| This study examined the relationship of Quality-focused Human Resource Practices (QHRP) to organizational performance outcomes. Derived from the Baldrige healthcare criteria for performance excellence (2005), QHRP included the areas of leadership, knowledge management, strategic management, process management, general human resource (HR) functions, customer focus, and employee focus. Organizational performance outcomes of this study included employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, clinical and financial outcomes. Using the QHRP framework, the purpose of this study was to explore relationships and identify associations between QHRP and organizational performance outcomes in long-term healthcare organizations in the State of Minnesota.; The sample of facilities consisted of 69 long-term healthcare organizations and their 3,598 employees and 1,272 residents. Data were collected with a self-administered questionnaire. Response rates were high for both surveys, Organizational Quality Survey (56 percent) and Service Quality Survey (51 percent). The primary methods of data analysis were hierarchical linear modeling and multiple regression.; Overall, the findings showed a number of significant relationships in which QHRP are related to organizational performance outcomes. There were strong positive relationships between employee satisfaction and strategic management, general HR functions, and employee focus. Process management, however, yielded a negative significant relationship with employee satisfaction. Customer satisfaction was moderately related to general HR functions and significantly related to employee satisfaction. Knowledge management and strategic management were the only QHRP areas having a significant relationship with financial performance outcomes of the long-term healthcare organizations. The outcome area of employee satisfaction was also significantly related to financial outcomes. The QHRP of leadership and clinical outcomes did not yield significant relationships.; The findings presented in the study identified a number of practical and theoretical implications for healthcare professionals, administrators, and researchers, quality management and HR practitioners and researchers. Two overarching findings support the integration of quality management as a core HR process for the field of healthcare and support human capital investments as a means of achieving sustainable competitive advantage in the long-term healthcare industry. |
