Question No. 2 - MMPC 002 - Human Resources Management - MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

Solutions to Assignments

                            MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

MMPC 002 - Human Resources Management

MMPC-002/TMA/JULY/2022

Question No. 2. How do job analysis and job design address the problems of the HR planning process? Is Outsourcing an effective method of recruitment and selection? Briefly explain your views.    

Job analysis is the fundamental process that forms the basis of all human resource activities. The importance of job analysis has been well-established for years, dating back to at least the First World War. The United States government‟s Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978) and the American Psychological Association‟s Principles for the Validation and use of Personnel Selection Procedures stipulate that job analysis is essential to the valediction of any and all major human resources activities. In its simplest terms, a job analysis is a systematic process for gathering, documenting and analyzing date about the work required for a job. 

The data collected in a job analysis, and reflected through a job description, includes a description of the context and principal duties of the job, and information about the skills, responsibilities, mental models and techniques for job analysis. These include the Position Analysis Questionnaire, which focuses on generalized human behaviors and interviews, task inventories, functional job analysis and the job element method. 

A job analysis provides an objective picture of the job, not the person performing the job, and as such, provides fundamental information to support all subsequent and related HR activities, such as recruitment, training, development, performance management and succession planning. Job analysis serves two critical functions with respect to these processes. Job analysis helps ensure that decisions made with respect to HR processes are good decisions i.e., fair and accurate (e.g., selection of the right person for the job, appropriate decisions about training, performance management, development, etc.) and its helps ensure the defensibility of decisions made to employee (resulting in good HR management) and to the courts (resulting in saving of costs, time and reputation). 

According to scientific management, the key to productivity is a precise understanding of the tasks that constitute a job. If the motions of workers are to become standardized and machine-like, then it is necessary to be certain about what is to be accomplished, as well as what abilities and materials are necessary to do the job. For many years, job analysis was considered the backbone of the scientific clipboards and stopwatches, was the method used to determine the most efficient way to perform specific jobs. As the popularity of scientific management declined after World War II, however, so did the popularity of job analysis. With the new emphasis on human relations as the key to productivity job analysis was used primarily to set salary scales. But in the modern times workers and employers began to take renewed interest in this area because of concerns about two issues: unfair discrimination and comparable worth. There are two areas where unfair discrimination in hiring can occur: in the standards set for being hired; and in the procedures used to assess the applicant‟s ability to meet those standards. Job analysis addresses the question of what tasks, taken together actually constitute a job. Without this information, standards for hiring may appear to be arbitrary – or worse, designed to exclude certain individual or groups from the workplace.

More recently, the issue of comparable worth has also contributed to a new interest in job analysis. Comparable worth refers to equal pay for individuals who hold different jobs but perform work that is comparable in terms of knowledge required or level of responsibility. The major issue of the comparable worth controversy is that women who are employed in jobs that are comparable to those held by men are paid, on the average, about 65 percent of what a man would earn. In order to determine the comparability of job tasks so that salaries can also be compared, a proper job analysis is necessary. Comparable work is an issue of considerable interest to many people.

Job design has emerged as an important area of work analysis. It is based on growing conceptual and empirical base and has commanded research attention and is being widely applied to actual practice of management. Job design concern and approaches are considered to have begun with the scientific management movement. Pioneering scientific managers like Taylor and Gilbreth examined jobs with techniques such as time and motion analysis. Their goal was to maximize human efficiency on the job. Taylor suggested that task design might be the most important single element in scientific management. Job designing evolved into what is popularly known as job engineering. The industrial engineering approach is basically concerned with products, process, tool design, plant layout, operating procedures, work measurement, standards, and human-machine interactions. It has also been closely associated with sophisticated computer applications involving Computer Assisted Design (CAD). These computer systems had a positive impact by reducing task and workflow uncertainty. Top management could readily perceive the immediate cost savings form job engineering, but certain behavioural aspects like quality absenteeism, and turnover were generally ignored.

