Homework for business major
Tiansky
3511hrm.docxHRM 3511
Case 1: Job Evaluation at KGW Health
Project Assignment
Due September 27, 11:00 am
The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate the job of office coordinator in a KGW Health center clinic. Those of you familiar with KGW Health may know that the job of Office Coordinator doesn’t exist. I created this job for purposes of this case.
You should complete this assignment in two steps.
A. The first step is to develop a final draft of a job description for the office coordinator position. Assume that each of the ten centers has an office coordinator; and this position reports to the center administrator. Attached is a draft job description (see attachment A). Also attached is the completed job analysis questionnaire (see attachment B) that provided the information for the draft job description. Please review the job analysis information and determine if the current job description draft needs modification, or is satisfactory the way it is. Contact me if you have any questions. Note that you only have job analysis data from one of the ten office coordinators, yet the job description, and resultant job evaluation, must apply to all ten. Therefore, it is critical that the final draft of the job description reflects “what the job requires,” as opposed to “what this incumbent does.” To help clarify, please feel free to contact me, and I’ll respond in the role(s) of relevant KGW Health personnel.
B. The second step is to perform the job evaluation. You will use an adapted version of the Factor Evaluation System of job evaluation (FES, see Attachment C). The FES has nine compensable factors. You must select the level of each compensable factor that best applies to your job description. Note that this is like a multiple choice test ... you cannot choose combinations of the levels – just one.
Below are techniques for doing a job evaluation, including information about how your report should be presented.
TECHNIQUES FOR JOB EVALUATION
Your written report should entail a defense of each choice you make. Defend, to a potentially skeptical audience, why each choice you made was the best possible. A good technique to do this is to not only say why you chose the level you did, but also to say why you did not choose other possible levels (i.e., the one below and/or the one above). Remember, be sure to anticipate challenges to your choices in your write-up. Note that factors 8 and 9 contain only one level for the job of office coordinator, so you need not provide a defense for these factors.
You may find yourself in the situation in which you are unsure about whether to classify a job in a certain level because some, but not all, of the standards of the level are met. To address this issue, you can use the criterion that is termed "substantially meets". That is, if a job substantially meets the requirements of a level, it should be classified in that level. If not, it should be classified in the level below. What does the word “substantially” mean? You have to be the judge. Just be consistent.
Base your choices (and your defenses) on the evidence provided in the job description. Direct reference to the job description (i.e., verbatim quotes) can be a very convincing way to defend your choices. Do not apply any stereotypes you may have about what the job entails. Be careful about saying "the job requires this or the job requires that" if these requirements are not stated explicitly or implicitly on the job description.
Be sure to understand the “concept” behind each factor, and represent the concept in your defenses. The introduction to each factor (and sometimes level) discusses the concept behind the factor. In your write-up, you may wish to summarize the concept of the factor at the beginning of each defense, then reference this as you defend your choices. Please let me know if you are unsure about how to do this.
Also, indicate as explicitly as possible how the job content you refer to relates to the factor at hand. Do not just list tasks or requirements from the job description, and automatically assume the reader sees how they relate to the standards of the level you choose. Help the reader to see how the requirements of the position cause you to determine that the position substantially meets the standards of the level. Likewise, don’t just list or mention elements of the factor standards, and expect the reader to see how the content in the job description matches the content from the level you choose.
Do not over rely on examples from the factor standards to defend your choices (as when, the FES says “for example, …”). They are meant as just that – examples. They are not meant to be considered literal requirements that absolutely have to be met. The FES is used to evaluate secretaries (in our case, office coordinators) in a wide variety of work contexts, so the examples they choose may not apply precisely to KGW Health.
Remember that you are evaluating the job, not the person. This job evaluation should apply (generally) no matter who the incumbent is. Given this, do not use phrases such as “Keisha is responsible for ...", or "she handles these duties". Instead, perhaps say "the incumbent must ..." or "the job requires ...". Never make references to gender in your report. Some office coordinators may be men.
Please present your results in a business report. Start with a brief summary section that outlines what the project entailed, and the results of the project including the total number of points for the job. How you format the rest of the report is up to you, though I’d suggest a report broken into sections, each section a compensable factor. Please contact me if you would like more direction on this. Please attach your final job description, with any changes from the original noted.
