Clinical Instruction As High Involvement Work System: A Conceptual Model from Human Resources Management Perspective
Theory/Body:
Theory Report
Work management practices such as High Performance Work Systems improve competence and attitudes of employees in highly demanding jobs. HPWS helps to retain and manage employees by additional involvement of employees and has been proven to be effective in various sectors. The changes in the landscape of healthcare industries has heightened the need for ways to engage employees and HPWS could be used as a way to accomplish this. The role of clinical instruction is conceptualized by the author as a High Involvement Work System which is a subset of HPWS, by translating the individualistic role of HPWS into a characteristic model for clinical instruction. Motivational theories are used as a framework to create a conceptual model of utilizing clinical instruction as a HIWS that affects intrinsic motivation. Hackman and Oldham's Job Characteristics Model, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership and Fiedler's Contingency are used as the foundational theories to validate this conceptual model. JCM stipulates that skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and job feedback create a perception of meaningfulness of job, responsibility for outcomes, and knowledge of the actual results which in turn, motivates a person intrinsically causing job satisfaction. Hackman and Oldham argued that jobs can be tailored so that employees feel that their work is relevant and useful, which leads to satisfaction. This theory is augmented by the two theories in situational leadership, wherein Hersey and Blanchard’s model focuses on the task element and Fiedler's model examines the objectiveness and meaningfulness of job. Maslow's model, uses self-esteem and self-actualization to increase the intrinsic aspect of JCM. Characteristics pertinent to HIWS such as autonomy, empowerment, and engagement are embedded in clinical instruction. Clinical Instructor role is considered as an empowerment of an employee to extend their ability beyond regular tasks, which is in alignment with the basic characteristic of HPWS. The autonomy, task variety, and task significance of clinical instruction role elevates it to a HIWS.