Laboratory

Management
Concept of
Management
Chapter I
Management
• The art of getting things done through people

• Process consisting of planning, organizing, actuating and

controlling

• Effective motivation of men and the efficient utilization of

resources for the attainment of a predetermined objective.
Nature of Management
• Art – it results in the accomplishment of objectives through
the use of human effort. It requires skill and careful study in
its application

• Science - it is a systematic body of knowledge. It gathers and

analyses facts and formulates general laws or principles from
these facts
Functions of Management
1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Directing
4. Controlling
Panning
• It is the mental effort by which executives anticipate the
possible causes or factors that may affect or change the
activities and objectives of a particular organization

• It controls the nature and direction of change and determines

what measures or actions are necessary to accomplish
predetermined goals

• Should include several possible alternative courses of action

that may be taken under varying conditions . The best course
of action under the circumstances will be considered.
Organizing
• The grouping together of men and establishing relationships
among them

• Defining the authority and responsibility to the personnel who

are to perform the work in order to use maximum advantage
the laboratory’s material resources in the attainment of a
common objectives
Directing
• Refers to the way of getting all personnel in an organization to
accomplish what management desires.

• It involves both motivation and communication

Controlling
• Checking the work accomplished against plans or standards

• The bases for controlling are standard quality, standard

quantity, standard cost, and standard time
Three aspects involved in Controlling

1. Planned performance
2. A measure of actual performance
3. Corrective measures
• Manager
• Director
• Administrator
• Supervisor
Manager
• An individual whose job is to guide the organization to attain
its objectives
• He performs the functions of planning, organizing, directing
and controlling the work of his subordinates
• Takes charge of the management or oversees the functioning
of an activity to achieve a set of goal or purpose
• His strength is his ability to use all of his resources to get
things done properly
Director
• Directs the affairs of an organization by establishing goals and
priorities that determine the direction of the organization
Administrator
• Administers or runs an organization within the framework or
the various directives and policies given to him
Supervisor
• Oversees the activities of others to get them to accomplish
specific tasks or to perform efficiently.
Essential characteristics of a
Manager
1. Motivation
2. Vision
3. Decision-making ability
4. Good health
5. Humility
What makes a good manager:
Group by hospital assignment
What makes a good manager
1. Appearance
2. Personality – act with proper decorum
3. Articulate
4. Energy, driven, ambition
5. Positive attitude – displaying a constructive, cheerful
outlook in life
6. Thoughtfulness
7. Overall composure
8. Aura of leadership – agreeable manner, self confidence
9. bright, informed, a bit of sparkle
10. Breadth of interest – learn a little about many fields like
Management Levels
1. First line manager – lowest level in an organization
responsible for the work of others. They direct operating
employees only they do not supervise other managers
- often called supervisors
2. Middle managers – refers to more than one level in an
organization
- direct the activities of other managers and
sometimes also those of operating employees
- their principal responsibilities are to direct
the activities that implement their organization’s policies and
to balance the demands of their supervisors with the
capacities of their subordinates
ex. CMT
3. Top managers – composed of a relatively small group of
executives. They are responsible for the overall
management of the organization. It establishes operating
policies and guides the organization’s interactions with its
environment.
ex. President of the Hospital
Roles of Managers
1. Interpersonal
2. Informational
3. decisional
Interpersonal Roles
1. Symbol or a figurehead
2. Serves as a leader – hires, trains, encourages, fires,
remunerates, judges
3. Serves as a liaison between outside contacts- community,
suppliers, others and the organization
Informational Role
1. Monitors – gathers informations
2. Disseminators of information flowing from both external
and internal sources
3. Spokespersons or representatives of the organization.
Decisional Role
1. As enterpreneurs are initiators, innovators
2. Disturbance handler
3. Resource allocator
4. Negotiators when conflicts arise
Management Skills
1. Technical skill
2. Human skill
3. Conceptual skill
Technical Skill
• ability to use equipments, procedures and techniques of a
specialized field

• The manager needs enough technical skill to accomplish the

mechanics of the particular job he is responsible for
Human Skill
• Ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people,
either as individuals or as groups.

• Managers need enough human relation skill to work with

other organization members and to lead their own work
groups
Conceptual Skill
• The mental ability to coordinate and integrate all of the
organization’s interest and activities

• To recognize how the various factors in a given situation are

interested, so that the action he takes will be in the best
interests of the total organization
Managerial Performance
Efficiency – doing things right
- the ability to get things done correctly. It is an input-
output concept
- an efficient manager is one who achieves output or
results that measure up to the inputs (labor, reagents,
supplies, equipment and time)
- able to minimize cost of the resources to attain the
goals
Effectiveness - the ability to choose appropriate objectives.
- an effective manager is one who selects the right things
to get done
Indicators of Lack of Management
Skills
1. Inability to maintain an adequate staff
2. Recurring or persistent misunderstanding with the hospital
administration
3. Frequent or recurrent confusion concerning requisitions or
reports of laboratory work
4. Frequent rush orders for supplies
5. Low moral in the laboratory
6. Requests for deserved pay raise by competent workers (when
funds are available)
7. Excessive cost of operation
8. Ignorance of the cost of operation
9. Expenditure of much of the manager’s time in making minor
decisions
10. Inability to do one or more tests when a key individual has a day
off
Management
Planning
Chapter II
Management Planning

