A job is traditionally a set of closely related activities carried out for pay, but the concept of a job is changing. Employers such as Daimler are instituting high-performance work policies and practices. These include management practices (such as organizing around work teams) that depend on multiskilled employees who can tackle multiple jobs.
The problem is that in situations like these, relying on a list of conventional job duties can be counterproductive, because the person s job changes frequently.43Often, the better option is to create job profiles.Job profiles list the competencies, traits, knowledge, and experience that employees in these multi-skilled jobs must be able to exhibitto get the multiple jobs done. Then the manager can recruit, hire, train, appraise, and reward employees based on these profiles, rather than on a list of static job duties.
Experts at the consulting firm DDI say that the aim of writing job profiles (also called competency or success profiles) is to create detailed descriptions of what is required for exceptional performance in a given role or job, in terms of required Competencies (necessary behaviors), Personal Attributes (traits, personality, etc.), Knowledge (technical and/or professional), and Experience (necessary educational and work achievements).
Each job s profile then becomes the anchor for creating recruitment, selection, training, and evaluation and development plans for each job. (Many use the term competency modelrather than profile.44) Figure 4-10 illustrates one type of profile, in the form of a competency model.
Competencies and Competency-Based Job Analysis
Employers often use competency-based job analysis to create such profiles.
Competencies are observable and measurable behaviors of the person that make performance possible (we ll look at examples in a moment). To determine what a job s required competencies are, ask, In order to perform this job competently, what should the employee be able to do? Competencies are typically skills. Examples of 6 Explain competency-based
job analysis, including what it means and how it s done in practice.
Competency-based job analysis
Describing the job in terms of measurable, observable, behavioral competencies (knowledge, skills, and/or behaviors) that an employee doing that job must exhibit to do the job well.
FIGURE 4-10 Example of Competency Model for Human Resource Manager
ILLUSTRATIVE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER
COMPETENCY MODEL Areas of Expertise HR Practices (Recruiting, Selection, Training, etc.)
Strategic Planning Employment Law Finance and Budgeting
General Management
Personal
Competencies Interpersonal
Competencies Foundation Competencies
HR/Business/
Management Behave Ethically
Exercise Good Judgment Based on Evidence
Set and Achieve Goals Manage Tasks Effectively Develop Personally
Communicate Effectively Exercise Leadership Negotiate Effectively Motivate Others Work Productively with Others
Institute Effective HR Systems
Analyze Financial Statements Craft Strategies
Manage Vendors Roles
Line Function (Within HR) Staff Function (Advise, Assist) Coordinative Function
(Monitor) Strategic HR Function
(Formulate, Execute)
competencies include program in HTML, produce a lesson plan, and engineer the struts for a bridge. Competency-based job analysismeans describing the job in terms of measurable, observable, behavioral competencies (knowledge, skills, and/or behaviors) that an employee doing that job must exhibit.45Traditional job analysis is more job-focused (What are this job s duties?). Competency-based analysis is more worker-focused (What must employees be competent at to do this multiskilled job?).
Managers sometimes group competencies into various clusters, such as general competencies(reading and writing, for instance),leadership competencies(leadership, and strategic thinking, for instance), and technical competencies.Technical competen- cies for the job of systems engineer might include the following:
* Design complex software applications, establish protocols, and create prototypes.
* Establish the necessary platform requirements to efficiently and completely coordinate data transfer.46
Similarly, for a corporate treasurer, technical competencies might include:
* Formulate trade recommendations by studying several computer models for currency trends.
* Recommend specific trades and when to make them.47
In practice, competency-based analysis usually comes down to identifying the basic skills an employee needs to do the job. Thus, O*NET lists various skills within six skill groups (accessible at http://online.onetcenter.org/skills). A sampling includes:
Mathematics using mathematics to solve problems
Speaking talking to others to convey information effectively
Complex problem-solving identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions
Negotiation bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences IBM EXAMPLE IBM recently identified all of the possible roles (leader, analyst, engineer, and so on) that its workers, managers, and executives might fulfill. IBM analysts then studied what people do in each role and what skills effectively performing each role requires.
