assign 3
As discussed in assignment one, the CEO of CHRISTUS Health, Ernie Sadau, has established three main business objectives for the organization. The first of these strategic initiatives is clinical integration, which encompasses physician alignment, evidence-based practices for care, the CHRISTUS Health Plan, and population health management. The second strategic initiative is asset growth, which means increasing efficiency of current assets as well as continuing to grow assets in the US and internationally through expansion. The final strategic initiative is culture with a strong focus on diversity and inclusion.
In general, there is alignment between CHRISTUS human resources strategy and business objectives. As a multinational healthcare organization, the product that CHRISTUS sells is high quality healthcare through extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. The healing ministry is generated and provided by skilled nurses and physicians and supported through support staff functions. Because healthcare is a service industry that relies on its human capital, human capital is its most important resource. The centralized human resources centers of excellence enable the organization and its human capital to meet strategic goals through acquiring talent and developing, compensating, and supporting employees.
The talent acquisition department and talent management department play a crucial role in the third strategic initiative of culture with a strong focus on diversity and inclusion. By setting the precedent that there must be a diverse candidate in the final slate of candidates for executive roles and by continuing to run the diverse executive fellowship program, CHRISTUS’s human resources directly impacts this initiative. Additionally, these centers of excellence lead interview boot camp sessions that train and empower managers to use behavioral interview techniques to ensure that the best candidates that fit CHRISTUS culture are hired.
The labor management function is a part of the human resources organizational structure and is crucial for the second initiative of increasing efficiency of assets. With around 45,000 associates, labor is a significant expense for the organization. Increases in efficiency through appropriate staffing and labor management therefore makes a sizable impact on the bottom line. The labor management team works towards improved efficiency by educating and empowering managers to utilize tools such as staffing calculators, generating up to date labor management data pulled directly through the HRIS and timekeeping system, leading bi weekly huddles with senior leadership, and continually working towards establishing a culture ingrained with an eye towards efficiency. CHRISTUS project savings above $50 million within the next fiscal year should each market achieve its labor target.
One area that has been challenging for CHRISTUS is the centralization of several functions to the corporate office in Irving. Although the utilization of economies of scale for many services, including several HR centers of excellence, there has been pushback from different markets because they had grown accustom to having these services local and a solely focused on the specific market. An area in human resources that has been extra challenging has been HRIS reporting. This area was centralized in the shared services department, however, while this team was being built, some markets felt as if they were not receiving the same level of service. As a result, a few markets hired analysts local which resulted in duplication of responsibilities and decreased efficiency. This is an area that CHRISTUS is currently investigating as a part of the labor management project to ensure that both facility and corporate services are held to similar standards for efficiency, as it is easier to cover up duplication at the corporate level than at the facility level. In order to prevent this type of challenge in the future, CHRISTUS human resources should be attentive and aware when centralizing services to ensure that the same level of service is maintain throughout the transition period.
