1.1 explain the factors to be considered when planning the recruitment of individual to
work in health and social care.
1.2 explain how relevant legislative and policy framework of the home country influence
the selection, recruitment and employment of individuals.
1.3 evaluate different approaches that may be used to ensure the selection of the best
individuals for work in health and social care
2.1 explain theories of how individuals interact in groups in relation to the types of
teams that work in health and social care.
2.2 evaluate approaches that may be used to develop effective teamworking in health
and social care.
3.1 explain way in which the performance of individuals working in health and social
care can be monitored.
3.2 assess how individuals training and development can be identified
3.3 analyse different strategies for promoting the continuing development of individuals
in health and social care workplace.
4.1 explain the theories of leadership that apply to the health and social care workplace.
4.2 analyse how working relationship may be managed.
4.3 evaluate how own development has been influence by management approaches
encountered in own experience
Health and social care management
Recruitment
Recruitment of staff to work in health and social care is a very important human
resource management activity particularly because of the high turnover rate, and shortage of
health care workers such as registered nurses in the UK. To address problems such as
shortage, recruitment in the health and social care sector is an important process requiring
careful planning. In planning for recruitment, there are some factors that recruiters ought to
scrutinize carefully. One of the factors to be considered in the planning of recruitment is
ensuring that the advertisement has a comprehensive job description and person specification
details. It should also detail the selection approach and communication to the applicants. It is
notable that online recruitment is easier to process particularly for former NHS staff and may
be a viable option in the planning phase (Royal College of Nursing, 2011).
Another factor is that it is important in the planning phase is to stipulate how to
perform requisite checks to confirm authenticity of applicants qualifications. This is
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important as the process verifies the potential health and social care professionals’
completion of the appropriate educational programmes and the due registration with the
appropriate regulatory organizations. Other checks may include verification of criminal
record, employment history, soliciting references opinions, and obtaining medical reports
(Royal College of Nursing, 2011).
Different countries have their legislative and policy frameworks which influence
selection, recruitment and employment of staff in the health and social care. For instance, in
Scotland there are regulations and policies in place to ensure that employers in social care
properly evaluate competency, qualifications and the attitudes of applicants as a way of
getting the best quality staff and promoting safety of vulnerable people. The Scottish social
services council code of practice for employers and the national care standards clearly
stipulate expectations of employers in ensuring safe recruitment.
The Social work Inspection Agency is a regulatory body that requires local authorities
to issue reports on their recruitment and selection processes to verify that their staff are
competent and well suited to working with vulnerable people. Other regulatory bodies in
Scotland include the Scottish Commission for the regulation of Care , the Regulation of Care,
and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups bill of 2006 (Safer Recruitment Group, 2007). In
England, the Care and Quality Commission regulates health and adult social care by different
providers and clearly stipulates measures that employers require to consider in recruitment
and selection. It enforces regulation 21and 22 of the health and social care act of 2008 that
stipulates the expectations involving recruitment (Care Quality Commission, 2010).
One of the approaches that may be used to guarantee that the selection of staff in
health and social care requires embodying three important outcome aspects namely change,
maintenance and process. The selection process require to assess applicants capability to
achieve change outcomes which manifest in the form of positive progress in mental,
Health and social care management 3
emotional and physical functions of users. Selections must also assess the applicants’
capacity to deliver maintenance outcomes such as their capacity to prevent or delay
worsening of health, wellbeing and quality of health. They also require assessing their ability
to deliver on the process outcome. This outcome is manifested in the way that they offer
personalised care, allowing patients’ participation in care delivery, their cultural competence
and valuing and respecting the patients whilst offering care (Rubery, et al., 2011).
Another approach involves using a value-based recruitment which ensures
recruitment of the best health and social care workers. It involves utilizing trained people to
supervise interviews that are structured following a well thought through questions that
mirror the job description which also allows applicants to ask questions. This approach
allows for conversation about the job and the organization with the applicant with an aim of
portraying a realistic overview of the job. It also uses other psychometric measures whilst
providing information about the process and allows only the right applicants to get the job
(French & Rumbles, 2010).