For doing what turned out to be 490 roles, IBM concluded there are 4,000 possible sets of skills. IBM now assesses and rates its employees skills on a continuum from Zero You have not demonstrated a significant mastery of the skill set, to Three
You have achieved a mastery level demonstrated by the fact that you re not only proficient, but that you re developing others around it. This enables IBM to tell each employee where we see your skill sets, which skills you have that will become obsolete and what jobs we anticipate will become available down the road. . . . We ll direct you to training programs that will prepare you for the future.48
How to Write Competencies-Based Job Descriptions
Defining the jobs competencies and writing them up is similar in most respects to tradi- tional job analysis. In other words, you might interview job incumbents and their super- visors, ask open-ended questions regarding job responsibilities and activities, and perhaps identify critical incidents that pinpoint success on the job. However, instead of compiling lists of job duties, you will ask, In order to perform this job competently, the employee should be able to. . . ? Use your knowledge of the job to answer this, or use information from a source such as O*NET. There are also off-the-shelf competencies databanks. One is that of the Department of Labor s Office of Personnel Management (see www.opm.gov).
BP EXAMPLE Several years ago, British Petroleum s (BP s) exploration division executives decided their unit needed a more efficient, faster-acting organization.49To help accomplish this, they felt they had to shift employees from a job duties oriented that s-not-my-job attitude to one that motivated them to obtain the skills required to accomplish their broader responsibilities.
Their solution was a skills matrix like that in Figure 4-11. BP created skills matrices (such as in Figure 4-11) each job or job family (such as drilling managers).
FIGURE 4-11 The Skills Matrix for One Job at BP
Note: The light blue boxes indicate the minimum level of skill required
for the job. F F F F F F
G G G G G G
H H H H H H
E E E E E E
D D D D D D
C C C C C C
B B B B B B
A A
F G H
E D C B
A A A A A
Technical
expertise Business
awareness Communication interpersonaland
Decision- making and
initiative
Leadership and
guidance Planning and organizational
ability
Problem- solving
R E V I E W
CHAPTER SECTION SUMMARIES
1.Employers today often view all the staff train reward activities as part of a single integrated talent management process. We defined talent management as the goal- orientedand integrated process ofplanning, recruiting, developing, managing, and compensatingemployees. When a manager takes a talent management perspective, he or she should keep in mind that the talent management tasks are parts of a single interrelated talent management process, make sure talent management decisions such as staffing and pay are goal-directed, consistently use the same profile for formulating recruitment plans for a job as you do for making selection, training, appraisal, and payment decisions for it, actively segment and manage employees, and integrate/coordinate all the talent management functions.
2.All managers need to be familiar with the basics of job analysis.
Job analysis is the procedure through which you determine the duties of the department s positions and the characteristics of the people to hire for them.
Job descriptions are a list of what the job entails, while job specifications identify what kind of people to hire for the job.
The job analysis itself involves collecting information on matters such as work activities; required human behaviors; and machines, tools, and equipment used.
Managers use job analysis information in
recruitment and selection, compensation, training, and performance appraisal.
The basic steps in job analysis include deciding the use of the job analysis information, reviewing relevant background information including organization charts, analyzing the job, verifying the information, and developing job descriptions and job specifications.
3.There are various methods for collecting job analysis information. These include interviews, questionnaires, observation, participant diary/logs, and quantitative
techniques such as position analysis questionnaires.
Employers increasingly collect information from employees via the Internet.
4.Managers should be familiar with the process for writing job descriptions. While there is no standard format, most descriptions contain sections that cover job identification, a job summary, a listing of responsi- bilities and duties, the job incumbent s authority, and performance standards. The job description may also contain information regarding the job s working condi- tions, and the job specifications. Many employers use Internet sources such as www.jobdescription.com to facilitate writing job descriptions.
