Circular Book Solutions - Developing Staffing Practices - Assignment Example

Circular Book Solutions: A Case Study Developing staffing practices and job descriptions Executive summary Circular Book Solutions is a growing company with many HR challenges. It never had a full-fledged HR framework to be followed through. The policies were mostly dictated by the owner of the company, but were never formalised. Further, with the growth of the company, these policies took a backseat and employee benefits or hiring strategies were never given priority. However, with the company planning to expand its operations due to growth in business, it is important to develop an all-inclusive HR framework, which will help the company to succeed and compete with others in the market. Circular Book has hired the researcher as a consultant to help it develop updated job descriptions. However, on studying the HR policies of the company, the researcher found that the company not only needs updated job descriptions, but also in need of comprehensive staffing practices. Therefore, the paper provides an analysis of the current job descriptions and job roles followed in the company and the market and give a step-by-step framework to formulate new descriptions. Further, a comprehensive staffing policy is also created. The paper also provides a list of recommendations that the company may follow to overcome competition and create updated HR policies. Table of contents Pages Executive summary 2 Chapter 1: Introduction 4 1.1. Scope of the study 4 1.2. Limitations of the study 4 Chapter 2: Addressing out-dated job descriptions 4-6 Chapter 3: Develop staffing practices to support Circular’s growth 6-8 Chapter 4: Timeframes and resources 8-10 4.1. Developing job descriptions 8-9 4.2. Developing staffing practices 9-10 Chapter 5: Conclusion 10-11 Chapter 6: Recommendations 11-12 References 12-13 Chapter 1: Introduction This paper would analyse the case study of Circular Book Solutions and understand the HR challenges faced by the company. In the contemporary world of globalised economy, it has been found that the companies need to react fast to survive and succeed in the market, especially regarding hiring and retaining the right talent. Therefore, the challenge in the current scenario is to hire the right candidate at the shortest possible time (Al-Marwai & Subramaniam 2009). This case study would try to solve this challenge as well and provide timeframe and procedures to develop job descriptions and staffing practices. The paper would also give recommendations to the management of the company about the implementation of various HR polices. The importance of creating a comprehensive HR policy document is analysed in detail in this paper and guidelines are provided to create such a document for Circular Book. 1.1. Scope of the study To analyse the current HR policies followed in Circular Book and create job descriptions and a comprehensive HR document for the company. 1.2. Limitations of the study The study only provides the HR policies followed in the last five years in the company. It does not provide any historical data related to the policies followed prior to these five years. Further, the company is growing at a very higher rate and if the recommendations are not implemented in a timely manner, it can become obsolete. Chapter 2: Addressing out-dated job descriptions A good and well-structured job description is used as an important management tool for a growing company. It is also an important document in case of legal suits. Although, a company is not bound to write job descriptions by law, such descriptions help a company to make critical recruitment decisions such as deciding about the pay package, promoting or terminating employees etc (Al-Marwai & Subramaniam 2009). Some of the benefits of creating a good job description are: It helps the employees in understanding their roles in a better manner and they can focus more on the important tasks assigned to them. It provides guidelines to managers for hiring, supervising and promoting the staff (Dessler 2008). Companies are also expected to abide by the employment laws and job description is one of the many documents that the company is expected to provide in case of a law suit. Further, some of these laws, such as discrimination regulations and fair labour standards, also affect the relationship between the employee and the employer. In order to showcase that the company is complying by these laws, job description is the best way to do so (Mader-Clark 2008). It can also be used as a yardstick to measure the performance of an employee, or to decide upon whether to take a particular candidate or not, or why to pay a certain employee more than the other (Dessler 2008). However, the companies should also be aware of the fact that the job descriptions would change over a period of time and companies should weed out outdated job descriptions at regular intervals (Gan & Kleiner 2005). In case of Circular Book Solutions, the job descriptions for the company were originally written by a consultant about six years ago. They have never been revised and are out of date. For the job of marketing representative there is no job description at all because the job was created only five years ago. As general manager, Mary Wensley is responsible for HR management matters, but she has little time to devote to them. Thus, the above mentioned points about the necessity to create job descriptions were never realised in Circular Book. Therefore, the company might get into trouble in case its employees or the government agencies decide to file a lawsuit against Circular Book. The company not only needs proper written job descriptions for every job role but it also needs a framework to follow to update the job descriptions from time to time. In order to ensure that these descriptions remain updated and accurate, the company would need to follow these steps (Al-Marwai & Subramaniam 2009): While preparing a job description, include fields on preparation date and approval date for all the job roles. Once the job description is update, one should also change these dates as well. Always ensure that the job description is current and accurate while undertaking an appraisal process. One should ensure that the job description is updated before undertaking a recruitment process. The job descriptions should be reviewed on a regular basis, maybe annually. Further, spot audits should also be undertaken to find out if the job description is in sync with the current job role. Involve employees in the process of updating job descriptions by asking them to provide their feedback on the existing job descriptions. Chapter 3: Develop staffing practices to support Circular’s growth In order for a company to succeed in the next couple of decades, the HR must focus its energy towards hiring, developing and retaining their employees efficiently. In the current market scenario, wherein, the employees are nervous and stressed out after the global recession, it is all the more important for companies to develop well-thought out staffing practices. Such practices would not only ensure success for the company but would also provide a medium that would look after the personal needs of the employees as well (Roberts 1997). For a company to select, interview