Plan

Planning
Nature and Importance of Planning
To achieve the objectives of any organizations

LRP – long-range plans

SRP – short-range plans

Values Derived from Planning
1. The achievement of the objective of the organization in the
most efficient and economical manner
2. The use of efficient methods and the development of
standards necessary for accurate control.
3. Integration of activities of the different units in the
organization toward goal-directed actions.
4. The reduction of emergency and unexpected problems
Indicators of Poor Planning
1. Late submission of results / reports
2. Idle machines
3. Materials wasted
4. Some machines doing jobs that should be done by smaller
machines
5. Some laboratory personnel overworked, others are
underworked
6. Skilled workers doing unskilled work
7. Laboratory personnel fumbling on jobs for which they have
not been trained
8. Quarreling, bickering, and confusion
Benefits of Good Planning
1. Jobs turn out on time
2. Good relationship with other departments
3. People using their highest skills
4. Workers know how their jobs fit into the total pattern
5. Machines doing their proper jobs
6. Equipment in good shape
7. Materials available
8. Waste kept to a minimum
Qualities of a Good Planner
1. Good judgment, imagination, foresight and experience
2. Ability to evaluate laboratory opportunities and hazards
3. Proficiency in the determination of objectives
4. Ability to accept changes
Types of Plans ( Hierarchy of Plans )
1. Purpose or mission
2. Objectives or goals
3. Strategies
4. Policies
5. Procedures
6. Rules
7. Programs
8. Budget
General Principles in Laboratory
Planning

Strategic – identification of goals

Tactical – methods for their

accomplishments
Setting Goals and Objectives
The first step in laboratory
planning is the establishment of
general goals and specific
objectives by the laboratory staff

Management by Objectives (MBO)

Mission – is a final ultimate goal

Ex: “the mission of every hospital laboratory is the constant

provision of timely and accurate test results for the purpose of
assisting the physician in the delivery of good patient care”
Objectives

