Job Analysis of a Secretary - Essay Example

?Job Analysis of a Secretary/ Administrative Assistant In businesses and organizations, people involved in human resource development concern themselves in the recruitment, training and development of people. When people are placed in jobs, their performance needs to be constantly evaluated to determine if they are being efficient enough and contributing to the success of the company. That is why there are various methods employed by organizations to maximize the skills of their workers and in matching them in positions that would bring out the best in them. Conducting a job analysis provides a rich source of information about the job and the jobholder in order to come up with ‘job descriptions’, ‘job specifications’ and ‘performance standards’ (Siddique, 2004). Several studies have explored the close link between job analysis and company performance and conclude that when the analysed jobs suit the employees well, they perform well in their jobs, and this translates to improved company performance in general (Cascio, 1998). It is essential that a job analysis to accurately identify the jobholder’s knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) because this would decide the operational effectiveness in the provision of quality performance of a worker (Safdar et al., 2010). Cascio (1995) claims that when organizations understand the KSA of their employees, it helps them plan for changes or create new jobs and recruit the qualified candidate accordingly so organizational goals are met. Cornelius et al. (1979) enumerated categories of job analysis methods. One is the task-oriented approach wherein each job is broken down into more basic units called tasks. The focus of analysis for this approach is the work activity itself. Another is the worker-oriented job approach where the unit of analysis is not the task but the human behaviours involved in completing the work. Jobs are described by the processes undertaken by the workers. Third and last is the abilities-oriented approach proposed by Fleishman (1972, 1975). This approach focuses on the underlying abilities and aptitudes of the worker – the qualities he possesses that make him suited for the job. For this particular job analysis project, it will fall under the abilities-oriented approach which corresponds to the competency-focused approach (Siddique, 2004). It will give special attention to competencies such as “interpersonal skills, conflict resolution skills, innovative thinking, flexibility, decision-making ability and self-motivation (Sherman et al., 1998; Dessler ,2003)” (Siddique, 2004, p. 226). That is why it is important to analyse the jobholder’s skills as it applies to her job. This job analysis is for a secretary/ administrative assistant. The methods used were interviews and self-reports based on standardized questionnaires taken by the jobholder. These evaluation questionnaires were part of the jobholder’s human resource training conducted recently. Its purpose was to evaluate the jobholder’s skills and its compatibility for her job and her future aspiration to be part of the sales team. The jobs she is currently holding as secretary/ administrative assistant as well as the job she wants in the future in sales both need skills in customer relations. The method of interview with the jobholder initiated the job analysis. I spent one afternoon talking with the jobholder, asking semi-structured questions about her work. Soon, she revealed her own self-analysis which will later be reconciled with the job analysis and if she is in the right job. Summary of Interview Job Description The jobholder’s work as a secretary doubles as the administrative assistant to 2 General Sales Managers. Her job description includes assisting her supervisors and the entire sales team of 48 taskforce to manage office administration procedures. Her general administrative duties include correspondence, invoicing, advertisements, calculation of timesheets, petty cash and office equipment maintenance and a full spectrum of secretarial duties. She handles all confidential documents and procedures like appointment letters and leave administration. She takes care of printing stationeries, purchasing office supplies and equipment, etc. She manages the schedules, coordinate flight arrangements, prepares presentation materials and compilation of sales reports. She is also tasked to identify necessary improvements in processes, procedures and tools. Most importantly, she provides high quality customer service and support in compliance with all internal and external procedures. Jobholder’s Skills for the Job According to the jobholder, as a secretary, the pressures on her time and skills – organizing files, keeping track of schedules, dealing with the boss and my customers, etc. can keep her stressed out. However, critical and creative thinking were honed in her. She believes these skills are truly valuable not only in the practice of her career but also in her personal circumstances. Working in a multi-national corporation allows the jobholder to communicate on a daily basis with peoples from different cultures and countries. Thus communication skills improved dramatically and make her value differences. Also as a secretary, she speaks to people across the board, from management to support staff and this in turn