Research Articles Base: Organizational Leadership

Healthcare Management

The Importance of Healthcare Management for Food Safety in Hong Kong   Abstract             Food safety issues are an important problem not only for the residents of Hong Kong but the world over. There are many people around the world who have no idea about how to handle food safely and thus expose themselves to the danger of getting an illness or disease. At the least improper handling can cause stomach upsets and on the worst can cause food poisoning of individuals and even death. Improper handling of food materials will not only affect the health of individuals but will likewise reflect on how healthcare management has performed. This project is done with the aim of determining the food safety practices of people in Hong Kong and how healthcare organizations have managed it. In order to do this, a telephone survey of residents is conducted in a period of two months. The respondents of this study will be asked a variety of questions regarding their knowledge and practices of food handling. The results of this endeavor would show that several trends in food handling techniques have the potential to contribute to an increase in food-borne disease. Additionally, this project can help health care organizations and the public to be more aware of the importance of following safe food handling procedures. Perhaps health care organizations can come up with a better strategy to educate the public regarding food safety handling practices.   1. Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT Meeting nutritional needs adequately and safely requires environmental controls and knowledge. Take for example at home, individuals need a refrigerator with a freezer compartment to keep perishable foods fresh. An adequate, clean water supply is needed for drinking and to wash fresh produce and dishes. Provisions for garbage collection are also necessary to maintain sanitary conditions.             When we eat, we should be aware of what we are eating. This does not mean what kind of food we are eating, but rather what exactly is in the food we are eating. Harmful bacteria could be present in the food we eat. Harmful bacteria that may be in the soil or water where the food we are eating used to grow may come in contact with the fruits and vegetables and contaminate them. Or, fresh produce may become contaminated after it is harvested, such as during preparation or storage of the food. Such harmful bacteria that contaminate our food could be toxic and produce infection and food poisoning. Food safety is therefore a matter that affects anyone who eats food. It is concern for both individuals and communities. It is true that there are people who thought about the safety of that food we eat, from farmers to scientists to company presidents to federal government officials and sanitarians. Yet, as individuals and communities, we also have the responsibility to protect ourselves from food contamination and poisoning with infection control strategies.   1.1 Bacteria and Viruses in Foods             Foods that are inadequately prepared or stored, or that are subject to unsanitary conditions, increase an individual or even an entire community’s risk for infections and food poisoning. Most bacterial food infections result from eating food contaminated by bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella, or Listeria organisms (2004). More than 200 known diseases are actually transmitted through food (2001). Some come from eating or drinking products that contain poisons such as insecticides. Most varieties, however, come from harmful bacteria, viruses, or parasites that grow in undercooked or spoiled food ( 2002). E. coli is only one of many harmful microbes that cause food borne illness. It is mostly found in ground beef, unpasteurized fruit juices, lettuce, or alfalfa or radish sprouts contaminated by cow feces. Early symptoms include cramps and bloody diarrhea within 24 hours of ingestion. The bacteria secrete a dangerous toxin that can eat at the intestinal walls and other internal organs. In some cases, this leads to massive bleeding, kidney failure, and other complications that may be fatal ( 2006). Salmonella bacteria commonly grow in raw meats, poultry, eggs, seafood, dairy products, salad dressing, peanut butter, coconut, cocoa, and other foods. Salmonella exists in the intestinal tracts of animals, including food-producing animals as well as turtles, cats, dogs, birds, rodents, and wild animals. Raw milk and eggs are also sources of Salmonella. While heat easily destroys Salmonella, inadequate cooking allows some of the organisms to survive (2001). Symptoms can begin six to 48 hours after eating, and last one to 14 days. These may include nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, fever, and headache. Some people may develop symptoms of arthritis a month or so after infection ( 2006). Campylobacter infection is another particular threat because around one victim in ten suffers serious complications, including septicemia and even paralysis. The main source of campylobacter infection is undercooked, contaminated food, especially chicken (2006).             While bacteria cause most food poisonings, a group of viruses known as Norwalk-like viruses are at fault in many cases. Usually, people get infected by eating infested food. Recently, though, doctors discovered that these viruses can be passed from person to person ( 2002).             Seafood products contain some naturally occurring marine toxins that present unique food hazards. Molluscan shellfish, which includes oysters, clams, scallops, and mussels, can pick up toxins from algae that they feed on, and cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, amnesic shellfish poisoning, and diarrhetic shellfish poisoning. Tropical and subtropical reef fish such as grouper, barracuda, snappers, jacks, and king mackerel can accumulate ciguatera toxin by feeding on smaller fish that have ingested toxin-forming algae. Ciguatera can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and headaches in humans. Tuna, mahi mahi, bluefish, and mackerel have been the sources of scromboid poisoning, a type of food borne illness caused by the consumption of scombroid and scombroid-like marine fish species that have begun to spoil (2001). Most incidents of these infections and food poisonings, however, do not make headlines, so people remain unaware of how common they are. Young children, the elderly, and those with weak immune systems are most vulnerable to complications or death. Most infected people survive with no lasting damage, but some develop chronic problems such as arthritis, kidney failure, or certain nerve diseases ( 2002).   1.2 Impacts of Food Poisoning Food poisoning and getting a food-borne disease can have a life-altering impact. Food poisoning can lead to Guillain-Barre Syndrome, reactive arthritis, or hemolytic uremic syndrome–diseases that can leave their victims with chronic pain, paralysis, and kidney damage ( 2002). The symptoms of other food-borne illness also vary with the offending source. Most cases involve abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. These symptoms often pass on their own, but some must be treated with medication. Some victims of food-borne infections must be hospitalized if they become dehydrated or develop other complications ( 2002).   1.3 Infection Control Strategies Prevention is always better than cure. Individuals and communities must therefore be aware and be able to implement infection control strategies. Preventive measures include thorough hand washing before handling food, adequate cooking, and proper storage and refrigeration of perishable foods. These will be further discussed in the succeeding paragraphs. On the national level, protecting consumers require that food authorities, such as the Food and Drug Administration, subject commercially processed and packaged foods to certain regulations.             Harmful microbes can infect food or beverages during any stage of production or storage. This means that everyone from the farmer to the consumer must be aware of how to keep food safe. Government agencies in Hong Kong such as the Food and Drug Administration and other food departments and even the agriculture section regulate and inspect food supplies. But of course, individuals must be aware that they cannot catch every bacterium. Contamination often occurs when animal feces get into meat or water, perishable foods are not stored correctly, or harmful pathogens are spread in home or restaurant kitchens (2002). These are some things that are beyond the control of food safety agencies and are therefore the responsibility of communities and individuals.             Government agencies in Hong Kong responsible for food safety say that most cases of food-borne illness result from mishandled meats, poultry, seafood, or dairy products. Take for example, campylobacter bacteria are often found in foods in grocery stores. These bacteria can cause serious illness if the meat is not cooked enough or if the germs spread to other foods. Using the same knife or cutting board to slice raw chicken and salad fixings is one common way of spreading such germs. Because salad is not cooked, these bacteria are not killed (2002).       When individuals are purchasing foods from supermarkets, there are certain measures that the individual can follow in order to avoid contamination of foods. At the checkout counter, the shopper must be vigilant to put the meat, seafood, or poultry in a separate bag so leaking juices don’t contaminate other foods (1999). Also, it is important that individuals must purchase produce that is not in any way bruised or damaged. When selecting fresh cut produce – such as a half a watermelon or bagged mixed salad greens – it is important to choose only those items that are refrigerated or surrounded by ice. Fresh fruits and vegetables must also be bagged separately from meat, poultry and seafood products when packing them to take home from the market ( 2006). At home, these foods must be refrigerated as soon as possible. When preparing meals, it is inevitable to touch the meat. This is okay as long as after touching raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs, hands, utensils, and surfaces must be thoroughly washed with hot, soapy water. The same utensils and platters for raw and cooked meat, poultry, or seafood must not be used interchangeably. Frozen meat, poultry, and seafood in the refrigerator must also be completely thawed before cooking (1999).             