- Represents the interim goals by which the mission is most

logically and effectively pursued.
- They should be quantifiable statements which are achievable
over a designated period of time
- May be immediate (priorities), intermediate or long range.
- objectives require revival and updating
Management by Objective (MBO)
- As a tool of management, it encourages discussion, interaction
and consensus decision-making among all organizational
levels of the laboratory
Planning: Strategic and Tactical
Strategic Planning
- Is conceptual and deals with the sweeping of what to do.
- It is concerned with the identification of the mission and of
those objectives that will permit its most efficient pursuit
- It is a function of the upper supervisory personnel with final
authority and responsibility vested in the laboratory director
Tactical Planning
- Implies action and deals with the method(s) for achieving the
goals identified in the strategic planning process.
- It often requires an operational or technical skill and is
generally a logical responsibility of the supervisory staff.
Planning the Laboratory
Design
1. Laboratory director and the entire laboratory staff- in order
to prevent misunderstanding all recommendations and
changes must be documented in writing.
2. Consultants or designers of laboratories
3. Architects or architectural firm - they are essential in
preparing the various drawing and contractor for
construction.
4. Contractor construct facility
Spatial Considerations in
Laboratory Design
1. The blood bank and the critical care laboratory procedures
should be readily accessible to the emergency room,
operating room and ICU. The location of blood bank
should allow rapid access of donors and adequate parking
donors if the blood bank is responsible for donor
procurement, phlebotomy and/or apheresis.
2. A specimen collection should be planned in proximity of the
ambulatory care facility and the admitting office.
3. If the laboratory is serving an in-patient population,
accessibility to corridors and elevators providing access to
the main patient care unit is essential.
4. The specimen receiving, data processing and reporting center
serve as the hub of the laboratory. Radiating should be the
various laboratories.
5. The critical care laboratories and large volume laboratories
(such as hematology and chemistry) might be closely related
to the central areas.
6. Those laboratories with greater turn-around-time (TAT) and or
less volume, as well as those requiring special safety features (
such as clinical microbiology and radio assay and radio-assay
laboratories) might be removed from the central area.
7. The intralaboratory traffic flow must be separated from the
outside. Provisions should be made for ambulatory patients
and blood bank donors coming into the laboratory.
assignment
• submit a layout of your respective laboratories
• Label each sections/directions
• Write down the names of the members
Organizing and
Staffing the
Laboratory
Chapter III
Organizing
Characteristics of Organization:
1. Division of labor, authority and communication
responsibilities.
2. The presence of one or more authority centers which
control the concerted efforts of the organization and direct
them towards its goals.
3. Substitution of personnel
Concept of Organization
1. Herd Concept
- “obey now, question later”
- The subordinates follow the leader who yields exclusive power
to decide and enforce unquestionable obedience in his
subordinates.
2. Man to man concept
- the organization sees the individual working, in terms of
direct personal relation with his superior.
3. The social concept
- the superior and subordinates are members of the team.
- the relationship is no longer man to man but man to his
group
General Principles in Organizing
and Staffing the hospital laboratory
Organizing
- Denotes an effort to divide total operations into size and type
of units by which efficient and effective services are best
assured and needs and weakness most easily identified.
- It is a major management responsibility for the purpose of
securing a united and cohesive performance
- Efficient and effective selection, grouping and utilization of
personnel constitute a major responsibility
Table of Organization
- Is a diagram (chart) that identifies the major operational units
of an organization and their attending job position.
- It is the single most concise representation of the organization
and provides an important means of managing and
monitoring all of its activities.
- It also provides the members an understanding of their station
and how they relate to one another
- one position should have span of control (direct supervision)
of 4-12 positions. 12 if functions are similar; 4 if functions are
dissimilar
Table of organization
Assignment: submit an org chart per hospital
Job Description
- Are written declarations of a given job positions.
- The supplement the table of organization by:
1. providing definition to all position
2. identify operational duties and responsibilities, and
3. salary classification and order to job performance
Job Specification
- Represents the requirements for employment in a given job.
- It provides the organization with the personnel requirements
considered to match most efficiently with the demands of
each job
Work Schedule
- the arbitrary but firmly established practice of eight-hour
shifts serve as the usual method of dividing each twenty-four
hour period.
- because of request patterns, the largest number of personnel
are scheduled during the 1st eight period while the second and
third shifts are staffed with fewer people
- whenever possible, one should strive for “two-deepness” in
every position so that at least two people know every job on
every shift
Basic Rules of Scheduling
1. No more than 5 consecutive working days for each
individual
2. Provide two consecutive days off, except in the rare case
where the individual prefers split days off
3. Within the possibilities, give the individual shift he wants.
4. Rotate weekend and holidays off with as much fairness as
possible
5. Post schedules at least three weeks in advance, even more
if possible
6. Stick to the schedule as closely as possible and make
changes only when essential and only after discussion with
others concerned
7. Provide the opportunity for individual to ask for a specific
day off on occasion
Reorganization
- Is the process which an existing organization undergoes that
brings about changes in the size and shape of the organization
structure
- There are two main reasons for reorganization: growth &
adaptation
Directing and
Supervising the
Laboratory
Chapter IV
General Principles in directing and
supervising the laboratory
Directing
- directions must be written, comprehensive,
current, clearly stated and reinforced by discussion and
example

Supervision
– entails responsibility in assuming that policies and
procedures are followed
Characteristics of a Leader
1. Liking for people
This is the most important characteristic of a manager.

2. Natural optimism.
3. Good self-esteem - confidence

4. Ambitious – work well

5. self-discipline
- to force himself to do necessary things even when they
are unpleasant.
- ex. discharge an employee
6. Good listener

7. Poise
- in the face of errors, disasters and accidents
8. Accessibility

9. Good memory
- a good secretary

10. Good sense of values and sound judgment

Leadership Styles
1. Style that evolves from a conviction of the merits of
decentralized authority.
- delegation of responsibility

the weakness of this style:

