People Management in NHS: Challenges, Leadership, Training, Talent

This report provides an in-depth analysis of people management within the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. It explores critical areas such as leadership and management, training and development, and talent management, considering both internal and external factors affecting these aspects. The report emphasizes the challenges faced by the NHS and the importance of effective people management to address these issues. It highlights the significance of communication, interpersonal skills, and judgment for people managers, as well as the need for continuous training and development to enhance employee skills and address the needs of a growing and aging population. Furthermore, the report discusses talent management strategies, including recruitment, retention, and development of skilled employees, and emphasizes the importance of employee motivation and organizational support. The conclusion underscores the need for the NHS to prioritize people management to overcome challenges and improve overall performance.

Introduction to People
Management

Table of Contents
Introduction to People Management................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Leadership and Management.......................................................................................................3
Training and Development...........................................................................................................5
Talent Management......................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
This report includes discussion over key areas of people management in context of
National Health Service (NHS) of UK. This organisation is facing many challenges which
directly impact people management their work become complex. This report includes discussion
that what are the key areas what is theoretical perspectives and what are the factors internal and
external that affect areas of people management. This report respectively includes discussion
over areas that are known as Leadership and management, training and development and talent
management. NHS needs to place its focus on all these three areas in order to deal with
challenges that are being faced by it. This also requires active support of managers to people
management.
Leadership and Management
People Managers are responsible for managing employees of an organisation from their
entry in organisation to their exit from organisation. In context of NHS their responsibility is no
different and in a organisation which is many challenges related to employees and their
performance responsibility of managers get increased. They are required to possess many
qualities in terms of skills, knowledge and behaviour (Coulter and et.al., 2017). Leadership and
managerial qualities that are required in NHS’s people manager are as follows-
Communication skills- Communication skills are important for every manager but when it
comes to people manager then communication skills become mandatory. Communication skills
that are required to clarify goals and objectives of employees and removes all the ambiguity
employees may have related to their role and responsibilities.
Interpersonal skills- All employees of the organisation have different needs and desires that
motivate them to work. Effective interpersonal skills allow people manager to know about that
needs and desires. Interpersonal skills also help manager to connect with employees and this way
people manager can identify and understand what employees think about organisation they are
working in order to improve organisational practices that are concerned with employees of the
organisations.

Good judgement skills- People managers’ judgement skills should be very efficient so that they
can judge candidates while selection process, which are best suited in organisational culture and
best fit for the job.
Knowledge of overall organisational practices- people managers are required to have
knowledge of all the practices that are involved in organisational practices (Hall and Rowland,
2016). This includes knowledge of core business practices and supportive business practices.
This knowledge is required while selecting employees who are efficient in performing those
practices.
Knowledge of employment regulations- one important job of people manager is to maintain
and regulate organisational practices for employment according to legislation. This is a
mandatory practice in all kind of organisations. People managers need to ensure that employment
in the organisation is according to employment legislation.
Patient- people manager should be patient this is required when manager is required to listen to
problems and concerns of employees of the organisation. Patient enables manager to understand
problems as they are in real. Patient is also impressive behavioural qualities that increase chances
for people manager to be liked by employees. This also helps in influencing people as those who
have good behavioural qualities are respected by everyone and their opinions are also respected
and accepted by others.
Concern for People- people managers’ should have concern for people in organisation this also
should be visible to employees also so that they can have trust in their manager (Spurgeon, Clark
and Ham, 2017). This create a two way impact firstly on the side of employees that they can
share their problems to their manager. On the side of manager this behavioural quality built trust
in employees and that help them in convincing employees whenever required. This builds
goodwill of the people manager in both manners personal and professional as those people who
think about other care for others are considered good and are respected by others.
Open Mind- People manager should have an open mind to listen and consider thoughts of
everyone. This quality also create two way impact firstly on the side of employees that they get
chance to have a say in decision making and also to share their thoughts with others. This is

important as everyone wants to be heard and considered. On the side of managers this allows
them to have many alternatives from which they can chose best and that bring effective results.
In this situation people manager and leaders of NHS need to adopt situational leadership
so that they can understand requirement of situation and lead accordingly (Bolden, 2016). There
are various factors that affect these qualities that are support from management and employees,
policies of organisation etc.
Training and Development
Training and development is a key area of consideration for people management and
those who are performing people management tasks. NHS is facing many problems and to deal
with that training and development can be a key contributor. Important requirement for training
and development is to enable people to deal with growing and aging population. For this
employees of NHS need to be effective and efficient that also need to give training about few
other factors like stress management. HR department needs to manage performance in NHS and
providing training is also a part of performance management.
Training and development practice that aims at enhancing available skills and also new
and required skills. This process is undertaken while employee joins the organisation and also
during job so that they can possess advanced skills to improve their performance. To conduct
training in NHS organisation can apply various theoretical models for training and development.
These models are theory of reinforcement that focuses on reinforcement of punishment and
reward and relevant outcome of these reinforcements (Hanaysha, 2016). Organisation can
develop their training and development strategies on the basis of this model. Other models and
theories that organisation can apply for their training and development strategies are theory of
learning type, this theory includes 9 levels of learning programme people management practices
that are concerned with T&D can also apply this model to prepare their training program. Theory
of learning type can also be used for T&D strategies.
For success of T&D in NHS people management first need to identify training needs and
requirements of its people and then trigger those needs for training and development. In relation
to senior and managerial level people who require development they should also be given
opportunity and resources so that they can improve their skills and that will contribute in their