5.In writing job specifications, it s important to distinguish between specifications for trained versus untrained personnel. For trained employees, the process is relatively straightforward, because you re looking primarily for traits like experience. For untrained personnel, it s necessary to identify traits that might predict success on the job. Most job specifications come from the educated guesses of people like supervisors, and are based mostly on judgment.
Some employers use statistical analyses to identify predic- tors or human traits that are related to success on the job.
6.Employers are creating profiles for each of their jobs.
The aim of creating profiles is to create detailed descrip- tions of what is required for exceptional performance in a given role or job, in terms of required competencies, personal attributes, knowledge, and experience. Each job s profile then becomes the anchor for creating recruitment, selection, training, and evaluation and development plans for each job.Competency-based job analysismeans describing the job in terms of measura- ble, observable, behavioral competencies (such as specific skills) that an employee doing the job must exhibit to do the job well. With the job of, say, a team member possibly changing daily, one should identify the skills the employee may need to move among jobs.
As in Figure 4-11, each matrix listed (1) the types of skills required to do that job (such as technical expertise) and (2) the minimum level of each skill required for that job or job family. Talent management in this BP unit now involves recruiting, hiring, training, appraising, and rewarding employees based on the competencies they need to perform their ever-changing jobs, with the overall aim of creating a more flexible organization.
MyManagementLab
Now that you have finished this chapter, go back to www.mymanagementlab.comto continue practicing and applying the concepts you ve learned.EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE
The Instructor s Job Description
Purpose:The purpose of this exercise is to give you experi- ence in developing a job description, by developing one for your instructor.
Required Understanding: You should understand the mechanics of job analysis and be thoroughly familiar with the job analysis questionnaires. (See Figures 4-3 and 4-9.) How to Set Up the Exercise/Instructions:Set up groups of four to six students for this exercise. As in all exercises in this book, the groups should be separated and should not converse with each other. Half of the groups in the class will develop the job description using the job analysis questionnaire (Figure 4-3), and the other half of the groups will develop it using the job description questionnaire (Figure 4-9). Each student should review his or her questionnaire (as appropri- ate) before joining his or her group.
1.Each group should do a job analysis of the instructor s job: Half of the groups will use the Figure 4-3 job
analysis questionnaire for this purpose, and half will use the Figure 4-9 job description questionnaire.
2.Based on this information, each group will develop its own job description and job specification for the instructor.
3. Next, each group should choose a partner group, one that developed the job description and
job specification using the alternate method.
(A group that used the job analysis questionnaire should be paired with a group that used the job description questionnaire.)
4.Finally, within each of these new combined groups, compare and critique each of the two sets of job descriptions and job specifications. Did each job analysis method provide different types of informa- tion? Which seems superior? Does one seem more advantageous for some types of jobs than others?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1.Why, in summary, should managers think of staffing, training, appraising, and paying employees as a talent management process?
2.Explain to the head of a company how he or she could use the talent management approach to improve his or her company s performance.
3.What items are typically included in the job description?
4.What is job analysis? How can you make use of the information it provides?
5. We discussed several methods for collecting job analysis data questionnaires, the position analysis questionnaire,
and so on. Compare and contrast these methods, explain- ing what each is useful for and listing the pros and cons of each.
6.Describe the types of information typically found in a job specification.
7.Explain how you would conduct a job analysis.
8.Do you think companies can really do without detailed job descriptions? Why or why not?
9.In a company with only 25 employees, is there less need for job descriptions? Why or why not?
INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTIVITIES
1.Working individually or in groups, obtain copies of job descriptions for clerical positions at the college or university where you study, or the firm where you work. What types of information do they contain? Do they give you enough information to explain what the job involves and how to do it? How would you improve on the description?