(a) if one part performs poorly, the entire system is
jeopardized,
(b) there is possibly a sense of isolation by the lower ranks.
2. Style that is based on the concept of centralized authority.
- authority to be concentrated at the very top.
Strength:
1. one person authority; actions and decisions are quick
2. avoids lengthy discussions
3. Leadership by absenteeism or inattention. This practice
must be condemned.
Leadership Responsibility
1. To formulate and document policies and procedures that
are constantly current and relevant in effective pursuit of
laboratory goals.
2. To effectively communicate these plans to all personnel.
3. To provide efficient means for assuring compliance with
policies and procedures.
4. To encourage free flow and exchange of ideas through all
levels of the organization.
5. To assure an awareness by all personnel of current trends
and practices in the delivery of hospital laboratory services.
6. To develop and maintain effective relations with the
medical staff and hospital administration for assuring an
open exchange of the needs and concerns of all parties.
Leadership Methods
1. To develop and constantly update all laboratory procedures
and policies by preparation of appropriate manual.
2. To schedule and conduct periodic meetings with the staff
for discussion and review of policies and procedures.
3. To delegate the responsibility for efficiently monitoring
compliance with policies and procedures.
4. To conduct periodic meeting with the laboratory staff to
encourage innovative thinking and improvement in
services.
5. To fully support and generously budget for a meaningful
laboratory continuing program.
6. To assure awareness of the laboratory mission by requiring
that appropriate personnel attend all hospital and medical
staff meetings that call for laboratory representation
 Leadership Responsibility
1. To formulate and document policies and
procedures that are constantly current
and relevant in effective pursuit of
laboratory goals.
2. To effectively communicate these plans to
all personnel.
3. To provide efficient means for assuring
compliance with policies and procedures.
4. To encourage free flow and exchange of
ideas through all levels of the
organization.
5. To assure an awareness by all personnel
of current trends and practices in the
delivery of hospital laboratory services.
6. To develop and maintain effective
relations with the medical staff and
hospital administration for assuring an
open exchange of the needs and concerns
of all parties.
Leadership Methods
1. To develop and constantly update all
laboratory procedures and policies by
preparation of appropriate manual.
2. To schedule and conduct periodic
meetings with the staff for discussion and
review of policies and procedures.
3. To delegate the responsibility for
efficiently monitoring compliance with
policies and procedures.
4. To conduct periodic meeting with the
laboratory staff to encourage innovative
thinking and improvement in services.
5. To fully support and generously budget
for a meaningful laboratory continuing
program.
6. To assure awareness of the laboratory
mission by requiring that appropriate
personnel attend all hospital and medical
staff meetings that call for laboratory
representation
Managerial Grid
1. Concern for Production
- it is conceived as the attitudes of a supervisor toward a
wide variety of things
2. Concern for People
- it includes degree of personal commitment toward goal
achievement, maintaining the self-esteem of workers,
basing responsibility on trust rather than obedience,
maintaining good working conditions and having satisfying
interpersonal relations.
4 Extremes of Basic Styles
1. 1.1 style or “impoverished management”

2. 9.9 style or “team management”

3. 1.9 style or “country-club management”

4. 9.1 style or “autocratic task management”

Controlling
Chapter V
Controlling
- Involves measuring, restraining and correcting performance to
accomplish an objective as it was planned.
- It involves the measurement of certain elements such as time,
quality and quantity and cost against a yardstick of standards
or models which have been established and the evaluation of
the work or performance of various personnel in the
organization.
- A good control system encourages each employee to exercise
self-control. Self-control would be possible when standards of
criteria for performance exists to the point where an
employee knows the specific level of performance expected of
him.
Types of Formal Control
1. pre-action control
- controlling by means of personal supervision and utilizing
control checks consisting of procedures for any given task or
function.

2. post-action control
- controlling as the task or function is being performed or
may have been performed and corrective deviations from
standards or plans
Steps in Controlling
1. Determination of the standards or basis of control based on
appraisal of past experience.
2. Measurement of performance by observation, reports or
statistical data.
3. Comparison of performance with the standards, models or
criteria to determine deviations or difference.
4. Enactment of remedial measures or steps to correct
deviation or errors.
Determination of Standards
Performance standards must be expressed in quantitative terms
whenever possible. It may mean the average unit of output
an average employee maybe able to perform per hour, per day
or per week. Determination of standards vary from one
laboratory to another ranging from those based on past
experience etc.
Information
Management
Chapter VI
Communication
- Is the process in human relations of passing information from
one person to another. It is most frequently conducted by
written or spoken word but may be conveyed by gesture, lack
of gesture, manner of dressing, personal appearance and
general behavior

- The data generated by the laboratory has been called

potential information and is not actual information until it has
been utilized in patient care.
Interdepartmental Communication
Interdepartmental communication

– is the transmission of information between or among

departments
Recommendations:
1. Be courteous at all times
2. Speak distinctly and in a pleasant tone of voice.
3. Be certain all questions and answers are clearly understood.
4. Do not answer questions about which there is uncertainty. Consult
resources of department (immediate supervisors, manuals, etc)
5. Do not allow delay in answering telephone.
6. Never leave telephone unattended after call is received: if placed on
“hold”, reassure caller at frequent intervals that attempt is being
made to complete connection.
7. When receiving calls, initiate conversation with “good morning…”,
department of laboratory.
8. When transferring calls, inform person of caller’s name and
department
9. When making calls, prepare remarks with name and department
10. Be certain all written or typed reports are neat, legible and accurate;
also that they are dated and initiated or signed.
Intradepartmental
Communication
Intradepartmental Communication

- Is the transmission of information within the department.

