Human Resource Management

Lesson 3 – Analysis of Work, Designing Jobs, Job

Evaluation and Recruiting Talent
Chapter 5 and 6
BITS Pilani Dr. Annapoorna Gopal
Pilani|Dubai|Goa|Hyderabad
Learning Objectives – Analysis of Work, Designing Jobs, Job
Evaluation

• Describe the process of conducting job analysis

• Describe the factors which affect job design
• Explain techniques of job design
• Discuss Job evaluation, its process and methods

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Nature of Job Analysis

Job Description and Job Specification

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Job Analysis and Competitive Advantage

• Job analysis benefits an organisation in the following

ways:
– Laying the foundation for human resource planning
– Laying the foundation for employee hiring
– Laying the foundation for training and development
– Laying the foundation for performance appraisal
– Laying the foundation for salary and wage fixation
– Laying the foundation for safety and wealth

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Process of Job Analysis

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Purpose of Job Analysis

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Data collection methods

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Job Analysis and Total Quality Management

• The essential features of TQM are:

– Creation of a common company theme
– Creation of customer centric mentality
– Improvement becoming part of the job
– Each function to reassess its purpose
– Improvement becoming a continuous process
– Communications to improve
– Bureaucracy to be reduced
POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Job Analysis and SHRM

• A job analyst needs to be proactive in describing jobs

• There is a growing realisation of the need to match human

resource activities with an organisation’s strategic planning

• An important part of this task is the job analyst’s ability to

write job specifications that accurately detail the knowledge
and skills that will complement the future strategic initiatives
of the company

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Potential Problems with Job Analysis

• Support from Top Management

• Single Means and Source

• No Training or Motivation

• Activities may be Distorted

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Requisites for Job Analysis

• Seek answers to the following:

– Do I understand this job?
– Are all major aspects of the job covered?
– Why the job exists?
– What precisely is it expected to achieve?
– What are the reporting relations of this job?
– What elements of planning, organising, evaluating and innovating are required?
– What marks the boundaries of the jobholder’s authority and discretion?
– What are the demanding aspects of the job?
– What interactions are needed?
– What specific skills are needed to do the job?
– Will this description communicate that understanding to others?
– Can I see the difference between this job and others?
– Is there an overlap of job purpose/accountabilities with other jobs?
– Is it concise, to the point and in present tense?
– Is the information provided specific to the job and not to the person doing the job?

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Competency based job analysis

• Typical competencies included in the competency-based job

analysis include the following:
– Self-control
– Self-development – Delivering customer service
– Personal organisation – Continuous improvement
– Positive approach – Developing people
– Delivering results – Working with others
– Providing solutions – Influencing
– Systemic thinking – Leading
– Attention to detail – Delivering the vision
– Creating customer service – Change and creativity

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Competency Based Job Analysis

• Three reasons justify competency-based rather than duties-

based job analysis:
– High performance work systems may suffer if job descriptions are
based on job duties rather than competencies
– Jobs in organisations are changing so rapidly that, even with computer
assistance and user-friendly description software, HR professionals
cannot keep up with the changes
– Jobs are getting re-organised, TQM programmes are being
implemented and value of teams is emphasized in organisations

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Job Design

Job Characteristics Model

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Significance of Job Design

• The design of jobs has a critical impact on organisations and

employee objectives
• Boring jobs may lead to a higher turnover
• It is well-known that jobs are more than a collection of tasks
recorded on a job-analysis schedule and summarised in a job
description
• As the number of new workers coming into the labour market
slows and the international competition increases, well-
designed jobs will become even more important in attracting
and retaining a motivated workforce, which is capable of
producing high quality products and services
POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Factors affecting job design

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Job design Approaches

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Contemporary issues in job design

• Alternative Work Pattern

• Technostress
• Task Revision
• Knowledge Work

TheHRM
POMSS ZC441 Re-engineered Organisation
Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Scope of job evaluation

• Scope of Job Evaluation

– In theory, application of job evaluation is universal
– In organisations where job evaluation is not followed,
wage and salary differentials are established, not on the
basis of systematic job ranking, but on such factors as
demand for and supply of labour, ability to pay, industrial
parity, collective bargaining and the like
– Even in such organisations, job evaluation will be useful
inasmuch as the technique provides objective pay
structure from which modifications can be made

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Job Evaluation

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Process of Job Evaluation

1. Which are Jobs to be Evaluated?

2. Staffing the Evaluation Exercise
3. Training for the Committee
4. Time Factor
5. Isolating Job-evaluation Criteria
POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Methods of Job Evaluation

