Managing the effects of organisational transformation on medical laboratory scientists.

Abstract

The impact of organisational change on an individual's behaviour is well known. Organisational change does not call for a mechanistic approach. Managers have to take into account the human resources involved in the change and not expect employees to accept change without question or complaint. The success of organisational change is a key factor for the survival of the organisation. In Malta, a new hospital named Mater Dei will be opening after 2005. As such, a lot of changes are expected such as autonomous management by the Foundation for Medical Services, patient-centred care, new technologies, equipment and methods of working, new policies and cost-containment efforts. Employees will be at the receiving end of the changes brought about by the opening of the Mater Dei Hospital. This study aims to get a deeper understanding of the pre-change• effects, on Medical Laboratory Scientists (MLS) working at the Pathology Department, that arise by the opening of Mater Dei. After understanding these possible effects, recommendations will be made for better change management. To achieve this aim, two qualitative data collection tools were utilised namely the focus group and face-to-face interviews. In the focus group session, 5 Principal Medical Laboratory Scientists (PMLS), who are heads of sections, participated. The focus group session was a preliminary to the conducting of the interviews. On the other hand, 40 MLS in the remaining grades were chosen as participants for the face-to-face interviews. The interview sample was stratified to generate subgroups according to age, gender, marital status and years of employment. Stratification was aimed to uncover differences between the different sub-groups. The data generated from the focus group represented a preliminary investigation on how the change is expected to affect MLS in the other grades. This data was also used to ensure that all the generated main points were included in the interview questions. The main finding from the focus group was that the Pathology Department lacks effective internal communication both on issues ..

related to the department and also on issues regarding the change to Mater Dei, in turn giving rise to lack of communication and motivation, human resource problems and lack of information. After conducting and analysing the interviews, results showed that differences exist between the responses of the generated sub-groups. Apart from this, one common and frequent point was that due to the rigid and hierarchical structure of our healthcare organisation, two-way communication was identified as a weak point. Another evident problem was the lack of leadership, which was thought to arise mainly from the fact that individuals in certain grades lack managerial training. Based on these main findings, and keeping also in mind practicality and feasibility, it was recommended that focus be directed on the issue of communication. As such, it is suggested that communication is looked upon as a strategic matter. The strategy should be targeted towards internal communications and it should be based on what management has to say, what employees want to hear and the problems encountered in sending and receiving information. Finally, a project management approach, which was found to add significant value to change implementation, was put forward. A SWOT analysis of the current organisation in relation to change was done, followed by suggestions that can form part of a change management strategy, such as setting up of a management steering group and appointment of a change manager.

Keywords: communication, change management