Exploring the Challenges of Implementing Managers’ Competency Assessment Center in the Health System: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The health system needs competent managers to ensure and improve the health of people and manage resources, if managers are chosen correctly. The Managers' Competency Assessment Center is a popular and effective method for selecting, promoting, and developing management competencies. The present study aimed to explain the challenges of implementing an Assessment center in the health sector.

METHODS: The present study was conducted with a qualitative and phenomenological approach in 2023 at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Interview data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 33 key informants including official assessors of the center, assessed managers by Assessment Centers, senior managers, and executive officers of the center for assessment of the competence of managers. then analyzed by the content analysis method through the software MAXQDA-18.

Results: The results of the present study were categorized into two main themes and nine sub-themes, which are internal challenges, including challenges related to assessed managers, assessors, competency assessment tools, assessment process, and Challenges of training courses for the development of managers and the external challenges including extra_ organizational, organizational, cultural, and political challenges.

CONCLUSIONS: The establishment of Assessment Centers within the health system is relatively recent. However, their implementation faces both external and internal challenges. To address this, policymakers should systematically analyze these challenges, prioritize them based on significance and feasibility, and then collaborate with other national centers and draw from international experiences.