Communication is better within the department because of
proximity, similar education related duties and common goals
among co-workers.
Recommendations:
1. Know the department’s table organization and all communication
channels so indicated.
2. Be certain of job description and all duties set forth.
3. Confer messages by memo if face-to-face or telephone
communication is not possible.
4. Minimize conversations unrelated to job duties.
5. Maintain effective contact with members of all shifts.
6. Be constantly alert to the posting of all schedules and notices.
Public Relations
Ten Commandments of Human Relations (Caltex Phil)
1. Speak to people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
2. Smile at people. It takes 65 muscles to frown only 15 to smile.
3. Call people by name. The sweetest music to anyone’s ears is the sound of his own
name.
4. Be friendly and helpful. If you would have friends be friendly.
5. Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do were a genuine pleasure.
6. Be genuinely interested in people. You can like everybody if you try.
7. Be generous with praise. Cautious with criticisms.
8. Be considerate with the feelings of others. It will be appreciated.
9. Be thoughtful of the opinion of others. There are three sides to a controversy-yours,
the other fellow’s and the right one.
10. Be alert to give service. What counts most in life is what we do for others.
Ways to Communicate
1. Informal talks – this is he most fundamental form of communication. It is suitable for
day-to-day liaison, direction ad exchange of information. It must provide opportunity
for a two way exchange.
2. Planned appointments- this is appropriate for regular review or liaison recurring joint
work sessions, etc.
3. Telephone calls-this is good for frequent check-up or for empathy or receiving
information, instruction, data, etc.
4. Interoffice memos-they are effective for recording informal inquiries or replies. Use of
memos should not be overdone, or they will be ignored.
5. Letters-the are useful for official notices, formally recorded statements or lengthy
communications even when the addressee is physically available.
6. Reports-they are used to convey information associated with evaluation, analysis,
recommendations, etc to supervisors or colleagues and are most effective when based
on conferences, visits, inspections, surveys, research study etc.
7. Informal staff meetings- it provides opportunity for the development of
strong group cohesiveness and response. Supervisor should hold staff
meetings earl morning, at the end of the day or at lunch.
8. Planned conference- they are relatively formal affair. Participants be given
time to prepare needed data, information, reports, recommendations, etc.
9. Mass meeting- they are conducted by management with large number of
employees. They are valuable means of celebrating occasions, building
morale, introducing new policies, or key personnel, making special
announcements.
10. Bulletin boards notices-they are effective for lengthy or formal
announcements.
11. Posters
12. Exhibits and display
13. Visual aids (films, filstrips)
Categories of Communication
1. Upward communication – when a subordinate
communicates directly to his supervisor or superior.
2. Downward communication- when a superior or supervisor
communicates directly to his subordinates.
3. On-the-same-level communication- or communication
among peers.
4. Diagonal communication-when a supervisor and a
subordinate not under him communicate.
Don’ts of Upward Communication
1. don’t try to shield the boss. The subordinate must not prevent any
upsetting news form reaching supervisor.
2. Don’t try to over protect yourself. Don’t “playdown” certain facts
because we know that their disclosure would make us look bad.
3. Don’t think that the need to discuss a problem will just disappear if
you don’t say anything.
4. Don’t be afraid of the result of communications.
5. Don’t neglect to communicate because you are not directly
responsible.
6. Don’t rely on someone else to send the word upward.
7. Don’t think you must have a solution before you discuss a problem
8. Don’t use upward communication to blow your horn.
What Subordinates want from the
Boss
1. Back up the subordinates’ decision
2. Tell subordinates what he (the boss) expects of them and how
they are going.
3. Give recognition for work well done.
4. Be interested in subordinate as people-make them feel they
belong.
5. Provide good leadership and be competent for the job.
6. Give constructive criticism.
7. Tell the whys of the job/work
8. Follow the chain of command
9. Pass along information-both up and down the line.
10. Get raises for subordinates and for the workers they recommend.
11. Have confidence in the ability of subordinates.
12. Recognize the difficulties in getting the job done
13. Take the responsibility rather than pass the buck
14. Make good decisions
15. Be loyal to the subordinates and to the lab
16. Welcome ideas and opinions; let subordinates have a voice in
decision
17. don’t play favorites, be fair
18.Help subordinates in problems beyond their depth
What Supervisors want from
fellow Supervisors
1. Exchange of ideas and information
2. Have work completed on time for the next fellow
3. Give and take constructive criticism
4. Keep one another informed about new procedures, policies and
rules.
5. Respect one another’s authority
6. Achieve uniformity in the interpretation of policies and
enforcement of rules.
7. Try to understand one another’s problems
8. Render necessary assistance to one another
9. Straighten out differences in private and among themselves
rather than carry them with the boss
10. Refrain from putting one another on the spot
11. Practice teamwork and refrain from passing the buck
12. Show loyalty to the laboratory and respect for its policies
Requisitioning
Proper requisitioning procedures assure adequate
identifications of the patient and the specimen, indicate the
measurements or examinations desired, and facilitate
reporting of the results. An additional important function is
the provision of administrative and billing data.
Information contained in a request
form
1. Laboratory procedure number or other identification
2. Identification of the patient name and hospital number
3. Room number or address of patient
4. Age of the patient
5. Sex of patient
6. Status (stat, pre-op, etc)
7. Name of the practitioner
8. Date and time the specimen was collected
9. Date and time the specimen was received
10. Date, time and by whom the specimen was examined
11. Condition of any unsatisfactory specimen
12. Type of tests or procedure to be performed
Reporting
1. Compactness
2. Consistency of terminology, format and usage of abbreviations
and symbols
3. Clearly understandable
4. Logical and accessible location in medical chart
5. Statement of date and time of collection
6. Good description and source of specimen when pertinent
7. Sharp differentiation of reference or normal and abnormal values
8. Sequential order of multiple results on single specimen
9. Identification of patient, patient location and physician
10. Assurance of accuracy of transcription of request
11. Ease of preparation
12. Administrative and record keeping value
Verbal Reports
Telephone reports
- Can be given in order to facilitate medical care, particularly in
an emergency situation. On the other hand, this is a major
potential source of errors and resulting medical liability. To
avoid this, the laboratory should require proper identification
of the person receiving the report and of the patient. The
person giving the report should report the patient’s name,
identification number and location along with the results in
order to further confirm the identification.
Communication Cycle in
Processing a Clinical
Determination
The typical cycle of communications necessary to completely
process a request for laboratory procedure is shown.
In a physician’s office laboratory, only the patient, the physician,
and the laboratory technologist maybe involved in the cycle.
In a large medical center, however, more than 3 persons and
many more steps maybe involved in completing this cycle.
With each additional step or person, an additional potential
source of error, confusion or delay is introduced
In order to contribute effectively to medical care, those in the
modern clinical laboratory must concern themselves with the
ramifications of this entire cycle rather than confining their
interests only to the generation and dissemination of
laboratory result
The first step in the cycle of physician- laboratory interaction is the
encounter between the patient and the physician, resulting in a
decision for a laboratory test.
The physician’s decision is translated into a written requisition for
laboratory measurements or examinations.
The requisition included the requested determinations as well as basic
demographic information about the patient. Following collection of
the specimen by the physician or laboratory personnel, the
requisition and appropriately labeled specimen are sent to the
laboratory.
The requested measurements and/or examinations are performed, the
resulting data are processed and checked for validity, and a report is
returned to the physician.
Although this simplified cycle highlights the essential information
interchange involving a clinical laboratory, many other interactions
are necessary, especially in larger laboratories.
Personnel
Management
Chapter VII
Personnel Management (Personnel
Administration)

