Case Study

Question 1

 First, it is important to understand that motivation plays a significant role in healthcare and the health workers need to be motivated for them to increase performance and achieve organizational goals (Daneshkohan et al, 2015).  It is also important to note that health workers are vital human resources and therefore the healthcare facility should ensure job satisfaction and motivation to retain workers, reduce the cost of recruiting and hiring, and ensure smooth operations.  However, if an organization does not motivate its workers, the entire health system will be negatively affected since workers will leave jobs, there will be low productivity, the rate of absenteeism will be high, and customers will get poor services and hence damage the reputation of the health organization (Daneshkohan et al, 2015).  Focusing on the case study, some factors that cause healthy workers demotivation at Kaluyu Memorial Hospital include;

 Lack of effective communication

 There is no communication between nurses and superiors. First, nurses have a negative attitude toward the management and therefore there is no coordination of services between nurses and superiors.  It seems like managers are not accountable and responsible and this makes workers develop fear which hinders them from communicating.  In general, the supervisors are unhelpful or they do not pay attention to workers' issues.

Lack of peer relationships

 Lack of effective communication is not only between workers and between managers but some workers feel unsafe and decrease morale reason being some of their co-workers have taken a dominant role.  Workers do not work as a team and there is no harmony.  In meetings, some employees hold back whereas others have a personality and behaviors that discourage others to talk.

 Poor management

 Poor management is a demotivating factor at Kaluyu Memorial Hospital. There are no save and private spaces where working mothers can pump breast milk.  The workers feel demotivated in that they pump in bathrooms and others lack a refrigerator to store the milk.  The organization does not support workers, and the workplace is full of challenges.  The hospital is also experiencing financial losses and this means that the frontline team has not defined the clear purpose of the organization, and it has not implemented strategic initiatives.  Note that the poor management practices have demotivated workers and as a result, it has led to underperformance.

 

  Lack of recognition and appreciation

 Lack of recognition is a discouraging factor and this makes the workers develop a sense of unfairness.  Note that nurses perform more tasks such as providing basic needs to the patients, administer medication, among other roles.  However, they are not appreciated for the good work or they do not get the credit.  Doctors are credited for the good work that nurses have done.  This makes health workers lose morale, develop low self-esteem, and feel demotivated.

Potential negative impact of the demotivational factors

            The above demotivational factors have negative impacts on some areas.  For example, the lack of effective communication will affect the delivery of services in that health workers will not access critical information from superiors. Without communication, there is no exchange of communication, there is no flow of information, and as a result, there will be clinical discrepancies and medical errors (Thu et al, 2015).When there is lack of peer relationships, workers do not understand their duties and responsibilities, and they lack collaboration, and effective decisions. This will result in a lack of patients’ safety and medical errors due to   lack of unity in solving problems and working toward a common goal.  Poor management such as lack of effective communication, valuing employees, managing finance, and other roles will have a detrimental effect on the health care organization (Thu et al, 2015).  Employees will leave the organization, the organization will increase human errors, poor management will lead to loss of medical devices, and all these will cause financial losses.

Question 2

Herzberg's model of motivation

According to Herzberg, employees increase performance if they are satisfied with the job and if there is no work dissatisfaction.  Therefore, employees need satisfaction, and they need to stay away from dissatisfaction. The theory of motivation-hygiene states that employees need motivators such as self-development, flexibility, authority, and recognition for them to increase performance (Hur, 2018).  They also need hygiene factors such as interpersonal relationships less conflict, good working conditions, and job security.

 Herzberg's two-factor theory applies to the Kaluyu Memorial Hospital scenario in that from the case study, employees lack job security, interpersonal relationship; they lack effective communication and good management.  According to the two-factor theory, the health care organization should consider hygiene factors and motivating factors.  On motivating factors, hospital managers should change the structure of the hospital and create a new culture of recognition and appreciation, and employee growth and development (Hur, 2018).  These motivators will encourage employees to work hard.  On hygiene factors, the hospital should provide working mothers with safe and private places to pump breast milk.  Managers should also provide workers with job security and increase supervision so that they can eliminate fear (Hur, 2018).  There should be a working relationship between workers and superiors to prevent employees from being demotivated.

 

Question 3

 Effective communication plays a significant role in the organization as it promotes an efficient team, promotes employees' health and safety, builds trust, and promotes a healthy workplace.  Therefore, in the health care organization, health care workers should have open communication that promotes mutual interaction and help create a better work environment (Zvirbule, 2015).  A communication system that will improve the situation at Kaluyu Memorial Hospital is an upward communication system.  This system of communication will allow the flow of information from employees to superiors (Zvirbule, 2015).  From the case study, employees are experiencing many challenges that need to be addressed by the top management.  Therefore, in this situation, employees must express their grievances, give their views, and allow the management to make decisions.  This system of communication can occur through meetings, complaints, grievances procedures, and other methods that will allow employees to express themselves (Zvirbule, 2015).  This system of communication will change employees' behaviors and increase satisfaction in that through employees-managers interaction, employees will express their attitudes and emotions, and more importantly, they will develop a sense of belonging.  Upward communication will also give managers the opportunity to communicate with employees the role of the organization, goals, values, organization interest and more (Zvirbule, 2015).I believe that the upward communication will place the organization in a better position since both employees and managers will engage in planning and development, promote harmony, and promote collective decisions.  Both parties will have a mutual understanding and ultimately, the hospital will function effectively.  Upward communication will also promote a personal relationship between superiors and workers and the relationship will hold the organization together, improve effectiveness, promote openness, and unity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 References

 

Zvirbule, L. (2015). Internal Communication as a Tool for Enhancing Employee Motivation:

Case Study of Roche Latvia.

 

Hur, Y. (2018). Testing Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of Motivation in the Public Sector: Is it

Applicable to Public Managers? Public Organization Review, 18(3), 329–343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-017-0379-1

 

Daneshkohan, A., Zarei, E., Mansouri, T., Maajani, K., Ghasemi, M. S., & Rezaeian, M. (2015).

Factors affecting job motivation among health workers: a study from Iran. Global journal

of health science, 7(3), 153.

 

Thu, N. T. H., Wilson, A., & McDonald, F. (2015). Motivation or demotivation of health

workers providing maternal health services in rural areas in Vietnam: findings from a

mixed-methods study. Human resources for health, 13(1), 91.