Your grade on this project will be based on how persuasive you are in defending your choices (based on the techniques presented above), and the overall presentation of your report including grammar, sentence construction, and spelling.
******* CHECKLIST BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR REPORT *******
□ Say why you chose the level, and why you didn’t choose other levels
□ Use “substantially meets” criterion
□ Base your decisions on the content of the job from the job description, not stereotypes
□ Reflect the concept of the factor in your defenses
□ Make an explicit connection between the content of the job and the factor standards
□ Don’t over rely on the examples from the FES
□ Be sure to evaluate the job, not the person
John R. Deckop
ATTACHMENT A JOB DESCRIPTION
Position Title: Office Coordinator Reports To: Center Administrator
Division: 6 Positions Supervised: 0
Salary Grade: Union Representation: No
EEO Position Code: 1 Job Analysis Date: January, 2014
Position Type: Non-exempt
Job Summary
Provides direct secretarial support to the center administrator, maintains employee records, researches and prepares budget information dealing with fixed costs, and collaborates with clerical employees to maintain an efficient work flow and adequate job coverage. Uses Microsoft Office suite and KGW Health proprietary software in accomplishing major responsibilities.
Responsibilities
a. Assistance to the Center Administrator
Provide direct clerical and organizational support to the center administrator, including the maintenance of the administrator’s calendar and files, the screening of telephone calls, and the editing and distribution of written communication. All tasks involve the use of a computer network and Microsoft Office software.
b. Maintenance of Center Employee Records
Maintain and update attendance and payroll information for seven non-exempt employees and all temporary staff to assure accurate compensation. Document actions taken for and against employees using standardized forms
c. Budget Support
Assist the Center Administrator in budget planning processes by calculating personnel and overhead expenses, and by identifying areas of potential cost increase. All work is performed using Microsoft Excel.
d. Other Responsibilities
Collaborate with clerical employees to assure efficient work flow and job coverage when necessary, including the assumption of billing, accounts payable, and vendor contact processes using KGW Health proprietary software. Provide assistance in executing special projects required by the center administrator and is expected to participate in annual performance and job structure reviews of some of the clerical staff in the center.
Internal Contacts
a. Reports to Center Administrator. Administrator is responsible for final approval of all work completed by the incumbent and prepares annual performance evaluation.
b. Collaborative relationship with center clerical staff. Collaborates with clerical staff and temporary clerical workers to facilitate workflow and job coverage.
c. Contact with corporate headquarters. Responds to requests for data and files personnel requisition requests for the center.
External Contacts
a. Public contact. Occasional contact with customers. This contact may result from customer queries regarding issues that are not immediately resolved by the designated staff member. The coordinator will direct the customer to the appropriate staff person, or to the center administrator for resolution.
b. Vendor Contact. Contact with vendors results from initial inquiries from unsolicited vendors, or from working in collaboration with clerical staff.
Job Specifications
Education. The minimum requirement for this position is an A.A. degree in a business administration program.
Skills. The incumbent must be able to use the Microsoft Office suite, particularly Microsoft Word and Excel. Excellent writing skills and basic math skills are also required.
Experience. The position requires at least two years of office support experience, preferably in a Healthcare environment.
KGW Health Inc. Job Analysis Questionnaire
POSITION TITLE: Office Coordinator REPORTS TO: Center Administrator
DIVISION: 6 POSITIONS SUPERVISED (DIRECT): 0
SALARY GRADE: -- UNION REPRESENTATION: No
EEO POSITION CODE: 1 JOB ANALYSIS DATE: August 15, 2018
POSITION TYPE: Non-exempt Incumbent Completing Form: Keisha Stone
Instructions: Be as thorough as possible. Complete the entire questionnaire. Remember, the information you provide will have important consequences for the evaluation of your job.
Provide a General Description of Duties:
I spend part of my time as secretary and assistant to Mrs. Cooper, some time on payroll, and the remainder of the time supervising clerks and performing clerical activities.
Describe Your Major Responsibilities:
I maintain the administrator's appointment calendar, type email memoranda and correspondence from the administrator's verbal dictation, correct grammar, and frequently rearrange sentence structure to create the best impression on the reader. I compose correspondence as needed or at the request of the administrator without direct dictation or a draft from which to work, and frequently compose response memoranda to the various organizations or patients who request information.
