Background
There are varied social issues within different societies which affect the citizens in one way or the other. The social issues make it challenging for the individuals to achieve their full potential. Some of the social issues, according to Dessler (2013), include poverty, unequal opportunities, unemployment, malnutrition and racism. Furthermore, other social issues are employment discrimination, substandard housing, crime, drug abuse, child abuse and neglect. Clegg, Kornberger and Pitsis (2016) point out that social issues not only affect several individuals directly, but also affect indirectly. Social problems tend to occur and need to be addressed. When the issues are not addresses appropriately, then serious issues are bound to affect the societies.
When various organizations are neglectful in carrying out their responsibilities and addressing social issues, then the whole society or nation is affected. This paper critically analyses whether it is the responsibility of healthcare organizations to address social issues. The social issues this paper seeks to address will be narrowed down into social responsibility, affirmative action, equal employment opportunity, employee wellbeing and workforce diversity.
In a functional society, social issues are created by social change. When there is a change in the society, changes are received from the values, norms, traditions, customs and laws. The social change causes a disturbance in the society. The society inevitably develops problems because conditions change and become unacceptable or not tolerated. Therefore, social issues are as a result of social change.
Social issues are conditions that are considered by many individuals as undesirable and ought to be corrected. The social issues affect societies adversely. Aguinis (2013) states that, a key effect of social issues is that, there is disruption of harmony which results in suspicion and hostility in the society. It further causes social disappointment that is large-scale hence creating misery and suffering among individuals. Problems of serious magnitudes are created which is detrimental to the whole community. The issue is not a relative term, and also it is not universal and permanent because what may be an issue today may not remain to be an issue tomorrow.
CSR field has grown considerably in the past decade, which means that organizations are expected to give back to the communities where they carry out their operations. Organizations have come to the realization that they do not operate in isolation as noted by Dawson (2018) therefore, they have to impact on their shareholders positively or negatively. Workplace diversity dates back to the 1960s, whereby presidents like John F. Kennedy recognized it as a way of ending employment discrimination. There has been a rise in preoccupation by organizations to consider employee wellbeing in the workplace. The concern is attributed to the beneficial links between employee wellbeing, productivity and performance (Grant, Dutton & Rosso, 2008). Promotion of workplace diversity has been enhanced according to Dessler (2013) through setting policies to promote employment chances. It has turned out that societies had discriminated on various aspects and workforce diversity makes the workplace heterogeneous which is a valuable asset to organizations.
Healthcare organization’s role in addressing affirmative action
Affirmative action (AA) is the attempt to bring individuals of under represented groups who previously suffered discrimination to participate in a beneficial program (Kreiter, 2013). AA programs or policies encourage the under represented group to reach the point of activation, which enables them to reach a point where they are likely to be the best for the past place. Organizations that have appropriate affirmative action programs benefit from employee profile analysis which shows an available broad labor pool.
Through AA healthcare organizations stand to gain in several ways. AA promotes diversity which adds experience and viewpoints to the workplace. Chin Yee Whah and Teh Cheng Guan (2017) notes that, humanity is enhanced through learning from differences. It eliminates socioeconomic disparities. AA puts an end into stereotyping and this eliminates polarization in organizations due to the elimination of individuals surrounding themselves with like-minded colleagues. It gives a chance for individuals to chase their dreams. Individuals are capable of pursuing their careers due to AA which would have not been the case without organisations rolling such programs.
AA is a weighty issue and a role that cannot be effectively carried out by healthcare organizations alone. Healthcare organizations have to be checked by governments and appropriate government bodies to enable suitable implementation of AA programs. The organizations can also be assisted to accomplish such missions through assistance from NGOs.
There have been a number of businesses and organizations that has on their own or in collaboration with the government, non-governmental organizations or with governments have been able to develop sustainable workforces, create new businesses and gain support from interested business groups. CSR has always been influential to achieve the organization’s purposes such as long-term success, maximizing profits and survival. According to Axjonow, Ernstberger and Pott (2018), CSR is the continuation of an organization’s commitment to behave in an ethical manner and contribute to socioeconomic development, while at the same time enhancing the lives of their employees and families as well as the community or society.
There are varied reasons why it rewards for small and big organizations to be social in a responsible way and ensure that the interest of their major stakeholders is conscious. The healthcare industry and healthcare organizations undergo a variety of challenges which individuals in the community are unable to understand. The organizations face challenges with operations due to issues such as strict regulatory compliance, rise in labor shortages, technological advancements and rise in technology (Pasricha, Singh & Verma, 2018). Healthcare organizations have to cope with the operational challenges and aim to work harder in order to win and retain trust.
