MCL-Advance: Decision Making on Employee Motivation & Retention in NHS

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the organizational problem of decreasing employee motivation and retention within the National Health Service (NHS). It identifies root causes such as rapid organizational changes, governmental control, lack of employee value, inadequate payment structures, and insufficient human resource management practices. The report proposes solutions including improving communication, enhancing employee involvement in decision-making, revising reward systems, providing better training and development opportunities, and addressing psychological well-being. Potential challenges in implementing these solutions are also discussed, such as resistance to change and resource constraints. The overall objective is to explore and evaluate individual and organizational determinants of motivation and retention among NHS workers, ultimately aiming to improve organizational performance and patient care.

MCL-ADVANCE PROFESS* DECISION MAKING
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Description of the organizational problem......................................................................................4
Root causes of the problem and proposed solutions........................................................................7
Potential Challenges of implementing the solutions.....................................................................18
Conclusions....................................................................................................................................20
Reference List................................................................................................................................21
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Introduction
Within Health care organizations, competent and motivated workforce is essential for adequate
health service management. According to Kerzner and Kerzner (2017), currently, lack of HR
facilities has been noted as one of the main reasons of employee dissatisfaction. Structured
human resource system within health care settings is responsible for well functioning and
motivated workers. As per several observations by health care professionals, it is noticed that
current efforts to motivate primary health care employees, mainly in the public sector is largely
concerned about increasing incentives of the employees. Ginter et al., (2018) have identified that
strategies and measures for improving performance level are important to reduce the lack of
motivation within the present workforce in health care organizations. On the other hand, while
the strategies are required to identify key causes associated to the above topic (Decreasing
motivational level of workforce), low payment and expenditure-income disparity as well as
organizational determinants are also necessary and deserve to be researched in greater detail
using specific organizational context (NHS) (Islam and Islam, 2015). From the above
discussion, it could be drawn that human resources are the most significant asset for any health
system for strengthening their organizational profitability and performance level. To be more
precise, according to Turner (2017) HRH (Human Resource for Health) process could be defined
as the combination of varied types of clinical and non-clinical staff who are bound to the public
as well as individual health intervention.
Recently, several researches on this area have unfolded the fact there has been a global shortage
of employees, which is calculated to be near about 2.3 million Physicians, nurses, midwives and
almost over 4 million employees overall among which, United Kingdom has a significant
position (Health.go.ke, 2018). Statistically important relationship has been established between
health care employees’ density and the burden of disease, mentioned in DALYs (Disability
Adjusted Life Years). According to Purcell (2014), it is observed that based on a review
conducted by a series of focus groups activities with NHS workers, reflects that while this is
difficult to measure how people feel regarding their work, there is a much to inform that
motivation and value of the NHS workforce are comparatively low. It recognizes three core
elements that influence motivation and morale of the workforce within NHS. These three
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elements regarding decreasing employee motivation and morale within NHS are, whether
employees feel valued within their working environment, payment and resources. Pope (2015)
has depicts that effective employee morale as well as motivation would be critical to attaining
Government’s ambitious policies for modernising the NHS as well as reflects there is evidence to
suggest that healthy self-confidence and motivation have very positive influences on patient care
and results.
In addition to the above context regarding organizational problem, Government’s commitment
for elevating and modernising NHS needs to be mentioned. This project has extended to
significant extra investment. It pledges almost £19.4 billion in order to develop NHS services
(Kingsfund.org.uk, 2018). This governmental initiative has concerned to boost NHS capacity to
offer care by employing an extra 20,000 nurses, around 7,500 consultants as well as 2,000 GPs,
and near about 6,500 therapists (Humphries et al., 2016). Apart from this fact, this assignment is
structured to discuss the organizational problem regarding work-related motivation and retention
of primary level employees in NHS. Initially, this essay would be exploring a description of the
problem along with a definition of the concept of underlined work related stress. The second part
of this essay, would be exploring root causes of the highlighted problems of work-related stress
in Health care organizations, here within NHS. Post that, recommendations along with potential
solutions for each root-cause would be identified in this essay. Possible difficulties and
challenges with application of the given solutions would be discussed and conclusions would be
evaluated at the end. Briefly, the overall objective of this essay is to explore and evaluate
individual and organizational determinants of motivation and retention among workers within a
health care setting using instances from NHS.
