HR Managers Role in Measuring Performance of the Customer Service Representatives - Essay Example

Organizational Structure Organizational Structure Introduction service representatives play avery critical role in an organization where they work to connect the client and the organization. Their functions in an organization includes handling the complaints brought to the company by the employees, they process customer`s orders and act as a source of information to the organization regarding the product or service the organization is offering (Moshavi, & Terborg, 2002).. This group of individuals remains to be an important group in an organization and, therefore, much attention must be accorded to it. Well trained and professional employees are needed for them to conduct the job at hand appropriately. This essay discusses the various approaches used in conducting job analysis and job design of customer service representatives from the perspective of a human resource manager. Human resource managers are entitled to conduct job analysis before they allocate the task at hand to the employees. Job analysis refers to the process of get-together and making an analysis of information regarding the content and human needs of a certain job. Job analysis helps in discovering the appropriate context to perform the job. It also helps in decision making of various types of jobs. There are numerous approaches that a human resource manager can use in conducting job analysis of the customer service representative position. These approaches include; observation, interviewing and use of questionnaires. The four approaches can be used appropriately to analyze the customer service representative job (Brannick, & Levine, 2002). Observation turns out to be the most common approach that is applied by many human resource managers. In this approach, the human resource manager keenly observes the employees as they individually perform their duties in the customer service department. The manager takes down all the information he or she observes and uses it to describe a particular task or job. The manager can discover the requirements of the customer service representative job. Observation requires a continuous follow up so that feasible conclusions can be attained. In this regard, the observation method has some advantages and disadvantages. The major advantages are the following; this approach is simple to use, and first-hand information is always used. The major disadvantages associated with this approach include the fact that it is time-consuming and can only be used on jobs that involve a complete cycle (Brannick, & Levine, 2002). Interviewing is another common approach that a manager can use to analyze the customer service representative job. In this case, the manager is mandated to visit the employees at their place of work. In this regard, the human resource manager is required to visit and hold a talk with the workers in the customer service unit and involve them in an interview. The manager interviews the employees with the necessary information that is required in regard to the customer service representative position. This approach also has some advantages and disadvantages associated with it which includes the following. The advantages include; the qualitative data can easily be analyzed and also it is appropriate for jobs with a long cycle. The disadvantages include its time-consuming and trained personnel is required to conduct the interviews (Brannick, & Levine, 2002). Finally, the questionnaire is another very widely used approach in job analysis. A series of questions are written in the form of a questionnaire and represented to the employees and the managers pertaining the job at hand. In this case, when doing a job analysis of the customer service representative position, questionnaires are created and sent to the customer serviced department. The managers in the department are required to fill the questions and also ensure the employees fill the questionnaires. They are finally used to compile the information about the job at hand. This approach has advantages such as it reaches many workers in the department and little amount of time is required. On the other hand, its disadvantageous because the employees might be bias and give misleading information and that it can be difficult to construct the questionnaires (Brannick, & Levine, 2002). In conducting the job analysis of the customer service representative, the interviewing approach remains to be the most appropriate approach. The reason for the assumption is the importance this job requires because it is a pillar of the organization since it connects the customers and the organization. Therefore, first-hand information that can be collected through this approach and also quality data can be accessed. It can also be applied to all type of jobs despite the differences in the life cycle. In addition, the well trained personnel used in this approach will help the organization analyze this job appropriately. Job design involves the creation of jobs. The characteristics and qualities that particular jobs must contain are determined through job design (Encarnación, n.d.). There are four main approaches to job design that includes the following; the scientific approach, individual contemporary job design approaches, the team contemporary job design approach and ergonomics. In regard to the customer service representatives position the individual and team, contemporary job design approaches are very important. Firstly, individual contemporary job design involves the creation of a job that enables the worker to see some sense and meaning of the job. Employees prefer outcome oriented jobs for motivation. The job must, therefore, be designed in a manner that an employee perceives the meaning of the job; he or she feels responsible for the job and also finds the empowerment in the job. Customer service representatives’ employees require being motivated and getting meaning out of their jobs example of this approach include the job enrichment. Secondly, team contemporary approach requires all the employees to be trained so that they can handle multiple duties. In this case, jobs must be designed in a way that every