Is the phase of management concerned with the engagement

and effective utilization of manpower to obtain optimum
efficiency of human resources.
Personnel Program
Personnel Program – consists of series of activities intended to
carry out the personnel policies of the laboratory for the
purpose of realizing objectives of the organization

1. Employment - the recruitment, interviewing, testing,

induction, placement, transfer, merit, rating, promotion,
training, counseling, and separation of employees.
2. Safety – provisions for safety standard, mechanical
safeguards, accident investigation, safety rules, and safety
records and statistics
3. Employee relations – matters related to collective
bargaining, wage and salary administration, grievance
system, medical and dental services, labor management
relations and morale studies
4. Employee research and standards – job analysis, job
description, job evaluation, job grading, wage analysis,
organizational planning and employee manuals
5. Employee services – recreational plans, insurance plans,
profit sharing plans and miscellaneous services
Personnel Policy
Personnel Policy

– is the statement of intention that commits the laboratory

manager to a general course of action in order to accomplish a
specific purpose. It is necessary in an organization because
management can not deal with each employee solely as an
individual
10 areas Normally considered in personnel policies:
1. recruitment, selection and planning
2. Employee induction and training
3. Employees rating and promotion
4. Transfer, downgrading and lay-off
5. Disciplining and discharge
6. Salary and wage administration
7. Changes in work assignment and hours
8. Services for employees
9. Employee’s health and safety
10. Employees’ participation and work problems
Functions of Personnel Manager
1. Recruit and interview job applicant
2. Administer employment tests to job applicants
3. Indoctrinate new employees on laboratory history,
objectives, policies and rules
4. Introduce the new employees to his supervisor, the officers
of the organization, his associates and subordinates
5. Motivate employees to do better
6. Keep employment records of all employees
7. Assist in transferring, promoting, demoting, discharging or
retiring employee.
8. Handle complaint: grievances and disciplinary action cases.
9. Negotiate with the labor unions or union officials
10. Provide personnel services, medical, social and recreational.
Sources of Labor

1. Internal sources – refer to the employees actively working

in the laboratory.

