This publication shows that effective human resource management (HRM) is important in any public- or private-sector organization and essential when public health crises collide with workforce shortages. We present here the three pillars that together form the HRM capacity of an organization—policies, systems, and management and leadership practices—and describe how they can help you to attain your organization’s HRM goals. We then review what you, as a manager of a health program or health services, can do to be more effective in five areas of critical importance to your staff:
- Setting job responsibilities and work priorities
- Encouraging good performance with feedback
- Making work meaningful
- Improving fairness in the workplace
- Offering staff opportunities to grow
To enable your organization to evaluate its HRM capacity, we introduce the Employee Satisfaction Survey and the HRM Rapid Assessment Tool for Health Organizations: A Guide for Strengthening HRM Systems and show how they can be applied. Finally, we describe how you can link good management practices and HRM systems to propel positive changes in your organization.
This publication is Chapter 6 of Health Systems in Action: An eHandbook for Leaders and Managers.