2.Working individually or in groups, use O*NET to develop a job description for your professor in this class. Based on that, use your judgment to develop a job specification. Compare your conclusions with those of other students or groups. Were there any sig- nificant differences? What do you think accounted for the differences?
3. The HRCI Test Specifications appendix at the end of this book (pages 633 640) lists the knowledge someone study- ing for the HRCI certification exam needs to have in each area of human resource management (such as in Strategic Management, Workforce Planning, and Human Resource Development). In groups of four to five students, do four things: (1) review that appendix now; (2) identify the material in this chapter that relates to the required knowl- edge in the appendix lists; (3) write four multiple-choice exam questions on this material that you believe would be suitable for inclusion in the HRCI exam; and (4) if time permits, have someone from your team post your team s questions in front of the class, so the students in other teams can take each others exam questions.
APPLICATION CASE
THE FLOOD
In May 2011, Mississippi River flooding hit Vicksburg, Mississippi, and the Optima Air Filter Company. Many employees homes were devastated, and the firm found that it had to hire almost three completely new crews, one for each of its shifts. The problem was that the old-timers had known their jobs so well that no one had ever bothered to draw up job descriptions for them. When about 30 new employees began taking their places, there was general con- fusion about what they should do and how they should do it.
The flood quickly became old news to the firm s out-of- state customers, who wanted filters, not excuses. Phil Mann, the firm s president, was at his wits end. He had about 30 new employees, 10 old-timers, and his original factory supervisor, Maybelline. He decided to meet with Linda Lowe, a consultant
from the local university s business school. She immediately had the old-timers fill out a job questionnaire that listed all their duties. Arguments ensued almost at once: Both Phil and Maybelline thought the old-timers were exaggerating to make themselves look more important, and the old-timers insisted that the lists faithfully reflected their duties. Meanwhile, the customers clamored for their filters.
Questions
1. Should Phil and Linda ignore the old-timers protests and write the job descriptions as they see fit? Why? Why not? How would you go about resolving the differences?
2. How would you have conducted the job analysis? What should Phil do now?
CONTINUING CASE
CARTER CLEANING COMPANY The Job Description
Based on her review of the stores, Jennifer concluded that one of the first matters she had to attend to involved devel- oping job descriptions for her store managers.
As Jennifer tells it, her lessons regarding job descriptions in her basic management and HR management courses were insufficient to fully convince her of the pivotal role job descriptions actually play in the smooth functioning of an enterprise. Many times during her first few weeks on the job, Jennifer found herself asking one of her store managers why he was violating what she knew to be recommended company policies and procedures. Repeatedly, the answers were either Because I didn t know it was my job or Because I didn t know that was the way we were supposed to do it. Jennifer knew that a job description, along with a set of standards and procedures that specified what was to be done and how to do it, would go a long way toward alleviating this problem.
In general, the store manager is responsible for directing all store activities in such a way that quality work is pro- duced, customer relations and sales are maximized, and profitability is maintained through effective control of labor,
supply, and energy costs. In accomplishing that general aim, a specific store manager s duties and responsibilities include quality control, store appearance and cleanliness, customer relations, bookkeeping and cash management, cost control and productivity, damage control, pricing, inventory con- trol, spotting and cleaning, machine maintenance, purchas- ing, employee safety, hazardous waste removal, human resource administration, and pest control.
The questions that Jennifer had to address follow.
Questions
1. What should be the format and final form of the store manager s job description?
2. Is it practical to specify standards and procedures in the body of the job description, or should these be kept separate?
3. How should Jennifer go about collecting the informa- tion required for the standards, procedures, and job description?
