checking

20

CHAPTER 1

This chapter will discuss the company’s department, services, the location of the company and brief information about the training program. In general, cooperative education is a structured educational training program. Coop training is the final activity of the under graduate students at YUC, that formally integrates practical work experience into the student’s program of studies. Coop students are required to spend 14 weeks of practical work in relevant field. Coop training objectives are improving skills needed for a successful career, having more knowledge in the area of their specialization, understanding the rules of business ethics and improving professional behavior and conduct. The training program is taking place in Fhad Alireza Engineering Consultants located in Yanbu and the duration of the training is 14 weeks in this company.

1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE COMPANY

FAEC is a multi-disciplinary consultancy headquartered in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia and with an operational branch in Yanbu, together with registered branches in Jeddah and the Kingdom of Bahrain. It currently has over 260 employees in Saudi Arabia.

FAEC was founded in 2001 and has the ability and experience to provide comprehensive design services in-house including Architecture, Engineering (Civil, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation and Telecommunication), Landscape Services, Construction and Project Management and Supervision, Surveying and 3D Design & Graphics.There are 60 employees in Saudi Arabia.

1.2.1 The vision and mission:

FAEC will become the leading regional multidisciplinary design, engineering, construction management, and construction supervision consultancy. FAEC is committed to exceptional client service and safeguarding the environment and improving infrastructure. To achieve their vision they will be preeminent in the eyes of clients by delivering the right total solution and setting the standard for exceptional quality, value and service. FAEC will become the employer of choice by providing superior opportunities for the best people in the industry. A full service firm that is financially strong and growing through the business and technical performance of their people.

1.2.2 The goals and values:

The main goal of FAEC is far reaching but through working as a team. FAEC guided by values that define their work and connect them to their client’s success. Their values are: ensuring safety, exceeding expectations, building trust, quality driven, unwavering integrity, uncompromising ethics, can do attitude, rewarding performance and profitable growth.

1.2.3 The main clients:

The major clients for FAEC Company in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia for whom Fahd Alireza Engineering Consultants has been approved as design consultant for engineering services are as follows:

ROYAL COMMISSION FOR JUBAIL AND YANBU.

SAUDI ARAMCO

SAUDI BASIC INDUSTRIES (SABIC)

SAUDI ELECTRICITY COMPANY

SAUDI ARABIAN MINING COMPANY (MA’ADEN)

SAUDI INDUSTRIAL PROPERT (MODON)

KING FAISAL UNIVERSTY OF PETROLEOUM AND MINERALS

KING SAUD UNIVERTSY

KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSTY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

KING ABDULLAH ECONOMY CITY

JAZAN ECONOMIC CITY

KING FAHD CAUSWAY AUTHORITY

1.3 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The company has a centralized structure because Mr.Jim Fyvie is the CEO of FAEC Company and top layer of management and has most of decision-making power and tight control over departments.

The following figure shows Fahd Alireza Engineering Consultants (FAEC) organizational structure. It determines the flow of information from different levels and position.

Figure1.1 (FAEC Organizational Structure)

1.4 ROLES / RESPONSIBILITIES:

At FAEC Company the trainee’s main roles and responsibilities is in the human resources department are handling many of the matters regarding employees of the company such as: recruit, benefits management, record employee’s data, employee relations, communicate with employees and business heads for better alignment and contacting , selecting and interviewing the candidates .

1.5 LIST OF TASKS:

These tasks are assigned to the student during the trainee period under the Human resource manager in Alkhobar and Yanbu office director.

Recruiting tasks:

Developing a job analysis questionnaire for all employees.

Collecting the data needed to design job description.

Designing a job description for each position.

Advertising about vacancies that need it.

Looking at CV’s and choosing best candidate to make sure that they suitable for the vacancies.

Contacting with candidates, make an interview appointment and attend the interview with the managers.

Overall Impression and Recommendation about candidates.

Writing job offer letter to the acceptance candidate.

Office tasks:

Writing formal emails to the candidates such as email to thank them for sending their CVs, email to invite them to an interview and rejection or acceptance email.

Recording employee’s data in Excel.

Study labor office policy and company policy.

Issue an employment certificate for the employees who left the company.

Improve excuse system to be clear to the employees.

Study the annual vacation to the employees.

Creating job evaluation interview.

Improving the annual performance evaluation system

Issue a certificate of appreciation for the employees.

