Job and Work Analysis - Research Paper Example

Job and Work Analysis Job analysis is the systematic and consistent investigation, study and taking down all the responsibilities, tasks, skills, accountabilities, required abilities and work environment of any specific job, with efforts in determining any relative benefits of duties, responsibilities, and physical and emotional skills requirements for the job. The end result of a job analysis process is hence a controlled output. Observation, questionnaire and interviews are the most common methods usually used in the job analysis process. However, there are some more techniques which can be used though they have been characterized as being expensive, time consuming and require more human inputs to use. These methods include as task inventory, technical conference, job element methods, threshold trait analysis system, competency conference, and a combination of any two or more of these methods (Hartley, D.E., 1999). Job analysis takes into account the entire process of collecting and recording job-related data i.e. knowledge and skills necessary for the effective performance of the expectations of a job, duties and responsibilities involved, educational qualifications and the general experience recommended and the physical and emotional qualifications necessary to perform a job as desired. It is usually conducted to attain the particular information regarding qualifications of individuals to ensure creation of a right fit between job and employee, to perfectly assess performance of an employee, to come up with the right determinants on the worth of any particular tasks, and give analysis of the training and development requirements of the employees who are charged with the responsibilities of delivering their specific jobs. For instance, this task undergoes through sections, with the first one being the determination of the worth of the particular job at hand. The second step would be to analyze whether the selected person is capable of delivering as is expected or determining if he/she is perfect for the job. Collection of other crucial facts and figures about the job such as location, department/ division, job duties, compensation grade, routine tasks, MIS tasks, reporting structure, being able to effectively adapt to the given environment, individual presentations e.t.c., are also to be factored in. All these partaking are for the purposes of increasing personnel as well as enhancing the organizational productivity (Sidney, F. & Steven C., 1999). This is diagrammatically illustrated as shown in the figure below: Each of the five categories in the job analysis has specific functions to carry out. Under the performance analysis, job analysis is conducted to give a check on the merits of goals and objectives of any particular job with regards to the standards set. This step helps in making prompt decisions on the best and realistic performance standards, evaluation criteria and individual’s output. The overall employee performance is measured, and accordingly appraised. Recruitment and selection, as another task in job analysis, facilitates the determination of the kind of individuals recommended for the performance of any particular job. Selection and recruitment points out on the educational merits, levels of experience and technical, emotional and personal skills necessary to conduct a job as per the standards required; with the main objective of ensuring the right person at the right position. Training and development needs assessment of all employees is a factor that each organization should undertaken, and the difference between actual output and the set targets determined. This technique helps in making proper decisions regarding the necessary training contents, and the best tools and equipments to be used during the training exercise. Within the topic of compensation management, job analysis helps in the appreciations and decision making on the commensurate pay packages, extra perks/ benefits, and fixed and variable incentives of all the employees, depending on the employees’ positions at work, designation and charged duties/ responsibilities. Hence, the worth of an employee for any give job is easily decided. Usually, job designing and redesigning are done for the purposes of streamlining human efforts to ensure maximum outcome for any investment made. Job analysis therefore helps in the designing, redesigning, evaluating, enriching, cutting back and adding extra responsibilities to jobs so as to improve employee satisfaction with increased human productivity. Job analysis has the advantages of providing first hand job-related pieces of information, facilitate creation of right job-employee fit, enhances establishment of effective hiring practices, provides guidelines that can be used to carry out performance evaluation and appraisal processes, aid decision making on compensation package for any specific job, and enabling the analysis of training and development needs of workers. On the contrary, its disadvantages include much time consumption, personal biasness at some levels, limited data sources for effective decision making, much human efforts needed, limited analysis skills among the analysts may also hinder correct job analysis, and the fact that individuals’ mental abilities are not observable (Brannick, M.T., Levine, E.L., & Morgeson, F.P., 2007). Having carried out the process of job analysis effectively and the right individuals are selected hence provided with the opportunity to exploit their skills and knowledge in service delivery, and compensation and rewards provided in the package, minimal to no supervisions or management over them will be of benefits. This means therefore that the provision of monetary value by any organization/ company in exchange for work performed establishes the idea of compensation and its management (Redling, O., 2008, p.13). Compensation concept is divided into components depending on the organizational structures. The first component is the basic pay upon which compensation packages are based, while the second one is the variable pay which has varying compensation components, though is a percentage of the basic which is paid out in accordance with the performance as done by a company, certain group or just an individual. These three sub-components of the variable or flexible pay are unique in the following