A Job Analysis in the Organizational Structure - Essay Example

Introduction

A job analysis is quite crucial in any organizational structure because a job analysis involves the Human Resource department critically scrutinizing all the workload of an organization and the time it requires to be done. As such, as the Human Resource manager of this company, I am required to conduct a job analysis concerning the Customer Service Representative position (Gerhart, Hollenbeck and Wright, 2014). Therefore, the purpose of this assignment is to explain the approaches I would take in hiring a Customer Service Representative and how the job analysis would be done.

Discussion

The first approach I would take is to gather all the information that suggest the average number of customers that show up to the company on a daily basis. The advantage of this approach of this approach is that it will assist in knowing the number of people the job position is required to serve per day (Koch, 2014). However, the con of this method is that the number of people may not be accurate thus I may have the wrong information concerning the workload. Secondly, I would assess the common issues that customers raise every time they seek customer services at the company.

This second approach would be helpful for it will help the Customer Service Representative have definite information as to what to do when specific issues brought forth. However, the limitation of this approach is that it will not address the required steps on how to deal with new problems that may be brought forth by a client (Storey, 2007). Thirdly, I would involve all employees that work in the customer service department and ask them to make suggestions as to how the workload of that department can be eased up. More so, this approach would be helpful for it will help as the Human Resource manager get information that will assist in making the correct job analysis as to how the work can be done more efficiently.

Nonetheless, the third approach would lead to the HR manager being misinformed as some employees in the customer service department may give suggestions that only favor them. Fourthly, I would compare the Customer Service Representative job to other similar departments and see the amount of duties and responsibilities they have and then do a correct analysis of the job. This approach is helpful as it will ensure the new representative will have equal responsibilities as the other workmates (Gerhart, Hollenbeck and Wright, 2014). However, this approach may be disastrous because other departments do not have the same workload as that of a Customer Service Representative.

I would recommend the third approach for this organization because the employees in that department are aware of the challenges they face thus their suggestions may assist in analysing the job description of a Customer Service Representative. One of the vital job design approaches I would consider is job enlargement. The major challenge that would arise in using this approach is that some workers may need additional skills. For instance, since job enlargement involves adding some more tasks to employees, an employee may only know how file documents but when entrusted to handle the pleas of clients, the employee may be required to get some communication skills to perform the task better.

Another challenge that may come about with the job design approach that is mentioned above is financial constraints for the company. This is because job enlargement comes with more work for the employees which lead to the workers asking for more pay. The second job design approach that I would recommend is job enrichment (Koch, 2014). However, the challenge that may arise in this is difficulties in finding someone for the Customer Service Representative who has proper communication skills to be given authority to deal with clients directly. For instance, the freedom to interact with clients is quite enriching, but if an employee does not have the proper communication skills, then clients may not get quality services from such an employee.

Additionally, another challenge that may arise in job enrichment approach is an employee having too much freedom and misusing it. An example is how an employee who has the freedom to make their work schedule may abuse this privilege and clients may not get the services they require at the appropriate time. Using the four approaches to job design, one of the significant strategies I would use to entice and select qualified people for the Customer Service Representative Job is gratify the needs of an individual to receive growth, respect, recognition and responsibility (Porkony, 2013). Moreover, the human approach can assist in creating an environment that motivates the Customer Service Representative to work for the company and achieve more.

The second strategy I would apply would be courtesy of the engineering approach. This would involve ensuring that the duties and responsibilities are well laid out and planned thus the Customer Service Representative would be aware of the job that he or she would be doing. As such, this strategy would attract qualified for the Customer Service Representative job for they will be informed of the job they will be doing and they will come (Boxall and Purcell, 2011). Furthermore, this gives the Customer Service Representative a chance to raise the issues that he or she thinks should be addressed for them to work efficiently.

One of the significant ways the performance of the Customer Service Representative can be measured is through competency models (Redmond, 2013). Competency models are meant to facilitate change and growth of an organization by rating the ability of an employee to fulfil specific tasks and then gauge them as having performed below expectations via exceeding expectations. The job analysis plots the skills that every worker ought to have for their particular work enabling administrators to quantify their execution and even help them with their vocation path through their period in the organisation.

The second way that Human Resource managers can measure the performance of Customer Service Representative is by looking the skills, knowledge, and any other abilities that their employees may possess. As an HR manager, one should understand that the prowess of an employee must increase the more the tenure in the company increases. More so, the skills, knowledge and any other abilities of employees can be outlined and evaluated in the job analysis. Additionally, customer feedback is quite critical in identifying the ability of an employee to deliver quality work to clients (Porkony, 2013).

Lastly, the best way to also measure the performance of a Customer Service Representative is by observing the habits of the employee in the workplace. For instance, a Human Resource manager may decide to observe the level of absenteeism of an employee, his or her relationships with other employees, their punctuality in completing their work, among many other aspects (Storey, 2007). With that, as the HR manager of the company I will be able to critically evaluate the performance of the Customer Service Representative and give the required appraisals or recommendations.