HRM exam 1 ch4
Writing job specifications
Writing job specifications for trained employees is relatively straightforward. Here your job specifications might focus mostly on traits like length of previous service, quality of relevant training, and previous job performance. The problems are more complex when you're filling jobs with untrained people. Here you must specify qualities such as physical traits, personality, interests, or sensory skills that imply some potential for performing or for being trained to do the job. Finally, the job analyst compiles all this information in a job requirements matrix for this job. This matrix would list the following information, in 5 columns: Column 1: Each of the four or five main job duties; Column 2: The task statements associated with each main job duty; Column 3: The relative importance of each main job duty; Column 4: The time spent on each main job duty; and Column 5: The knowledge, skills, ability, and other human characteristics related to each main job duty. Such a job requirements matrix provides a more complete picture of what the worker does on the job and how and why he or she does it than does a job description. (For instance, it specifies each task's purpose.) And, the list of each duty's required knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics is useful for selection, training, and appraisal decisions.
Conducting a job analysis
Conducting a job analysis requires multiple steps. Step 1: Decide how you'll use the information. Step 2: Review relevant background information such as organization charts, process charts, and job descriptions. Step 3: Select representative positions. Step 4: Actually analyze the job by collecting data on job activities, working conditions, and human traits and abilities needed to perform the job. Step 5: Verify the job analysis information with the worker performing the job and with his or her immediate supervisor. Step 6: Develop a job description and job specification. Job analysis may involve these processes: Workflow analysis is a detailed study of the flow of work from job to job in a work process. Usually, the analyst focuses on one identifiable work process, rather than on how the company gets all its work done. Business Process Reengineering Business process reengineering means redesigning business processes, usually by combining steps, so that small multifunction teams, often using information technology, do the jobs formerly done by a sequence of departments. The basic reengineering approach is to: 1. Identify a business process to be redesigned (such as processing an insurance claim) 2. Measure the performance of the existing processes 3. Identify opportunities to improve these processes 4. Redesign and implement a new way of doing the work 5. Assign ownership of sets of formerly separate tasks to an individual or a team who use new computerized systems to support the new arrangement As at Atlantic American, reengineering usually requires redesigning individual jobs. Job redesign Researches proposed redesigning jobs using methods such as job enlargement, job rotation, and job enrichment. Job enlargement means assigning workers additional same-level activities. Thus, the worker who previously only bolted the seat to the legs might attach the back too. Job rotation means systematically moving workers from one job to another. Job enrichment means redesigning jobs in a way that increases the opportunities for the worker to experience feelings of responsibility, achievement, growth, and recognition—and therefore more motivation. It does this by empowering the worker—for instance, by giving the worker the skills and authority to inspect the work, instead of having supervisors do that. Herzberg said empowered employees would do their jobs well because they wanted to, and quality and productivity would rise. That philosophy, in one form or another, is the theoretical basis for the team-based self-managing jobs in many companies around the world today.
Methods for collecting job analysis information
Job analysis interviews range from completely unstructured interviews to highly structured ones. We will discuss interviews in more detail on the next slide. Having employees fill out questionnaires to describe their job-related duties and responsibilities is another popular way to obtain job analysis information. Direct observation is especially useful when jobs consist mainly of observable physical activities—assembly-line worker and accounting clerk are examples. Another method is to ask workers to keep a diary/log of what they do during the day. For every activity engaged in, the employee records the activity (along with the time) in a log. Qualitative methods like interviews and questionnaires are not always suitable. You may need to say that, in effect, "Job A is twice as challenging as Job B, and so is worth twice the pay." Now, of course, you must be able to prove such a claim quantitatively. The position analysis questionnaire (PAQ) is a very popular quantitative job analysis tool, consisting of a questionnaire containing 194 items. The 194 items (such as "written materials") each represent a basic element that may play a role in the job. Experts at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) did much of the early work developing job analysis. The DOL method uses a set of standard basic activities called worker functions to describe what a worker must do with respect to data, people, and things. For internet-based job analysis, the HR department can distribute standardized job analysis questionnaires to geographically disbursed employees. Such questionnaires may be sent via company intranets, and include instructions to complete the forms and return them by a particular date.