effective performance. While discussing success of training and development there are few
factors that affect its success which are motivation and willingness of the employees to learn and
then perform and resources available and efficiency of training and development program. These
factors are key factors that influence training and development and its success. Other important
factor in training and development is support from top management (Sung and Choi, 2018). NHS
top management needs to be supportive with people management in order to get desired results
of training and development. Other important factor is influence of trainer and effectiveness of
training plan and its coordination with learning styles and pattern of employees.
Training and development and their link with management also important that requires
setting goals training must consider this factor that whatever skills and knowledge it intends to
instil in employees should be related to their goals so that they can achieve their goals with that
knowledge. Next step in the process is developing, employees which is completely undertaken
during training. Monitoring should evaluate performance on the basis of skills and knowledge
possessed by employees and lastly feedback, employees must be clearly communicated about
their performance standards and actual performance and requirements to fill gap (if any).
Concerned with training and development it can be recommended that employees need to
be given training appropriately as many times lack of training affect performance of employees
and that affect overall organisations’ performance. NHS is facing many challenges and efficient
employees with their effective performance can make organisation get over with the challenges.
With this regard training allows employees to improve their skills subsequently improving
performance of individual and then organisation (Anderson, 2018). There are few challenges that
NHS may have regarding training and development these includes financial problems and work
pressure that may decrease morale of the employees.
Talent Management
Talent management in NHS is its commitment to recruit, hire, retain and development of
most talented and best suited employees in organisation. Problems that are being faced by NHS
definitely require undertaking this practice in best possible manner. To do this NHS firstly need
to find out where it can find best employees then company should develop practices that can
attract those employees to apply in NHS. Candidates when apply in organisation needs to be
selected using most effective practices of selection. For this there are few factors that company

needs to consider are knowledge, skills of employees, experience of employees and required
experience. Company then need to retain employees which is important because of many reasons
first is cost, which incur in hiring employees, second is difficulty in finding new employee and
negative impact on organisation because of employee turnover (Scullion and et.al., 2016 ). NHS
is facing financial problems and performance of employees making it essential for NHS to
practice talent management.
Talent managements theoretical perspectives provide a model that NHS can use which
includes planning, for which organisation need to understand business strategy and link that
with workforce planning. Next step in the process is attracting that means marketing of the
vacancy and what skills and knowledge is required in candidate then to develop employees
which includes giving them required training to perform efficiently and later they are required to
retain in organisation (Ingram and Glod, 2016). In this step employees are required to present
most effective motivational content that encourage them to retain in organisation and work for
the best of organisation. Last step in talent management process is transition which means
planning growth of employee in organisational context which includes succession planning for
the organisation.
In context with talent management company should firstly clarify its objectives and what
are companies’ expectation from its employees. Companies’ concern for employees and at what
priority companies’ places its employees. Many companies place their employees’ at their
priority concern. These companies also have to managed to become successful and also
performance of employees of such companies is most of the times is excellent. NHS also should
keep their employees at priority this increase commitment and loyalty of employees for
organisation. This requires prime attention of management of NHS. This is because management
need to make policies at top level that are employee friendly and count their importance in
management decision making for this management of NHS need to ask employees opinion
which make employees feel important in their organisation. This practice help organisation in
retaining talent and get maximum benefit of employees’ talent.
There are various factors in NHS that affect talent management in which at first two steps
that is recruitment and hiring gets affected by external factors like goodwill and image of the
company which attract and encourage effective candidates to apply in NHS. When employees

are hired in NHS then they need to provide adequate and proper monetary and non monetary
incentives so that they remain motivated and committed to organisation (Sparrow, 2018). One
important challenge for talent management is competition in talent market, all the organisations
want to have best employee and these employees are availed with various offerings that make it
challenging for NHS to retain talented employees in organisation.
NHS should focus on its employees and provide them various opportunities for their
growth. NHS is having pressure in terms of advances in treatments, policies and growing
population. This creates performance pressure and unfavourable working condition. NHS needs
to identify factors and focus their practices for talent management.
CONCLUSION
This report included concepts and their application in NHS which are leadership and
management, training and development and talent management. These are key area of focus for
people management and current situation requires its people management to focus on all these
areas and for that active support from the side of management is also required. In NHS they are
having pressure because of increasing population, policies that create performance pressure for
employees and when they are not even having adequate resources because of slowly growing
financial budget situation get worst. To deal with this situation NHS needs to revise its policies
and create a work friendly environment so that employees can perform to their potential.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Anderson, H., 2018. Managing staff and Human Resources. In Key Topics in Healthcare
Management. (pp. 98-111). CRC Press.
Bolden, R., 2016. Leadership, management and organisational development. In Gower handbook
of leadership and management development (pp. 143-158). Routledge.
Coulter, A and et.al., 2017. Shared decision making in the UK: moving towards wider
uptake. ZeitschriftfürEvidenz, Fortbildung und QualitätimGesundheitswesen. 123.
pp.99-103.
Hall, R. D. and Rowland, C. A., 2016. Leadership development for managers in turbulent
times. Journal of Management Development. 35(8). pp.942-955.
Hanaysha, J., 2016. Examining the effects of employee empowerment, teamwork, and employee
training on organizational commitment. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 229.
pp.298-306.
Ingram, T. and Glod, W., 2016. Talent management in healthcare organizations-qualitative
research results. Procedia Economics and Finance. 39. pp.339-346.
Scullion, H and et.al., 2016. Talent management. Employee Relations.
Sparrow, P., 2018. Macro Talent Management in the UK: Patterns of Agency in a Period of
Changing Regimes. In Macro Talent Management (pp. 70-100). Routledge.
Spurgeon, P., Clark, J. and Ham, C., 2017. Medical leadership: from the dark side to centre
stage. CRC Press.
Sung, S.Y. and Choi, J.N., 2018. Effects of training and development on employee outcomes and
firm innovative performance: Moderating roles of voluntary participation and
evaluation. Human Resource Management. 57(6). pp.1339-1353.
Online
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