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The following chapter will predicate itself upon the discussion of the three major issues that must be addressed. These include the problems that the company faces and consequently the suggestions of possible remedies and ways through which the same can be implemented. The main problem at FAEC Company lies in the process of recruitment. A proposal for a solution was given by the trainee according to the problem that was posed.

2.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM/CHALLENGE

The trainee found that FAEC Company faced problem in recruitment process because they don't have a job description. This contribution will be designing a job description for each position that will help them in recruiting process and the candidates will be more aware about their job expectation. Also the trainee faces challenges in online communication with HR department in Alkhobar , it was hard to communicate and understand everything through distance communication.

2.2.1 PROBLEM STATMENT

Nowadays, most of the new companies come to the market without having full awareness of the recruitment process and how it is important to have a recruiter person. The recruitment process is the main thing to hire qualified employees in short-term and without having a good recruitment process this will bring a problem of not having qualified employees to the right position as it is supposed to be. At FAEC Company has a problem in recruiting because they don't have a job description. When a company do not have a clear job description for the task required, therefore it is difficult to hire suitable candidates that fit the tasks. The job description is an essential aspect of every organization as it enhances great value to the employees. It is an element that describes the needed skills, training and education that potential employees need. If a lacks job description in all positions, spelling out the duties and responsibilities of such company would always be a problem. It is thus a requirement that FAEC Company set up their job descriptions before recruiting the employees. This can be done by ensuring that there is an established team tasked with the provision of the job description to any employee in the company and this is made available to even the top management.

2.2.3 ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM:

Since the company does not have job description, therefore it is difficult for the company to recruit suitable candidates to do the tasks which is required for the company. In order to come up with the job description for the company, it first need to understand the nature of the company, what the company do to earn income and what are the skills that required to helping them achieve the company’s objectives. The job description is an essential aspect of most organizations since it encompasses almost all the units and the practices carried out in an organization. It is a challenge for the organizations without well-established job descriptions to achieve their needed goals as specified by the customers since the individuals could go out of the scope of the project. The job description has an effect of enhancing the value of the employees in an organization. It is thus important to train and educate the employees in accordance to their job descriptions so that their value in the organization is enhanced a factor that will make them feel part of the organization and work towards the achievement of the goals of the organization (Sotrin, 2013),

A study by Sotrin,(2013),examines the effects of having concise job descriptions on the employees and the importance of having the job descriptions before hiring the employees. It illustrates a research done on 300 individuals and establishes their respective responses by the aspect of job descriptions. The primary problem that affected most of these individuals is lack of guidance during the execution of their duties, and this can be done with a proper and well-laid job description. The research describes scientific management as the most appropriate solution to the found problems brought forward by lack of job descriptions. This method does the analysis and synthesizes the workflows in the organization.

In this research, the data was collected through three primary ways, that is, the use of the questionnaires, interviews and through direct observations. The research had involved visiting various organizations and presenting the research questions inform of the questionnaires that the sampled employees with some top officials had to fill and return to the respondents. In other cases, the research questions were completed through an interview with the respondent, and this enabled for the qualitative analysis. Besides, the direct observation was an essential aspect of visiting some of the organizations was an appropriate way of ensuring that the individuals witnessed some of the activities and the operations of the organizations. The results from these three methods were then compiled and analyzed.

The data type used in the research was integers that are the statistics presented were in the form of the whole numbers with no fractional parts. However, the instruments used in the collection of data included the questionnaires, interview, and observation. The research was also subject to various hypotheses. For instance, all the employees in every organization have the same experience in what is happening in their respective organizations. Also, the managers face challenges in delegating the duties.

In the research process, 250 employees and 50 managers were all reached from three different organizations. However, there were various responses from these individuals. Of the interviewed employees, 50 employees had expressed their concern about their value in the organizations with the majority feeling left out in their contributions to the success of the organizations. Most of these 20 individuals from different organizations started that most of the roles were performed by individuals in the top managerial positions and they did not take part in some of the decisions even those affecting them as the employees. This did not motivate them. Of the 50 employees, 20 reported that was no connection between them and the individuals who were getting newly recruited. Some were doing jobs that they were not familiar with and that there was a need for training or seminars so that the uniformity would be observed in the whole organizations. Besides, 10 of these individuals felt that they were not employing their learned skills on the activities they were put to and this gave them the feeling that they were not doing the right thing most of the times.

Majority of the employees who responded to the questionnaires and those who were observed by the respondent lacked the guidance while executing their duties. This was evident in over 75% of all the individuals interviewed. Besides, among the top managers, most of the individuals responded that there was a need to equip the employees with the new practical skills into their program of study to offer guidance to these employees. Some also stated that there were finding challenges in delegating the duties and thus this was presenting them with numerous duties and workload on their sides. Some of the recruited employees were not also able to perform their job effectively. These were because there were no job descriptions at the time of the recruitment of such employees.

The interviews also enable the individuals to see the various perspective of the individuals as these people would see how they people expressed themselves as they were responding to various questions. These offered the qualitative analysis of the research. Most of these individuals seemed helpless on the issue, and thus external interventions were needed to provide the lasting solution to the problems affecting the organization. It is evident that job description is an essential aspect that acts as a motivation to most employees. Without the employees getting involved in the activities of the company, they often feel left out, and this makes them feel they are of less value to the organization (Sotrin, 2013). Most people have illustrated the importance of job description to the organizations. For instance, the research that was done by Prien (1977), illustrated that job description to recognize valid predictors and the criteria for the success of the job and organization. According to the Prien(1977), job description forms the base of the entire recruitment and the process of selection. The job description is related to the behaviors and the tasks needed for the successful job performance. The managers should be in positions to delegate duties to the employees to encourage teamwork in the organization and make the employees feel appreciated in the organization. However, with no well-established job description, this is often a challenge that should get addressed.

2.2.3 LITERATURE REVIEW:

Job descriptions have a role in capturing the essence of how employees are supposed to spend their day, but in most cases, this is not the case. Perhaps this may occur because the company an individual works has some quirks in how they dispense the tasks, a factor that in most cases do not translate well to the rest of the world (Sostrin, 2013). In most companies, managers and even the employees have been given more responsibilities than it is associated with their job descriptions, a factor that has posed a challenge to numerous people particularly when they begin job hunting having an objective of moving up the ladder.

Besides, numerous researches have been done regarding the benefits that an organization that a well-established job descriptions. According to Ruth Mayhew (2013) job descriptions are not often a legal requirement, but they are essential for the compliance with the state, federal and the employment laws. Besides, the aspect establishes the guidelines for the performance of the employees which is of great help when the time of appraisal rolls around. They are an essential communication tool an employer can have.

There are various stages of coming up with a job description. The first phase is the job identification concerned with the title and code of the job where the employee can check whether they are best suited for the job (Pató, 2013). The second stage is the job specification dealing with the primary roles and responsibilities that a candidate out to perform. This is followed by the job summary that often shows the career objective of an individual and the relevant experiences that they have. The third step is job accountabilities decided by the higher officials about how and which tasks to be assigned and lastly job responsibility that deals with the importance and the duties listed in the policy of the organization. The best way to write a job description involves knowing different types of the job descriptions. That is, the general and the specific purpose. It is also important to note the type of work under the job description that is whether the work is under immediate action, general direction or under the guideline policies. This will aid in writing the job description. However, the main purpose of the job description is to find prospective employees (Verboncu & Zeininger, 2015). It specifies the roles that should be done and checks whether the individuals assigned the tasks to meet the deadlines.

2.3DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED SOLUTION

2.3.1 Theoretical Background:

As mentioned before the proposed solution for FAEC Company is to come up with a job description according to suggestions get from Heathfield, S. M. (2015),and Taylor, F. W. (1914).

Due to the various problems associated with the job descriptions in FAEC Company that are costing the company the resources and time, the appropriate solution should be established to ensure that the problem highlighted above are mitigated. One best solution to these problems is the use of the scientific management method. This is an approach that does the analysis and synthesizes the workflows in the organization. The theory has the capability of solving numerous problems associated with the job descriptions. For instance, the problem of the delegation of the duty by the top managers can be solved by the approach that ensures that there is an equal and efficient flow of work to all the employees. This method was established by Taylor in 1909 who proposed that through the optimization and simplification of the jobs, through increasing the productivity. The productivity gets enhanced since the job is passed to the other employees and through this delegation; the workload is reduced for the managers who can now concentrate on more important roles in the organization.

The solution also outlines how the employees get motivated. According to Taylor, the employees often get motivated by good pay and rewards. For instance, if a worker does not achieve enough for a day, they should not receive the same reward as those who have done marvelous jobs. This will act as a motivation for them to work hard just likes others and this is an essential motivational factor. The approach of scientific management also offers the insight on how to recruit or higher the employees (Taylor, 1914). According to Taylor, selecting the right individuals is an essential aspect of the workplace efficiency. This can be achieved when there is a well-laid down job description for these individuals. The managers should seek to higher individuals where possible upon the establishment of the job descriptions that will enable them to know the job positions and the individuals with the needed credentials. The scientific management approach offers all these, and thus it forms the best solution to this problem.

To ensure that the problem of the job description is taken care of at workplace, the top management should ensure that the following step is put in place. The first step is to have the job title that gives an accurate reflection of the jobs and the duties executed by the responsible parties and free of implications based on age or gender. The second process is coming up with a list of responsibilities or duties that are associated with the job title or role together with the time needed for every duty. This is then followed by the skills and competencies of an individual for the job that should get listed separately. The skills will illustrate the activities that the candidate can perform depending on what they have learned in the past, and this is essential when hiring new employees while the competencies represent the attributes that a candidate shows in the role. The fourth process is the inclusion of the type of the working relationships at workplace. For instance, the reporting lines will help indicate the responsibility of the position by indicating individuals the candidate will report to and who should report to them. The last stage would be assigning given salary to the various positions and working out the salary range to include in the job description that is competitive with similar positions at the workplace. This will also permit variations in experience and the educational backgrounds.

Another significant solution that can be used countering the challenge facing the FAEC Company in connection with the job descriptions is work life balance, an approach that was established by Susan Heathfied (2015). This approach is based on the aspect of motivation. According to Susan, motivation forms the intrinsic enthusiasm about and drives to achieve the activities connected to the work they do. It is thus an internal drive that makes an individual make an individual to take action. Employees get motivated through well-established job descriptions. This will aid in the establishment of an environment where the employees are inspired by work. The description will also ensure that the employers are aware that they ought to offer an environment that will motivate their juniors a factor that will make people work towards the achievement of the goals of the organization.

Besides, through motivation, the productivity of every employee will get enhanced. According to Susan, motivation means that the employees get rewarded based on their inputs in the company. During the establishment of the salaries, these individuals should get their rewards based on the experiences and the contributions they bring to the company. With this, most individuals will be working to ensure that they are at far with the other members and through this, the productivity of every individual is enhanced, and this has an overall profit to the whole organization. The rewards should thus get based on the achievements of an individual.

Knowing the various steps that should be in place when coming up with the job descriptions, various employees will be well aware of their job title and their roles and responsibilities connected to their titles. It is often a challenge finding the employees carrying out the jobs that are not described in their titles. This is sometimes a source of discouragement on their part, practicing what they do not have the right education for or what they lack the needed experience to perform. However, with the job description, the company will aim to eliminate such challenges where every role together with the time needed for the execution would be outlined and presented to them to access and follow. They will be in positions to gauge whether the roles are within their skills and competencies and with this; they get more motivated to work towards the realization of the goals knowing what they are looking for within their roles.

A good relationship with the management is also another essential aspect that motivates the employees. This also forms the fourth phase of the establishment of a job description among the organizations. According to Susan, it is a factor that gives an indication to the employees of where they ought to report and who should report to them. This is important in cases of any challenge they face while executing their duty; they know where first to have their consultations and get immediate help. All these together with the assignment of the salaries are motivational factors that when included in the job descriptions, the challenges faced by the organization will be highly mitigated. Susan also illustrated that salary is an essential motivational factor and should represent Implementation done by the trainee:the variations on the education and experiences possessed by an individual.

2.4 IMPLEMENTATION

2.4.1

After suggested the solution and accepted by the company and knowing the roles of scientific management method and Heathfield, S. M. (2015),it is easy to implement the solution. These strategies can get described stepwise as below:

1. Determine all the positions that need job descriptions.

It is important to realize the positions that need job descriptions. This is an essential stage since it will allow the management to realize whether the solution can be effective in the identified job positions.

2. Do job analysis

This is the second phase used during the implementation process. The trainee in the case provides the employees with the questionnaires to collect the required data for the job descriptions. This was specific to the identified areas that have been determined to require job descriptions in the first case.

3. Collect data from job analysis

The third phase it was data collection. Having the employees fill the questionnaires, the feedback from these individuals is collected and used by the management in the establishment of the needed solution.

4. Analysis of the data needed for the job

Upon the collection of the data, its analysis is essential since it enables the management to know the reasons job description is essential in certain positions that have been determined. The job analysis thus a permit the implementation of the solution, and it illustrates the reason the solution selected is best for the problem.

5. Design the job description for each position

After knowing how to develop a job description from Heathfield, S. M. (2015). and knowing the job title and requirements for each job it start to making a job description for each position with all requirement, skills and knowledge needed to perform the job.

2.4.2 Implementation inside the company:

The job description that is done by the trainee is not sufficient enough to make candidates clear about their job. After hiring them the manager should help them to be more aware and clear about their job. The trainee recommended to the company to do some strategies according to scientific management approach. One essential strategy that can be used in its implementation is selecting, training, teaching and developing the most suitable individual for every job. This can be done by having their educational background and experiences compared to the job title and the duties they are assigned to. This should get done scientifically and not passively (that is leaving them to train by themselves). The company should establish a team of individuals who are tasked with the responsibility of training the employees and teaching them the roles they should be performing in their departments at the workplace. The establishment of these educators forms the primary strategy for the implementation of this method (Taylor, 1914).

Another strategy will require the managers to offer detailed instructions and the supervision to every worker to guarantee that the job is done scientifically. This will offer guidance to these individuals something that was observed to be missing during the research process. This job description should be distributed to every employee to see what is required of them as they carry out their day to day activities. The information can also be placed in a computer where individuals can access it. The managers ought to apply the principles of the scientific management in planning and the supervision of work and ensure that the workers perform their tasks. It is also important for the organization to adopt a direct reward mechanism for the workers rather than the pointless schemes of end-of-year profit sharing (Taylor, 1914). This will be an effective strategy that will aid in the motivation of the employees in future. This can be done in the salary phase where the experiences and the educational experiences are added in their job descriptions. This, however, will get updated time after time depending on the position of these individuals. The rewards should also get added during the establishment of the salaries.

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter will discuss the skills and knowledge gained from training period, and also the limitations that limit the trainee to learn and the recommendations for an improvement are also provided.

3.2 KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS GAINED

The training period let the trainee gained many knowledge and skills.

3.2.1 Knowledge gained:

Knowledge is understand, learn, awareness about something gained from facts, Information, practices or skills that person acquired through experience. From the14 weeks of training the trainee faced a new experience in life for the first time .The trainee was in a new environment (work environment) and dealing with new people (supervisor, employees and managers), therefore the trainee gained many knowledge and skills related to the new experience such as:

• Make an interview in a proper way.

• Develop job evaluation interview.

• Good way to contact with candidates.

• Give the candidates needed information.

• Rejection or acceptance the candidates.

• Write formal business emails.

• Know the right way to do job description.

• Good dealing with supervisor and other members.

• Attend meetings

• Make certificates of appreciation.

• Make a job offer letter.

3.2.2 Skills gained:

Skill is the ability to do tasks in an effective way and get results within given time. As mentioned before according to the new experience the trainee gained many skills such as: communication skill, computer skill, problem-solving skill and time management skill.

• Communication skill

· Communicate with managers, employees and the supervisors by sending a formal email.

· Contact with candidates by calling them or sending email to them.

· Listening carefully in the meeting to understand what they need to do.

• Problem solving skill

· Find the suitable solution for the problem the company faced like designing a job description for each position to solve the recruitment problem in the company.

• Time management skill

· Doing the work one by one, in the beginning of the day first of all checking the emails and doing the works that have to complete by the end of this day then doing the other work.

· Finishing the required submission before the deadlines.

• Computer skill

During the training period most the works are done through computer.

· Using Microsoft Office in the daily work.

· Scanning and printing the papers need it in the work

· Using Outlook every day to know the daily tasks.

3.3 LIMITATION AND RECOMMENDATION:

Coop training duration was a great new experience and training at FAEC Company was useful and enjoyable. It helped to gained new skills, knowledge and experiences that must be learned in the work place. Most trainee faced limitation that makes the training difficult.

First, the human resources department in FAEC Companies is located in Alkhobr . It’s hard to communicate and understand everything through online and sometime it wastes the time when the HR department doesn’t respond immediately and the work need to finish.

It is recommended to have HR department in Yanbu branch as soon as possible to facilitate the work.

Second, the internet access was limited and it can only be used in PC .This make the work harder and takes a lot of time to do a required task. It is therefore recommended that WIFI be provided in the whole building.

Third: The company using only one channel to post the job which is “taqat” website this limited the number of applicants. It is recommended that the company use many channel to post the job such as: linked in and “bayet “, also use the social media to announces about the job like Twitter and Facebook .

3.4 CONCLUSION

Coop training program is a course provided by companies to students who are about to graduate with cooperation with universities and colleges. The main objective of this program is to help students in acquiring real experience, as well as achieving one of the requirements for graduation from their educational institutions. It also helped to build self-confidence and relationships with new people in the professional field. Furthermore, it builds an effective foundation to the new progress in the future.