Job analysis guidelines
Make the job analysis a joint effort by a human resources manager, the worker, and the worker's supervisor. Make sure the questions and the process are both clear to the employees. Finally, use several different job analysis tools. Do not rely just on a questionnaire, for instance, but supplement your survey with a short follow-up interview.
O*Net
O*NET The U.S. Department of Labor's online occupational information network, called O*NET, is a popular tool. It enables users (not just managers, but workers and job seekers) to see the most important characteristics of various occupations, as well as the experience, education, and knowledge required to do each job well. Both the Standard Occupational Classification and O*NET list the specific duties associated with numerous occupations. O*NET also lists skills, including basic skills such as reading and writing, process skills such as critical thinking, and transferable skills such as persuasion and negotiation. The steps in using O*Net to facilitate writing a job description follow. Step 1. Review your Plan. Ideally, the jobs you need should flow from your departmental or company plans. Do you plan to enter or exit businesses? What do you expect your sales to be in the next few years? What departments will have to be expanded or reduced? What kinds of new positions will you need? Step 2. Develop an Organization Chart. Start with the organization as it is now. Then produce a chart showing how you want it to look in a year or two. Microsoft Word includes an organization charting function. Step 3. Use a Job Analysis Questionnaire. Next, gather information about each job's duties. (You can use job analysis questionnaires, such as those shown in Figure 4-4 and Figure 4-10.) Combine the duties of the "retail salesperson" with those of "first-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers." Step 5. List the Job's Human Requirements from O*NET. Next, return to the summary for Retail Salesperson (C). Here, click, for example, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Use this information to help develop a job specification for your job. Use this information for recruiting, selecting, and training your employees. Step 6. Finalize the Job Description. Finally, perhaps using Figure 4-10 as a guide, write an appropriate job summary for the job. Then use the information obtained previously in steps 4 and 5 to create a complete listing of the tasks, duties, and human requirements of each of the jobs you will need to fill.
Basics of job analysis
Talent management begins with understanding what jobs need to be filled, and the human traits and competencies employees need. Job analysis is the procedure through which you determine the duties of the positions and the characteristics of the people to hire for them.
Uses of job analysis information
The information collected through a job analysis is used help manage all aspects of an effective HR program. In terms of recruitment and selection information about what duties the job entails and what human characteristics are required helps in hiring decisions. Job analysis is crucial for validating all major human resources practices, especially when it comes to legal compliance. You may recall from our earlier discussion of federal laws that care must be exercised in all areas related to employees such as hiring under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). A job analysis helps compare each employee's actual performance with his or her duties and performance standards in performance appraisals. Compensation often depends on the job's required skill and education level, safety hazards, degree of responsibility, and other factors you assess through job analysis. The job description, which is created from a job analysis, lists the job's specific duties and skills—and therefore the training—that the job requires.
Writing job descriptions
The job description is one of the main outcomes of conducting a job analysis. The job identification section (on top) contains several types of information. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) status section identifies the job as exempt or nonexempt with respect to being exempt or non-exempt from FLSA overtime rules. Exempt and non-exempt status also is used to help plan compensation strategies for a firm. The "Date" is the date the job description was actually approved. The job summary should summarize the essence of the job, and include only its major functions or activities. There may be a "relationships" statement that shows the jobholder's relationships with others inside and outside the organization. Responsibilities and duties are the heart of the job description. This section should present a list of the job's significant responsibilities and duties. This section may also define the limits of the jobholder's authority. A "standards of performance" section lists the standards the company expects the employee to achieve for each of the job description's main duties and responsibilities. Working conditions include the location, tools, environment (hot, cold, etc.) and the like. More employers are turning to the Internet for their job descriptions. The process is simple. Search by alphabetical title, keyword, category, or industry to find the desired job title. This leads you to a generic job description for that title which you may then customize as needed. The Internet, particularly O*NET, can help you create the "human requirements" of the job for the job specification. We will discuss job specifications next.
Job description
The most important product of job analysis is the job description. A job description is a written statement of what the worker actually does, how he or she does it, and what the job's working conditions are. You use this information to write a job specification; this lists the knowledge, abilities, and skills required to perform the job satisfactorily.
