Cultural Competence in Health Care Professional Practice Essay

Cultural Competence in Health Care Professional Practice - Essay Example Australia is an example of such a country that has experienced cultural diversity which has had immense impact on both professional and personal lives of healthcare professionals, critically affecting service delivery. In order for podiatrists, and indeed all the healthcare professionals in general, to deliver healthcare to the desired levels, cultural diversity should be put into consideration in practice, promoting a culturally safe environment and acquire cultural competence. In basic terms, culture describes an assortment of beliefs and behaviours to which a particular group ascribes and passes on from one generation to another. Adler (2004) defines equity as trait of fairness and impartiality; diversity as an array of various things; and competence as a suitable application of attributes and knowledge through the actions and behaviours of an individual. As such, cultural competence could be defined as the possession of attributes and knowledge that foster understanding of a wide array of beliefs and behaviours of diverse groups of people and applying it equitably. For healthcare professionals, including podiatrists, to attain cultural competence, Betancourt (2002) argues that they would have to exhibit attributes and behaviours that would promote their ability to effectively work with people from diverse cultures. i. Value diversity and accept cultural differences - The element of valuing diversity and accepting cultural differences requires one to keep an open mind to the environment and view each situations without bias. It should be appreciated that in any given environment, each person is different and would therefore have unique values and beliefs. ii. Possess cultural self-assessment capacity and an understanding of own culture – Cultural self-assessment capacity and understanding own culture implies the need to be able to critically comprehend one’s belief system. This requires unbiased approach

Human Resources Management and Organisational Dynamics Essay

Human Resources Management and Organisational Dynamics - Essay Example n on existence for 23 years; now, it is acknowledged as the largest independent business process outsourcing (BPO) player in Asia, employing no less than 2,000 Filipinos. Its expanse of BPO services diversely cover medical transcription, data conversion / encoding and software support services, mainly delivered for Fortune 500 blue chip companies. One of the strategies of SPI is to find and select employees who have the right orientation towards work and productivity right at the onset. SPI advocates the idea of a right hire resulting to a quick start. Based on strategic objectives and plans, competency requirements are laid down on a per position - per level basis. These competencies then become the basis of all HR systems, linking these systems clearly and logically. These same competency requirements then become the basis for targeted selection, against which potential employees are behaviorally assessed. This implies that right at the start – at the first step – of hiring, that SPI employees blend well into the organization’s culture and business strategy. Competencies are general descriptions of the abilities necessary to perform a role in the organization. These are usually described in measurable terms. They differ from job descriptions – while job descriptions typically list the tasks or functions and responsibilities for a role, competencies list the abilities needed to conduct those tasks or functions (McNamara, 2005). Assessing an individual’s specific strengths and development needs as they relate to the success profiles across levels of supervisors, managers and executive is a key component to selection, development, and promotion decisions.  Information and data used to drive these decisions must be accurate and objective. Targeted Selection is a system designed to meet the needs of a diversified workforce, offers a solution to common selection problems. Targeted Selection takes a systems approach to selection decisions: All aspects