I take the administrator's phone calls, and whenever possible, screen out the unnecessary ones. I am aware of the work the administrator conducts so that in her absence I can relate information when it is appropriate or necessary to those persons asking specific questions.
My boss is currently in the first year of her two-year term as the Chairperson of the KGW’s United Way charity fundraising drive. I handle many of the clerical responsibilities of this role, including processing and recording employee contributions, and assessing progress to KGW’s fundraising goal. All of this is done using spreadsheets.
I am responsible for maintaining the time records of 7 clerical employees, tabulating time (weekly) worked by each non-exempt employee from his or her sign-in sheets to assure a full 40 hour week is worked and that any time over 40 hours is paid overtime rates at time and a half. I maintain a daily attendance log that indicates any absences of the non-exempt employees and whether those absences are taken from sick or annual leave or if pay is to be docked. I tabulate a weekly payroll for any temporary employees, updating and correcting any errors on a monthly spreadsheet of each employee's leave accrual. The correcting and updating are based on records maintained from leave records which are recorded upon an employee's absence, showing his or her name, Social Security number, number of hours of the absence, date of the absence, and whether or not it should be taken form sick or annual leave. I complete a PR-1 (Personnel Request form) and PA-1 (Personnel Action form) which indicate various actions taken for or against an employee or position, such as an appointment to a position, name and/or address change, 6 month's pay increase, promotion, demotion, annual pay increase, leave without pay for unexcused absence or for insufficient sick or annual leave, discipline, termination, and a request form for a new employee to fill a vacant position. I submit a Position Retention Justification form with the main HR office in Philadelphia for approval to retain and fill a vacant position at the center.
I assist the Administrator in maintaining and completing the Center's annual budget. This is done in a spreadsheet file that provides the various accounts the Center is allowed. I maintaining the spreadsheet with data from the accounting department, and periodically check for deviations from budget. If I see something in this area, I notify Mrs. Cooper. In the past few years Mrs. Cooper has asked me to do some calculations to help prepare the budget in the first place. I have been calculating such things as how much each employee will cost the Center in salary and benefits, how much rent and utilities will cost in the next year, how much is needed to maintain the various phases of the Center's operation, and any cost increases that might occur. Mrs. Cooper works on other areas, such as advertising, funding for new positions, and other highly variable expenses. In the period leading up to the budget deadline, I sometimes take the budget home with me and work on it at nights or over the weekend. My work on the budget is submitted to the Administrator, who then finalizes and submits the entire budget to the accounting department at the Home Office for final approval.
In addition to the duties mentioned, I am also the unofficial “go-to” person at the Center for questions from Center employees. As I work closely with the Center administrator, I am usually the one approached when someone has questions about Center operations. These questions range from how to order pencils, to parking assignments, to what happened to the coffee pot, to what days are holidays, to ... . Though I enjoy serving this role, it can take a lot of time out of my day.
Whom Do You Supervise? Describe the Nature of the Supervision.
I supervise three clerical workers and have a working knowledge of their duties and the assumption of as many clerical duties as possible when a clerk is out of the office or when the workload is heavy. These duties include answering telephones and sometimes emails, waiting on patients and vendors at the front desk (answering questions, giving directions, sending patients to the right place, and talking with job applicants), accepting bills for services rendered to the Center by outside concerns or for purchases made by Center personnel, recording receipts, preparing billing statements, and the like. I also assist the clerks in difficult situations with the public at the front desk and over the phone. I answer questions from clerks and advise them how to handle problems. Both Mrs. Cooper and I assign work to the clerks, though I am usually the one to make sure it is completed in a timely manner.
I provide input to my boss concerning hiring, firing, discipline, and performance appraisal of the clerks. Typically, I prepare an initial recommendation regarding these actions, and Mrs. Cooper can then approve, disapprove, or modify my recommendations. However, Mrs. Cooper almost always follows my recommendations.
What Education and/or Skills Training Have You had to Prepare You for the Job?
I have a high school degree, and have taken seminars offered by Montgomery Community College in Microsoft Office and the Basics of Supervision. I worked as a secretary at another company for 7 years before starting this job 6 years ago.