boosts up her confidence level. The jobholder admits that all these skills will greatly help her in her advance towards the glass ceiling, as she keeps her eyes on her next goal of getting into sales marketing. Being good in communication skills and rapport building are indicators of being a great sales person. She says she has great potential to sell her wares, and of course, that translates to big commissions on her part, not to mention aces up in her position in the organisation. She aims to be an asset to the organisation that would be indispensable to the team. Self-Analysis Questionnaires The jobholder shared two of the self-analysis questionnaire results she recently received from her in-service training in the organization where she worked. These tests were the Belbin Team Role Theory and the VARK test which are described as follows: Belbin Team Role Theory This questionnaire gives an idea of the team role preference of the test-taker. Team roles improve self-knowledge and understanding among individuals and teams. They also depict a current behavioral pattern at a certain point in a person’s life. Preferences aren't fixed, since many factors can influence behaviour, whether a new job, promotion or circumstances outside work. Jobholder’s Belbin Results: Implementer Strengths: Disciplined, organized, reliable, conversation in habits, a capacity for taking practical steps and actions Weaknesses: Inflexible, reluctant or slow to exposing to new changes VARK Profile: VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic learning styles. It is an online questionnaire that asks 16 questions to measure which reflects the learning style of the test-taker. VISUAL- learners who would like to see it on the whiteboard, flip charts, walls, graphics, pictures, colour. AUDITORY-learners who would like to sit back and listen. They don't make a lot of notes READ/WRITE- learners who need to read the information for themselves and they take a lot of notes KINESTHETIC-learners who can not sit still for long, like to fiddle with things. They like to be actively involved in their learning. Jobholder’s VARK results are: Visual: 1 Aural: 5 Read/Write: 8 Kinesthetic: 2 Results suggest that jobholder has a mild Read/Write learning preference.   Implications of Questionnaire Results The questionnaire results’ interpretations were researched by the jobholder and upon discussion with the Human Resource Manager, they analyzed the results in comparison to her skills and abilities and how these affect her job as secretary/administrative assistant. In terms of work, jobholder is very capable and skilled, with the knack for organisation and getting things done. She shows attention to detail and subtleties. Because she is efficient, she has become good at getting others to do things too and this is essential in reaching common goals. She is an ideal team player, showing full cooperation with others within the existing circumstances to realize their goals. She works best with a group and seeks a stable, harmonious work environment with minimal conflict as she is not comfortable with dissention. She is most comfortable in a tight-knit group with members consistently agreeing with each other. She strongly emphasizes service in her craft and genuinely appreciates people and tasks. Her priority is maintaining focus on helping others and promoting harmony in the organisation. The VARK test yielded results that the jobholder’s learning style preference is more of the Read/Write variety. This reflects how she is effective in her job as a secretary/ administration assistant as her clerical duties immerse her in words. She learns best in environments that allow her to manipulate words. Word cues help her so doing lists, inventing mnemonics and acronyms for things to be remembered and writing down details and reading them over and over are effective learning strategies for her. Diagrams and graphs need to be translated to words in order for her to understand them better. The VARK test also revealed that she has aural learning preferences. She enjoys listening to people and focusing on their words. It is easy for her to hear or watch something and explain to others what they missed. VARK clearly tells her that words are essential to her survival. She admits that she cannot imagine herself working in an environment with just visual and oral cues. No matter how many people tell her that learning by doing is the way to go, her learning preference is still anchored on reading/ writing words and listening to them. Working with a team is very much the jobholder’s cup of tea, and when she has the opportunity, she should give credit to others for what is achieved by the whole group. Being adept at reading people, she should use this skill to ask questions to enable her to check whether the people who work on practical activities do so in a balanced way that appeals to her. This will give her information to decide whether or not the opportunity that presents itself is suitable for her or not. The jobholder’s being very sociable may get in the way of her productiveness. She must always remember to focus on the work at hand, especially if there are multiple projects with her name on all of them, then learn to say no to less important favors which may derail her from my focus. She needs to conserve her time and energy to come up with results