employee can do it especially with job rotation. Employees in this approach are considered in decision making since they have skills regarding the job at hand. The customer service representative job must, therefore, be designed in a way that every employee in the department can handle it (“Job Design”, n.d.). There are various challenges associated with the above job design approaches that include the following. Two challenges that an organization might encounter while trying to use individual contemporary job design includes the resistance from the employee who do not want any rotation and also the increased expenses of training employees in the new skills. On the other hand, the challenges that an organization can face while designing a job in the team contemporary approach includes the lack of employees` corporation due to their rigidity and increased expenses in training employees interpersonal skills (“Job Design”, n.d.). The advantage of individual contemporary approach includes the following. An individual is given a chance to develop and grow. For instance, by creating a job where the employees feel responsible and obligated to attain goals, they tend to grow and develop in their capacity. On the other hand, the advantage of the team contemporary approach includes the following. The approach provides social interaction in an organization. For instance, in the customer service department this approach creates the cohesiveness that will translate to higher productivity (“Job Design”, n.d.). Disadvantages of using individual contemporary approach to design a job include the following. Firstly, employees tend to hate any job rotation because they feel as if they are doing someone else`s job. For instance, in the customer service representative position, a senior supervisor can be rotated to work in the position of the clerk or the secretary in the absence of the secretary. It is obvious that the supervisor will not be happy and thus deliver below the expectation of the employer. Secondly, individual contemporary job approach does not apply to all jobs. There are some jobs that cannot be enriched at all. Some jobs are performed bits by bits thus hard to tell the outcomes. In this case, it will be hard for job enrichment. For instance, in the customer service department, it is not possible to design the job of handling orders. This is because of the ordering process of customers is unpredictable (“Job Design”, n.d.). Disadvantages of using the team contemporary approach in job design include the following. First, not all workers like interacting with others. There are some workers who prefer working alone rather than in a group. For instance, in the customer service department it will pose a challenge to the manager if he or she wants the employees to work together. Some employees feel taken advantage of by the lazy employees. Finally, a lot of training is required on the interpersonal skills for the people to work in a team. For instance, the employers of the organization will have to hire personnel to teach the employees on the interpersonal skills before they implement the team approach (Dorenbosch, Engen, & Verhagen, 2005). The four job design approaches can be used to determine the strategies to be applied in attracting and selecting employees. The organization, in this case, should use the following two strategies in their process of employee selection. First, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities strategy is one of the best strategies to apply in selecting employees. The organization must ensure the employees knowledge; skills and abilities go in line with the job at hand. The employee will be in a position to work in case any job design is applied. Secondly, outsourcing strategy helps the organization to get the best employees in the area of expertise. Apparently, job design requires flexible employees who can adapt to any change in design. Outsourced employees always stand a chance to adapt to any change since they are always the best (Redman, n.d.). In an organization, the HR manager is required to measure the performance of the customer service representatives. Job analysis usually provides managers with information regarding the customer service representative jobs. In the measurement of the performance of the customer service representatives a method such as graphic rating scale is used, this method measures performance according to the job duties and responsibilities as expected by the employer (Brannick, & Levine, 2002). In this regard, the information obtained in job analysis helps in measuring the performance of the employees. The information can be used in the following ways; first, checking whether the employee has done the job duties as required. Second, measuring the time used in completing the job against the required time and finally, the level of mistakes committed to delivering the job. In the case of measuring the customer service representatives’ job, the manager should consider the duties done and completed such as handling ten orders on a day, measure the time used in serving the customers against the required time and finally, the errors made (Brannick, & Levine, 2002). References Brannick, M. T., & Levine, E. L. (2002). Job analysis: Methods, research and applications for human resource management in the new millennium. Dorenbosch, L., Engen, M. L. V., & Verhagen, M. (2005). On‐the‐job innovation: the impact of job design and human resource management through production ownership. Creativity and innovation management, 14(2), 129-141. Encarnación, R. (n.d.). Job Design. Retrieved from http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/arossett/pie/Interventions/jobdesign_2.htm Job Design - What Is Human Resource?. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.whatishumanresource.com/job-design Moshavi, D., & Terborg, J. R. (2002). The job satisfaction and performance of contingent and regular customer service representatives: A human capital perspective. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 13(4), 333-347. Redman, B. (n.d.). Selection Strategies for HR. Retrieved 13 May 2015, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/selection-strategies-hr-30795.html Read More