Healthcare organization’s role in addressing corporate social responsibility (CSR)
CSR aims at striking equilibrium between a healthcare organization’s growth and its responsibility to enhance value to the society. In today’s world, the society expects more form organizations due to hard economic and social realities. They expect the health organizations, according to (Kreiter, 2013) to have a responsibility to stakeholders and the society at large. The expectations are in a broad range therefore, it is upon the health organization to identify, evaluate and prioritize the stakeholder demands in order to establish an appropriate corporate duty.
CSR ought to be able to play a key role in emphasizing the health organization’s performance in a way that is transparent and sincere. Furthermore, CSR ensures that the healthcare organizations and the industry at large, elaborate on social issues that would be of assistance to enhance stakeholder engagement and improve the health organization’s image through ensuring that their performance indicators are publicly available.
Healthcare organizations addressing CSR have varied benefits. It aids in reputation management. Reputational crisis in health organizations is varied and could result in massive consequences relating to patient loyalty, legal costs and lost trust. Healthcare organizations with appropriate CSR mechanisms with an exceptional service past as denoted by Pasricha, Singh and Verma (2018) does not suffer much in occurrences of reputation crisis as compared to those without. It also leads to an enhanced patient loyalty. Through enhanced loyalty, patients are in a position to recommend a hospital to a patient. Trust is a valuable currency in the healthcare industry and it comes with numerous efforts. For the healthcare organizations to earn loyalty and trust, they have to go past providing healthcare services and develop an emotional bond through business practices that are ethical (De Roeck & Maon, 2018). CSR leads the healthcare organizations to increase efficiency in the use of resources. Holistic utilization of CSR can result in improved use of natural and energy resources which results into cost saving in the long run. For example, in waste management, a proper system will reduce the quantity of waste and guarantee that it is safely disposed.
Carrying out CSR attract business partners and investors. Dawson (2018) notes that currently, investors does not emphasize on financial data, but evaluates on how the organizations deal with social issues. Healthcare organizations that are not keen in addressing CSR loses credibility with time and investors are not interested to invest where there is no stakeholder trust or credibility. Through CSR, the healthcare organizations gain government support. Healthcare organizations that practice CSR receive incentives from governments and government support in terms of less scrutiny and waivers.
Healthcare organization’s role in addressing workforce diversity
In the other perspective, it is not the role of healthcare organizations mandate to address issues related to CSR. Dessler (2013) notes that the Australian government and other governments have no laws in place concerning CSR. It is and has in most cases been the discretion of healthcare organizations. In real scenario, healthcare organizations cannot be responsible for social issues that affect communities. Traditionally, it is the sole responsibility of the sitting government to be responsible for the social welfare of its citizens. As much as healthcare organizations have social responsibilities to the community they operate in, the government is responsible for providing the framework within which the CSR can work effectively.
Equal employment opportunity (EEO) is an employment application where there is prohibition by law for employers not to engage in employment discrimination. EEO attempts to ensure that different individuals according to Mun (2016) have a fair opportunity during the process of hiring, promotion competition and equal access to professional training in employments. Through EEO it is illegal for health organization to discriminate on their employees and potential employees on basis of race, age, color, sex, religion and the national origin.
To ensure that there is EEO, it is upon the healthcare organizations to come up with policies that are effective. Such policies guarantee that all job applicants and employees have equal opportunity in engaging in the market of employment. EEO ensures that there is a level playing field so that those discriminate in the past are not subjected on issues that do not relate to being an employee or job applicant.
When healthcare organizations ensure that there is EEO they and the society at large tend to benefit. Through it, the organizations achieve skilled employees with a reflection of the wider community, ensuring that there is improvement in service delivery. EEO enables healthcare organizations to accomplish a work environment which utilizes contributions from a diverse background of staffs. Workforce diversity enables successful management of diversity in an organization (Lovat, Nilan, Hosseini, Samarayi, Mansfield, & Alexander, 2013). It also enables active management of diversity to put the existing differences into use to improve businesses and how to deal with stakeholders or customers. EEO is valuable because the healthcare organization’s staffs are aware of their rights and accountabilities regarding equity, fairness respect for diversity.
The healthcare organizations cannot be solely charged with addressing EEO issues. In the modern organization and with the rise of globalization, workplace diversity as denoted by Kmec and Skaggs (2009) has become a management issue. In the healthcare organization, each employee comes with their own cultural perception into the work. Healthcare organizations cannot effectively address EEO on their own and must be checked by the government, governmental bodies and other NGOs. Several healthcare organizations have addressed EEO while others consider it an issue of conforming to legal requirements.
