Role and Importance of Job Analysis and Job Design - Assignment Example

Essay on HRM Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Definition and description of the role and importance of job analysis and job design in the management of human resources Job analysis and job design are terms that are often confused. Job analysis involves the study of jobs as they are currently performed by the employees within an organization. It involves identification of the job duties and the requirements necessary to perform the task or work successfully (Bohlander & Snell 2004, p. 162). On the other hand, job design, which is a development of job analysis, encompasses structuring jobs in order to improve any given organization’s efficiency as well as employee satisfaction (Bohlander & Snell, p. 162). It involves changing, modifying, and adding value to the jobs in order to utilize the talents that employees have while also improving the organization’s performance. For instance, companies such as PageNet, Google, Harley-Davidson and so forth are continuously involved in improving or re-engineering their jobs in order get rid of unnecessary jobs or seek better ways of performing work. Job analysis is essential for an organization in the purview of planning and development of recruitment and selection strategies as well as training development programs. It also provides the basis for a multiplicity of HRM functions. Job analysis is also essential for developing compensation systems, identifying job-related competencies to employee performance, restructuring work activities, and evaluating risks in the workplace (Pynes, p. 167). In the same perspective, job design facilitates attainment of an organization’s goals and recognition of the capabilities as well as needs of the people who perform the job. Job design involves a combination of factors that ensure the objectives set forth by the HRM are attained while ensuring that each department of the organization remains satisfied (Pynes 2009, p. 167). Benefits and limitations associated with job analysis and job design and how the two phenomena are connected Job analysis is beneficial to an organization in that information about jobs can be collected and used to develop other job descriptions, create job specifications and define job standards. Through a job description statement, an organization defines the aim, scope, duties, as well as responsibilities of any particular job. The organization states the human characteristics involved in the job and is therefore able to evaluate the aptitudes, knowledge, skills, mental demands, physical demands and the expertise required in order to carry out the defined job. The organization then sets performance standards and the minimum acceptable levels of efficiency (Bratton & Gold 2001, p. 252). In the same breath, job design is an important aspect of an organization since it enables the organization to introduce a mix or tasks that are not only beneficial in terms of the organization but which also aim to keep the employees satisfied. This implies that employees enjoy the benefits of doing a multiplicity of tasks rather than the same task every day. Since is arrived on after a thorough analysis of job analysis information, job analysis and job design are closely related. The downside of job analysis is that the methods used may rouse legal concerns (Smith 1995, p. 68). For instance, it may involve thorough scrutiny of employees’ personal information, which may not be appropriate in the purview of confidentiality. There are also problems of accessibility of records as regards job evaluation and proper documentation (Smith 1995, p. 68). On the other hand, job design is hampered by the fact that the circumstances under which changes are made to work characteristics may not be effective (Parker & Wall 1998, p. 42). In addition, job design is not a panacea for overcoming production problems an organization such as employee discontent. Hence, inasmuch as the job is enriched, productivity will not rise if employees remain dissatisfied with the prevailing conditions (Bohlander & Snell 2004, p. 162). How an organization’s recruitment and selection processes impact upon the effectiveness of its human resources Human resource management has a grown as a profession that is concerned with the effective and efficient management of an organization’s human resources – that is employees, towards the attainment of desirable goals and objectives (Compton & Nankervis 2009, p. 2). For this reason, human resource management has displaced older forms of management such as personnel management and personnel administration because the practice emphasizes on the incorporation of all traditional personnel roles such as job design, recruitment and selection, rewards system, human resource development, and career management. Recruitment and selection are particularly important in the purview of effective management and meeting of an organization’s objectives and outcomes (Compton & Nankervis 2009, p. 9). Recruitment and selection determine the modes through which an organization’s employees are acquired, and this in turn determines the productivity of an organization. Irrespective of the stage at which an organization is (starting or already established), its recruitment and selection processes are imperative in determining its productivity. The human resource department provides the details of the kind of human resources that are desired, and these are factored in the recruitment and selection process (Compton & Nankervis 2009, p. 9). From the HRM perspective, recruitment and selection reflect wider staffing strategies, and represent the initial step of managing employees (that is human resources) towards achieving the organization’s goals (Compton & Nankervis 2009, p. 9). The two processes can be considered the most difficult yet crucial of all HRM strategies since they determine the effectiveness or failure of HRM depending on the nature of strategies implemented. Why it is important that organizations make the correct recruitment and selection decisions Recruitment and selection processes are imperative to an organization because they determine how well the people chosen for the given tasks match the responsibilities they are expected to undertake. The two processes are very important to the management of any organization because it is not possible to optimize the efficacy of human resources using any type of method if no adequate match is found for a given task. Selection has been primarily concerned with matching people to particular jobs, but presently flexibility of the job as well as rapid pace change have become overriding factors in the process (Roberts 1997, p. 4). Various methods are used in the selection process. These include interviews, personality questionnaires, aptitude tests and group exercises (Armstrong 2003, p.18). Interviews are useful in determining whether the candidate has the necessary skill as well as experience needed for the job. In an interview, the candidate is able to ask questions that may be useful during the selection process. The downside of interviews is that some interviewers may pose biased or subjective judgments, thus hampering selection of the right candidate. In addition, interviews may form stereotypes as regards selection of the right candidate, and the interviewers may be overtly driven by the details in the CV or job application form, thus making wrong decisions in the end (Armstrong 2003, p.18). Personality questionnaires are important in evaluating the behavioural characteristics of the candidate that are linked to future job undertakings. The advantage of such tests is that they can reveal more detail about the applicant’s abilities as well as interest. With the personality questionnaires, the HRM can identify the particular traits needed for particular jobs. The demerits of using questionnaires include the fact that questions may not be well defined in relation to traits; good candidates may be eliminated at the expense of good their good training and experience; and candidates may not answer the questions naturally with an aim to satisfying the testing panel. In addition, tests may lead to lack of diversity if all the candidates have similar traits (Armstrong 2003, p.18). Aptitude tests are applied in measuring a person’s mental reasoning capability in terms of their verbal, numerical, comprehension and spatial or abstract reasoning skills. The advantage of this is that an organization gets candidates who can approach problems in different ways and are therefore capable of handling a multiplicity of duties. The downside is that there is no standard way of administering the tests, and one failing the test does not necessarily mean that they are not good for the job (Armstrong 2003, p.18). Group exercises are aimed at determining a set of competencies among candidates. In order for the exercises to be effective, they have to be designed with particular competencies in mind. As such if the exercises are overtly abstract, the candidates are likely to be more uncomfortable with them. Group exercises are beneficial when an organization is seeking first time employment job applicants such as school leavers and graduates. The disadvantage of using such a selection process is that it is dictated by the nature of resources available and may not be appropriate for small organizations. In addition, a lot of caution must be taken when administering abstract tests; hence, the desired competencies must be appropriately defined (Roberts 1997, p. 202). Role and importance of performance management Performance management is a managerial control tool that tends to improve the effectiveness of an organization. It involves evaluation of the various departments of an organization such as management information systems, finance, human resources, operations management and so forth. Performance management gives useful information about the four key indicators of an organizations performance - that is customer perspective, financial perspective, innovation and learning as well as internal business perspective (Cardy 2004, p. 3; Bacal 1999, p. 54). One of the most common ways of achieving the performance management process is through annual performance appraisal. This provides a clear basis for making decisions about such aspects as salaries and pay-for-performance incentives. Performance management also enables the management of an organization to ensure that employees are focused on the organization’s objectives and also meet the set standards of output (Cardy 2004, p. 3). With effective performance management, an organization can establish a development plan to assist employees in various responsibilities in the future. It also enables setting of objectives as well as goals that need to be attained during particular appraisal periods. Common problems faced by organizations as they undertake employee performance and their solutions Although performance management is imperative in improving an organization’s performance, a number of problems arise when implementing it. One is the inability to account for the distinctive attributes of different jobs. The second one is the tendency to make use of broad headings such as leadership and team work without actually clarifying the essence of these terms. The third problem has to do with consistency of assessment against broad assessment headings such as “below standard,” “good,” and so on. Finally, there are difficulties in measuring the more subjective behavioural characteristics as well as traits (Hale & Whitlam 2000, p.3). The best way to deal with the problems associated with performance management is to realize that performance is not a technique, a specific tool or a procedure for improving an organization’s performance. Rather, it is a descriptive theme or an approach used in managing human resources and manifests itself in various stages of the employee cycles (Hale & Whitlam 2000, p.2). It is therefore imperative that generalizations and wide categorizations of various aspects of the organization be avoided. There is need to define specific levels such as quality standards and performance levels in order to avoid generalizations and solve the other mentioned problems. Advantages and disadvantages of linking pay and performance Pay is one of the incentives that motivate employees to work in concert to attain an organization’s goals. However, this works in combination with other factors such as individual motivation of each employee. Cardy (2004) notes that tying pay to performance can have a dramatic influence on performance. But in most cases motivation is due to a combination of internal and external factors. In spite of the fact that money may be a motivating factor in performance, research has shown that money per se is a less motivator than it is always perceived. It has been shown that money motivates in so far as it enables employers to meet their needs, whether the needs be for achievement, recognition or personal development (Hale & Whitlam 2000, p.95). Most employees will certainly feel that they are under rewarded if they realize that their pay is lower that that of another group with whom they do similar tasks, not necessarily because the pay is “low.” Therefore, pay is a motivator only if it is accompanied by other incentives. References Armstrong, M A 2003, Handbook of human resource management practice (9th ed.), Kogan Page Publishers, London. Bacal, R. 1999, Performance management, McGraw-Hill, New York. Bohlander, G W & Snell, S 2009, Managing Human Resources, Cengage Learning, New York. Bratton, J & Gold, J 2001, Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice (2nd edition), Routledge, New York. Cardy, R L 2004, Performance management: concepts, skills, and exercises, M.E. Sharpe, London. Compton, R. L. & Nankervis, AR 2009, Effective recruitment & selection practice, CCH Australia Limited, Sydney Hale, R & Whitlam, P 2000, Powering up performance management: an integrated approach to getting the best from your people Gower Publishing, Ltd., Sydney. Parker, S & Wall, T D, 1998, Job and work design: organizing work to promote well-being and effectiveness, SAGE, London. Pynes, J 2004, Human resources management for public and nonprofit organizations, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Roberts, G E 1997, Recruitment and selection: a competency approach, CIPD Publishing, Sydney. Smith, E A 1995, The productivity manual (2nd edition), Gulf Professional Publishing, London. Read More