s feelings, they are intuitive and observant to people and situations, they associate self-worth with quality of work, and they are intrigued by concepts, ideas, and processes (University of Phoenix, 2014). In order for the Director to positively influence the behavior of these two people he or she needs to keep in mind that they are systematic, analytical, and persistent people who enjoy problem solving. They are keep their emotions under control and prefer to work at a slow pace, religiously double checking progress, toward tangible results. The assessors are serious about their work and have high expectations of themselves and of others and have a tendency to expect perfection. Encouraging these staff members to pace themselves, to take time-outs during the day, will help curb their natural intensity. Also, encouraging positivity to counteract the impatience when perfection is not achieved will allow these team members to focus their efforts on their curiosity and creativity which will allow innovative discoveries (University of Phoenix, 2014).
The third staff member’s DISC Assessment showed the steadiness style. Steadiness personality traits include being warm, supportive and nurturing; they are the most people oriented people of the four styles (University of Phoenix, 2014). This employee is an excellent listener and is a loyal and devoted employee who develops strong, reliable, and mutually supportive networks within the workplace. When faced with any sort of change this person feels it necessary to think it over and develop a plan before accepting it as a reality. He or she strives to keep personal composure, stability and balance in his or her personal and professional lives. The decision