When marinating foods, they should be done in the refrigerator and not on the counter. The marinade from raw meat, poultry, or seafood should not be used on cooked food unless it has been brought to a boil first to kill any bacteria. The internal temperature of meat, poultry, and seafood should be checked with an oven-safe, dial instant-read or digital meat thermometer ( 1999).             Raw sprouts that are served on salads, wraps, and sandwiches may also contain bacteria that can cause food-borne illness. Rinsing sprouts first will not remove bacteria. Home-grown sprouts also present a health risk if they are eaten raw or lightly cooked. To reduce the risk of illness, raw sprouts such as bean, alfalfa, clover, or radish sprouts should not be eaten. All sprouts should be cooked thoroughly before eating to reduce the risk of illness. This advice is particularly important for children, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems, all of whom are at risk of developing serious illness due to food borne disease (2006).   1.4 Healthcare Management of the Issue             Health care professionals are more and more becoming involved in leadership endeavors. Such leadership is not only confined to those who hold high positions in an organization but rather to everyone within the organization. Emphasis on leadership should be taught to all health care professionals within an organization. The same thought is what is supported by  (2001).  (2005) also placed emphasis on the importance of health care professionals becoming more involved in leadership.             As health care professionals, it is important to acquire the necessary knowledge and competencies that ultimately allow them to practice their profession. Regardless of the type of setting that these health care professionals work within the health care organization, each individual health care professional is responsible for using organizational resources, participating in organizational routine while providing care to a patient, using time productively, collaborating with all members the health care team, and using certain leadership characteristics to manage others.             The delivery of health care services is definitely a challenge. As health care professionals develop the knowledge and skills, they will gradually learn what it takes to effectively manage patients as well as fellow health care professionals within a team and to take the initiative in becoming a leader among colleagues. This paper will further study on what can be done to influence effective leadership practice and how this could be applied within your own clinical setting.   1.5 Background on healthcare management and leadership             Effective leadership style is an integral part of creating an environment that nurtures the development of empowered health care professionals.  (1997) defines leadership as “a process of social influence in which one person is able to enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.”       The major points of this definition are that leadership is a group activity, is based on social influence, and revolves around a common task. Although this specification seems relatively simple, the reality of leadership is very complex. Intrapersonal factors (i.e., thoughts and emotions) interact with interpersonal processes (i.e., attraction, communication, influence) to have effects on a dynamic external environment (1997). The demands of the health care environment have brought about changes and health care professionals have been concerned about the impact this has had on patient care. Managers have had to develop ways to achieve expected outcomes and meet targets required by their organizations. To address all these issues, health care professionals need to focus on developing relationships that facilitate working with each other from strengths and not just criticizing weaknesses (2001). Increasingly, a phenomenon called decentralized management is starting to become common within health care organizations ( 2004). In decentralized management, decision making is moved down to the level of staff. This type of management structure has the advantage of creating an environment where managers and staff become more actively involved in shaping a health care organization’s identity and determining success. Developing an empowering culture in which positive relationships are nurtured, leadership capabilities are developed, and professional practice is supported can improve the work environment and satisfaction of health care professionals (2001). Simply put, collaborative work relationships where leadership is part of should be actively enhanced and promoted in order to create a positive work environment.             Leadership processes are directed at defining, establishing, identifying, or translating this direction for their followers and facilitating or enabling the organizational processes that should result in the achievement of the organization’s purpose. Organizational purpose and direction becomes defined in many ways, including through mission, vision, strategy, goals, plans, and tasks. The operation of leadership is inextricably tied to the continual development and attainment of these organizational goal states (2001). The lack of leadership skills is one major factor when there are problems within a health care organization, or any other organization for that matter. In order to solve this problem, focus should be given to the managers down to the staff. Leadership training programs should be offered and leaders as well as the health care staff should be required to attend. These leaders and staff in turn should perform their responsibilities of teaching and guiding the rest of the members of the health care organization in promoting a healthy work environment. In the hospital setting, this would most commonly be at the point of direct client care or staff nurse level; however, this kind of empowerment requires an environment of autonomy where mutual trust and respect are encouraged. The empowerment process requires that staff be prepared to accept and effectively use expanded decision-making responsibilities (1998). To start changing the work environment into a healthy one where leadership is emphasized for all members within the organization, there should first be mutual trust and encouragement in all the parties involved. Each and every opinion should be respected and given consideration in the decision-making process. There should also be an all-out support for this desire for change. The professional accountabilities of the health care professional includes having a sense of value about their work and willingness to provide the full scope of practice as well as ability to work as equal members of a comprehensive interdisciplinary team. In order to move into a fully empowered position, professional nurses need mentoring, education, awareness of political activism opportunities, and networking skills (1998). In order to achieve all these, shared leadership should be employed. Shared leadership is a health care management model that supports health care professionals in extending their influence about decisions that affect their practice, work environment, professional development, and self-fulfillment ( 2001). As previously mentioned, leadership is a group activity. In shared leadership, every voice is heard and given consideration. This could relate to Crisp’s idea that leadership must be exercised at all levels in all setting in the clinical team and in support services, in the ward and in the community and in the board room. Shared leadership is a collaborative team process in which team members share key leadership roles (2004). Shared leadership is empowering employees to act autonomously, be decisive at the point-of-service, and create a shared vision aligned with organizational goals. Shared leadership development and autonomously practicing nurses appear to be the equation for success in delivering quality patient outcomes in today’s organized health care delivery systems. Employees must develop or refine new behaviors and skills in empowerment, facilitation, negotiation, systems thinking, and accountability on behalf of patients (2002). Shared leadership is a way to strengthen continuous learning and enhance relationships between leaders/managers, staff and clients, which are the foundation upon which the nurses can develop a new type of relationship with management and with each other. This in turn could significantly improve the work environment. There is an emphasis on ‘relationships’ since these relationships can be tenuous at times as both managers and staff members adopt attitudes of contention and competition with each other. Shared leadership provides an organizational framework that offers the health care staff maximal participation in decisions about work and the work environment. Every staff has to be given a chance what he or she thinks about a current situation and what they think can help such issues. Aside from shared leadership, the transformational leadership theory can be employed within health care organizations. The transformational health care leader typically inspires followers to do more than originally expected. Transformational leadership theories predict followers’ emotional attachment to the leader and emotional and motivational arousal of followers as a consequence of the leader’s behavior. Transformational leaders broaden and elevate the interests of followers, generate awareness and acceptance among the followers of the purposes and mission of the group and motivate followers to go beyond their self-interests for the good of the group (1997). Many health care staff are said to have the natural characteristics of transformational leaders, but these characteristics must first be nurtured and allowed to blossom. The health care managers/leaders have a responsibility to encourage and support this growth, as this is very important in the transformation of the work