Shamika Bottom
HCS/341
September 26, 2011
Sharon Matthews
Training and Development
Training and development in health care is an essential part of quality, performance, growth, and just simply getting the job done. Training should be considered an investment in the organization. When training is viewed as an investment, those involved will more than likely take greater care in determining the best programs for the organization, ensure cost effectiveness, and attempt to make the program work toward the benefit of the entire organization.
There are various ways to conduct training. In today’s society, organizations are expanding their operations globally. As a result, it is difficult and extremely costly to provide training at physical locations. Training employees using teleconferences and videos is an integral part of today’s training programs. Considering there are diverse methods used for training, it is logical to say training is important. Just teaching employees is not enough and not the most important part of training. What is done after training is complete is the most important.
When developing training programs, it is important to identify the competencies. Once the competencies are identified, establishing a method to determine if they are being met is crucial. Before going further, one must know what competencies are. According to the Merriam – Webster Dictionary (2011), competence is defined as;
1. A sufficiency of means for the necessities and conveniences of life;
2. The quality or state of being competent;
3. Having a requisite or adequate ability or qualities;
4. Legally qualified or adequate;
5. Having the capacity to function or develop in a particular way; or
6. The knowledge that enables a person to speak and understand a language.
As it pertains to health care, competencies are the skills, knowledge, and abilities a person must have in order to complete their job. The preference is for the job to be completed proficiently, efficiently, and to the highest quality standards. In order to know if those expectations are being met, it is important to measure the competencies.
Measuring competencies is an essential part of determining if the health care workers have the ability to and are providing quality services. Measuring competencies also helps identifies where improvements or modifications are needed to improve the level of quality being provided. It also helps identify if the employee is using the competencies as they complete their daily responsibilities. When looking at it from a performance standpoint, measuring competencies are used to determine the percentage of financial increase an employee may expect to receive, if any.
The performance appraisal process and quality assurance programs are the primary methods used by many organizations to determine if the training received has been beneficial to the staff. Typically, after a predetermined length of time, employees are evaluated to see if they are meeting the desired expectations. In other words, are they