In the 1950s, different methods were being adopted by practicing managers. For example, IBM job rotation and job enlargement programmes were introduced. Job enlargement programmes essentially loaded the jobs horizontally, and expanded the number of operations performed by the worker and made the job less specialized. Job rotation programmes reduced boredom by switching people around to various jobs. Although boredom at work is still a significant problem in the last several years, attention has shifted to new demanding challenges facing employees on the job. For example, because of downsizing of organizations and increasingly advanced technology, jobs have suddenly become much more demanding and employees must differently adapt to unpredictable changes. For example, in manufacturing assembly line methods are being replaced by flexible, customized production and computer-integrated manufacturing. This new manufacturing approach requires workers to deal with an ever-increasing line of product and sophisticated technology. In this context, job design takes on special importance in today‟s human resource management. It is essential to design jobs so that stress can be reduced, motivation can be enhanced, and satisfaction of employees and their performance can be improved so that organizations can effectively compete in the global market place.

Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is a workforce solution in which a business transfers all or part of its permanent recruitment to an external provider. An RPO provider is responsible for the management of the permanent recruitment within a business, and typically has outsourced recruiters based onsite — embedded within the HR or people function of the business. An effective RPO program installs a talent acquisition team, the latest recruitment technology, and flexible recruitment processes within an organisation.

Recruitment process outsourcing is a solution that has enormous potential. The growth in the RPO market in recent years is a testament to this. As with many new ideas, there is some buzz that cloaks RPO, but there are also a number of clear benefits for businesses who embed RPO within their workforce planning strategies.

1. Higher quality talent

An RPO provider’s main purpose is to ensure that your business gets the best permanent hires, even in markets which are notoriously difficult. With an RPO, the time, energy and expertise in sourcing, screening and onboarding new permanent staff ensure that a business gets the best talent. They can also create talent pools to ensure that if a new position becomes vacant, there’s a ready-made line of talent ready to join a client’s business.

With the race for talent becoming more competitive than ever before, businesses also need to look to passive and underutilised talent pools to attract the best people. RPO providers have databases of talent throughout the globe, as well as schemes to attract previously ignored talent.

Another important consideration is the value of diverse teams. Research from the Harvard Business Review indicates that companies who focus on diversity perform better: 45% reported market share growth from the previous year. RPO providers who engage diverse talent pools offer big boosts to businesses.

2. Cost efficiency

Not only does an RPO provider ensure that you hire and retain the best talent, but it’s also more cost-effective than traditional recruitment. As RPO providers are most often measured on time-to-hire, cost-of-hire and quality-of-hire, their role is to ensure that permanent vacancies do not remain open for months at a time. Every day that a vacancy remains open leads to increased costs and decreased productivity. A fully optimised RPO ensures that these negative factors remain at a minimum.

3. Agile, scalable permanent recruitment

In any business, hiring is rarely consistent. If your business is opening up a new department, it may need hundreds of permanent staff as quickly as possible. Likewise, there can also be months that pass without a single hire. RPO providers build structures within a business that’s adaptable to any situation, scaling teams up or down whenever necessary.

This gives businesses the certainty they need when a sudden burst of hiring activity comes to the fore.

4. Global compliance

Though compliance is not the most interesting benefit of RPO, it’s critical. Employment laws change all of the time, staying on top of what is and isn’t compliant can be a tough order and an RPO ensures that all hires are compliant with local laws. As business becomes global, this is particularly important. Hiring permanent staff in a compliant way in India requires a very different approach to hiring in the US. A global RPO provider’s expertise ensures that businesses don’t get their fingers burnt when hiring new talent.

By choosing an RPO solution, businesses can utilise the provider’s global expertise to ensure that every single permanent employee is compliant with local laws

5. Reduction in advertising expenditure

Job ads are expensive, especially when trying to attract the most competent permanent staff. Buying an RPO solution hands the pressure of finding this talent to the service provider, and spending money on advertising is eliminated.

