Job Law Selection: Adding Value Via Humanity - Term Paper Example

Job Analysis and Selection and Personnel Law Name: Institution: Job Analysis and Selection and Personnel Law Introduction Job analysis refers to the process that enables any given organization to understand the details of a given job by investigating the responsibilities and the necessary competencies that surround that particular job and the link between the job responsibilities and the job competencies (Cook, 2009). Personnel law (employment or labour law), on the other hand, refers to the statutory law that defines the connection between workers, employers, the worker’s unions and the national government. The informational gap that defines the relationship between job analysis and selection decision and personnel law forms the baseline of this paper which seeks to identify the link between job analysis and selection decisions and personnel law via the case study of Mubadala. Contextual discussions Job analysis is used as a tool of judging the data collected on a particular job. In this context, the concept of the job analysis involves the analysis of the job, but not the person occupying that the job position. The methods employed in job analysis process are governed by practical principles which include incumbents’ numbers and job type, location and available slots. The main purpose of the job analysis process is to develop and record the ‘relatedness of the job.’ In this regard, the ‘relatedness of the job’ refers to the employment-determining procedures which include the training requirements, the selection decisions and payment requirements. The selection decisions depends on the effectiveness of the personnel (employees) assessment tools. The assessment tools are developed to test an individual’s capability for a particular job in an organization. Therefore, the assessment tools are used in hiring and placing the newly hired persons in ‘perfect’ job positions. Therefore, the selection decisions vary in standardization levels and measurements used in the hiring process; however, they are all vulnerable to error. To lessen the margin of error, selection predictors are used to validate the selection decisions via the use of scatter plots. The scatter plots provide clearly the true positives (successful performers) and true negatives (unsuccessful performers) (Cook, 2009). However, according to the statutory law, before the organization hires a successful performer, it is necessary for the organization and the successful performer to review the terms of employment together in accordance with the personnel law. The personnel law in this context streamlines the employees and employers relationship with respect to the employment-governing measures of the trade unions and the government. The hiring organization needs to differentiate between the collective employment law and the personnel employment law. The former defines the connection between employers, employees and employee unions while the latter deals with the terms of agreement between the employer and the employee. This means that the personnel employment law deals with the employees’ rights at the place of work provided in the contract document agreed upon by the employers and the employees (Guion, 2011). Therefore, the personnel law provides the employment standards that determine the socially acceptable working conditions. Although the employers need to observe the personnel law, the enforcement of law lies in the hands of the employees’ unions and the national government. In this regard, violation of personnel law by the employers is subject to legal prosecution. In summary, it is clear that job analysis is used to determine the appropriate assessment tool used in employment selection decisions. The selection decisions aided by selection battery predictors differentiate successful performers from unsuccessful performers. According to the selection decision, the successful performers are competent enough to occupy a given job position in a given organization. However, before the organization hires the successful performers, it has to confirm with the personnel law to see if it can provide suitable working conditions for the successful performers. The basic connection between job analysis, selection decisions and personnel law is that their functionality depends on each other in the listed order respectively. Recent studies show that selection batteries play an important role in the modern hiring process of many organizations such as Mubadala and 660 Inc. For instance, the 660 Inc. relies on the conventional method of job analysis and selection decisions. 660 Inc.’s process of job analysis requires the organization’s job analyst to provide incumbents with questionnaires that inquire on the identity of the job duties, relationships, equipments, responsibilities and environment (Guion, 2011). The filled questionnaires are reviewed by the job supervisor for accuracy and finally used by the job analysts to develop the description of a particular job. The organization’s recruitment team rely on the job’s description to conduct face-to-face interviews with the job applicants and thereafter, assess their job competencies based on how they performed during the interviews. However, Mubadala (a United Arab Emirates government-funded venture organization that invests in social infrastructure for global diversification and integration of Abu Dhabi’s industrial sectors) goes an extra mile of incorporating psychometric tests in the recruitment process. This means that job analysis acts as an initial framework that supports all job assessment and selection decisions in Mubadala. One expert from Mubadala’s human resource department stated that, for any organization to employee the ‘perfect’ person for the job, it is mandatory for the organization’s hiring department to contextually understand the job details. In this regard, job analysis nowadays determines the psychometric-based selection decisions in many Mubadala. The psychometric tests involve a battery of statements that are complemented with statement-specific graded answers (Guion, 2011). Therefore, the job applicants being interviewed are required to pick an answer that truly suits them. The psychometric tests are established to test abilities and reveal the personal attributes of a given job applicant. Mubadala’s hiring manager, Ahmed al Marzouqi, said that tests on abilities include questions on the utilization of numbers and words while tests on personality include questions on how one behaves in particular occasions. The psychometric tests ask same questions in varied forms to reveal the whole truth about a given job applicant (Urbina, 2011). The use of psychometric tests is accompanied by several benefits over the conventional face-to-face interviews, whereby, they give employers like Mubadala the correct and contextual picture of the job applicant’s suitability for a given job. Considering the fact that recruitment processes are expensive and time-consuming, it is necessary to use psychometric tests for ensuring reliability of the selection decision criterion. Although the tests are designed and standardized on an honest sample population, many job applicants have identified a way of evading the tricky parts of the tests. Whereby, they tend to tell the persons administering the tests what they want to hear rather than the truth. Also, many job applicants nowadays undergo secret training on how to pass the psychometric tests. Additionally, research findings show that unfamiliarity with the tests and escalated anxiety can categorize a job applicant as an unsuccessful performer while in the real sense the job applicant is the most suitable for that job position (Urbina, 2011). Conclusion From the above discussion, it is clear that job analysis determines the assessment tools of employment selection decision, but the final process of employment requires keen observation of personnel law. Alternatively, the psychometric test used by Mubadala is more beneficial than the conventional face-to-face interviews due to its insightfulness and relative accuracy. However, scientific evidence shows that it is unreliable due to the evidence of false negative results. Moreover, recent reports show that it is prone to cheating. Therefore, it is recommendable that organizations such as Mubadala should not rely entirely on psychometric tests in the hiring process. They should employ both conventional and psychometric tests in assessing job applicants. In this case, the weaknesses experienced in psychometric tests will be eliminated by face-to-face interviews. Additionally, the persons who administer psychometric tests should be in skilled and experienced in interpreting the results of the tests. References Cook, M. (2009). Personnel selection: Adding value through people. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Guion, R. M. (2011). Assessment, measurement, and prediction for personnel decisions. New York, NY: Routledge. Urbina, S. (2011). Essentials of psychological testing (Vol. 4). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Read More