environment (1998). A practice/work environment in which transformational leaders strive to create new visions for enhancing patient care and nursing practice is a better environment to work. Various authors have discussed the use of transformational leadership. Many researches also suggest that all health care professionals could use this leadership style to enhance their practice environment (1998). The workplace can be transformed by creating a work environment that ensures quality patient care. This transformation can be achieved by health care professionals becoming transformational leaders in the workplace. When implementing new policies or rules, or even with simple matters, the staff should be allowed to contribute to the decisions to be made. Goals have to be set also. To support the health care professional’s use of shared leadership behaviors in the clinical setting, health care staff like nurse will be mentored by the manager or clinical nurse specialist to apply the shared leadership skills during their daily work to achieve the goals that are set. The creating and sharing of this setting and achieving of goals is a key implementation challenge, and also calls for transformational leadership. Through effective communication and persuasion, and confidence building, the transformational leader encourages the adoption of new values and beliefs, endorses the goal of organizational effectiveness, and sustains the effort to realize the improvement of work environment. To be included with the overall plan for achieving a positive and healthy work environment with leadership capabilities is the training of the health care professionals for empowerment. Training health care professionals for empowerment must include leadership techniques to prepare the health care professional for the integrative and collaborative role. The environment in which the health care professional works is influential in developing empowered behavior (1998) since professionals do not function in a vacuum. They need an environment that encourages empowerment. The health care professional cannot reach empowerment if there are unsatisfied needs within the working environment. Incorporated within the concept of empowerment is the individual’s willingness to see the vision and make the personal changes necessary to connect with that vision. It is how the concept of shared leadership works (2002). All management staff plays an important role in leading the emergence of legitimacy of this “new professional authority.” The encouragement of individual health care staff to establish individual goals that achieve more self-direction, more knowledge and self-confidence, and more networking ability by the process of shared leadership leads to a more committed employee. A more committed employee in turn contributes to a positive and healthy work environment. In this proposed approach, negative consequences may also present. Shared leadership may present a conflict and ambiguity of roles. Some of the staff might revel in the shared power to the point that they will forget what the essence of shared leadership is all about. Some staff might also take advantage of such opportunity and this creates competition and jealousy within the staff. All of these wouldn’t be in line with the goal of creating a positive and healthy environment. To minimize such problems, there should be an ongoing monitoring of the staff. Although they are given the rights to take part in decision-making, they should also not forget where they really belong. The staff should also be constantly reminded by the managers that this effort needs teamwork and this is done for the improvement of the work environment. Perhaps motivation would also work in minimizing this problem. Aside from all these discussed, effective clinical leadership also requires something else. Good clinical leadership can help identify inadequate governance structures and practices and provide a pathway for their understanding and resolution, but for this to happen, there must be adequate funding of individuals and teams, working with and learning from each other, in order to recognize ineffective practices, promote human rights, identify mistakes and prevent them (2005).             This perspective of leadership is therefore a functional one, meaning that leadership is at the service of collective effectiveness. It takes not one but a collective effort in order to be an effective leader. It is very much the same sense as everyone in the group becoming a leader too. Describing a similar approach to team leadership, it has been argued that the leader’s main job is to do, or get done, whatever is not being adequately handled for group needs ( 2001). If a leader manages, by whatever means, to ensure that all functions critical to both task accomplishment and group maintenance are adequately taken care of, then the leader has done his or her job well. These assertions can be made whether leaders are leading groups, multiple groups combined into a department or a division, the organization as a whole, or conglomerates of multiple organizations. This defining element of organizational leadership also means that the success of the collective as a whole is a (if not the) major criterion for leader effectiveness.             In accordance with today’s practice environment, in which patient care is delivered by a multidisciplinary health care team, health care professionals must focus on the wider scope of professional and clinical leadership, addressing the roles of team members including nurses, physical therapists, radiology and laboratory managers, and occupational therapists. Integrating therapy, research, and practice, there are various leadership models that incorporate leadership development through mentorship and professional development planning, which could be beneficial for all health care professionals. This clearly relates to Milward and Bryan’s emphasis on the importance of health care professionals becoming more involved in leadership. From physicians, managers, nurses, down to low-level employees, everyone should be trained to become effective leaders.   2. Chapter 2 – THE PROJECT PROPER             To determine the food safety practices of people in Hong Kong and how healthcare organizations have managed it, a telephone survey of residents will be conducted in a span of two months. The respondents will be asked about three food handling principles, and a comparison will be made on the percentage of how many know that hand washing reduced the risk of food poisoning, and how many actually wash their hands after handling raw meat or poultry. In addition, the respondents will be asked if they knew that serving steak on a plate that had held the raw steak increases the risk of food poisoning, this would then be also compared with how many percent of the respondents cleaned a cutting board after contact with raw meat or poultry. Also, respondents will be asked about knowledge that cooking meat until well done reduces the risk of food poisoning. Thus, this survey would also seek to find how many of the respondents are using safe practices for these three food-handling principles. Additionally the unsafe practices reported will be compared in terms of frequency by men, people aged between 18-29 years, and occasional food preparers, compared to women, people aged 30 or older, and frequent food preparers.             Given that certain groups of people are more at risk (in terms of both probability of suffering food poisoning and severity of symptoms) from food-borne illness than others, it is a source of concern that consumers are quite unaware of who these groups are.  (1997) showed that respondents could not identify groups of people particularly at risk for food poisoning; only 30 per cent mentioned children aged less than five years, and 21 per cent mentioned the elderly. Interestingly, it was the younger respondents who were better at identifying at-risk groups, whereas respondents aged over 65 years could not name any at-risk groups. An earlier study (1997) found that food safety was rated as significantly more important, when food shopping, by main meal planners who had one or more household members belonging to higher risk groups. Educational efforts should be focused on risk groups, as well as those preparing food for people in these groups.             Food poisoning is an increasing problem and it is essential that communication strategies to combat this problem be developed. The public perception research has identified barriers to reducing the incidence of microbial food poisoning. In the future we must develop methods to reduce optimistic bias and so encourage people to attend to risk communications. It is necessary to increase issue salience and make the communications more personally relevant as well as targeting the information to ensure delivery to at-risk groups (1998).             The media also plays an important role in providing information about the occurrence of microbiological food hazards; they could be equally useful in providing advice about how to reduce risk, but at present the public perception of the media regarding this issue is that of “scare-mongering”. Other natural information sources such as TV cookery programmes could be utilised to provide food safety information.             Risk-benefit communication has influenced consumer responses to food irradiation, particularly in the USA, where acceptance is higher than in the UK. Concerns of UK consumers are highly risk-oriented, and include concerns about the potential carcinogenity of irradiated food products, the risks to workers in food irradiation facilities, the risk of radiation escaping from irradiation facilities, and risks associated with transportation of radioactive material. The link between radiation and cancer may be the major reason for unwillingness to purchase irradiated food products. In addition, there is evidence that consumers may not place a high value on the potential benefits of irradiation, such as increased shelf life, because consumers do not associate increased shelf life with freshness. There is little positive consumer response to the major benefit of improvement in food safety. Survey data have suggested that the majority of consumers perceive the major beneficiaries of new technologies to be food manufacturers and retailers and, consequently, they question the necessity of the technologies (1995). Unless effective risk-benefit communication strategies are developed between regulators, scientists and consumers, the benefits of technologies like food irradiation may not be realised in the UK.             