Demonstrating Effective Leadership: Case Study 28: Smoking At The State Health Department

Demonstrating effective leadership: Case study 28 – Smoking at the state Health Department
Ricky Koya
NHS5004
February 6, 2015
Dr. Jackie Heisler
Demonstrating Effective Leadership Case study 28: Smoking at the state health department, leadership and ethical decisions are in question when Dr. Paul Billingsley takes over as leader of the company, coming from another state. The leader in this case study is described as Dr. Paul Billingsley who was hired from out of state to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. After a few days on the job he noticed a big problem that he felt he needed to take action on which was the amount of smoker’s there were in the workforce not just that but the amount of break’s they took during there
scheduled shift. This was a huge concern for Dr. Billingsley and he quickly took action to eliminate the amount of smoker’s on the workforce as well as smoking break’s. The department’s mission statement was “To promote the overall health and well – being of the citizens of the state by providing necessary medical, fitness and mental health programs and services”. (Sharp, Aguirre, Kickham P. 71) Based on the mission statement Dr. Billingsley based his assumption that the number of smokers in the department did not agree with the mission statement and that it was a disservice to the citizens as they were representing a false image to the Health and Human service department. After only three months on the job he quickly wrote a Memorandum to the employees that read, “ Beginning immediately, there will be no smoking on department grounds. Further, all employees are hereby notified that six months from the date of this memorandum the department will test all employees for nicotine.” (Sharp, Aguirre, Kickham P.71) Dr. Billingsley let employees know that they will compensate employees who utilize the smoking cessation program they have to stop their addiction to nicotine. Clearly this did not sit well with the employees who formed protests and signed a petition to repeal the new rule of no smoking on state grounds and in general. The employees respected not smoking on state grounds but there concern was smoking in general and the random nicotine testing. The letter stated that smoking on state property was not a concern but smoking on there own time should not be a concern to Dr. Billingsley. The letter did not sit well with Dr. Billingsley who quickly addressed the letter by saying he will not change the policy and that any other protests or arguments would be ground for termination. The employees also had an idea they send letter’s to the state legislators protesting the new policy as smoking on there own time should not be grounds for termination. As the hearings took place Dr. Billingsley was called to testify before the house and senate committee where he demanded to know the names of the employees who send letter’s to repeal his policy. Senate did not provide any names to Dr. Billingsley nor did they come up with an answer. As the Leader of State health department Dr.
Billingsley has the power to encourage change and write new policies to be effective immediately without any hesitation. While the employee’s are discouraged, they need to acknowledge that they do work for the health department and smoking is considered dangerous to the public. According to the Columbia Encyclopedia “smoking is considered a health hazard because tobacco smoke contains nicotine, a poisonous alkaloid, and other harmful substances such as carbon monoxide, acroleing, ammonia, prussic acid, and a number of aldehydes and tars. (Capella) So the health effects are smoking are really dangerous so smoking on state property should be eliminated immediately as you are representing a healthy lifestyle to the
public. According to Mr. Allman “As a leader, you are responsible for the productivity of your team, the fact is Employee satisfaction causes productivity and customer satisfactions. And customer satisfaction causes profit growth. (Allman P.23) Leaders have follower’s this is one of the main differences between management and leadership. Dr. Billingsley being a leader of the People and the leader of the employees should no get involved in his employee’s daily lives by doing random nicotine testing as this is ground of non ethical leadership. Allman says, A leader’s power cannot be demanded it can only by granted and that with wages, you can but employee’s hand, but you can’t buy his heart (Allman P.23) This particular case is unethical as leadership can only make decisions on the work force when they are at work not in there daily life’s so while I agree that smoking is non beneficial for your health we still need to respect the fact that you can do anything on your spare time and that at work you listen to the rules and in this case no smoking on property which all employees agreed on.
Great leaders have followers that talk about them, and how they inspire the workforce and the public. Leaders are smoke about each and every day; every single decision they make is talked about within the work force. As a leader its important to get your team on your side, to let them know you have a open door policy should they have any problems. According to Hays “Leadership has three important attributes which are clear and consistent communication within the organization, strong awareness of self and other team members and the process of decision making.” (Hays P.2)
In this case study, Dr.
Billingsley was concerned about the amount of smoking break’s that took place on property so he went ahead and placed a memorandum to his employees letting them know there will be no smoking on property and that random tobacco testing will be done after six months from the memo hindering employees from smoking outside of property as they were concern for there job. Dr. Billingsley needs to address the situation the right way and gain the respect of his employees rather than forcing them to quit an addiction based on his theories. He needs to be in agreement with his peers in order to run a successful business and be a great leader for the community.
In order for Dr. Billingsley to gain the respect of the employees he must build excellence. He needs to do what is right for the organization rather than what is right for only his needs. They say in order to be a good leader you must first be a man of great character and respect all the decisions of your employees and your
self.
Ethics play an important role in the workforce you must be true to your self and others; you must respect the needs of others and come up with a decision based on a team process not an individual need. This case study brings a lot of good points together what I agree on is smoking should not happen on property grounds either smoke off property or suffer the consequences. Employees should have a designated area to smoke though and should be able to do whatever they want during off work hours as in no way you can control someone outside of the workforce.

References
Allman, S. D. (2004). Leadership: The Successful Use of Conflicting Principles. Kennesaw, GA, USA: Sam Allman Consulting & Training. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Hays, R. (2012). Leadership. Clinical Teacher, 9(5), 345-347. doi:10.1111/j.1743-498X.2012.00573.x
Sharp, B., Aguirre, G., & Kickham, K. (2011) Managing in the public sector: A casebook in ethicsand leadership. (1st ed.), Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Smoking. (2013). In The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Retrieved from http://library.capella.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com.library.capella.edu/content/entry/columency/smoking/0