Staffing Work - Case Study Example

HRM410/Strategic Staffing JOB PROJECT Instructions: There are several items on this job (at least one in each of the 8 sections: top section, Job Summary, Essential Functions, Additional Responsibilities, Required Credentials, Required KSAs/Equipment, Physical Requirements, Working Conditions) that are either poorly written, not described in enough detail, pertinent information is missing, items are in the wrong section, or are legally problematic. Indicate these items by highlighting them. (Do not use “track changes” as this interferes with grading comments.) Then indicate after each highlighted item a more appropriate way to address that item (e.g. how would you “fix” them?) and WHY it is poor in its current state or if it’s a legal issue note which law it could violate. Do not simply note “more detail is needed”— be specific, detailed, and include some sample replacement verbiage if applicable. Note that your corrections (e.g. replacement verbiage) and other information provided must be in your own words. Do not provide cited material—use your own knowledge about this common position. When you are done, answer the questions at the bottom of this document. Grading: The job description corrections are worth 80 points (8 sections at 10 points each- note there may be more than one error in each section) and will be graded based on accuracy, amount of detail, proper grammar/spelling, and originality of work (student-written work only). The questions at the bottom are worth 120 points (6 questions at 20 points each) and will be graded based on thoroughness of response (required word count met and detailed answer), quality of response, proper grammar/spelling, and originality of work (student-written work only). Proceed to the next page to begin the project. JOB DESCRIPTION Company Name: ABC Enterprises Division/Department: Western Division Job Title: Human Resources Assistant Position Reports to (Title of Supervisor) Raul Paulson (The name of the person holding the position can change. Only job title should be mentioned) /HR Manager FLSA Category (Exempt or Non-Exempt): Exempt Typical Hours/Days Worked: M-F, 8a to 5p (Typical hours would include indicating the total number of hours. Adding 45 hours a week with time slots would be more appropriate. This should be we written as 45 hours; 8am-5pm; Monday-Friday). Position titles reporting to this job (if any): None Job Summary: (two to four sentences indicating the general purpose of this position- this is NOT where specific duties are listed) Clerical duties are the main part of this job. (This summary is very brief and vague. A better summary can include ‘Supporting the HR department by carrying administrative and clerical functions’. Essential Functions: (These are duties/functions that, if removed, would drastically change the reason the position exists. Supervisory duties should be included, if applicable. Essential functions are usually described in some detail (describe each duty and how it is carried out), rather than just two or three word descriptions. Must have basic knowledge of HR functions Clerical knowledge critical Helps HR Manager with: staffing, employee relations, new hire orientation The essential functions are not described in detail. This section must include functions as given below: Candidate must have the basic knowledge of HR functions like recruiting, payroll, compensation, appraisal systems, and new hire orientations. The candidate must be efficient in clerical work which requires assisting the HR manager with the above mentioned work. Additional Responsibilities: (list additional, non-essential functions described in some detail) Attends department meetings on HR Manager’s behalf Clerical duties Clerical duties are essential functions and should not be included here. Required Credentials: (type of education, prior training, licenses/ certifications, and experience required for the job) Prior experience as an HR Assistant MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Ability to maintain confidentiality High school diploma A minimum of bachelor’s qualification in Human Resources or Psychology should be critical for the position. An added qualification in personnel management would be an additional benefit. The candidate must have some prior experience in clerical role. Required Knowledge, Skills, Abilities; Equipment Used: Runs new hire orientation meetings Working knowledge of computers and software (The can must have knowledge about ERP software) Additional KSA would include the knowledge in administrating psychometric tests (a certification in psychometrics would be an added benefit). The candidate must also have knowledge about HR functions like compensation, appraisal system. The candidate must have good communication and time management skills. Physical Requirements: None The candidate should be presentable and should have a pleasing personality with a professional attitude. Working Conditions: (where the job is conducted, travel requirements, attire required) Must be comfortable answering questions for employees in HR Manager’s absence Office setting (normal office noise level) Must be presentable and dressed smartly. Questions Answer these questions with a minimum 150 word answer each. The answers need to be YOUR OWN thoughts. Borrowed material (even if properly cited) is not permitted on this assignment. I want to read your thoughts on these questions. Each question is worth 20 points. Be sure to address ALL parts of each question and be detailed in your responses. Note: the text boxes will expand as you type in them. 1) What did you find the most challenging about assessing the job description above? What tools did you use to verify that your changes are correct? The difficult part was thinking about the most appropriate skills, knowledge and abilities required for a Human Resource Assistant without overlapping them with the KSA required for a Human Resource Manager. I cleared up my confusions by closely thinking about the job description of a Human Resource Assistant and then by classifying the functions into essential and non-essential categories. Even though I found that many functions for a HR Assistant and HR Managers would over lap, for example both are required to have a good amount of knowledge of HR functions like recruiting, employee orientations, compensations and benefits, employee relations etc., I found that the parameters of ‘experience level’, the ‘amount of involvement’, the ‘responsibilities’ would be the important differentiating factors. 