Description of the organizational problem
As analyzed in the above section of this essay, organizational authorities of NHS are confronting
various problems that are jointly addressing to the fact that employee motivational levels are
decreasing day by day. Professionals within this health care organization, is currently facing
essential challenges in overcoming health care worker (HCW) shortages as well as low health
care worker retention (Chehade et al., 2016). On the other hand, challenges in achieving
equitable distribution of human resources for health within this organization is another serious
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problem that is contributing to the main issue regarding low motivational level and employee
retention within NHS. Detail description of this organizational problem is given below,
Rapid changes within organization and too much governmental as well as political control over
organizational activities are de-motivating. These factors are among the causes that people
specifically health care workers cite for wanting to leave NHS. The working environment in
which employees work for instance, levels of staffing, as well as the degree, speed of reform
influence motivation and morale. Hasty changes as highlighted above along with increased
political control are harmful for self-confidence level of employees (Kingsfund.org.uk, 2018).
According to Minns (2015), various researches and observations about the work practices of
NHS are not adequate to enhance or retain employee engagement within different roles to the
fullest. In recent years, NHS employees have felt uncertain of their value and significance within
workplace environment as observed by Banfield et al. (2018). Employees of this company are
also suffering from lack of unity in the workplace. One among four employees believes that NHS
does not value or appreciate their staff and rest of them feel that their individual capabilities are
undervalued. The National Health Service Task force on employee involvement has suggested
the fact that “Employers in the NHS who involve staff in decisions, planning and policy-making
… have a happier, healthier, better motivated workforce and reduce staff turnover”
(Kingsfund.org.uk, 2018). On the other hand, job satisfaction is connected directly with
motivation and morale as well as employees’ intentions to leave their jobs. Nature of the job and
thus related responsibilities, whether there are opportunities for professional or individual
capability development and what other employment prospects are available all influence job
satisfaction.
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Another key point related to motivation level and morale of employees is the payment structure.
The organizational management in NHS should concern regarding what are the current reward
systems, how they impact personal motivation and morale of staff. Employee dissatisfaction
related payment has been well recognized by several researchers. According to many medical
managers, GPs and doctors, it has been proved that resource problems have an impact on
motivation level of employees. As per the observations of Elston and Dixon (2017), the
organizational authority of NHS should be more concerned about the amount and intensity of
resources for the service as a whole than payment of each employee. Observations in this field
have suggested the fact that inadequate pay is more or less affecting the motivational as well as
productivity of employees within NHS. While some employees within this organization felt
valued for their jobs, there was consensus among the researchers and observers that entire health
service workforce did not feel valued at all. To be more precise, employees were in fact more
likely to experience pride by patients they served than by their colleagues or organizational
management.
Apart from the determinants related to motivational level of employees within NHS discussed in
the above section, lack of proper human resources could be stated as one of the important points
that affect motivational level of the employees. Human resource management within health care
organizations need to address few facts that directly relate to the motivational as well as
psychological level of the employees (Kingsfund.org.uk, 2018). Human resource management
should provide proper training and development to their employees so that they could be able to
engage in their tasks effectively. Except from the training and development, the human resource
management within NHS should care about the psychological aspects of their employees.
Employees sometimes suffer from low self-esteem problems. In this problem, employees tend to
believe that they are not skilful of succeeding any difficult task. This problem may lead to
delayed deadlines and responsibilities. In patient care and health care organizations delay of
deadlines and duties may lead to serious circumstances. In this regard, human resource
management of NHS should provide personal responsibilities that are reflective to overcome this
kind of problems. Often in health and social care organizations stress becomes one of the serious
matter in de-motivating employees and workloads could decrease confidence level of workers.
Responsibility of human resource team is to provide training to the employees in developing
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their analytical skills in order to overcome difficult situations. Increasing interest level of
workers regarding tasks would be effective for developing profitability and performance level of
the organization as well as workers (Kingsfund.org.uk, 2018). The human resource team in this
organization should be concerned about developing interest level of employees by informing
them about organizational changes in a right way. They could increase understanding level of
their employees regarding difficult works so that they feel confident to overcome problematic
situations. Additionally, motivation level of the employees could be enhanced through
developing their confidence level.
