Competence (human resources)

About: Competence (human resources) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 53557 publications have been published within this topic receiving 988884 citations. The topic is also known as: competence (human resources) & Competency.

The Concept of Work Ability

Abstract: Introduction The concept of “work ability” is central for many sciences, especially for those related to working life and to rehabilitation. It is one of the important concepts in legislation regulating sickness insurance. How the concept is defined therefore has important normative implications. The concept is, however, often not sufficiently well defined. Aim and Method The objective of this paper is to clarify, through conceptual analysis, what the concept can and should mean, and to propose a useful definition for scientific and practical work. Results Several of the defining characteristics found in the literature are critically scrutinized and discussed, namely health, basic standard competence, occupational competence, occupational virtues, and motivation. These characteristics are related to the work tasks and the work environment. One conclusion is that we need two definitions of work ability, one for specific jobs that require special training or education, and one for jobs that most people can manage given a short period of practice. Having work ability, in the first sense, means having the occupational competence, the health required for the competence, and the occupational virtues that are required for managing the work tasks, assuming that the tasks are reasonable and that the work environment is acceptable. In the second sense, having work ability is having the health, the basic standard competence and the relevant occupational virtues required for managing some kind of job, assuming that the work tasks are reasonable and that the work environment is acceptable. Conclusion These definitions give us tools for understanding and discussing the complex, holistic and dynamic aspects of work ability, and they can lay the foundations for the creation of instruments for evaluating work ability, as well as help formulate strategies for rehabilitation.

Global minimum essential requirements: a road towards competence-oriented medical education.

Abstract: With the growing globalization of medicine and the emerging concept of a 'global profession of physicians', the issue of the essential competences that all physicians must possess becomes sharply focused. If defined, these competences would help indicate what teachers are supposed to teach, what students are expected to learn and what educational experiences all physicians must have. The 'minimum essential competences' that all graduates must have if they wish to be called physicians were identified by the Institute for International Medical Education (IIME), sponsored by the China Medical Board of New York, through working groups of educational and health policy experts and representatives of major international medical education organizations. In the first phase of the project, seven domains have been identified that define the knowledge, skills, professional behavior and ethics that all physicians must have, regardless of where they received their general medical training. Appropriate tools to assess each of the domains have been identified. In the second phase of the project the 'global minimum essential requirements' (GMER) will be implemented experimentally in a number of Chinese medical schools. The aim of the third phase will be to share the outcomes of this educational experiment, aimed at improving the quality of medical education, with the global education community.

Line managers: facilitators of knowledge sharing in teams

Abstract: As human resource management (HRM) and knowledge management are still new areas of research, if we assume the co‐existence of strategic integration, and devolution of HRM responsibilities to line managers, then we can see that an organisation's strategic intent could be to maximise the contribution of employee's knowledge and skills, through creating competitive advantage by utilising human capital. The challenge of “capturing” employee's tacit knowledge, to facilitate its transfer into organisational competence for today's organisations remains paramount. Competitive business pressures are leading to streamlined organisational structures, flatter management layers, adoption of team‐working processes and employee empowerment, which offers line managers a key role in contributing to strategic HRM outcomes by encouraging knowledge sharing in teams. Reviews and discusses the impact of such devolved HR responsibilities on the role of line managers. Intends to: explore the role of line managers facilitating creation and transfer of tacit knowledge in teams; summarise barriers concerning the transfer of tacit knowledge between individuals and teams; and finally outline the importance of developing line managers as facilitators. Aims to construct an agenda outlining future research in this field.

How does lean work in emergency care? A case study of a lean-inspired intervention at the Astrid Lindgren Children's hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: There is growing interest in applying lean thinking in healthcare, yet, there is still limited knowledge of how and why lean interventions succeed (or fail). To address this gap, this in-depth case study examines a lean-inspired intervention in a Swedish pediatric Accident and Emergency department. We used a mixed methods explanatory single case study design. Hospital performance data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and statistical process control techniques to assess changes in performance one year before and two years after the intervention. We collected qualitative data through non-participant observations, semi-structured interviews, and internal documents to describe the process and content of the lean intervention. We then analyzed empirical findings using four theoretical lean principles (Spear and Bowen 1999) to understand how and why the intervention worked in its local context as well as to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Improvements in waiting and lead times (19-24%) were achieved and sustained in the two years following lean-inspired changes to employee roles, staffing and scheduling, communication and coordination, expertise, workspace layout, and problem solving. These changes resulted in improvement because they: (a) standardized work and reduced ambiguity, (b) connected people who were dependent on one another, (c) enhanced seamless, uninterrupted flow through the process, and (d) empowered staff to investigate problems and to develop countermeasures using a "scientific method". Contextual factors that may explain why not even greater improvement was achieved included: a mismatch between job tasks, licensing constraints, and competence; a perception of being monitored, and discomfort with inter-professional collaboration. Drawing on Spear and Bowen's theoretical propositions, this study explains how a package of lean-like changes translated into better care process management. It adds new knowledge regarding how lean principles can be beneficially applied in healthcare and identifies changes to professional roles as a potential challenge when introducing lean thinking there. This knowledge may enable health care organizations and managers in other settings to configure their own lean program and to better understand the reasons behind lean's success (or failure).