2) If you were faced with having to review/update job descriptions as the HR manager at a company you just joined, describe how you might tackle that project. Would you start from scratch? Try to work with what you have? Who else in the organization would you involve? I would not start from scratch. Rather I would begin with work observation technique and closely observe and scrutinize the functions performed by personnel in different departments. To achieve this, I would involve the various department heads for example, Finance, Business Development, Consulting, Logistics etc. It would be fairly reasonable to arrange meeting with the mentioned Head of Departments (HoD’s) and discuss about the manpower needs keeping in mind the business strategies. I would then re evaluate the existing job descriptions and then make changes to align them with the strategic intents of the company. By this way I can assure an update of the job descriptions and also align the functions to the business strategy. 3) How would the size of the organization affect your plan for question #2? Or would it? Do you think smaller organizations should bother with having job descriptions? What if the employees “wear many hats” in their roles? How does that affect the job description process? I would follow the above mentioned technique for a large organization as such organization is bound to have many separate departments and several personnel in each department. However, if the organization is relatively smaller in size then the above mentioned strategy would be impractical to implement as there would not be separate structured departments and most of the personnel would be engaged in multiple and cross departmental responsibilities. However, even in a smaller organization it is important to have a job description as it gives a structure to the work and to the employee, although this can be very flexible. In a smaller organization where the numbers of employees are less than 50 each job description can be evaluated separately allowing the flexibility and considering the employees interests, work strengths and area of expertise and experience. 4) How would you recruit for this position? How would the job description above (corrected version) help with recruiting? How would using the uncorrected version above hinder with finding the right person for the job? The recruitment for a Human Resource Assistant would involve a two stage process beginning with an initial resume screening and telephonic conversation followed by a face to face interview with the HR manager. The interview with the HR manager would evaluate the fit of the candidate in the company as well as in the HR department. The knowledge and prior experience of the candidate would be the most important factors while recruiting for this position. The candidate must have a good amount of knowledge in HR functions like recruiting, employee relations etc., along with some clerical experience. Since the position is based in the HR department the right candidate would follow the HR ethics and would understand the importance of confidentiality. The corrected job description is structured and would help to identify the right candidate. However, the uncorrected version is vague and very brief. It is unclear and does not specify the right KSA and competencies required by the candidate for the position. 5) What measurement devices (interview, application and resume review, background checks- what kind?, reference checks, pre-employment testing- what kind?) would you use during selection for this position? Most positions do not use all of the various devices available. Which ones would you use for this position and why? As mentioned above I would use resume, telephonic interview and a face to face interview for screening the candidate. I have selected a telephonic interview as this would be a cost and time effective way to analyze the fit of the candidate for the clerical functions required by the Human Resource Assistant. Competencies like communication skills, presence of mind, and knowledge can be analyzed through an initial telephonic interview. This also helps in setting up a benchmark for the next round of selection. The second stage would be a face to face interview with the HR Manager. This stage would be a deciding stage both for the candidate as well as for the recruiter. A less structured and open communication as compared to structured interview would be a better idea as this would allow more grounds of mutual understandings and enquiry. Finally, referees for the candidate can be contacted for any additional information. 6) What did you learn doing this project? How might it help you with your future HR career endeavors? Any final thoughts you wish to share on this project? I think this project gave a very good brain storming exercise and it put me into the shoes of a recruiter. The project required me to think very creatively about each area and it required me to give my inputs to it. It was synonymous to being a recruiter. Right from assessing the job description to later answering the questions enhanced my reasoning abilities and demanded me to think very critically about each aspect. For example, the project demanded me to think and provide trade off of evaluating job description in large organization as well as a small organization. At the end, I think the project has given me a good preparation for the role of an HR and this has taught me to think laterally. Please save (or save as) this document with your last name at the beginning of the title before submitting it to your Dropbox (due end of Week 6). Example: SmithCourseProject.docx Read More