Teamwork
People working in health and social care often work as part of an inter-professional
team. One theory indicates that people interact in groups based on their focus on common
goals. They share an understanding of their goals and have mutual obligation to account for
the purpose and approaches in addressing complex problems. In a health and social care
inter-professional team, there is a high rate of uncertainty, amalgamation of varying
competencies and it essential that the team reaches decisions through consensus.
Inter-professional health and social care teams may be formed in the same department
or organization or through cross agency working such as a HIV/AIDS collaborative network.
This type of team is different from a group of people that exchange information or
collaborate over an issue of mutual interest. This is because an inter-professional team has a
Health and social care management 4
shared vision and remove boundaries in their quest to achieve collective goals. The team may
agree to compromise on some boundary issues with the aim of achieving particular gains. It
involves joint working which is made up of three distinct levels namely strategic planning,
service commissioning and service provision. The strategic planning level requires that the
team engage in joint planning on resource allocation towards common goals. The service
commissioning level involves the teams’ participation in accessing the necessary resources
and accounting for their expenditure. They also collaborate in improving health outcomes for
their clients in the service provision level.
Another theory indicates that people in a team have unique behavior which influences
the outcome of their collaboration. It indicates that a team requires to have a coordinating role
which propels consensus through apt decision making, it also requires shaper who commands
strong influence in decisions and pushes the team to achieve goals in stressful situations, a
plant with high level intelligence that is captivating owing to its imaginative nature, there is a
specialist who subjects issues to critical thought and evaluation, there is the implementer who
is reliable in executing agreed duties in an organized manner, there is a resource investigator
who pursues networking prospects for increased collaboration with likeminded resources,
there is the completer who is highly vigilant against error and drives the team towards full
adherence to guidelines and implementation of tasks, the monitor and evaluator plays the role
of exploring all possible options and there is the team worker who fosters social wellbeing
and communication between teammates (Chong, 2007) . Knowledge of the different team
roles is important for team leaders to effectively establish inter-professional health and social
care teams to ensure achievement of the requisite goals.
Regular communication among teammates in health and social care is a very
important approach in establishing effective team working. It is reported that inter-
professional teams that meet at least once a week have stronger innovations in caring for their
Health and social care management 5
patients than those with lesser meetings. This is because it develops shared understanding of
their work and exchange of information about caring (Borrill, et al., 2010).
Another approach in establishing effective inter-professional team working of health
and social care is definition of clear leadership. Clear leadership allows the team to attain
greater participation, assume commitment to providing quality care, assume responsibility for
innovation, and results in lower stress levels and clarity of the goals among team mates.
Teammates experience greater enthusiasm and appreciation for others’ contributions. It also
allows for belter coordination and constructive resolution of differences (Borrill, et al., 2010).
Other approaches to enhancing teamwork may include providing leadership workshops, team
training, and teambuilding resources (Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, 2006).
Performance monitoring and training and development
Monitoring the performance of health and social care workers may be attained
through several ways. One of the ways is through assessing the quality of services they
provide against the backdrop of relevant regulations. Another way of monitoring their
performance is through soliciting for complaints and comments that service users express
regarding the services offered and the development of reports by the regulating body
detailing compliance with the provisions of relevant regulations. Another way of monitoring
performance is through the relevant regulatory body’s implementation of periodic and special
reviews and inquiries on staff’s provision of health and social care (Care Quality
Commission, 2010).
It is also important to monitor health and social care workers performance in an on-
going process through regular and informal discussion in the performance period. This is
apart from the formal interim and annual reviews that discuss difficulties and development
Health and social care management 6
actions and assessing accomplishment of the objectives respectively (NHSS Scotland 2020
Vision, 2013).
One of the ways to identify workers’ training and development needs is through
performance planning. It involves dialogue about ones objectives and the resources needed to
meet the objectives. It is one’s personal development plan (NHSS Scotland 2020 Vision,
2013). Identification of the needs require that individuals understand what they know and
have efficacy in in. This allows them to discover which areas need additional training and
seek the requisite training.