Government’s commitment to modernising the NHS facilities and operation, which has been
highlighted in the above part of this essay, denotes one significant fact related to the decreasing
motivational level of the employees of NHS (Kingsfund.org.uk, 2018). It could be assumed that
this ‘modernisation agenda’ would require not only extra work force, but also employees who
are motivated to make change as well as create improvements for the services provided to their
patients. On the contrary, the organizational management in NHS are facing serious difficulties
in recruiting and retaining their core employees. According to the several observations in this
field, it is found out that doctors along with nurses are opting to leave this organization or retire
on an early stage in significant numbers. This kind of staffing problem is specifically high in
London, where the cost of living as well as transport adds to the pressures (Kingsfund.org.uk,
2018). All these problems are affecting the motivational level of their employees about which the
organizational management needs to be more effective than before.
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Root causes of the problem and proposed solutions
Determination of root causes of the problem
Employees form the core of any organisation, smooth and efficient operations cannot be ensured
without their cooperation. Maintaining good relations with employees working at all levels and
ensuring that they are highly motivated is of utmost importance for NHS as well as all
organisations operating in the health and social care sector. Demotivated employees lead to low
retention rate because of which the quality of healthcare services provided is affected (Shea,
2015). As has been described in the section above, the main problem that affects NHS is low
motivation level of employees, which further leads to low rate of retention. Understanding the
root causes and the positive and negative factors because of which the NHS workforce is getting
affected was important, so that suitable solutions can be determined for addressing them.
Boosting the motivation and morale of NHS employees will not only increase their happiness
and satisfaction level, it will also have a positive impact on the healthcare system and improve
the lives of patients.
In this section, the root causes of this problem will be determined and suitable suggestions will
be provided so that this problem can be eliminated. Numerous theories have been proposed by
eminent scholars and researchers related to lack of motivation among employees working in an
organisation. One of the most important and renowned theories related to employee motivation is
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory. Also known as the motivation-hygiene theory or dual-factor
theory, this theory was developed in the 1950s by the psychologist Frederick Herzberg.
According to his theory, two factors directly influence the satisfaction and motivation level of
employees, which include:
Hygiene factors – There are numerous job factors that are essential for keeping employees
highly motivated. Long-term positive satisfaction is not achieved because of these factors;
however, their absence can lead to dissatisfaction among employees. These are also known as
maintenance factors or dissatisfiers, and comprise of pay, policies of the organisation, physical
working conditions, interpersonal relations among co-workers, job security, status and fringe
benefits among others (Malik and Naeem, 2013).
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Motivation factors – Apart from hygiene factors, there are other factors that lead to employee
satisfaction and motivate them. These are known as the satisfiers and they play a major role in
motivating employees to give superior performance. Compared to the extrinsic nature of hygiene
factors, motivation factors are intrinsic in nature and fulfil the psychological needs of employees.
This includes employee recognition, meaningfulness of the work, responsibility, opportunities
for growth and promotion, and sense of achievement.
Figure 1: Different factors of Herzberg’s motivational theory
(Source: Stello, 2011)
Both these factors directly influence the motivation of employees and their absence can lead to
increase in dissatisfaction. The theory implies that the workforce is the most productive and
satisfied when they are supported as well as appreciated. Another famous theory related to
employee motivation is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Abraham Maslow proposed this theory
in his paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”, which was published in 1943. Its focus is on
defining the most basic needs of all individuals that leads to their motivation. All these needs
have been arranged in a hierarchy, and according to Maslow, the needs present in the lowest
level are of higher priority and should be met first. The five levels present in the hierarchy of
needs include:
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 Physiological needs that consist of basic issues like stable employment and salary that are
integral for survival.
 Security needs that consist of being provided with a stable emotional and physical
environment. Fair work practices, safe working environment, pension and benefits come
under this factor.
 Belongingness needs is on the third level where issues related to social acceptance
feature, like cooperation while working or friendship.
