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Planned Change: Leadership of Reduction in Workforce
Chamberlain College of Nursing
NR534 Healthcare Systems Management
2022
, 2
Planned Change: Leadership of Reduction in Workforce
In order for healthcare organizations to remain competitive and financially
responsible they often examine their resources, sometimes the outcome of that analysis
results in a decision to proceed with a process called reduction in force (RIF). In the ever-
changing world of healthcare this is a far too common event and Roxboro Medical Center
is no exception to this phenomenon (Daniels & Ritter, 2018). Roxboro has been faced
with a declining market for the last couple of years. Recently the decision was made to
decrease their management workforce by 30% over a six-month period.
Approach to the Organizational Mandate
The purpose of this paper is to examine the skills and knowledge required to plan
and implement an organizational change that will have a system wide effect on the
Roxboro Medical Center and those associated with it. Throughout the paper specific
items to be discussed will include (1) the decision making process involved in a RIF and
how that process can be affected by certain information (2) challenges, conflicts and the
role ethics play when making RIF decisions (3) an overview of the proposed
reorganization plan (4) the proposed change model, along with potential conflicts and
benefits of its use (5) the anticipated impact of a RIF on the organization and staff with
strategies to overcome them.
Organizational restructuring is never an easy task, the far-reaching effects it has
on staff and the community are not taken lightly when managers are asked to implement a
RIF. Incorporating the organization’s mission and values should happen early on in the
RIF process to ensure strategic planning is aligned with the goals of the organization.
Managers must handle a RIF with transparent communication and sensitivity because of
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the high level of emotion that a RIF invokes from affected and remaining staff.
Implementing a reduction in workforce requires a robust reorganization plan so it is also
important to involve key stakeholders, who have a solid knowledge of the organizational
workflows and staffing requirements (Palazzo, 2015).
Reduction in Workforce-Deciding
The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) was given a list of current employees who had
less then 15 years of tenure, along with their current and past performance ratings (Table
1 v.1). The CNO was asked to reduce the list to ten positions. Employees chosen to RIF
were those who had low performance ratings and lessor tenure. Employees chosen to
remain on staff were those with high performance ratings and longer tenure. The six
positions that were chosen to stay are highlighted yellow in Table 1 in the appendix.
Rationale for the decision was based on the two criteria established by Human Resources
(HR). The approach included a first pass RIF that eliminated all low performers, the
second pass included high performers who had the least tenure. It was not difficult to
make the RIF decisions because there was no personal information attached to the
positions and the HR department supplied the necessary criteria to follow for the RIF.
The most difficult challenge was eliminating positions of those employees with longer
tenure but low performance levels. This was difficult because of employee longevity and
organizational loyalty, possible age factors that could exclude the employee from
obtaining new work opportunities as easily as the younger employees and possible
psychological implications that could result from these factors (Walker & Karau, 2016).
Another area of concern was the performance rating, more information was needed to
Planned Change: Leadership of Reduction in Workforce
Chamberlain College of Nursing
NR534 Healthcare Systems Management
2022
, 2
Planned Change: Leadership of Reduction in Workforce
In order for healthcare organizations to remain competitive and financially
responsible they often examine their resources, sometimes the outcome of that analysis
results in a decision to proceed with a process called reduction in force (RIF). In the ever-
changing world of healthcare this is a far too common event and Roxboro Medical Center
is no exception to this phenomenon (Daniels & Ritter, 2018). Roxboro has been faced
with a declining market for the last couple of years. Recently the decision was made to
decrease their management workforce by 30% over a six-month period.
Approach to the Organizational Mandate
The purpose of this paper is to examine the skills and knowledge required to plan
and implement an organizational change that will have a system wide effect on the
Roxboro Medical Center and those associated with it. Throughout the paper specific
items to be discussed will include (1) the decision making process involved in a RIF and
how that process can be affected by certain information (2) challenges, conflicts and the
role ethics play when making RIF decisions (3) an overview of the proposed
reorganization plan (4) the proposed change model, along with potential conflicts and
benefits of its use (5) the anticipated impact of a RIF on the organization and staff with
strategies to overcome them.
Organizational restructuring is never an easy task, the far-reaching effects it has
on staff and the community are not taken lightly when managers are asked to implement a
RIF. Incorporating the organization’s mission and values should happen early on in the
RIF process to ensure strategic planning is aligned with the goals of the organization.
Managers must handle a RIF with transparent communication and sensitivity because of
, 3
the high level of emotion that a RIF invokes from affected and remaining staff.
Implementing a reduction in workforce requires a robust reorganization plan so it is also
important to involve key stakeholders, who have a solid knowledge of the organizational
workflows and staffing requirements (Palazzo, 2015).
Reduction in Workforce-Deciding
The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) was given a list of current employees who had
less then 15 years of tenure, along with their current and past performance ratings (Table
1 v.1). The CNO was asked to reduce the list to ten positions. Employees chosen to RIF
were those who had low performance ratings and lessor tenure. Employees chosen to
remain on staff were those with high performance ratings and longer tenure. The six
positions that were chosen to stay are highlighted yellow in Table 1 in the appendix.
Rationale for the decision was based on the two criteria established by Human Resources
(HR). The approach included a first pass RIF that eliminated all low performers, the
second pass included high performers who had the least tenure. It was not difficult to
make the RIF decisions because there was no personal information attached to the
positions and the HR department supplied the necessary criteria to follow for the RIF.
The most difficult challenge was eliminating positions of those employees with longer
tenure but low performance levels. This was difficult because of employee longevity and
organizational loyalty, possible age factors that could exclude the employee from
obtaining new work opportunities as easily as the younger employees and possible
psychological implications that could result from these factors (Walker & Karau, 2016).
Another area of concern was the performance rating, more information was needed to
