450-500 Words

Annotated Outline:

I. The Talent Management Process – a holistic, integrated, and results and goal-oriented process of planning recruiting, selecting, developing, managing, and compensating employees.

A. Improving Performance Through HRIS: Talent Management Software – because talent management is holistic and interdependent, many employers use talent management software systems to coordinate their talent-related activities.

II. The Basics of Job Analysis

A. What is Job Analysis? – it is the procedure through which you determine the duties of the company’s positions and the characteristics of the people to hire for them.

B. The Use of Job Analysis Information

1. Recruitment and Selection – information about what duties the job entails and what human characteristics are required to perform these activities helps managers to decide what sort of people to recruit and hire.

2. EEO Compliance – job analysis is a crucial step in validating all major human resources practices.

3. Performance Appraisal – compares each employee’s actual performance with his or her duties and performance standard. Managers use job analysis to learn what these duties and standards are.

4. Compensation – (such as salary and bonus) usually depends on the job’s required skill and education level, safety hazards, degree of responsibility, and so on—all factors you assess through job analysis.

5. Training – the job description lists the job’s specific duties and requisite skills—thus pinpointing what training the job requires.

C. Conducting a Job Analysis – There are six steps in doing a job analysis:

1. Step One: Decide How You Will Use the Information

2. Step Two: Review Relevant Background Information About the Job, Such as Organizational Charts and Process Charts

a. Workflow Analysis

b. Improving Performance: HR as a Profit Center

c. Business Process Reengineering

d. Job Redesign

3. Step Three: Select Representative Positions

4. Step Four: Actually Analyze the Job

5. Step Five: Verify the Job Analysis Information with the Worker Performing the Job and with His or Her Immediate Supervisor

6. Step Six: Develop a Job Description and Job Specification

III. Methods for Collecting Job Analysis Information – there are many ways (interviews or questionnaires, for instance) to collect job information. The basic rule is to use those that best fit your purpose.

A. The Interview – the three types of interviews managers use to collect job analysis data are: individual (to get the employee’s perspective on the job’s duties and responsibilities, group (when large numbers of employees perform the same job), and supervisor (to get his/her perspective on the job’s duties and responsibilities).

1. Typical Questions – “What is the job being performed?” “In what activities do you participate?” “What are the health and safety conditions?”

2. Structured Interviews – many managers use questionnaires to guide the interview. Figure 4-4 presents one example.

3. Pros and Cons – interviews are simple, quick, and more comprehensive because the interviewer can unearth activities that may never appear in written form. The main problem is distortion, which may arise from the jobholder’s need to impress the perceptions of others.

4. Interviewing Guidelines – several techniques to keep in mind when conducting interviews are discussed.

B. Questionnaires – structured or unstructured questionnaires may be used to obtain job analysis information. Questionnaires can be a quick, efficient way of gathering information from a large number of employees. But, developing and testing a questionnaire can be expensive and time consuming.

C. Observation – direct observations are useful when jobs consist of mainly observable physical activity as opposed to mental activity. A potential problem with direct observations is reactivity, which is where workers change what they normally do because they are being watched. Managers often use direct observation and interviewing together.

D. Participant Diary/Logs – in a diary or log, the employee records every activity he/she engages in, along with the amount of time needed to perform each activity, in order to produce a complete picture of the job. Pocket dictating machines can help remind the worker to enter data at specific times and eliminate the challenge of trying to remember at a later time what was done.

E. Quantitative Job Analysis Techniques

1. Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) –a questionnaire containing 194 items used to collect quantifiable data representing, five basic elements: 1) having decision-making/communication/social responsibilities, 2) performing skilled activities, 3) being physically active, 4) operating vehicles/equipment, and 5) processing information.

2. Department of Labor Procedure (DOL) –a standardized method for rating, classifying, and comparing virtually every kind of job based on data, people, and things. Table 4-1 shows the DOL method.

F. Electronic Job Analysis Methods – employers increasingly rely on electronic or Web-based job analysis methods. Then, rather than collecting information about the job though direct interviews and questionnaires, the analysts use online systems to send questionnaires to job experts in remote locations. Of course instruction should be clear and the process should be tested first.

IV. Writing Job Descriptions

A. Diversity Counts – Figures 4-7 and 4-8 present two sample forms.

B. Job Identification – contains the job title, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) status, date, and possible space to indicate who approved the description, the location of the job, the immediate supervisor’s title, salary, and/or pay scale.

C. Job Summary – should summarize the essence of the job and include only its major functions or activities.

D. Relationships – occasionally a relationships statement is included. It shows the jobholders’ relationships with others inside and outside the organization.

E. Responsibilities and Duties – this is the heart of the job description. It should present a list of the job’s significant responsibilities and duties.

F. Trends Shaping HR: Digital and Social Media

G. Know Your Employment Law

1. Writing Job Descriptions That Comply with the ADA

H. Standards of Performance and Working Conditions – states the standards the employee is expected to achieve under each of the job description’s main duties and responsibilities.