 The fourth level consists of esteem needs like getting prestigious job assignments, nice
workspaces and good job titles. Employees require these for gaining recognition and
respect, and having a positive image.
 Self-actualization needs are on the last tier, according to which achievement issues
should be fulfilled by getting challenging work, workplace autonomy and subject matter
expert status among others.
Figure 2: Different levels of Maslow’s motivation theory
(Source: Kaur, 2013)
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According to the theories related to motivation that have been explained above, it is important
for the management to fulfil the numerous needs that employees have to keep them motivated.
The significant problems being faced by NHS related to retaining key staff members are majorly
because of their lack of motivation to work for the organisation. Numerous doctors and nurses
that have been recruited by NHS are leaving the organisation or retiring early, especially in
London. Retention issues in NHS are due to several reasons, which include lack of resources in
the company, low motivation level of employees, and excessive interference from the
government. The performance of all the employees in the organisation has been affected because
of this, resulting in deterioration in patient care.
The working environment of NHS is one of the main reasons for low morale and motivation
level among its employees. Working environment refers to the environment in which the
employees have to work, along with the speed and degree at which reforms take place. If the
working environment is inductive and conducive, then it leads to higher motivation among
employees and they feel more inclined to work effectively. However, factors like excessive
political control and continual rapid changes lead to demotivation among employees, which the
staff at NHS are feeling currently. According to the staff members working in NHS the working
environment is having a significant negative impact on their motivation and morale.
Staff shortages is a major problem that has been plaguing the health and social care organisation,
because of which high concern is present regarding everyday effects of this problem. High
number of employees have been leaving the organisation because of which the pressure on the
employees that are still present in the organisation has been increasing substantially. The doctors
and nurses that are still working have to increase the amount of time devoted by them and their
duties are also increased, leading to high levels of stress. High pressure due to understaffing and
excessive increase in the duty everyday has been one of the main reasons because of which the
staff members feel overwhelmed and stressed out. The quality and type of service being provided
by the employees is also getting affected because of this.
Due to staff shortage, NHS has started increasingly relying on agency staff, because of which
the costs of the organisation have also started increasing. Since the numbers of employees that
have been hired by the health and social care organisation have been leaving the company at a
high rate, the management have started relying on agencies for obtaining staff. This has
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increased the cost of NHS substantially, as more than 63 per cent of its total expenditure in the
financial year 2014-15 was on staffing. £3.4 billion out of the £48 billion spent by NHS on
staffing in England was spent on agency staff members (health.org.uk, 2018). Agency staffs cost
two times more as compared to permanent staff because of which the organisation has reduced
the amount it allocates for other operations like training the staff members and buying important
equipment. Moreover, since reliance on agency staff is increasing, the management have reduced
the measures taken by them to recruit and retain NHS staff, because of which the working
environment has become negative.
Changing workloads is another problem that has led to a negative working environment.
According to a nurse working in an NHS Executive regional office, there has been an increase in
the amount of work that has to be done in almost all clinical areas present in the organisation
(kingsfund.org.uk, 2018). The duties and job roles of the employees also changed from time to
time between and within professions. This change is felt as positive as well as threatening to the
employees. This is because the scope of growth remained limited for them and more time was
wasted in understanding and gaining expertise in the new sector. Moreover, with increased
workloads and staff shortages, NHS has been ignoring important investments like development
of the staff. The staff members have to miss their training courses to cover the shifts of staff
members that have fallen sick or left the organisation, which can be incredibly demoralising
(Trivellas et al., 2013).
Poor motivation and moral was also contributed by the high degree of control executed by the
government related to target-setting and service reform. The employees working in NHS feel that
the government interferes excessively in the operations carried out by the health and social care
organisation, and the initiatives taken by them did not match properly with the services being
provided. Due to this, the staff members had to spend a massive amount of time for completing
tasks that resulted in increased frustration and dissatisfaction along with low improvement in
their area of work. The hygiene factor of Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory and the second level of
Malsow’s Hierarchy of Needs both state the importance of having a good working environment
for keeping the employees satisfied. The above analysis shows that NHS has failed to fulfil this
motivation need of the employees because of which the retention rate is high.
