PEST Analysis In Nursing

According to the United States Army’s Field Manual 6-22, leadership is defined as “the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization” (Department of the Army, 2015). This is an excellent definition of leadership. Leadership, regardless of being the military or civilian sector, does all of this and more. For some, being in a leadership role comes easy, like they were “born to lead” (Dye & Carman, 2006). Others have to work hard, but are able to learn the “competencies” to be successful and effective when serving in a leadership role (Dye & Carman, 2006). When the right people are in leadership positions, the organization will thrive and

will be able to grow and expand its footprint. To aid leadership with the growth and expansion of the organization, a PEST Analysis can be utilized (Wayland & McDonald, 2016). This case study will discuss some of the competencies important to be a successful leader, a PEST Analysis, and how effective leaders can use a PEST analysis.
Leadership is vital to the success of the organization. When an organization places the wrong person in a leadership role, the outcomes can be detrimental to the organization (Dye & Carman, 2006). That is why when attempting to fill leadership roles, the organization should strive to fill the positon with someone with competencies that make up a successful leader.
These competencies can be organized into 4 groups. The 4 groups include Self-awareness, Vision, Interpersonal Relations, and Execution (Dye & Carman, 2006). In the Self-awareness group, there are two competencies, “living by personal conviction” and “possessing emotional intelligence” (Dye & Carman, 2006). Both of these competencies will allow a leader a better understanding of what motivates them, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and what their capabilities and limitations are (Dye & Carman, 2006). In the Vision group, the competencies of “being a visionary” and “communicating vision” are placed (Dye & Carman, 2006). These competencies allows one to view where the organization currently is at, but see where the organization could be in a 5 or 10 years in the future (Dye & Carman, 2006). The Interpersonal Relations group contains the competencies of “earning loyalty and trust”, “listening like you mean it”, “giving feedback”, “mentoring others”, “developing teams”, and “energizing staff” (Dye & Carman, 2006). All of these all one to be able to communicate with, develop and motivate employees (Dye & Carman, 2006). Finally, under the Execution is “generating informal power”, “building consensus”, “making decisions”, “driving results”, “stimulating creativity”, and “cultivating adaptability” (Dye & Carman, 2006). All of there will allow one to be able to complete all they want to complete while being in the leadership role (Dye & Carman, 2006).
Some people seem like these competencies are engrained in their personality, while other have to learn these (Dye & Carman, 2006). Regardless of personality, everyone who is willing to work at these competencies, can function as a successful and effective leader that has a positive impact upon their organization (Dye & Carman, 2006).
When new leadership is placed within an organization, they bring their own ambitions and directions where they would like to take the organization. A PEST Analysis can be used to assist these new leaders determine large issues that face their proposed plans (Wayland & McDonald, 2016). PEST is an acronym for the words Political, Economic, Social, and Technological, which are 4 areas that can impact an organization’s plans. (Wayland & McDonald, 2016). When using this analysis, leaders can list issues that fall under each area, how they impact the organization, and implications for the organization (Wayland & McDonald, 2016). In order for the PEST Analysis to be a useful tool, a leader cannot complete it on their own. They must utilize a team to assist them in filling out the form. When doing so, the leader must use their all of their leadership competencies, but especially “possessing emotional intelligence”, “being visionary”, “communicating vision”, “earning loyalty and trust”, and “listening like you mean it” (Dye & Carman, 2006). “Possessing emotional intelligence” is important because the leader may learn that their plan has many more road blocks they they expected which could be upsetting, but instead of letting their emotions get the best of them, they could control them and use them in a positive manner (Dye & Carman, 2006). “Being visionary” will allow the leader to envision where the organization offering a service never offered at this facility before, which would expand their market (Dye & Carman, 2006). “Communicating vision” is important because if the leader cannot effectively communicate this vison, the plan will never become reality (Dye & Carman, 2006). “Earning loyalty and trust” is important because it would be difficult for the staff to rally behind the plan if they don’t trust the leadership (Dye & Carman, 2006). Finally, “listening like you mean it” if important because the plan may have unforeseen issues, the staff may be able to identify them and have potential solutions leadership has not thought of (Dye & Carman, 2006). If leadership doesn’t listen, they may miss the potential solutions.
If I were in an executive leadership role at the hospital I worked at, I would utilize a PEST Analysis for the Intensive Care services the hospital offers. A little background information will help explain my vision. There has also been plans for some time to implement an ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) team in the Medical Surgical ICU, but never has come to life. For my PEST Analysis, I would sit down with COO, CFO, CNO, and members of the critical care division of the hospital, to include the division manager, unit managers, intensive care doctors, midlevel providers, and charge nurses, to discuss the state of our intensive care units and possible implantation of an ECMO team. This group would be able to provide me with the valuable information that would help shape the decision about an ECMO team. Listed below is one issue, impact, and implication for each section of the PEST analysis.
PEST Factor
Issue
Impact
Implication
Political
What laws exist pertaining to maintaining a 24 hour a day, on call ECMO team?
Determine how the employees would be scheduled to staff a 24 hour a day on call ECMO team.
Possibly need to hire extra employees to staff the EMCO team. Need to develop a competitive on call pay scale to attract employees to staff ECMO team.
Economic
What is the costs to purchase and maintain ECMO machines?
Funds will have to be set aside or taken away from other areas to purchase these machines.
May need to allocate funds for a few years in order to make these purchases.
Social
What is the occurrence rate of patients who require ECMO in the region?

Could need more staff to care for these patients if this number is under estimated.

Project would be eliminated if the number of ECMO patients is too little.

Technological

How often are ECMO machines need to be replaced?

High replacement rate means higher operating costs.

ECMO could be to costly to be a service offered.

This was only one idea from each section I could think of. I believe that with a team of highly educated staff, this PEST Analysis could result in 100 or more issues, impact, and implications for each letter of the PEST Analysis. Once this PEST Analysis was completed, the executive leadership and critical leadership could determine if the ECMO team would be successful and beneficial service to offer.

The PEST Analysis allows leadership to objectively assess a plan or idea while looking at it from multiple perspectives (Wayland & McDonald, 2016). While leadership competencies are skills that anyone can learn and can turn them successful and effective leader (Dye & Carman, 2006). Using the PEST Analysis and utilizing leadership competencies, leaders can help their organization grow and better care for the population they service (Dye & Carman,

2006).

References
Dye, C., and Garman, A. (2006). Exceptional Leadership: 16 Critical Competencies for Healthcare Executives. Health Administration Press.
Wayland, M., and McDonald, W. (2016). Strategic Analysis for Healthcare: Concepts and Practical Applications. Chicago, IL: HAP/AUPHA, Health Administration Press.
Department of the Army. (2015). Field Manual 6-22: Leadership Development. Washington D.C.