Question

Read the attached case and answer the questions at the end of the case:

After 3 months in her new role as Director of Human Resources (HR) at Customers First, Deborah Ketson feels confident she has identified the significant HR issues at the company. She has prioritized the issues and is meeting with company president Joan Bates to make her recommendations. Deborah is prepared to discuss her top priority, which is to conduct an organization-wide job analysis and job evaluation project in order to start building a more internally consistent pay structure. Customers First is a company that provides customer service for other companies. Small-to-mediumsized companies outsource their customer service function to Customers First, which manages all customer service for their clients through a call center and also via an online customer service center. The company works with a diverse group of clients ranging from small retail stores to larger online retailers. Customers First has grown quickly in the 5 years since Joan started the company and now employs more than 150 customer service representatives (CSRs) and other support staff. The company’s quick growth has led to several problems with its compensation structure. Much of the company’s hiring has occurred in response to a new contract, and pay was set based on the current market rate for CSRs in order to attract the right talent. For example, an early client was a small retail store that needed fairly simple customer support. Four CSRs were hired and their pay was set at just slightly above minimum wage. In comparison, a more recent client required hiring 18 CSRs. The labor market was competitive at the time, and the company hired these 18 new employees at a pay rate well above what others at the company were paid. Such variance has occurred often in the hiring process, resulting in groups of CSRs at much different levels of pay for doing substantially similar work. Deborah has heard many complaints from the supervisors about inequities in the pay of the CSRs. The supervisors are concerned that the inequities may lead to turnover among some of the staff. Deborah has examined the pay rates of the CSRs across the organization and agrees with the supervisors that there are some concerns. One particular concern is that the lowest paid group of CSRs is primarily female, while the highest paid group includes all male employees. By talking with the supervisors, Deborah has learned that there are some CSRs with different levels of responsibilities and skills, but they all hold the same job title. Deborah believes that an organization-wide job analysis and job evaluation is necessary to build an internally consistent compensation structure. However, when she shared her recommendation with Joan, she did not receive the response she expected. Joan is resistant of the job analysis and job evaluation process as she thinks that having such a structured compensation system will limit the company’s ability to be flexible in the marketplace. Often hiring happens quickly in response to a new client contract, and they must hire the right skill set, which might vary based on the current market rates. Further, Joan suggested the entire project would be too timeconsuming for Deborah and the other staff that would need to be involved. She felt their time would be better spent on other concerns such as recruiting new staff.

questions:

2) What would you recommend to make the job analysis and job evaluation process less tedious and less time-consuming for line managers? (25 Marks; Word Limit – 300 words)

Answer 1

Answer

Employment analysis is a structured method in which information is gathered, reported and interpreted for job description. Job description defines material or task tasks, the expectations of the worker and, often, the employment history or circumstances. On the other hand, job evaluation is a systematic recognition of differences in relative value among a set of jobs, and accordingly establishes pay differentials.

Deborah Ketson will find the following to speed up work review and task assessment process:

1) By getting support from top managers and line managers, and by buying in. Deborah will be offering a good argument and additional benefit from the program to Consumers First to gain their help. Total management assistance would certainly promote the whole and processes. This would also help HR get assistance with some opposition or hit a wall.

2) To report solely on those issues, rather than needless wide-ranging reporting. In this situation, the issues related to pay-scale inconsistencies within a business. Earlier the pay-scale for CSRs was added to the company deal. Therefore, the method of task review will concentrate on evaluating the scope of the positions of the CSR in all the contracts.

3) Line managers will have the requisite expertise to perform task review and work assessment procedures in order to produce a consistent and successful outcome. Normally inaccuracy due to lack of knowledge between line managers and job holder, in particular they are the main source of position information. Even, others don't realize what the main target is that the Task Description and Work Assessment is all about first.

4) Schedule is essential, thereby ensuring sufficient number of hours to complete the exercise.

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