and meet her goals. Her being overly concerned with others does not only make people gravitate towards her, but she learned from the tests that it has negative consequences as well. Being too eager to please and being too agreeable, she may get hung up in the interpersonal issues of others. Also, there is a great possibility for her kindness to be taken advantaged, as she tends to be too nurturing to a fault,that she ends up doing the work that others can’t or won’t do for themselves. The possibility of letting colleagues off the hook and taking the burden or blame for whatever inefficiency is so great that she risks being perceived as not being tough enough to say no. Rather than confronting issues, she may just decide to take it upon myself and actually allowing personal or organizational innovation to wither. Thus, she may lose credibility in others’ eyes. Also, due to her heightened desire for harmony and avoidance of conflict, she usually puts up with mediocrity in others just because she does not want to confront them to shape up. Thus searching for new solutions to problems does not become a priority. Others may see through her, knowing just how she detests conflict, that they may ignore her input and expect that she just takes it. Her tendency to adopt a low profile instead of having open confrontations with aggressive individuals puts her to a disadvantage most of the time. Knowing this, she needs to learn to be more assertive of herself, her right, ideas and inputs in the organisation. Such weaknesses make her appear that she cannot originate important ideas, thus, people may bypass asking for her inputs. She needs to show that her creative ideas are worthy of at least being heard. The jobholder’s personality, being a people pleaser, would delight her customers. Prioritizing their needs and concerns by going out of my way for them would indeed constitute ideal customer service. Feeling valued and understood by someone who knows how to empathize with them is a basic customer need. The jobholder’s competencies show that she is a good listener and can keep the customers’ trust and confidence. This is one thing that keeps customers coming back for more business. Not only with external customers is she good with customer service but with internal customers as well. She claims to do her best in serving her boss and colleagues with her pleasant personality that they are not intimidated to ask favors from her. She is one to say yes and deliver the task requested with high quality. She is known to possess effective organizational skills, which are essential to secretaries. The approval and appreciation of the people she serves are enough rewards for her The job analysis for this secretary/ administrative assistant aimed to evaluate if she is competent enough in customer relations management. Pozza & Noci (2006) simply define CRM as “an organizational effort aimed at improving customers’ retention through a better management of the relationship lifecycle” (p. 144). This only proves that even if organizations revolve around business, the element of human relationships still matters a lot if the business projects are to be successful. Ledingham (2005) describes relationship management as a process of managing relationships between an organization and its internal and external publics. Internal public refers to the people within the organisation – co-workers, superiors, staff, etc. and external public refers to customers, suppliers, etc., basically, people outside the organisation that still deals with the people in the organisation. Such relationships established between the organisation and its publics can impact the economic, social, cultural or political well-being of the other (Ledingham, 2003). From the foregoing analysis, the jobholder’s skills and competencies show that she is performing well in this area, however, she is open to more improvement. References Cascio, Wayne. F. (1995) Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits.McGraw-Hill, Inc. Cascio,W.F.(1998) Managing Human Resources. Boston, MA: Irwin/McGraw- Hill. Cornelius, E.T., Carron, T.J., Collins, M.N. (1979), Job Analysis Models and Job Classification , Personnel Psychology, Vol. 32, pp. 693-708. Dessler, G. (2003) Human Resource Management, 9th edn. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Fleishman, E. A.(1972) On the relation between abilities, learning, and human performance. American Psychologist, Vol. 27, pp. 1017-1032. Fleishman, E. A.(1975) Toward a taxonomy of human performance. American Psychologist Vol. 30,pp. 1127-1149. Ledingham, J. A. (2003). Explicating relationship management as a general theory of public relations, Journal of Public Relations Research, 15(2), 181–198. Pozza, I.D. & Noci, G. (2006) The impact of customer relationship management on performance, American Marketing Association. Winter 2006. Safdar, R., Waheed, A., Quaid-e-Azam, Rafiq, K.H. (2010) Impact Of Job Analysis On Job Performance:Analysis Of A Hypothesized Model, Journal of Diversity Management, Volume 5. Number 2 Sherman, A., Bohlander, G. and Snell, S. (1998) Managing Human Resources, 11th edn. Cincinnati, OH: South Western College Publishing. Siddique, C.M. (2004) Job analysis: a strategic human resource management Practice, International Journal of Human Resource Management Vol. 15, No. 1 pp. 219–244 Read More