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Apart from working conditions, feeling valued is another major factor because of which
employees were demotivated and leaving NHS. Employees’ motivation and morale are affected
by whether they are feeling valued in the organisation in which they are working (Herzberg et
al., 2011). In fact, the perceived value that has been set on them by individuals and groups not
belonging to NHS also affects them substantially, for example, the media, public and politicians.
In the past few years, the staff members working at NHS have started feeling uncertain about
their worth. One-fourth workers do not believe that they are appreciated or valued, and they
think that their skills are undervalued. As per the motivational theories that have been discussed
above, it can be said that the business organisations that involve their staff members in policy-
making, planning and decision making process, have a healthier, happier and better motivated
workforce, because of which staff turnover is also reduced (Kumar et al., 2013).
According to some employees working in the health and social care organisation, the whole
health service workforce does not feel valued because of the poor quality services provided by
NHS. They feel undervalued because of the downfall of reputation of the organisation due to its
inefficient performance in front of the public and media. Moreover, some individuals also felt
that some the health professionals were not valued as much by the public as other careers were.
Conversely, some individuals feel undervalued because of their managers or colleagues, because
of which their motivation to work effectively has reduced.
The staff members of NHS feel that politicians as well as their employers do not support them.
According to a service manager working in the organisation, the government has started blaming
nurses and doctors instead of teachers now, because of which the perception of public towards
the work being done by NHS is being affected (kingsfund.org.uk, 2018). Moreover, some staff
members also think that NHS does not have a supportive environment, because employees have
to face consequences if they make any mistake. This is against the claims made by the
management of the organisation that it has a ‘learning culture’. Another factor leading to high
demotivation among the employees is the fact that they are not listened to in NHS.
A consultant who had worked in NHS said that even though she had a good experience in the
organisation in clinical terms, she was not allowed to voice her opinions for influencing
organisational decisions. Staff members feel valued if their work is recognised and supported,
and good treatment is provided to them. They believe that the senior management of the
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organisation do not make a sincere effort for getting to know the staff members and their
performance at work, which is having a negative impact on staff morale.
The third most important factor that influence employee motivation and morale are the
availability of resources required for completing the job as well as the rewards given to
individual staff members (Mowday et al., 2013). Dissatisfaction among staff members of NHS
with the pay provided to them is a well-known fact. The main group that was concerned about
the pay being provided to them were the individuals that have left the private sector, because of
the drop in wages (Babić et al., 2014). Inadequate pay majorly affects the staff members residing
in London because the cost of transport and living is higher in this region, which adds to their
pressure (Hutchinson and Purcell, 2010). However, the main reason behind the dissatisfaction of
all the staff members is the lack of rewards provided to them along with the lack of recognition
of the work done by them (West and Dawson, 2012). Employees are highly motivated by the
goodwill shown by the patients; however, they crave recognition from the organisation for which
they are working, and since NHS does not provide the same, there is low morale among the
employees.
Hospital doctors, GPs and medical manager, all have reported about resource problems in the
organisation. More than individual pay, most of the employees working in the organisation are
concerned about the level and amount of resources available. Due to rapid development in
technology, new equipments and technologies are invented every day for improving the quality
of health and social care services being provided. However, the management of NHS is not
implementing these technologies and equipments in its organisations because of which
employees cannot provide effective and superior quality service to the patients. This leads to
dissatisfaction and low motivation among employees because they lack the resources required to
perform effectively. Additionally, they have to devote more time and work harder because of
inadequate resources.
This is in direct relation to the motivation theories of Herzberg and Maslow. Both the theories
stated that pay, rewards and availability of resources is crucial for high motivation among
employees, and the same is not being provided by NHS, leading to increased dissatisfaction. Job
satisfaction is closely linked with motivation and morale of employees, along with their
intention to leave the organisation. It is affected by the nature of the job and the availability of
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opportunities for developing individual skills as well as career. The employees working in the
health and social care industry are easily influenced by ‘push’ factors like working conditions
and pay, and ‘pull’ factors like economic prospects and job satisfaction (Pasarón, 2013). Since
the NHS employees have not been provided with an effective working environment, they do not
feel valued, and adequate pay and resources are not provided to them, their job satisfaction level
is extremely low. This is the main reason behind the low retention rate of the organisation as can
be understood from the analysis of different theories of motivation.