ATTACHMENT C
Factor Evaluation System
Secretary Coordinator Series
SERIES DEFINITION
This series includes all positions the duties of which are to assist one individual, and in some cases the subordinate staff of that individual, by performing general office work auxiliary to the work of the organization. To be included in this series, a position must be the principal office clerical or administrative support position in the office, operating independently of any other such position in the office. The duties require the knowledge of clerical and administrative procedures and requirements; various office skills; and the ability to apply such skills in a way that increases the effectiveness of others. The duties do not require a technical or professional knowledge of a specialized subjectmatter area.
FACTOR LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS
This section defines the levels of the nine factors as they apply to the Secretary Series.
FACTOR 4, COMPLEXITY
This factor covers the nature, number, variety, and intricacy of tasks, steps, processes, or methods in the work performed; the difficulty in identifying what needs to be done; and the difficulty and originality involved in performing the work.
Level 41 25 points
The work consists of a few clearcut tasks. The secretary typically provides typing or stenographic services, maintains simple office files, sorts mail into a few categories, and refers phone calls and visitors to staff members.
There is little choice in deciding what needs to be done or when it should be done. Work is performed either as it arrives or in an order set by someone else.
Actions to be taken are readily discernible, e.g., phone calls are simply referred to the requested staff member; otherwise, the secretary requests assistance.
Level 42 75 points
The work consists of duties that involve various related steps, processes, or methods. In addition to duties as varied as those described at level 41, secretaries at this level perform a full range of procedural duties in support of the office, including as examples requisitioning supplies, printing, or maintenance service; filling out various travel forms for staff members; arranging for meeting rooms; and preparing scheduled reports from information readily available in the files.
Decisions regarding what needs to be done involve various choices requiring the secretary to recognize the existence of and differences among clearly recognizable situations.
Actions to be taken or responses to be made differ in such things as the sources of information, the kind of transactions or entries, or other readily verifiable differences. Decisions at this level are based on knowledge of the procedural requirements of the work coupled with an awareness of the specific functions and staff assignments of the office.
Level 43 150 points
The work includes various duties involving different and unrelated processes and methods. For example, in addition to duties described at levels 41 and 42, the secretary performs a number of duties comparable to the following:
prepare oneofakind reports from information in various documents when this requires reading correspondence and reports to identify relevant items, and when decisions are based on a familiarity with the issues involved and the relationships between the various types of information; and
set up conferences requiring the planning and arranging of travel and hotel accommodations for conference participants when this is based on a knowledge of the schedules and commitments of the participants.
Decisions regarding what needs to be done, and how to accomplish them, are based on the secretary's knowledge of the duties, priorities, commitments, policies, and program goals of the supervisor and staff, and involve analysis of the subject, phase, or issues involved in each assignment. The chosen courses are selected from many alternatives.
FACTOR 5, SCOPE AND EFFECT
Scope and Effect covers the relationship between the nature of the work, i.e., the purpose, breadth, and depth of the assignment, and the effect of work products or services both within and outside the organization.
In this occupation, effect measures such things as whether the work output facilitates the work of others, provides timely services of a personal nature, or affects the adequacy of systems of clerical and administrative support. Effect alone does not provide sufficient information to properly understand and evaluate the impact of the position. The scope of the work completes the picture, allowing consistent evaluations. Only the effect of properly performed work is to be considered.
Level 51 25 points
The purpose of the assignment is the performance of routine operations involving a few tasks or procedures. At this level, the secretary typically provides typing or stenography services, maintains time and leave records for the organization, maintains the office files, and refers phone calls and visitors to staff members. The work has little impact beyond the immediate organization.
Level 52 75 points
At this level, the purpose of the work is to carry out specific procedures. The work affects the accuracy and reliability of further processes.
Duties frequently appearing at this level include:
serving as liaison between the supervisor and other offices in the organization;
consolidating reports submitted by other offices;
arranging meetings involving staff from outside the immediate office.
Level 53 150 points
Positions at this level serve offices that clearly and directly affect a wide range of activities, operations in other offices, or a large segment of the public or business community. The secretary at this level modifies and devises methods and procedures that significantly and consistently affect the accomplishment of the mission of the office. The secretary identifies and resolves various problems and situations that affect the orderly and efficient flow of work in transactions with parties outside the organization.