4. What, in your opinion, should the store manager s job description look like and contain?
KEY TERMS
talent management,104 job analysis,105 job description,105 job specifications,105 organization chart,107 process chart,107
workflow analysis,108
business process reengineering,108 job enlargement,109
job rotation,109 job enrichment,109 diary/log,114
position analysis
questionnaire (PAQ),114 Standard Occupational
Classification (SOC),121 competency-based job
analysis,129
ENDNOTES
1. Daimler is now expanding this plant; see www.autoblog.com/2009/03/23/rumormill- mercedes-benz-expected-to-expand- alabama-plant, accessed March 25, 2009, http://mbusi.com/ accessed August 20, 2011.
2. Survey: Talent Management a Top Con- cern, CIO Insight, January 2, 2007.
3. Michael Laff, Talent Management: From Hire to Retire, Training and Development, November 2006, pp. 42 48.
4. w w w. t a l e n t m a n a g e m e n t 1 0 1 . co m , accessed December 10, 2007.
5. Ibid.
6. www.silkroadtech.com, accessed Dec- ember 10, 2007.
7. Software Facilitates Talent Management, Product News Network,May 18, 2007.
8. For a good discussion of job analysis, see James Clifford, Job Analysis: Why Do It, and How Should It Be Done? Public Personnel Management23, no. 2 (Summer 1994), pp. 321 340; and Job Analysis, www.paq.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=
bulletins.job-analysis, accessed February 3, 2009.
A brief analysis, conducted with her company s CFO, reinforced that observation. They chose departments across the hotel chain that did and did not have updated job descrip- tions. Although they understood that many other factors might be influencing the results, they believed that the relationships they observed did suggest that having job descriptions had a positive influence on various employee behaviors and competencies. Perhaps having the descriptions facilitated the employee selection process, or perhaps the departments with the descriptions just had better managers.
She knew the Hotel Paris s job descriptions would have to include traditional duties and responsibilities. However, most should also include several competencies unique to each job. For example, job descriptions for the front-desk clerks might include able to check a guest in or out in 5 minutes or less. Most service employees descriptions included the competency, able to exhibit patience and guest supportiveness even when busy with other activities.
Questions
In teams or individually:
1. Based on the hotel s stated strategy, list at least four impor- tant employee behaviors for the Hotel Paris s staff.
2. If time permits, spend some time prior to class observing the front-desk clerk at a local hotel. In any case, create a job description for a Hotel Paris front-desk clerk.
Job Descriptions
The Hotel Paris s competitive strategy is To use superior guest service to differentiate the Hotel Paris properties, and to thereby increase the length of stay and return rate of guests, and thus boost revenues and profitability. HR manager Lisa Cruz must now formulate functional policies and activities that sup- port this competitive strategy by eliciting the required employee behaviors and competencies.
As an experienced human resource director, the Hotel Paris s Lisa Cruz knew that recruitment and selection processes invariably influenced employee competencies and behavior and, through them, the company s bottom line.
Everything about the workforce its collective skills, morale, experience, and motivation depended on attract- ing and then selecting the right employees.
In reviewing the Hotel Paris s employment systems, she was therefore concerned that virtually all the company s job descriptions were out of date, and that many jobs had no descriptions at all. She knew that without accurate job descriptions, all her improvement efforts would be in vain.
After all, if you don t know a job s duties, responsibilities, and human requirements, how can you decide who to hire or how to train them? To create human resource policies and practices that would produce employee competencies and behaviors needed to achieve the hotel s strategic aims, Lisa s team first had to produce a set of usable job descriptions.
TRANSLATING STRATEGY INTO HR POLICIES & PRACTICES CASE
THE HOTEL PARIS CASE
9. One writer calls job analysis, The hub of virtually all human resource management activities necessary for the successful func- tioning organizations. See Parbudyal Singh, Job Analysis for a Changing Work- place, Human Resource Management Review18 (2008), p. 87.
10. Lindsay Chappell, Mercedes Factories Embrace a New Order, Automotive News, May 28, 2001. See also, www.
autoblog.com/2009/03/23/rumormillme rcedes-benz-expected-to-expandal- abama-plant, accessed March 25, 2009,