This survey will be conducted through telephones. Telephone surveys are a cheap method of interviewing, which is why almost a quarter of all surveys carried out are done by this method. Surveys conducted over the telephone are increasingly popular as they are so convenient for both interviewer and respondent. The interviewer can conduct the interview either without leaving the office or from home, and the respondent similarly can reply from an armchair. There is a ready supply of respondents to contact – you only need to look in a telephone directory. It is also possible to sample wide geographical areas, even abroad, very easily, and it is sometimes easier to ask and respond to sensitive questions when you do not have to look at the other person.             There are limitations to telephone interviewing. You automatically restrict your sample to those people who own telephones; admittedly this is the majority of people today, but you are excluding certain types of person, such as the deaf, those who are ex-directory, and full-time students away from home. Equally it is not possible to show the respondent prompts, and it can be difficult to build up a rapport between the interviewer and respondent. The other main problem with telephone interviewing is that so many companies are engaged in it and people become tired of being called at home and asked questions. The number of people who refuse to take part is on the increase.             Many organizations now use computers to assist telephone surveys, and the interviewer will input responses directly into a computer. This technique is known as computer assisted telephone interviewing, or CATI. Inputting directly to computer can make the analysis of quantitative data very rapid and the program can be designed so that it will display only questions that are relevant to particular respondents. Every participant in the study will be interviewed in the same manner and the data will all be collected in the same way. The timing of when the interviews will take place will also be within one timeframe – e.g. within a span of two weeks. The reason for this is because discrepancies in time could significantly affect the data collected. The researchers will use a questionnaire (with simple/dichotomous items and multiple choices) in obtaining the information relevant to this study. This will be administered through the telephone. This method is useful in collecting data for the following reasons: (1) subjects were asked to respond to the same set of questions, in the same order, (2) they had the same set of options for their responses, (3) it is economical. To assess the health care system’s strengths and weaknesses and to develop rational and credible options for reform, every effort will be made to ensure that the assessment was based on the best evidence available. The results of this endeavor would show that several trends have the potential to contribute to an increase in food-borne disease. Changes in diet will result in a greater variety of foods available and an increase in worldwide sourcing of foods. An increase in the use of animal waste and sewage sludge on land would involve an increased potential risk of contamination of food crops by pathogens. The increasing scale of production and distribution of foods means that even low level contamination of a food can affect very large numbers of people. Lifestyle changes will also lead to increased consumption of food outside the home with an increased involvement of food handlers, an increased use of prepared meals and possibly to a reduced awareness of food safety techniques in the home. The most important implications for the results can be twofold – more awareness for the public and more programs from health care organizations. Health care organizations can focus on communicating messages designed to help people understand and initiate the basic precautions which can be taken to reduce the risk of food poisoning and in the process provide fun and entertainment for thousands throughout Hong Kong. Additionally this can also create more attention from the media. The media, by promoting the best food safety handling practices, can significantly contribute to the problem of healthcare management regarding the issue. Both food safety incidents and media attention that focuses on food safety can influence the extent to which people perceive a particular food is risky. This can create more awareness for the public.       Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Healthcare Management

The Importance of Healthcare Management for Food Safety in Hong Kong Abstract Food safety issues are an important probl...

CLINICAL AND PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP

CLINICAL AND PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP   INTRODUCTION               Health care professionals are more and more becoming involved in leadership endeavors. Such leadership is not only confined to those who hold high positions in an organization but rather to everyone within the organization. Emphasis on leadership should be taught to all health care professionals within an organization. The same thought is what is supported by  (2001).  (2005) also placed emphasis on the importance of health care professionals becoming more involved in leadership.               As health care professionals, it is important to acquire the necessary knowledge and competencies that ultimately allow them to practice their profession. Regardless of the type of setting that these health care professionals work within the health care organization, each individual health care professional is responsible for using organizational resources, participating in organizational routine while providing care to a patient, using time productively, collaborating with all members the health care team, and using certain leadership characteristics to manage others.               The delivery of health care services is definitely a challenge. As health care professionals develop the knowledge and skills, they will gradually learn what it takes to effectively manage patients as well as fellow health care professionals within a team and to take the initiative in becoming a leader among colleagues. This paper will further study on what can be done to influence effective leadership practice and how this could be applied within your own clinical setting.   BACKGROUND INFORMATION               Effective leadership style is an integral part of creating an environment that nurtures the development of an empowered health care professionals.  (1997) defines leadership as “a process of social influence in which one person is able to enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.”         The major points of this definition are that leadership is a group activity, is based on social influence, and revolves around a common task. Although this specification seems relatively simple, the reality of leadership is very complex. Intrapersonal factors (i.e., thoughts and emotions) interact with interpersonal processes (i.e., attraction, communication, influence) to have effects on a dynamic external environment ( 1997).   The demands of the health care environment have brought about changes and health care professionals have been concerned about the impact this has had on patient care. Managers have had to develop ways to achieve expected outcomes and meet targets required by their organizations. To address all these issues, health care professionals need to focus on developing relationships that facilitate working with each other from strengths and not just criticizing weaknesses ( 2001).   Increasingly, a phenomenon called decentralized management is starting to become common within health care organizations (  2004). In decentralized management, decision making is moved down to the level of staff. This type of management structure has the advantage of creating an environment where managers and staff become more actively involved in shaping a health care organization’s identity and determining success.   Developing an empowering culture in which positive relationships are nurtured, leadership capabilities are developed, and professional practice is supported can improve the work environment and satisfaction of health care professionals (2001). Simply put, collaborative work relationships where leadership is part of should be actively enhanced and promoted in order to create a positive work environment.         BODY               Leadership processes are directed at defining, establishing, identifying, or translating this direction for their followers and facilitating or enabling the organizational processes that should result in the achievement of the organization’s purpose. Organizational purpose and direction becomes defined in many ways, including through mission, vision, strategy, goals, plans, and tasks. The operation of leadership is inextricably tied to the continual development and attainment of these organizational goal states ( 2001).   The lack of leadership skills is one major factor when there are problems within a health care organization, or any other organization for that matter. In order to solve this problem, focus should be given to the managers down to the staff. Leadership training programs should be offered and leaders as well as the health care staff should be required to attend. These leaders and staff in turn should perform their responsibilities of teaching and guiding the rest of the members of the health care organization in promoting a healthy work environment.   In the hospital setting, this would most commonly be at the point of direct client care or staff nurse level; however, this kind of empowerment requires an environment of autonomy where mutual trust and respect are encouraged. The empowerment process requires that staff be prepared to accept and effectively use expanded decision-making responsibilities (1998).   