manner: i. A group performance linked pay is issued out based of the reference of group or division performance within which the employees are entitled/ work. ii. Individual performance linked pay. This is the most important sub-section of the variable pay since it deals with the employees at the personal delivery or productivity level. It is paid out in accordance to the performance level of employees, making it completely tied to how employees perform as determined by the average rating of the performance appraisal. iii. Company performance linked pay is implies payments made as a percentage of the Basic pay in relation to the performance of the company as a whole. It is a bit complicated because it calls for a collective effort by the entire company’s employees’ fraternity. Therefore, in the event that the company has performed extremely well as revealed by the financial reports, employees might be entitled to the larger percentage of between say 100% or 150% of the main component. The opposite means a lower percentage pay of between say 50% to 75% of the base pay (Pearce, L., 2010, p.3). Drifting away from employees’ considerations, employers have also to weigh a number of factors in the dispensation of compensation to employees. The factors of consideration include: the country’s overall macroeconomic situation; demand for any particular skills, which in most cases may be attained depending on the employer’s fixed compensation for the employees; the organization’s position within the business cycle; and the urgency with which the company is mandated to fill up the available position(s). Additionally, constructive negotiations at the time of employment between the employer and the employees at the time hiring or appraisal cycle have the potential of influencing job compensations. A comprehensive compensation management can be constituted by having a working plan in place, communicating needs effectively and scheduling every activity within time frames. For the purpose of having a plan in place, decisions on how much more will be commensurate to the work done and that which the employer will be willing to pay must be negotiated (Fein, B., 2010, p.13). Capability of the employee to deliver must also be counter checked in the event of offering such benefits by the employer. Only effective communication of the employee’s needs will propel the human resource manager of the employing company to understand them and recommend appropriate response to the factors raised. All these negotiations are achievable through timely articulations. At all levels, it is worth noting that successful negotiations totally depends on the readiness and willingness of both the employer and the employee to mutually communicate by listening to each other’s desires and reaching a common understanding in a spirit of accommodation and mutual benefits. Basing on the factual occurrences within the organizations or companies, it is ascertain that the main factors that motivate employees’ exit from their companies are due to low compensations as compared to other companies with similar responsibilities and positions (Gerhat, .C., & Milkovich, G., 1992, p.417). Hence, employees at the entry and middle management levels tend to quite their organizations because they have been offered better packages and compensation in some other organizations or company. On this still, senior management personnel in such low paying companies or organizations do fail to take up these challenging roles highlighting that better pays provide for self actualizing drives even to themselves. Thus, compensation is a reason enough to make employees move from one company or organization to another in search for better payments. In his management theory of motivation (Herzberg, F., 2003) identifies hygiene factors as very fundamental, and their absence having a subsequent employees’ dissatisfaction with the particular job offered. Hertzberg asserts that factors like adequate compensation, congenial working environment and additional benefits offered to the employees are fundamental to their motivation, hence necessary to keep them happy. Failure to factor in these hygiene factors have subsequent impact of making employees to lose their focus and self-drive in their tasks to lead to the entire company’s failure. Managerial failure to correctly appropriate compensations and conduct good job analysis has been seen to impact very heavily on the organization or companies concerned. Human Resource managers and line managers are thus expected to effectively manage compensation expectations so as to save the face of their institutions. In order to do this, companies’ managers are expected to consider the aspirations and expectations of employees as regards to their compensation benefits and any other factors if any, during the appraisal or performance grading programs (Loomis, K., 2008, p. 5). Very important is the notion there should be a move to commensurate the companies or organizations executives’ compensation demands with the levels of their experience, and also initiate proper organizational vision and instill the company with the recommended sense of risk taking and mission determination, with a clarification on compensations and other benefits that executives take with them home. References Brannick, T., Levine, L., & Morgeson, P. (2007). Job and work analysis: methods, research and applications for human resource management (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Fein, B. (2010). Compensation Management Strategies, Journal of personnel Administration, 18; 13-27. Gerhat, .C. and Milkovich, G. (1992). Performances pay as a competitive weapon New York: Wihy, 417p. Hartley, D.E. (1999). Job analysis at the speed of reality. Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press. The JASR method of job analysis is based on four principles. Herzberg, F., (2003). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Loomis, K. (2008). Reward Management, Journal of Industrial Relation, 21:5-12. Pearce, L. (2010). Managerial compensation based on organization performance, Journal of industrial Relation, 52:3-28. Redling, O. (2008). Effects of merit pay on performance, Journal of Management, 31:12-19. Sidney, F. & Steven C. (1999). Functional job analysis: A foundation for human resources management. 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