Possible solutions for the problems identified
The essentials for having a healthy workforce include good motivation and morale among the
employees. Numerous possible solutions are there that can be adopted by the management at
NHS for increasing the motivation level of all the employees and improving its retention rate.
This includes having higher staffing levels for nurses, investing more money for improving the
expertise and education of existing nurses and engaging staff members in organisational
decision-making (De Simone, 2015). All these are changes are crucial for building good
motivation and morale levels in the employees working for the health and social care
organisation. In-depth analysis of these changes and their relation to the motivation theories that
have been used for identifying the root causes of the problem have been explained below.
According to the Two-Factor theory of Herzberg, the management of NHS should try to fulfil the
hygiene as well as motivational factors of the workers (Bohm, 2012). Even though the hygiene
factors do not directly lead to motivation of the employees, it does prevent employees from
becoming dissatisfied. The main hygiene factors that the management should try to fulfil are
making changes in the pay structure of the employees, providing good resources and changing
the working environment. One of the most important factors is ensuring that a good working
environment is created. NHS should try to avoid using agencies for hiring employees and should
focus on hiring employees directly for NHS. This will not only help the health and social care
organisation in saving a substantial amount of finances, but will also increase the funds that can
be used for buying additional technologies, equipments and other resources that are required.
Moreover, NHS should hire more employees so that burden and stress is not put on individual
employees working in the organisation. Excessive workload was one of the factors because of
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which the employees were dissatisfied, and if more employees are hired then they will not have
to work additionally for filling the vacant spots. The management should also try to reduce the
degree of control that the government has on the organisation, because most of their initiatives
do not match with the service being provided. Instead of this, the management of NHS should
aim at increasing the engagement level of employees (Lowe, 2012). Nurses and staff members
should be allowed to take part in the decision making process, which will increase their
motivation level. This is because the employees will feel valued and motivational factors like
responsibility and recognition will be fulfilled, due to which the motivation level of employees
will increase (Lazaroiu, 2015).
If the organisation will allow its employees to take part in the decision making process as well as
other important activities undertaken by the organisation, the productivity level of the healthcare
organisation will also increase. They will try to improve their performance and their commitment
towards the organisation, and their willingness to go the extra mile will increase. Higher
productivity and satisfaction will increase the retention rate, and this will ultimately have a
positive impact on the service provision. The employees will start providing better care to the
patients and improve their service experience. The working environment of the organisation can
also be improved by giving support to the employees.
It is important to have a conducive and inclusive working environment so that the employees get
a chance to develop and give their best. The management should create a balance between
ensuring that all the employees take accountability for their work, and not do something that is
out of the code of conduct or life threatening to a patient, and supporting employees when a
mistake is made. Employees should be explained about their faults when minor mistakes are
made so that they know where they are going wrong and do not make the same mistake again.
This will encourage them to perform more effectively in the future.
An important need that the employees have according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is
psychological needs. The salaries and wages of all the staff members at NHS should be set
according to the industry standards, and the management should fulfil their security and esteem
needs by providing different benefits and rewards to them (Toode et al., 2011). Since most of the
employees are working longer shifts than they are supposed to, it is important for NHS to
recognise and appreciate their hard work by giving additional benefits for working extra. After
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all the basic needs of the employees have been fulfilled, the self-actualisation need comes.
Fulfilling the self-actualisation needs of health and social care workers is equally crucial, which
can be done by arranging training sessions and workshops for the employees and adding more
staffing levels.
Employees want to develop their skills as well as grow professionally, and NHS can help them
by providing training and arranging workshops where they can learn new techniques and skills
that can be used for providing superior quality care to patients. If more staff levels are added in
the organisation, the employees will have more scope for growth and development, which
increases their satisfaction and motivation level of the employees. Additionally, the management
of NHS should add new resources crucial for improving the operations of the organisation. This
will not only help the organisation in adding value and enhancing its brand image, but will also
assist the employees in performing superiorly. The employees will be able to complete their
tasks more efficiently by investing half the time than they currently invest and will make their
work easier.
