Transition From Industrial To Relationship Leadership

Leadership is important in nursing due to the rapid changes in healthcare. Marquis and Huston (2015) determined several leadership styles to accommodate these changes and the latest includes the transition from industrial to relationship leadership.

The scenario provided calls for an action plan to reduce annual nursing turnover following the implementation of staffing ratios, adding to the current problem of nursing shortage and unsuccessful recruitments. As a nurse administrator, the first action I would to is hold informal meetings, which provides an opportunity to evaluate the staff’s satisfaction rates, and determine and increase the factors that enhances satisfaction. Daily rounds is then implemented in an attempt to know the staff one-on-one,

as building rapport among the staff is integral in teamwork (Marquis & Huston, 2015). These two are components of transformational leadership that’s proven to increase patient safety while improving socialization and unit culture (Merrill, 2015).
After knowing my staff better, shared governance is next in line because it empowers the staff through participation in the decision-making process, and manifests trust and accountability (Marquis & Huston, 2015; Smith, 2015). Furthermore, the development of an open-door policy would convey approachability and willingness to listen and work on the staff’s concerns and issues (Marquis & Huston, 2015). According to Smith (2015), empowerment and enhanced communication such as those provided are among the factors of high performance that creates positive organizational outcomes. Lastly, increasing sign-on bonuses and giving incentives for the staff recruiting new nurses (i.e. referral bonuses) address recruitment problems. As discussed in Module 1, one issue of sign-on bonuses with the current staff is the unfair distribution of finances, which is why giving rewards to recruiters is important for it would balance if not eliminate this issue.
The first four actions were relationship leadership and the last is industrial leadership. What this says about my leadership style is I value establishing relationships more because it helps me understand where my team is coming from. Building rapport and knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each member would constitute a more productive and healthy working environment instead of traditional hierarchies and competitions.
Marquis and Huston (2015) emphasized that the answer to staff shortage is not recruitment, but retention. Minimal turnovers only happen when organizations keep their staff happy by establishing environments that increase worker satisfaction. Furthermore, a great recommendation from organizational staff is the best and cheapest way to recruit new nurses.