To start changing the work environment into a healthy one where leadership is emphasized for all members within the organization, there should first be mutual trust and encouragement in all the parties involved. Each and every opinion should be respected and given consideration in the decision-making process. There should also be an all-out support for this desire for change.   The professional accountabilities of the health care professional includes having a sense of value about their work and willingness to provide the full scope of practice as well as ability to work as equal members of a comprehensive interdisciplinary team. In order to move into a fully empowered position, professional nurses need mentoring, education, awareness of political activism opportunities, and networking skills (1998).   In order to achieve all these, shared leadership should be employed. Shared leadership is a health care management model that supports health care professionals in extending their influence about decisions that affect their practice, work environment, professional development, and self-fulfillment (2001).   As previously mentioned, leadership is a group activity. In shared leadership, every voice is heard and given consideration. This could relate to Crisp’s idea that leadership must be exercised at all levels in all setting in the clinical team and in support services, in the ward and in the community and in the board room.   Shared leadership is a collaborative team process in which team members share key leadership roles (2004). Shared leadership is empowering employees to act autonomously, be decisive at the point-of-service, and create a shared vision aligned with organizational goals. Shared leadership development and autonomously practicing nurses appear to be the equation for success in delivering quality patient outcomes in today’s organized health care delivery systems. Employees must develop or refine new behaviors and skills in empowerment, facilitation, negotiation, systems thinking, and accountability on behalf of patients ( 2002).   Shared leadership is a way to strengthen continuous learning and enhance relationships between leaders/managers, staff and clients, which are the foundation upon which the nurses can develop a new type of relationship with management and with each other. This in turn could significantly improve the work environment. There is an emphasis on ‘relationships’ since these relationships can be tenuous at times as both managers and staff members adopt attitudes of contention and competition with each other.   Shared leadership provides an organizational framework that offers the health care staff maximal participation in decisions about work and the work environment. Every staff has to be given a chance what he or she thinks about a current situation and what they think can help such issues.   Aside from shared leadership, the transformational leadership theory can be employed within health care organizations. The transformational health care leader typically inspires followers to do more than originally expected. Transformational leadership theories predict followers’ emotional attachment to the leader and emotional and motivational arousal of followers as a consequence of the leader’s behavior. Transformational leaders broaden and elevate the interests of followers, generate awareness and acceptance among the followers of the purposes and mission of the group and motivate followers to go beyond their self-interests for the good of the group (1997).   Many health care staff are said to have the natural characteristics of transformational leaders, but these characteristics must first be nurtured and allowed to blossom. The health care managers/leaders have a responsibility to encourage and support this growth, as this is very important in the transformation of the work environment (1998). A practice/work environment in which transformational leaders strive to create new visions for enhancing patient care and nursing practice is a better environment to work.   Various authors have discussed the use of transformational leadership. Many researches also suggest that all health care professionals could use this leadership style to enhance their practice environment ( 1998). The workplace can be transformed by creating a work environment that ensures quality patient care. This transformation can be achieved by health care professionals becoming transformational leaders in the workplace.   When implementing new policies or rules, or even with simple matters, the staff should be allowed to contribute to the decisions to be made. Goals have to be set also. To support the health care professional’s use of shared leadership behaviors in the clinical setting, health care staff like nurse will be mentored by the manager or clinical nurse specialist to apply the shared leadership skills during their daily work to achieve the goals that are set.   The creating and sharing of this setting and achieving of goals is a key implementation challenge, and also calls for transformational leadership. Through effective communication and persuasion, and confidence building, the transformational leader encourages the adoption of new values and beliefs, endorses the goal of organizational effectiveness, and sustains the effort to realize the improvement of work environment.   To be included with the overall plan for achieving a positive and healthy work environment with leadership capabilities is the training of the health care professionals for empowerment. Training health care professionals for empowerment must include leadership techniques to prepare the health care professional for the integrative and collaborative role.   The environment in which the health care professional works is influential in developing empowered behavior (1998) since professionals do not function in a vacuum. They need an environment that encourages empowerment. The health care professional cannot reach empowerment if there are unsatisfied needs within the working environment.   Incorporated within the concept of empowerment is the individual’s willingness to see the vision and make the personal changes necessary to connect with that vision. It is how the concept of shared leadership works (2002). All management staff plays an important role in leading the emergence of legitimacy of this “new professional authority.” The encouragement of individual health care staff to establish individual goals that achieve more self-direction, more knowledge and self-confidence, and more networking ability by the process of shared leadership leads to a more committed employee. A more committed employee in turn contributes to a positive and healthy work environment.             In this proposed approach, negative consequences may also present. Shared leadership may present a conflict and ambiguity of roles. Some of the staff might revel in the shared power to the point that they will forget what the essence of shared leadership is all about. Some staff might also take advantage of such opportunity and this creates competition and jealousy within the staff. All of these wouldn’t be in line with the goal of creating a positive and healthy environment.             To minimize such problems, there should be an ongoing monitoring of the staff. Although they are given the rights to take part in decision-making, they should also not forget where they really belong. The staff should also be constantly reminded by the managers that this effort needs teamwork and this is done for the improvement of the work environment. Perhaps motivation would also work in minimizing this problem.             Aside from all these discussed, effective clinical leadership also requires something else. Good clinical leadership can help identify inadequate governance structures and practices and provide a pathway for their understanding and resolution, but for this to happen, there must be adequate funding of individuals and teams, working with and learning from each other, in order to recognize ineffective practices, promote human rights, identify mistakes and prevent them ( 2005).               This perspective of leadership is therefore a functional one, meaning that leadership is at the service of collective effectiveness. It takes not one but a collective effort in order to be an effective leader. It is very much the same sense as everyone in the group becoming a leader too.   Describing a similar approach to team leadership, it has been argued that the leader’s main job is to do, or get done, whatever is not being adequately handled for group needs ( 2001). If a leader manages, by whatever means, to ensure that all functions critical to both task accomplishment and group maintenance are adequately taken care of, then the leader has done his or her job well.   These assertions can be made whether leaders are leading groups, multiple groups combined into a department or a division, the organization as a whole, or conglomerates of multiple organizations. This defining element of organizational leadership also means that the success of the collective as a whole is a (if not the) major criterion for leader effectiveness.   CONCLUSION               In accordance with today’s practice environment, in which patient care is delivered by a multidisciplinary health care team, health care professionals must focus on the wider scope of professional and clinical leadership, addressing the roles of team members including nurses, physical therapists, radiology and laboratory managers, and occupational therapists. Integrating therapy, research, and practice, there are various leadership models that incorporate leadership development through mentorship and professional development planning, which could be beneficial for all health care professionals. This clearly relates to  emphasis on the importance of health care professionals becoming more involved in leadership. From physicians, managers, nurses, down to low-level employees, everyone should be trained to become effective leaders.                             Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

CLINICAL AND PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP

CLINICAL AND PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP INTRODUCTION Health care professionals are more and more becoming involved in ...