Wage Survey
Before fixing differentials, the wage rate must be ascertained
Employee Classification
The last phase in the job-evaluation process is to establish employee classification
Pitfalls of Job Evaluation
It encourages employees to focus on ‘how to advance in position’ in the organisation at a
time when there may be only limited opportunities for enhancement as a result of
downsizing
It promotes an internal focus instead of a customer-oriented focus
It is not suitable for a forward-looking organisation that has trimmed multiple job titles into
two or three broad jobs
Elaborate exercises of wage and salary fixation through job evaluation can be dispensed
with
POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Alternatives to job evaluation

• Employees need to be encouraged to make independent

decisions and execute them instead of waiting for instructions
from supervisors
• The Decision Bank Method (DBM) propounded by Thomas T.
Paterson in the 1970s and further refined and developed by
Ernst and Young precisely does this
• The basic premise of the DBM is that the value of a job
depends on its decision-making requirements
• The DBM differs from the traditional evaluation systems as it
focuses on decision-making scope as the primary criterion for
determining the relative worth of jobs

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Learning Objectives – Recruiting Talent

• The nature, objectives and importance of recruitment

• The factors that affect recruitment
• The recruitment process, delineate different stages in the
process and describe each of them
• The distinct philosophies of recruiting and understand
implications of each on employee hiring

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Hiring Activities

• Hiring involves two broad groups of activities:

– Recruitment
– Selection

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Purposes and Importance of Recruitment

• Determine the present and future requirements of the firm in conjunction with its
personnel planning and job-analysis activities
• Help reduce the probability that job applicants, once recruited and selected, will leave
the organization only after a short period of time
• Meet the organization’s legal and social obligations regarding the composition of its
workforce
• Begin identifying and preparing potential job applicants who will be appropriate
candidates
• Increase organizational and individual effectiveness in the short term and long term
• Evaluate the effectiveness of various recruiting techniques and sources for all types of
job applicants

Factors Governing Recruitment

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Recruitment Process

Personnel/Human Resource Management, p. 226

Source: Herbert G. Heneman III, et. al.,
Recruitment Process

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Recruitment Process (Contd.)

• Recruitment Planning
– Number of Contacts
– Type of Contacts
• Strategy Development
– ‘Make’ or ‘Buy’
– Technological Sophistication
– Where to Look
– How to Look
• Evaluation of Internal Recruitment
– It is less costly and firms typically
have better knowledge
– promoting from within enhances
employees’ morale
POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Recruitment Process (Contd.)

• External Recruitment
– Specifically, sources external to a firm are professional or trade associations,
advertisements, employment exchanges, college/university/institute placement services
etc
• Temps and Contract Workers
– Contract workers, by their numbers, are almost dwarfing the small number of regular
employees
– Also called just-in-time workers, temps are not limited to clerical or maintenance
requirements
• E-Recruiting
– This source is widely used for entry level and mid-level positions
• Professional and Trade Associations
– Many associations provide placement services for their members
• Advertisements
– These constitute a popular method of seeking recruits as many recruiters prefer
advertisements because of their wide reach
POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Recruitment Process (Contd.)

Internal and External Recruitments: Advantages and Disadvantages

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Recruitment Process (Contd.)

• Searching
– Source Activation
– Selling

• Screening
– In screening, clear job specifications are invaluable
– The techniques used to screen applicants vary
depending on the candidate sources and recruiting
methods used

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Evaluation and Control

• Evaluation and control is necessary as considerable costs are incurred in

the recruitment process. The costs generally incurred are:
– Salaries for recruiters
– Management and professional time spent on preparing job description, job
specifications, advertisements, agency liaison, and so forth
– Cost of advertisements or other recruitment methods, that is, agency fees
– Cost of producing supporting literature
– Recruitment overheads and administrative expenses
– Costs of overtime and outsourcing while the vacancies remain unfilled.
– Cost of recruiting suitable candidates for the selection process

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Evaluation and Control (Contd.)
• Evaluation of Recruitment Process
– Return rate of applications sent out
– Number of suitable candidates for selection
– Retention and performance of the candidates selected
– Cost of the recruitment process
– Time lapsed data
– Comments on image projected

• Evaluation of Recruitment Methods

– Number of initial enquiries received
– Number of candidates at various stages of the recruitment and selection
process
– Number of candidates recruited
– Number of candidates retained in the organisation after six months

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Philosophies of Recruiting

• Realistic Job Previews

• Job Compatibility Questionnaire

Typical
POMSS ZC441 Consequences
HRM Human of Job
Resource Practices Previews BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Alternatives to Recruitment

• Overtime

• Employee Leasing

• Temporary Employment

• Outsourcing

POMSS ZC441 HRM Human Resource Practices BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus