Development of Intervention Programme Framework for Soft Skills Competency and SASMEC @IIUM Core Values Internalisation

Abstract

Sultan Ahmad Shah Medical Centre @International Islamic University Malaysia (SASMEC @IIUM) is the first teaching hospital in Malaysia recognised as a Shariah- compliant hospital. Among the essential characteristic components that reflect a Shariah-compliant hospital include soft skills competency and internalisation of stipulated core values among the staff. This study aims to examine the soft skills competency level and the internalisation of core values among SASMEC @IIUM staff, identify the obstacles and challenges in achieving soft skills competency and core values internalisation, and determine the key elements in the intervention programme framework of soft skills competency and SASMEC @IIUM core values internalisation. The study was conducted in two phases. In Phase I, 345 respondents self-assessed their soft skills competency and core values internalisation through validated questionnaires using convenience sampling. The questionnaires were developed in two stages: the development of the conceptual model, followed by the development of the questionnaire, and their validity was ensured through expert evaluation and a pilot study. The questionnaires comprised 10 constructs from the combination of selected soft skills and SASMEC @IIUM core values: teamwork, leadership, communication, moral and professional ethics, self-management, resilience, sincerity, trustworthiness, gratitude, and excellence. Subsequently, in Phase II, 10 respondents were involved in two focus group discussion sessions, representing the professional and management group and the support group, respectively. A descriptive analysis of the total scores for each respondent�s selections in Phase I was conducted using IBM Statistics software. The inductive content analysis method was applied to the Phase II data. The results showed that almost 90% of the respondents perceived that they had adequate soft skills competency and could internalise SASMEC @IIUM core values despite several obstacles and challenges encountered related to teamwork, workload, training programme, and staff selection and recruitment. Based on the results obtained from Phases I and II, the key elements in the intervention programme framework were successfully determined to enhance soft skills competency and internalisation of core values. In conclusion, we have determined the key elements in the intervention programme framework of soft skills competency and SASMEC @IIUM core values internalisation that can be used by SASMEC@IIUM management and other healthcare organisations to attain the required soft skills competency and inculcate the stated core values in line with a Shariah-compliant hospital.