HR Contribution to job analysis

Introduction
This report aims to explain the purpose and principles of job analysis and the reasoning behind it. The report will describe the methods used and explore the advantages and disadvantages of these methods. It will give details of a job analysis plan and how it was carried out. It is good practice to carry out a job analysis to contribute to the recruitment for the right candidate for the role also for evaluating and determining the value of the job to the company. The company this report is based on is Alan Howards a Hair and Beauty Wholesalers in Oldham. The company has been established for over 25 years with 22 branches in the North West and supplies Professional Hairdressers and Beautician with products and materials at trade prices, the company also offers a delivery service to salons twice a week.

The company currently employs 3 full time staff members and 1 part time staff member. This report aims to help with the recruitment for a full time senior sales assistant to temporarily cover a current colleague as she prepares to go on maternity leave, the employee has been with the company for 3 years and this report will show how the job role has changed helping to develop an accurate job description for the job advertisement. The role of a senior sales assistant within the company is to serve customers, merchandise, assist customers, have basic product knowledge and understanding, process and invoice delivery orders, assist management with daily duties, processing and closing branch orders. The role also covers the for the Managers role when they are at meetings or on annual leave. Findings

The principles and purpose of the job analysis is to collect as much data as possible to contribute to the recruitment process. To look at the job in detail and determine why the job exists, what the job holder is expected to do and how the job should be best performed. The job analysis will also help decide what is expected of the job holder, along with what skills and qualities are required of the person who is to perform the job. The analysis will answer questions of how the work should be organised, how the job inter-relates with other jobs, how many people are required to meet the demand of the workload, how the work itself might flow from one job to the next, the body of knowledge and qualifications required for the job, key performance indicators, physical requirements and interpersonal skills. A typical outcome of job analysis would be a specific job description and person specification for the particular role.

In addition to the recruitment and selection process, job analysis can contribute towards performance appraisals, redundancy, improvements in recruitment strategies, position postings, work planning, staffing levels and establish training needs for staff members. There are six different methods you can use to conduct a job analysis including observation, interviewing the employee, group discussion with employee’s, questionnaire, examining documents and gathering background information using a work log . It is common practice to use more than one of these methods to collect valuable information; elements within each method can be compared and contrasted to one another. Using a work log is similar to an observation as it reveals valuable information about time spent but cannot probe for further information, an observation is similar to interviewing as this method collects valuable information about the job role a disadvantage to these methods is that staff members may alter behaviour and feel pressured, the interview process is similar to a questionnaire as questions can be made specific.

A disadvantage to these methods is that the response may not be honest from the employee. In order to complete the job analysis l will be using 3 different methods which include a 2 week work log, observation and an interview. The first method that will be used is a 2 week work log, job holders were asked to record daily tasks that were split into 2 sections for morning and 2 sections for the afternoon – see appendix 1. An advantage of using a work log is that it gather’s a vast amount of information and reveals valuable information about time spent on the job giving a true reflection of the work load and daily activity of that role. The work log also helps develop interview questions. The disadvantage to using the work log method is that it’s more time consuming to the person taking part and can extend over long periods of time. The second method that will be used is observation, this involves watching the employee perform their job and making notes, this helps with identifying necessary training, required skills along with physical requirements for the job. Alternative job analysis methods such as interview and questionnaire only allow information to be indirectly obtained.

Although the observation method provides first hand on the job information, a disadvantage is that workers may not function efficiently as they may feel pressured which may alter the employee’s behaviour. Another disadvantage to using this method is that it requires a vast range of activities to be observed in a short time frame – see appendix 2. The final method that will be used is an individual interview, the observation and work log method helped develop the interview questions – see appendix 3. This method is effective for assessing what the job entails by asking the job holder in a direct way to gather overlooked information and probe further into the employee’s responses. The disadvantage of using the interview method is staff members may feel under pressure and vulnerable, this method can also be time consuming and costly to the company. Using these methods for the analysis has given a variety of outcomes, the work log has given a greater understanding of the job role and revealed valuable information on day to day tasks and the time spent to perform various tasks, the results of the work log show that the staff member is not managing to complete the variation of duties expected on a daily basis.

Using the observation method identified the necessary training and physical requirements needed for the job role, the observation outcomes shows that the daily workload is not being completed, this is due to particular staff members being responsible for a vast amount of work on the shop floor and administrative work, there is also the requirement for the staff member to look after customers needing assistance and answer telephone calls, this activity cannot be planned for as it is unpredictable. Using the final method of interviewing the staff member gave a clearer understanding of the job role from the employee’s point of view, helping to clarify information about the job role and probe further into their responses. The interview outcomes showed that the staff member is responsible for a large amount of workload and responsible for other staff members when the manager is on leave, it shows that particular employees are struggling to manage daily duties that can be shared between other staff members at times. Conclusion

In conclusion the principles and purpose of the job analysis is key in influencing the design, development and improvement of the job role, the analysis is crucial as it provides important information about why the job exists, what the job entails, what characteristics, qualifications and physical requirements are required in order to perform the job, it also identifies what training is needed for this particular role. This information has helped form a job description and specification for the role which helps the company recruit the right candidate. The analysis outcome also helps the company see how it can be improved and how the workload can be shared between all staff members so all daily duties are completed on a daily basis. Recommendations

My recommendation is that all staff members should be trained in all areas of the business. All staff members need training in merchandising, sales, training on new products, administrative duties, and customer queries that come from customers who walk through the door and customers who call the business. This will ease the workload of particular staff members, spread the work load across all staff members, in particular when unpredictable duties are required like a customer complaint for example and improve time management so workload is completed on time.