Since the Labour Government came to power in 1997, it has dedicated itself in
enhancing experience of working within NHS and has proposed policy, documents detailing how
it would increase the working lives of employees and change their payment structures
(Kingsfund.org.uk, 2018). Later, regarding employee motivation in NHS, it has been recognized
a series of specific improvements required in this workplace to enhance employee motivation as
well as employee retention level. Several measures that could be implemented by the senior staff
and management in NHS are described below,
Organizational managers at all levels within NHS must include employees in core decision-
making process wherever possible and encourage various opportunities for employee
development. In this way, workers of this company could feel that their efforts are being valued.
Second possible recommendation could be creation of an effective working environment with the
help of skilful and sufficient numbers of employees who has understanding and knowledge
regarding organizational core values and objectives (Kingsfund.org.uk, 2018). This step would
be helpful in developing employee engagement and working with other skillful employees would
be helpful in identifying individual strengths and weaknesses. On the other hand, participative
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leadership approach of organizational professionals would help to enhance self-confidence level
of employees.
Moreover, the management of NHS can also take special measures like introducing transport
subsidies, providing accommodation and developing workplace configuration among others. If
all these measures are taken by the organization, then it will raise the moral and motivation level
of employees substantially. This will have a direct effect on reducing employee turnover and
reducing the costs of the organization along with improving service quality.
Potential Challenges of implementing the solutions
According to the solutions and root causes outlined in the previously mentioned part of this
essay, NHS will be facing serious problems in implementing measures within their existing
working environment. All these challenges are listed below,
The first challenge regarding implementation of proposed solutions in order to upgrade
motivation level of employees is centered round convincing the employees. On the other hand,
the organizational management must provide information that these solutions will solve the
entire problem and will be fruitful in future endeavor (Dixon-Woods et al., 2018). The health
care professionals should be prepared for this kind of challenge with ample instances that are
convincing as well as useful facts and figures that are helpful in eliminating doubts from
employees.
Implementation of solutions could affect the organizational capacities, culture and existing
organizational context (Dixon-Woods et al., 2018). The organizational management should be
effective in explaining requirements to employees after which they should be offering ongoing
support. The organizational management as well as the human resource team should ensure
flexible targets for improving employee motivation that should be aligned with the wider
objectives of NHS therefore, employees do not feel pulled in too many directions.
Before recruiting more skillful employees the organizational management needs to develop
effectiveness of their training and development functions. On the other hand, educating nurses
and all other employees at the same time would be difficult for the organizational management.
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This kind of effort will hamper in delivering other services to their patients (Dixon-Woods et al.,
2018).
Staff engagement and ensuring staff participation in organizational decision-making process are
effective solutions to solve the problem and improve the motivation level of employees.
Implementation of this solution however could create problem within the workplace. Due to staff
engagement, decision-making process for solving difficulties would take more time. The
organizational management should then need more time to collect confirmation regarding a
specific decision and proceed to the other level (Dixon-Woods et al., 2018).
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Conclusions
Therefore, from the above analysis it could be concluded that there is an urgency to improve
motivational level of employees within health care setting as well as retaining employee
workforce for existing and future tasks. Possible measures to improve motivational levels has
been outlined in this essay, which denotes the fact that creation of a flexible work place culture
within NHS to applaud colleagues for their efforts and sharing of patients’ views with them are
important for elevating self-confidence level of the employees. Additionally, working processes,
common targets and support for each task should be offered to the employees in order to
encourage their zeal for work. Along with these common factors, this essay is helpful in
identifying and analyzing root causes related to the problem within NHS that is hampering
common workflow and productivity of this organization. Patient care is neglected due to this
problem as well as market reputation is becoming low due to the internal problems mentioned in
this essay. On the other hand, it is obvious that implementation of strategies to overcome this
kind of problem will face resistance from the employees. Challenges related to the recommended
strategies to overcome the main problem are also underlined in this essay effectively, which
denotes the fact that in order to become a successful health care organization, employee
motivation, retention and workplace management is required.
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