Employee wellbeing is a critical aspect that organizations are determined to address. Employee wellbeing addresses health and safety at the workplace and it addresses and limits health and safety related issues that are linked to health problems/ injuries caused in the workplace (Russell, 2017). The term ‘well’ has varied meanings to an employee and involve physical wellness, emotional wellness and overall feeling that comes from working in an environment and career that is fulfilling.
Surveys according to Johri and Misra (2014) have shown that when employees feel appreciated at workplace, they also feel better in their lives especially health and relationships. Employee wellbeing is vital to healthcare organizations in various ways. It ensures that employees are engaged therefore committed to their jobs. Employees get engaged to their jobs when they feel that their healthcare organization supports and appreciates them (Schulte, Guerin, Schill, Bhattacharya, Cunningham, Pandalai & Stephenson, 2015). It ensures that the employee stays longer in the respective organizations. This is because an environment that creates well and happy employees encourages the employees to stay in the organizations instead of focusing on greener pastures. Employee wellbeing enables them to miss less time in their respective organizations. Johri and Misra (2014) states that, wellbeing of employees averts emotional and physical issues, therefore they do not call in sick often. This ensures that there is a hard working team who put effort into work, saving the organization’s time and money.
It is the role of healthcare organizations to address issues related to employee wellbeing. Schulte et al. (2015) notes that, through employee wellbeing, employees thrive and the organizations win. The employees thrive and make the organizations are able to make their work environment great places to work. Wellbeing ensures that the benefits are to the healthcare organization and its employees.
Workforce diversity entails employing a variety of people in one workplace. Ming-Yi Wu and Muller (2015) notes that workforce diversity encompass individuals with wide background, experiences and characteristics which include diverse race, ethnicity, age, religion and gender. With the changing times, healthcare organizations have to ensure that such issues are addressed to stay ahead of the business through additional innovation and ability.
Having a diverse workforce comes with various benefits. It enables high levels of productivity due to changing of varying ideas, especially during team work. Each individual in the organization brings different ideas with unique perspectives onto the table (Popper-Giveon, Liberman & Keshet, 2014). The organization’s strength and responsiveness are beneficial to healthcare organizations which are contributed to by the diverse skills and knowledge of workforce that are culturally diverse. Workforce diversity ensures that there is learning and growth among the employees. Murray, Pole, Ciarlo & Holmes (2016) denotes that exposing workers to culturally diverse colleagues breaks barriers related to ethnocentrism and xenophobia, therefore, encouraging them to be more experienced society members. It enables effective communication due to the diversity which strengthens the organization’s relationship with specific clients. When customers relate to workforce from their native backgrounds, it makes them feel at home.
On the other hand healthcare organizations are not in a position to effectively ensure that there is workforce diversity. This is because the same organizations face varied issues in ensuring that there is workforce diversity. In healthcare organizations where there is workforce diversity there exist a number of challenges. There is the existence of discrimination, a major demerit of workforce diversity. According to Murray et al. (2015), diverse workforce faces discrimination among the managerial and the other employees which raises litigation issues. The organizations are not in a position to address the communication issues caused by workforce diversity which is an obstacle to effective communication.
Conclusions
In solving social issues, several organizations have been viewed to be the main problem. Solutions to social issues have been perceived to be in terms of the government, philanthropy and NGOs. Through such perceptions, there has not been a swift progress to tackling the social issues. The fundamental challenges in addressing the social issues is large-scale and the governments and NGOs do not have the appropriate resources.
The solution is in the healthcare organisations having a role in addressing the social issues. Resources are created by healthcare organizations when their businesses make profits. The profits are scalable hence the need to address social problems. The perception that businesses makes profits by causing social problems has changed.
Healthcare organizations gains from addressing social issues, hence they should have a role in addressing them. For example in the healthcare industry, addressing pollution issue ensure a reduction in the amount of waste in workplace, therefore a safe working environment which reduces costs that are related to accidents and litigations. In the long run, the community benefits from a safe environment which the governments also take credit. Through investing in workers, healthcare organisations have been in a position to increase productivity and lower costly turnover. Through such instances the workers gain, the organization gains from more than PR together with the government.
There is a tradeoff in social progress and economic performance. Healthcare organisations ought to address social issues with an economic model. The governments that dealt with social issues enable the healthcare organizations to develop a shared value than acting solo.
References
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