2. External sources – include persons who apply in person,

who answer advertisement and who are recommended by
schools.
Process of Personnel Selection

Steps in the Selection Process:

1. Posting or advertising job vacancies
2. Reception of applications / applicants either in person or in
writing
3. Preliminary interview
- filling up the information sheet or the application blanks
or
-sending of the information sheets or application blanks by
mail and returning the same to the laboratory
4. applicant is interviewed by the personnel manager. It could
be used to determine what type of personality, the applicant
possesses. The types of interviews used include:
- planned and patterned interviews
- Non-directive interviews
- depth interviews
- group interviews
5. Applicant reports to the personnel manager or his assistant
who briefs him on opportunities in the organization.
- performance tests
- aptitude tests
- interest tests
- test of emotional reaction / and adjustments
- test of attitudes
6. Investigation of applicant’s background
7. Introduction of the qualified applicant to his immediate
boss
8. Selection from among qualified applicants
9. Medical examination
10. Induction and placement of the new employee

* Job applicant who fall short of the required qualifications for

the job in question or who may be over qualified maybe
rejected
Personnel Interview
Pre-employment interview by the manager is necessary in order
to increase the accuracy of prediction on the applicant.
The interview questions should be well thought in advance and
should be in areas of interest as personal, history, education
background, volunteer activities, work experience, aspirations
and objectives, self-assessment and strength and weakness.
The interview should not neglect the following basics:
1. Setting the stage in advance so the interview will be in
control and not be interrupted by other visitors
2. Asking general questions to set the applicant at ease
3. Respecting the applicant’s individuality
4. Getting the applicant to talk revealingly.

* there is a final caution “do not jump into conclusion”. There

are three things about impressions. Sometimes close to
truth, sometimes dangerous and always based on limited
information.
Pointers in Personnel Selection
1. An applicant who has held 3 to 4 jobs within the past five years is a high risk. Chance
are this person is a job hopper.
2. Recent emotional crises in an individual may lead to emotional instability for a period of
time.
3. If the writing is sloppy, it may indicate a generally careless attitude. Unanswered items
in the application from indicate forgetfulness or evasiveness.
4. Over qualification is about as bad as under qualification.
5. Check if the reference is a close friend or relative of the applicant.
6. If the medical history is lengthy or ambiguous, there is a good chance that the applicant
is either in poor health or somewhat neurotic.
7. Hiring relatives or close personal friends must be discouraged.
8. If other things are equal, hire people you instinctively like.
9. Generally, the person who work for financial reasons is likely to be a more stable
employee than is the person who is economically independent.
Personnel Orientation
Personnel orientation- is the introduction of the employee to
this new environment. The orientation must include the ff:
1. A briefing of the history, objectives, policies, rules and
regulations of the laboratory
2. Introduction to his associates and subordinates
3. Description of his duties and responsibilities and the role he
plays in the organization
4. Introduction to laboratory facilities and services.
5. Briefing on mechanism of setting problems, complaint or grievance
and rules pertaining to discipline or reprimand.
6. Briefing on opportunities for education, training and
advancement
7. Briefing on sick-leave policy, overtime-work, time and place for
receiving pay.
8. Try-out the employee’s new job.
9. Another meeting between the new employee and the personnel
manager before dismissal from work for the day.

* it is a good policy to have a period of probation-usually about 3

months
Personnel Evaluation
Personnel Evaluation consists of periodic written reports on
employees’ performance. It is necessary because:
1. It provides a basis for counseling interview with the
employee
2. It provides a resource document for appraisal for
promotion, transfer, separation, and references
3. It is a way to summarize day-to-day and week-to-week
evaluation.
The most frequently measured attributes are quantity of work
(productivity), judgment, knowledge, adaptability, initiative,
personal relations (interaction with others), work habits
(attendance, compliance with rules and regulations, orderliness),
communication (oral or written expression), creativity, quality of
work and other factors.

Rating scales from 1 to 5 (outstanding, above average, below average,

unsatisfactory respectively) can be used. Each employee must be
evaluated at regular interval-twice a year.

* assignment: Give example of evaluation form

Promotion
is the advancement of an employee to better job in terms of
greater responsibility, more prestige, or “status”, greater
skill, and especially increase rate of pay or salary
Qualities considered in Promotion:
1. Honesty
2. Ambition
3. Initiative
4. Determination
5. Enthusiasm
6. Common sense
7. Knowledge
8. Originality
9. Understanding
10. Communicative ability

* No employee should even be promoted solely on the basis of seniority. Seniority is factor only when there is more
than one candidate of equal capabilities
Discipline and Dismissals
(discharging)
Requires documented facts sufficient to support the
contemplated action. Documentation should include the ff:
1. Specific instances of poor performances or misconduct
2. Circumstances surrounding performances or misconduct.
- dates, times, places and names and titles of persons
involved in he situation
- whether the employee knew what he was supposed to do;
when and how bad he had been told
3. Prior misconduct, if any
4. Evidence of warning that the misconduct should not be repeated or
that the poor performance could not continue
5. Records that definite time limit was set for improvement and follow-
up

• don’t neglect the employees’ side of the story. Have all the facts
before taking disciplinary action, especially if the action is to be
contested by the union, in the courts or before civil rights agencies.

