Unlocking the Importance of Job Analysis: Insights and Presentation

Hi Folks,

I am Shahid and I am working with a leading textile company in Pakistan. I am confused about how job analysis can help when you have no vision, mission, and departmental objectives. Please guide.

Shahid

Everything starts with the vision, Shahid. Only if the management is clear on what they want, will the people down the line be sure of what they must do to be in line with the company's vision - and how to align their individual roles with the vision.

Thanks.

Hi Asha,

Thank you for your quick response. However, this is a problem for me. We are a big company, but our management has no concern with vision, mission, or objectives because the business is going very well and growing day by day. HR was established 2 years ago, but I am really confused about why I should do job analysis when I don't know what is expected from employees and how to align their responsibilities and accountabilities.

Shahid

I understand your situation, Shahid. Have you tried discussing with the management about the vision and purpose? If they have not shown any interest, what you can do is prepare a draft and ask them if you can define that as the company's vision. This can help in Job Analysis and make the work more effective. Just give it a try - they will look into it and provide their suggestions.

I have discussed with them, but our organization is not so small that I can put them in a single mirror and let them know the importance of vision, mission, and objectives. They have hired a consultant for organization development, but it has been a flop due to a lack of proper understanding of cultural values, norms, and standards of the organization.

Dear Asha,

I just wanted to know if I can conduct a job analysis to make employees responsible and accountable for their activities.

Shahid

Dear Munir,

On one side, you are telling that your organization is growing exponentially. How is it possible without a clear vision and understanding of the market/customers? Job analysis and job responsibilities need to be clearly defined in an organization to achieve the desired output. Don't you have a performance appraisal system in your organization? Is there any incentive scheme in place? How many employees are there? Is it a proprietary or a shareholder company?

Thank you.

Dear Shahid,

The answer is in your statement below. Please see what I have highlighted:

"I have discussed with them, but our organization is not so small that I can put them in a single mirror and let them know the importance of Vision, mission, objectives. They have hired a consultant for organization development but has been flopped badly due to not proper understanding of cultural values, norms, and standards of the organization.

So you know that the consultant could not perform because the clarity was not there.

Dear Asha, I just wanted to know can I conduct job analysis just to make employees responsible and accountable for their activities.

Shahid"

You can - maybe you can start seeing how other companies in the same industry have profiled the positions. Take notes from there - discuss with the employees, and then discuss with the Management to see if "that is what they expect". It's a challenge - you can still do it. And the best part is - at the end of the assignment, the management would understand what should be the vision & goals.

We have more than 3000 employees. We do have a performance management system, but HR is only able to enforce it for service staff such as accounts, admin, IT, etc. For our manufacturing units, our line managers are more authoritative because they report directly to the Directors, and they do not like to fill out evaluation forms as they find it very time-consuming.

As for how we are growing without vision, actually, since we are a manufacturer and retailer ourselves, we have captured the market through our well-known brands, which are selling like hot cakes.

The issue for me is how to highlight the importance of job analysis to line managers and how to make their activities objective-based.

Shahid Munir

Dear Asha,

I have seen the same practice in other companies as well, but they are conducting job analysis just to demonstrate that HR is fulfilling its role. They have created job descriptions for each individual and organized them into organizational charts, yet they do not understand the purpose behind these job descriptions. This is my dilemma - why should I follow the same path as others without a clear vision?

Thank you.

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Dear Shahid,

Before getting into any tasks, prepare the "Purpose" on why "you" would want to initiate the practice. If you feel it's of no worth, then there is no point in implementing it. Because "you" must believe in what you do.

If you think that no one else is doing it, so why should I do it - ask yourself: Do you like to continue with the same concepts - or advance with new concepts that no one may have tried.

Now I can't convince you on that! :-)