and recruit new people, it is important to follow certain procedures and framework. A staffing system provides the company with such a framework that would help the management to hire the right talent by guiding them through the entire process in a step-by-step manner. Such a system also provides standard hiring policies and practices and removes unnecessary risks from the process (Peter 2002). In case of Circular Book, Elaine Fossom, the owner of the company, used to personally look after the staff as she saw their contribution as vital to the success of Circular. She believed that if she accommodated staff with flexible work hours and five weeks paid vacation leave per year, the staff would in return put in their best effort. However, with the growth in business Elaine had delegated her responsibilities to Mary, who is also reeling under a lot of pressure and does not have time to think about staffing practices. The company currently has 33 employees and is planning to hire four more by the year end. Thus, this is a right time for the company to realise that staffing practices must be given priority in order to improve the employee quality in every department. The company may consider following the below mentioned steps while recruiting a new person (Collings & Scullion 2009): Creating a description about the ideal candidate for the job Selecting the resumes of candidates with required qualifications Conducing initial interviews with the candidates Face-to-face interviews and reference checking Deciding about hiring the short listed candidates Chapter 4: Timeframes and resources As the Circular Book does not have any proper procedure to develop job descriptions and staffing practices, the consultant would have to work from the scratch and create frameworks for this work. Further, this would not just be a one-time effort; instead it would be an ongoing initiative that needs to be overseen on a regular basis. Given below are the framework that needs to be followed to carry out the major activities for developing job descriptions and staffing practices. 4.1. Developing job descriptions Activity Timeframe Resource required Reading through the old job descriptions, understanding the current roles & interviewing employees about their job roles 10 days (5 days for reading & understanding job roles; 5 days for interviewing employees) 2 supervisors Finding out the gap areas in the existing job descriptions, reading about various laws & regulations related to job roles, making notes about these regulations & cross referencing them with a legal advisor 5 days 1 consultant 1 legal advisor Creating a general framework for all the jobs, asking for suggestions from the managers & staff, creating a draft of the descriptions & sending it to the upper management for suggestions 5 days 1 consultant Incorporating suggestions given by upper management & preparing the final descriptions. Sending it to the management for approval 5 days 1 consultant Sending the descriptions to the managers for incorporation, making spot audits & reviewing the descriptions annually On going basis 1 consultant 4.2. Developing staffing practices Activity Timeframe Resource required Creating job description as per the job requirement (interview the manager & staff), sending the final copy to the management for approval 3 days 1 consultant Selecting the resumes of the candidates with required qualifications 5 days 1 consultant 1 supervisor Conducting initial interviews with the candidates, preferably over the phone 5 days 2 HR executives Face-to-face interviews with candidates & checking references of short listed candidates 5 days 2 supervisors 1 HR executive Deciding about hiring the short listed candidates (discussing with the higher management, another round of interview involving the candidate & the management, deciding on the final candidate, pay scale etc) 7 days 2 supervisors 1 Manager 1 HR executive Chapter 5: Conclusion The consultant needs to work backwards for creating a comprehensive HR solution for Circular Book, as the company does not have any HR framework. The company is at the growth stage and HR policies are the need of the hour for Circular Book. From an initial staff of 29 people, the company would grow to employ 37 people by the year end. It did not have any staffing policy or proper job roles for its employees for the last five years. With the growth in the company, such a practice may result into higher employee attrition and therefore, decrease in profits for the company as well. Thus, the consultant would not only help in creating written job descriptions, but would also research about the current job roles and other HR practices to arrive at a comprehensive HR framework for the company. Chapter 6: Recommendations A well-though out and good staffing practice along with an updated job description would help a growing company like Circular Book to succeed in the market and stay ahead of its competitors. Given below are some of the recommendations that the company may follow to create a comprehensive HR policy framework: Reduce the risk of hiring wrong employees by creating the right job description. Avoid legal hassles by making it mandatory to create job descriptions and update them regularly. Spot audit job descriptions and review all of them at least once a year to find out whether they are relevant in the changing market scenario. Involve employees in the process of creating and updating job descriptions. Develop a staffing practice that is based on performance of the candidates. Profiles should be created in such as a manner that it could be measured as per the company standards. This will help in hiring the right candidates at the time of recruitment. Further, the employees would also receive fair appraisals as per their performance according to their job roles. Develop a well-structured interview process by planning the interview and giving equal attention to all the candidates. Focus on the expertise and job performance of each and every candidate. Create a performance matrix and compare the skills of all the candidates to arrive at the right person for the job. Always involve some one from the higher management before taking the final decision about the candidate, especially if the recruitment is for an executive position. Always hire on a proactive basis by calculating the attrition rate in a department. Develop the staffing plan keeping in mind the business strategies. References Al-Marwai, Sahal Ali & Subramaniam, Indra Devi 2009, ‘A Review of the Need for Writing & Updating Job Descriptions for 21st Century Organizations,’ European Journal of Social Sciences, 12(2), 241. Collings, David G. & Scullion, Hugh 2009, ‘Global staffing’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(6), 1249 – 1252. Dessler, G. 2008, ‘Human Resource Management’, New Jersey: New Jersey. Drucker, Peter F 2002, ‘They’re Not Employees, They’re People,’ Harvard Business Review. Gan, M. & Kleiner, B. 2005, ‘How to Write Job Descriptions Effectively’, Journal of Management Research News, 28(8), 48-54. Mader-Clark, M. 2008, ‘The Job Description Handbook- Everything You Need To Write Effective Job Descriptions- And Avoid Legal Pitfalls,’ 2nd Edition, San Francisco: Nolo. Roberts, G. 1997, ‘Recruitment and Selection: A Competency Approach’, London: IPD. Read More