* when an employee becomes a liability, rather than an asset, he

should be dismissed.
Personnel Record
- Provides a ready references to an employee, job description, education,
experience, qualifications, length of employment, job references,
written reprimands, comments and personal list…

- Larger laboratory maintains summary and analysis records. This is to

keep the director up to date on vacancies, personnel turnover,
retirements, staffing patterns, recruiting services, and other vital data to
maintain a good staff.

- Records should be centralized with accessibility limits to appropriate

supervisor and employee in order to maintain confidentiality of
information.
Employees’ Conflict
Warning signs:
1. Discussions between two people that flare up into arguments.
2. Open backbiting remarks by one about the other.
3. Complaints from one about the other.
4. No direct contact between two people. They take pains to
exchange information thru co-workers. They even refuse to eat
lunch with the others.
5. A request for transfer.
6. Other employees talking about the feud.
7. Increased absenteeism for no apparent reason.
Conflict Mediation Techniques:
1. Phase 1: clarifying the problem
The mediator must therefore guide both parties into perceiving
their disagreement as the problem rather than each other.

2. Phase 2: finding out what each side wants from each other
The mediator must ask both parties exactly what they want from
one another. By writing down the wants of both sides, the mediator
shows that they have been heard.

3. Phase 3: reaching agreement

the supervisor asks each party what items on the list of wants they
can agree upon.
Pointers in solving conflicts
1. Do not affix blame on another.
2. Do not threaten to fire anyone.
3. Do not jump in and suggest solutions before you’ve
gathered all the pertinent information.
4. Do not nod in agreement as an employee explain his side of
the conflict.
5. Do not rush the process. It may take several meetings to
reach an agreement that is satisfactory to both sides.
Habitual Tardiness
This is a chronic disease of unknown etiology. Although cures are rare,
some remissions may be attained with the ff therapy:
1. Dock salary for late minutes. It works only on the most miserly or
penurious employee.
2. Reschedule for a later starting time, (a half hour to one hour).
3. Reassign to a different department where there is no overlap of
personnel.
4. When all fails, mark “ improvement needed” on the employee’s
performance evaluation.
5. If the employee has all other positive features, promote to
supervisor. This is considered “shock treatment” but often effective.
Compensation for work
The laboratory manager should review the salary structure from five basic standpoints:
1. Requirements of laws and regulations such as minimum wages and overtime
2. Correlation between salaries in the lab and those in other competing organization.
3. Relationship among salary levels or ranges of the various types within the organization.
4. General salary distribution- include number of steps from the lowest to increasing
salary in each type of position. It also includes timing of payments, incentives for
overtime and call back situations, night time or holiday differentials.
5. Financial conditions of the organization

* The non-monetary compensation should be included. Such benefits like retirement plans,
insurance, annual and sick leaves and free or discounted services play an important part
in the total compensation plan
Motivation of employees
Motivation
- is a general term applying to drives, desires, needs and wishes
of an individual in order to perform
- It involves a chain reaction starting out with felt needs,
resulting in wants or goals sought which gives rise to tensions
(that is unfulfilled desires), then causing action toward
achieving goals and finally satisfying wants.
Herzberg lists extrinsic and
intrinsic factors of motivation
Extrinsic Factors or Hygiene Factors
1. Pay or salary increase
2. Technical supervision or having a competent superior
3. Human relations
4. Organization policy and administration
5. Working condition or physical surrounding
6. Job security
Intrinsic factors of motivation factors

7. Achievement (completing an important task successfully)

8. Recognition (being single or out of praise)
9. Responsibility for one’s own or other’s work
10. Advancement (changing status through promotion)
Maslow’s 5 successive levels of
needs
1. Physiological needs
- these are hunger for food, sexual gratification, and shelter
2. Safety needs
- these are needs for protection against danger and threats.
Expressions of safety needs are seen in preferences for job
security, insurance, etc..
3. Love needs
- these are needs for love, affection and belongingness
4. Esteem needs
- those are needs for self-respect, and for the esteem of
others
5. Need for “self actualization” or “self fulfillment”
Job enlargement and job
enrichment
Job Enlargement

- Is the process of increasing job scope.

- Or a system of job rotation may be initiated, so that workers
move from one job to a completely different one.
Job Enrichment
- Is the process of increasing job depth.
- Individual employees maybe given responsibility for setting
their own work space, for correcting their own errors, and/or
for deciding on the best way to perform in a particular task.
 Herzbers’s motivators and hygiene
Maslow’s Level of needs factors

Self actualization needs Work itself Achievement Growth Motivation

Responsibility Advancement factors
recognition
Ego or self esteem needs Status
Interpersonal relation Hygiene
Social or love needs Supervision
Company policy and administration
Job security factors
Safety or security needs Working condition
Salaries and wages

Physiological needs
END