Human Resource Development in Education

Staff Development within an Educational Establishment     Staff development refers to the updating the knowledge and attitudes of the staff with the end in view of improving their skills and performance to achieve organizational objectives. Staff development plays a significant function in the educational establishment as it maximizes the expertise of the teachers and staff.   (1994) defined expertise as “the optimal level in which a person is able and is expected to perform within the specialized realm of human activity.” Thus, development of workplace expertise through staff development has been significant to optimal performance of teachers.   In the perspective of business, a properly trained work-forced at all levels is important in any organization for its continued success and survival so that it can meet the challenge of change be it economic, technological, social, political, legal or ethical. Similarly, educational institutions are developing its staff for the same reason.   Therefore, staff development programs in schools should be stressing on definite objectives to achieve which harmonize with accepted psychologies and philosophies of education. It is important that school faculty members should try new ideas in teaching from training to the actual teaching sessions.   According to (1995), the goal of developing staff is to provide best opportunities for learning, best objectives and procedures for evaluation for students. It is the process in which the needs of the teachers are assessed in improving the curriculum. Staff development program for teacher must meet the length of time for staff development, meals, participation, recognition, and personal needs of teachers ( 1995). Meeting each need of teachers in staff development programs might well stress increased optimal achievement for participants. Teachers desire to be recognized for excellence in teaching emphasized in ongoing lessons and units. Being accepted as true professionals assists teachers to increasingly become the quality of person desired. Significantly, staff development is needed in any organization as well as in the educational institutions in order to improve the job performance skills of the staff or groups of staff; improve the teacher’s individual job performance skills; to extend the experience of an individual teacher for career development or promotion purposes; to develop the professional knowledge and understanding of an individual teacher; to extend the personal or general education of an individual; to make staff feel valued; to promote job satisfaction; to develop an enhanced view of the job; to enable teachers to anticipate and prepare for change; and to clarify the whole school or department’s policy      Ultimately, all teacher development will have as one of its aims the improvement of pupil learning. Additionally,  (2000) emphasizes that professional development may enable practitioners to widen their understanding of society.   If schools are about promoting the learning of pupils in a changing world and learning is worthwhile and not a static or bounded process, then the learning of education professionals throughout their careers is essential (1994; 1994; 1995; 1999). The linking of teachers’ development to the raising of pupils’ standards of achievement is central to policy in staff development programs for teachers.   The process of staff development provides a way of moving from identifying needs to setting up a series of actions which aim to do something about fulfilling them. Staff development is defined as the full range of planned activities and experiences which contribute to maintaining and developing professional expertise. Staff development was seen to be vital for ensuring the quality of learning and teaching in schools; it provided a means of continuing the development of teachers as members of a profession operating in a changing educational world.   Staff development is way to identify the professional development needs and reconciling the tensions between the individual and school priorities. It is seen as a process of review and about improvement and performance enhancement through performance management.   Staff development is a way of serving the needs of the school, department team or an individual and of individual professional development needs as varying in terms of how far they relate to school department or team priorities. It has been argued that ‘teacher development and school development must go hand in hand. Generally, according to  (1992) “you cannot have one without the other.” It has also been suggested by Fullan that, whereas in the past there has often been a preoccupation with helping both individuals and schools handle individual changes, “there is now an increasing need to deal with changes that affect the culture and structure of schools, restructuring roles and reorganizing responsibilities, including those of students and parents” (1982).   Areas of Staff Development Motivation Motivating can be defined as getting people to contribute their maximum effort toward the attainment of organizational objectives. Additionally, it is the creation of working conditions that will help arouse the desire of the staff to achieve these objectives. According to (1991), “motivation is consists of complex forces that start and maintain voluntary activity that is undertaken to achieve personal goals.” There are various theories explaining the concept of motivation. According to the theory of  (1954), every person has wants that are needed to be satisfied.  postulates the five hierarchy of needs which includes physiological needs, security needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization in which he acclaimed that once the low level needs are satisfied it ceases to be the motivator of man and move to the next level of needs (1954). Another theory formulated by  (1959), is the two-factor theory in motivation in which identified two factors that would explain motivation. Thes consist of hygiene factors (salary, supervision, status, job security, working conditions, company policy and interpersonal relations) which remove the possible cause of dissatisfaction and the motivators (job content, recognition, advancement, the possibility of growth, responsibility and achievement). These theories of motivation can give instances and areas of emphasis in developing the staff. Thus, each of the faculty members should go into the process of staff development to improve the school curriculum. Staff development is one that is emphasized by motivation. With the proper training and with the confidence of the staff on their capabilities, the staff is more motivated to do their job and to improve their performance. It is also necessary for the teachers have the quality learning environment. With staff development, teachers are able to teach the students learn, develop and achieve. Staff Development through Training Training may be defined as a carefully planned and handheld effort of management to impart know-how and develop or improve certain phases of an individual’s skills, attitudes, discipline, behavior, or knowledge to make him either more effective on his present job or better qualified for another job. Training programs is done for various reasons but most of these reasons are based on to developing the performance of the person to his job. Teacher training is a professional preparation of teachers, usually through formal course work and practice teaching. Although the concept of teaching as a profession is fairly new, most teachers in industrialized nations today are college or university educated. The amount of preparatory training, however, varies greatly worldwide. Certification requirements for teaching have advanced with educational opportunity, although they vary widely from country to country. The trend in certification has been toward requiring more complete training, with practice teaching and extensive graduate work for specialized positions. In many countries extension or summer graduate work is required of teachers or is made a prerequisite for advancement. A number of graduate professional degrees are now offered, including the Master of Arts in Teaching and the Doctor of Education. While the professional requirements for teaching in the United States have in the past stressed method and psychology, increasing emphasis is now being placed on subject-matter specialization. Improvements in teacher training led to demands for professional recognition and benefits. These resulted in the formation of several international organizations as well as local and national teachers’ unions. The success of teacher training for elementary and secondary education has led some college administrations to consider requiring such training for college teaching also. Teachers are required to be competent in practice having mastered a body of knowledge. Staff development practices are regarded as an essential component in maintaining and advancing individual personal and professional abilities (2001). It is well established that the continuing staff development for teachers is regarded as essential in creating effective educational organizations and in raising the standards of learner achievement (1997;1999;  2000). Staff development has been associated with improving classroom performance, engaging with opportunities created by change initiatives, preparing teachers for specialist roles within the organization, preparing teachers for roles in management and leadership, and enabling the sharing of good practices through networking arrangements. Staff development has been defined in Learning and Teaching: A Strategy for Professional Development (2001a) as ‘any activity that increases the skills, knowledge or understanding of teachers, and their effectiveness in schools.’ To be able to effectively establish a staff development program, according to  (1996) “the educational establishment of a climate in which open networking between colleagues enables mutual support and reflection to take place has been shown to be an important element in the effective management of school staff development cultures.” However, not all schools benefit from the presence of such a climate (1999). In educational organizations, leadership and management teams should consider whether staff collaboration is facilitated or hindered by the professional development culture they have created. For example, (2001) point out that support and development accorded to newly qualified teachers is of a much higher order in schools where the culture is one of collaboration when compared to schools with cultures denoted by individualism. Organizational leadership and management exercises significant influence on teacher development.   Staff Development through Performance Management According to (2000a, b), performance management is part of staff development programs in which teachers are led to focus on improving their knowledge and skills and also expected to receive financial rewards for a job well-done. According to  (1999) and Gleeson and Husbands (2001). “performance management may be viewed as an important element in raising professional standards or as an element of governmental intervention to exact greater efficiency, effectiveness and accountability.” In essence, performance management is meant to identify teacher strengths and weaknesses with respect to addressing performance targets set so that development needs are identified and recognized. In staff development, the leaders have a big responsibility in the organization as they are the one that can influence the purpose and the culture of its organization and they can influence the working environment of its members. Thus, the management of school should be part of developing their staff.   (2001) suggested that “leadership can shape work contexts that either match or are at odds with what individuals want in relation to equity and justice, organizational efficiency, interpersonal relations, collegiality and self-conception and self-image.” Leaders in the schools and college can make something better for its staff to improve working conditions and attitudes of the teachers. According to several literatures, “leaders can influence the emotional climate of their organizations and, in so doing, motivate staff and impact positively upon teachers’ working lives” (1996; 1997; 1999).   Appraisal Appraisal provides opportunities for staff development that is, reflection, paired observation and feedback, collaboration involving the exchange of ideas and mutual support. Appraisal can also be a precise way of identifying professional development needs of teachers. It can also be a means of reconciling school and individual development needs within financial constraints by logging and making explicit differences and the reasons for them. It can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of staff development ptograms. Appraisal puts development on the agenda of all teachers on a regular basis. Appraisal is not simply about identifying individual development needs of teachers. The basic purpose of the review and development model of appraisal is to help teachers identify priorities or targets for future action. A necessary follow-on then is how to give teachers the support they need in order to achieve their targets. Such support may or may not include professional development. Whether or not the targets of an individual teacher include professional development support, the process of appraisal can be a valuable development opportunity in its own right. Experience of working on appraisal both in the pilot study and since, summarized by  (1990), demonstrates that appraisal should not become an end in itself. Rather it is a means to an end in that it provides an opportunity for detailed discussion and reflection on individual and school priorities. There is not much point in becoming good at appraisal for its own sake; the key is to use appraisal to provide support for development in the areas of curriculum, management, teaching and learning. Using the process to look at a manageable number of priority areas is likely to be more satisfactory than using it to carry out a general yet superficial review of all aspects of someone’s work. Appraisal has the potential for helping individuals’ effectiveness, skills and motivation. On the other, it has the potential for enabling a school to make better use of people, to develop and grow, and to ensure that individuals perceive their jobs and roles in the context of the needs of the whole. The following are the some of the benefits of performance appraisal.         1. Motivate credit staff to improve job performance. Enhance the impact of coaching and mentoring efforts that are already taking place between employees and their managers 2. Establish a reasonably uniform set of performance standards that are consistent with company values. Confirm that employees possess the skills or attributes needed to successfully fulfill particular jobs 3. Resolve difficulties in the supervisor-employee relationship. Keep staff focused on business goals and objectives 4. Help assess training and staff development needs. Motivate employees to upgrade their skills and job knowledge so they can make more meaningful contributions to the department 5. Provide an objective and legally defensible basis for key human resources decisions, including merit pay increases, promotions and terminations     Staff Development through Coaching and Mentoring Given a growing interest in coaching and mentoring as means to enhance development of the teachers, the challenge associated with the successful management of these mechanisms emerges. Despite a rareness of teacher collaboration in many organizations (2001), the encouragement of close partnerships between colleagues may help reduce or overcome any non-collaborative balkanization (2000) and yield the following benefits: Ø  The encouragement of collaboration may also be viewed as a tool of teacher empowerment. For example, (2000) have suggested that “teachers may well experience enhanced confidence and self-esteem through the mutual support offered by other colleagues”. Ø  The engagement of support using coaching, mentoring and networking activities may assist in the transfer of teacher learning to pupil or student learning, resulting in greater impact within the classroom and the increased potential to raise standards and attainment ( 1988; 1988; 1996;  1998; 2000). Ø  The locus of control of professional development may change beneficially, allowing teachers greater ownership of professional development and its potential impact, rather than professional development and change being seen as an imposition by others (1995;  2000; 2001). Ø  Enhanced individual, team and organizational performance may emerge by sharing and developing practice within an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect (2001).   Coaching Coaching represents a peer-networking interaction (working together) which draws upon collaboration and mutual trust. It is usually a short-term relationship which can be used to help embed change, raise performance, raise impact and assist in skill development. Good coaches will be active with the establishment of learners’ needs, be sensitive to preferred learning styles and will ensure that the learner is able to engage in learning.   Mentoring Mentoring represents a peer-networking interaction which draws upon collaboration and mutual trust. It is usually a longer term relationship which can be used to support individuals or groups to embed change, improve performance, raise impact and assist in personal and professional development. Mentoring may be used to support individuals through a combination of coaching and counseling from induction through to extended professional relationships. While coaching is an enabling and helping process, mentoring is essentially a supportive process.   Barriers and Ways to overcome them Coaching and mentoring are an effective means of developing the teachers however there are barriers identified in the implementation of such collaboration. Implementation of such mechanisms and the creation of an environment in which mutual support can flourish may present challenges within some organizations. For example,  (1998) highlight the need for high-quality personal and interpersonal skills, mutual trust, confidence and respect within successful coaching relationships.   However, it is known that collaboration between individuals so they can work and learn together is not prevalent in many organizations ( 2001). Close partnership and collaboration between colleagues is an important factor in enabling coaching and mentoring to flourish. In organizations where collaboration and trust between individuals is weak or not established, approaches to professional development which embrace these mechanisms have implications for leadership and management teams in those organizations.    (2001) have established the importance of collegial interactions between staff and particularly the role of school leaders in creating workplace conditions which allow learning opportunities and learning space for teachers, and so influence positively the professional development experience of teachers. Other important leadership and management issues relate to the acquisition and use of information and training, the careful selection of individuals as coaches and mentors, engaging staff commitment to a management style that incorporates coaching, mentoring and peer-networking, the use of accurate needs analysis and time constraints.   Teacher collaboration The potential benefits of coaching, mentoring and peer-networking activities within organizations stem from the requirement for close partnership between colleagues within an environment of trust, safety, support and mutual respect 1987; 1988; 1998; 2000, 2001;  2001). In organizations where the professional development culture already includes strong teacher collaboration, the adoption of coaching, mentoring and peer-networking should present fewer problems for staff. However, in many organizations it is known that teacher collaboration is not prevalent (2001) and leadership and management intervention may be necessary to enable mutual teacher support to flourish.   Information and training The rareness of information currently available in the implementation of desirable working standards and the skill and training requirements of staff responsible for helping colleagues learn needs to be addressed if the potential benefits of these mechanisms are to be realized. Nationally or internationally agreed guidance concerning good practices in coaching and mentoring in schools and colleges would be of use to teachers, leadership and management teams, trainers and others concerned with the raising of standards and attainment in schools and colleges.   Selection of individuals The selection of coaches and mentors demands that individuals are sought who possess personal and professional qualities of the highest order (1998). For example, insensitive and judgmental feedback regarding performance can damage learning relationships and encourage teachers to have negative views of their own abilities (2000). In offering feedback, coaches and mentors would ideally have the potential to surpass the instrumental level of mechanistic direction for colleagues and would ideally foster opportunities to reflect deeply on practice. According to  (2001), “coaching without reflection will not enable learning to take place.”in addition, it is pointed out by  (1998) that “both coaching and reflection are required in order to produce a consolidated and internalized learning experience.” Coaches and mentors are responsible for assisting the learning of colleagues who are adults, and with this goes the requirement to choose and train individuals who can sustain skills in enabling adults to learn. For example,  (2000) has identified that coaching requires the recognition that adults learn for specific purposes and that they must be motivated to want to learn. Discussing the mentoring of adults,  (1998) identifies potential problems which may damage intended learning relationships between colleagues. It is suggested that problems could stem from differing ethics, possible misuse of power or excessive control, or from exaggerated emotional dependence by either party.   Engaging staff commitment Approaches to professional development which ignore the issue of who is in control of the development are missing a vital component.  and (1997) point out that it is important to recognize that people are less likely to be receptive or positive with regard to professional development initiatives if they think they are being manipulated. Leadership and management teams need to consider how they will convince staff of the potential benefits of a management style which involves coaching, mentoring and peer-networking. For example, if the work of the coach or mentor becomes equated with only supervision due to weakness, staff may perceive an over-managerial element rather than a true collaborative drive to support the learning of all teachers.     Needs analysis In engaging coaching, mentoring or networking activities to support professional learning and teacher performance, leadership and management teams will need to carefully identify specific teacher learning needs in order to raise standards and attainment within their organizations. An accurate diagnosis of the causes of poor performance would enable better targeting of support and thus provide a more effective and efficient remediation to take place.   This is illustrated by the work of  (2000), who found that where poorly performing teachers did improve their performance, it was often because they had been given in-house support and a fellow teacher as mentor, which in turn had made an impact on their classroom teaching. Importantly, head teachers who had successfully pursued such a support strategy were able to make precise judgments about the nature of help needed.   Time constraints Given severe time constraints in schools due to teacher workload (2000;  2001), leadership and management teams should consider how sufficient time may be created to allow the coach or mentor to undertake their role. This may be particularly problematic in schools where all staff is engaged in full-time class contact. It is reasonable to assume that staff in some schools and colleges may be reluctant to take on the additional responsibilities inherent in coaching and mentoring. Leadership and management teams may wish to consider the use of a consultant to undertake a coaching or mentoring role. Each educational organization has a unique context and an individual improvement journey to follow. Those organizations choosing to adopt coaching and mentoring mechanisms need to consider their position with respect to developing true collegiality. For example, some organizations may seek to develop towards a professional learning community (2001), whereas others may adopt a more limited vision and employ these mechanisms strategically as quick fixes for immediate performance difficulties.   Given that organizations spend significant sums of money on professional development with the intention of raising teacher performance (2000; 2001), organizations actively seeking the potential benefits of coaching, mentoring and peer-networking relationships will also need to consider the placement of these mechanisms as part of normal working patterns in order to engender a climate of safety and trust.     Teacher Retention The linkage between individual development and teacher retention has received much recent attention.  (2001) suggests that premature loss of experienced teachers may be curtailed or prevented through staff development activities such as sabbaticals which would allow for personal refreshment. An  (2003) evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of early professional development undertaken by teachers suggested that in about half of the schools in the survey (n = 61) teachers felt that development activities had strengthened their commitment to a career in teaching.  (1989) have found the potential for strong positive effects of individual development on teachers’ professional self-perceptions, energy, enthusiasm and satisfaction.  (2000) has shown that self-directed professional learning, personal and shared reflection, and authentic collaboration in a supportive study group environment can create changes in teachers’ perceptions of themselves and their work and catalyze professional growth. A report by  (2002) has suggested that provision of opportunities for teachers to reflect on their teaching and engage in dialogue about it with other teachers can help to build motivation and commitment. Given that teacher collaboration and mutual support offer the potential to raise teacher confidence and facilitate teacher professional learning (2002), school and college leadership teams need to consider how productive collaboration can be engendered within the context of their own organizations, how they might remove obstacles to sharing and how they may offer support as well as challenge. Emphasizing the importance of school leadership with respect to the outcomes experienced by teachers engaging in professional development,  (2002) have recommended that a key component of leadership programs should include managing professional development for others as well as inclusion of theoretical frameworks which underpin professional learning. Conclusion In summary, staff development is one way to improve the skills and attitudes of the teachers. It is a way in which teachers could check on their own capabilities and determine their weaknesses on the job they are doing and have the opportunities to improve these skills and capabilities. Staff development is important in any organization as well as with the educational establishment as it could be a way to better services of teachers to the students. It is also important for the individual teacher for his own growth. With the teacher better performance the better would his students can learn. Retention and motivation is also enhanced with staff development programs as it would make the teachers feel important. Staff development is also important for the institution as a whole.                           Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Human Resource Development in Education

Staff Development within an Educational Establishment Staff development refers to the updating the knowledge and attitudes of the ...