Workers within health and social care require engaging in reflective processes and
develop a personal and professional development portfolio which provides evidence of their
career progress in their performance year. Reflecting on their practical skills and on-going
development allows them to develop career goals in light of roles and responsibilities of their
respective profession. Inferring from this information, they develop action plans which entail
their training and development targets.
There are different strategies for promoting on-going development of health and
social care workers. One of the most effective ways of on-going development is a mixture of
formal and informal training activities that are customized to the respective professional’s
service needs. It allows workers to gain the relevant skills and knowledge for career
progression. Another strategy is the mandatory employer training which provides blanket
knowledge on important emerging issues such as technology in health care (Government,
2006).
Leadership
The leadership theories that apply to health and social care indicate that leadership
develops from the relationships which emerge from a leadership circumstance. The
circumstance evolves from certain issues which imply that leadership in this sector is
Health and social care management 7
informed by the context or is situational. This indicates that one’s natural traits may not be
the driving force for assuming leadership. Rather opportunities to develop ones’ expertise,
experience and interests and the tenacity to inform significant changes develop leadership.
Another theory is the behaviourist theory that indicates that health and social care workers
may also be drawn either towards a people centred or a production centred approach. It
results in leaders that focus on influencing others to work and which is production centred
and in leaders that only facilitate self-directed workers to deliver on their target which is
aligned to a people centred managerial approach.
To manage a working relationship, it is important that leaders establish clear goals for
the individuals and teams. It is also important to put in place a positive atmosphere that
encourages the team to commit to service that communicates value for users and promotion
of the workers wellbeing. Another way of ensuring a working relationship is through
addressing problems through informal interventions. It is also very important to listen to
listen and validates staff concerns instead of suppressing their negative emotions. Members
of staff also appreciate greater involvement in an autonomous environment that meets the
needs of the different users (Storey & Holti, 2013). Management approaches are very
important for development in health and social care. My development is influenced by
leaders that manage small teams with budgetary and other forms of support from top level
leaders on very important work. The leaders have the right combination of behaviours that
enable them to align their work with the strategy. This ensures that everybody in the team
contributes towards the goals in health and social care.
Health and social care management 8
References
Borrill, C., West, M., Dawson, J., Shapiro, D., Rees, A., Richards, A., et al. (2010). Team
Working and Effectiveness in Health Care. Healthcare Team Effectiveness Project, 1-
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Canadian Health Services Research Foundation. (2006). Teamwork in Healthcare: Promoting
Efective Teamwork in Healthcare in Canada. Canadian Health Services Research
Foundation, 1-23.
Care Quality Commission. (2010). Guidance about compliance Summary of regulations,
outcomes and judgement framework. Care Quality Commission, 1-53.
Chong, E. (2007). Role Balance and Team Development: A study of Team Role
Characteristics underlying High and Low Performing Teams. Journal of Behavioral
and Applied Management, 8(3), 202.
Health and social care management 9
French, R., & Rumbles, S. (2010). Recruitment and Selection. In G. Rees, & R. French,
Leading, Managing and Developing People. London: CIPD.
Government, W. A. (2006). Designed for Life: Quality Requirements in Adult Critical Care.
Cardiff: Health and Social Crae Department.
NHSS Scotland 2020 Vision. (2013). Performance Management Good Practice Guide. NHSS
Scotland 2020 Vision, 1-26.
Royal College of Nursing. (2011). Health Care Service standards in Caring for Neonates,
Children and Young People. Cavendish Square, London: Royal College of Nursing.
Rubery, J., Hebson, G., Grimshaw, D., Carroll, M., Smith, L., Marchington, L., et al. (2011).
The Recruitment and Retention of a Care Workforce for Older People. European
Work and Employment Research Centre (EWERC), 1-419.
Safer Recruitment Group. (2007). Safer Recruitment Through Better Recruitment: Guidance
in Relation to Staff working in Social Care and Social Work Settings. Edinburgh:
Scottish Executive.
Storey, J., & Holti, R. (2013). Toward a New Model of Leadership for the NHS. NHS
Leadership Academy,