Biomedical subjects

Andra Gumbus

Publications and source records attributed to Andra Gumbus.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Career development: enhancing your networking skills.

Can you walk into a room full of strangers and chat easily, get to know people, and let them get to know you? Networking is not just a job search strategy; it is a critical professional career development enrichment strategy that can help you build your knowledge and expertise. When you need help, do you have a network of available people or do you know how to develop a network to assist you? Networking sounds easy and we tend to think it should come naturally. However, networking is a learned skill that just about everyone struggles with at some time or another (1). This article provides a how- to network process, summarized in Table 1, that will enhance your career development.

Career Mobility↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Developing and using a balanced scorecard: a case study with SWOT analysis.

Have you tried to measure your laboratory's performance lately? Do you measure and assess financial results, customer satisfaction, internal process efficiency, and learning and growth? If any of these metrics are missing from your performance measurement system, you are not using the latest management tool that is sweeping the health-care industry--the balanced scorecard (BSC). This article begins with a discussion of the BSC and why you should use it in your laboratory, followed by SWOT analysis to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) a BSC offers your laboratory. A laboratory case study is then presented to assist you in developing and using a BSC in your laboratory.

Benchmarking↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Networking: a long-term management strategy.

As we face a changing health-care landscape of mergers and acquisitions during these tough economic times, it is more important than ever to cultivate a network of individuals who can assist you in your career development efforts. How do you manage your career in a shrinking economy? What is networking and how can you use it to enhance your career and professional competencies? Many myths surround the networking process; this article clarifies those misperceptions and tells you the truth about networking and the positive results you can achieve. Networking can be used to get a new job, but it has much wider application as a long-term career management strategy. Learn how you can manage your own career while building professional relationships and coaching your employees.

Administrative Personnel↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Rightsizing done right: the best way to handle layoffs.

The economy has slowed and the boom conditions of the 1990s are over as earnings nosedive in many business sectors. All types of organizations in all industries are performing "periodic rebalancing of the workforce" without much thought to the process. Hospitals and health-care organizations are not immune from downsizing and have experienced closures and layoffs with increasing frequency. Unfortunately, this can have tremendous ramifications to employee morale, productivity, public image, market share, and customer base, i.e., the bottom line of the business. This article explores the factors in the business decision to layoff workers from the human resource perspective and offers alternatives to layoffs. These alternatives include job sharing, cross-training, attrition, hiring freezes, early retirement, or a reduction in force as a last resort. This article also examines the wrong way to conduct a layoff and the right way using professional outplacement services and a structured planned approach. A step-by-step guide to properly notifying employees is presented, plus a topical outline of content a job seeker needs to know in this volatile labor market.

Communication↗