6. Reduction in talent acquisition spend

Outsourcing recruitment through an RPO solution is one of the most effective ways for businesses to reduce their talent acquisition spend. Finding talent is a time-consuming process, even for the best talent acquisition and HR professionals. This is especially the case when recruiting for hard-to-fill roles.

As every business knows, time is money. According to Glassdoor, unfilled jobs in the US tech market add up to a total value of $20.1 billion, and that’s just the tech market. For every position that remains vacant within an organisation, a business is losing money. RPO providers, however, are able to quickly fill even the most difficult roles thanks to their dedicated expertise and their ready-made talent pools.

7. Benefit from the latest technology

Keeping up with industry innovation is difficult for HR professionals. With budgets tightening, investing hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds or dollars in talent acquisition tech can make even the most ambitious companies wince.

RPO providers regularly invest in the latest technology to ensure that clients acquire the talent they need to succeed – from high-tech VMS platforms to data analysis tools.

8. Enhanced candidate engagement

HR professionals understand the significance of candidate engagement (CX). Getting the candidate experience right, however, is no easy feat. Though significant, it’s time-consuming and often takes HR departments away from their primary objectives. An RPO provider offers the experience and in-house expertise to fully optimise the candidate experience for a business. Not only does this increase the chances of attracting top talent, but it also impacts a business’s ability to grow its market share within its industry.

9. Expert employer branding

Employer branding is key to attracting the best talent in the market. 72% of recruitment leaders worldwide agree that employer branding has a significant impact on hiring.

Though hugely important, not all businesses have the in-house expertise to create an engaging employer value proposition (EVP), never mind build a truly impactful employer brand strategy.

The best RPO providers help businesses really define their value to potential candidates. With experts solely devoted to EVP creation and employer brand strategists within their ranks, they are able to market a business to candidates – even in difficult, traditionally challenging industries.

10. Better strategic insight

Data science is the foundation of any strategic decision. While HR and internal recruitment teams are often aware of this, a number of things continue to hold businesses back.

For one, technology is expensive, and HR tech often finds itself low down the priority list. Secondly, HR professionals don’t always have the technical expertise necessary to adequately analyse data. Finally, the data a company holds is only related to the company itself and doesn’t take the wider outlook into account.

A recruitment process outsourcing solution helps in all these respects. With the latest technology and data analysis expertise, an RPO provider can assess historical industry and company data to strategically predict future talent needs. With talent being the most important aspect of any business, these insights provide highly valuable business intelligence.

11. Efficient recruitment processes

Within large organisations, recruitment is often approached independently in different parts of the business. While an IT division may rely on expensive, ad hoc recruitment agencies, another may choose to use their internal HR function. Both of these approaches are inefficient, with one producing excessive spend and the other laying burden on HR departments that are increasingly under pressure to deliver results.

Under a full, end-to-end RPO solution, hiring processes are more efficient – with all permanent hiring centralised. Because RPO providers work with businesses across the globe, they also have the knowledge, experience and best practices required to deliver the best results for a client. Rather than relying on disparate internal approaches, an RPO ensures exceptional delivery of talent throughout a business.

12. HR is freed up to focus on strategic goals

The role of an HR professional is tough. There are more expectations and responsibilities than ever, and yet still, few people get a seat at important board meetings. Add an overcooked talent market into the mix, and it’s clear that the job of attracting permanent staff is becoming the most difficult and time-consuming task within HR teams. With this in mind, choosing an RPO solution has clear and obvious advantages.

As RPO providers take care of all permanent recruitment and provide an end-to-end service, they take a big chunk of responsibility outside of the HR sphere. This gives HR professionals the added time and space necessary not only to keep on top of other parts of their job, but also to develop their skills, adapt to technological change, and perhaps even get a seat at the top table.