Integrating human resources and program-planning strategies.

The integration of human resources management (HRM) strategies with long-term program-planning strategies in hospital pharmacy departments is described. HRM is a behaviorally based, comprehensive strategy for the effective management and use of people that seeks to achieve coordination and integration with overall planning strategies and other managerial functions. It encompasses forecasting of staffing requirements; determining work-related factors that are strong "motivators" and thus contribute to employee productivity and job satisfaction; conducting a departmental personnel and skills inventory; employee career planning and development, including training and education programs; strategies for promotion and succession, including routes of advancement that provide alternatives to the managerial route; and recruitment and selection of new personnel to meet changing departmental needs. Increased competitiveness among hospitals and a shortage of pharmacists make it imperative that hospital pharmacy managers create strategies to attract, develop, and retain the right individuals to enable the department--and the hospital as a whole--to grow and change in response to the changing health-care environment in the United States. Pharmacy managers would be greatly aided in this mission by the establishment of a well-defined, national strategic plan for pharmacy programs and services that includes an analysis of what education and training are necessary for their successful accomplishment. Creation of links between overall program objectives and people-planning strategies will aid hospital pharmacy departments in maximizing the long-term effectiveness of their practice.