The Roles of Job Descriptions in Human Resource Management (Term Paper Sample)

Human Resource Management
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Human Resource Management
Human resource management is the coherent and strategic methods through which organizations manage their employees to ensure that even with their differing personal traits, they can work in unity to attain the company’s goals and objectives. It makes sure qualified and highly skilled individuals are employed, trained and placed in a way that facilitates maximum effectiveness (Mondy & Martocchio, 2016). Due to the extensiveness of HRM, there are various functions meant to equip organizations with the right personnel and skills to survive in competitive sectors and the challenges involved. Some of the functions of human resource management include definition of the role of job descriptions, Job description development and labour market assessment. The three sections are important in human resources management since they help organizations in selecting the right personnel and managing them for maximum productivity.
Part A
Writing a job description is a critical component of human resource management especially in staffing and planning programs. They are the foundations for critical processes including recruitment, job postings, compensation, and training and performance management (Bratton & Gold, 2017). Writing a job description enables organizations to communicate their desired personnel and the level of compensation they should expect if they meet the required qualifications and experience. Compensation means all types of rewards and pay given to employees for good performances in their areas. They may include benefits, cash, perks and services. The employer sets the compensation he or she intends to give the potential employee to ensure the employee understands the average compensation the company offers to its employees. Job descriptions are also use to attract potential employee and ensure the company meets the minimum legal requirements.
Job descriptions are used for recruitment purposes by organizations to develop optimal company structures, recruit the best potential workers, staff the company properly and manage them once they have been hired. Companies use job descriptions to generate new positions that address precise unserved needs and fill existing positions with employees capable of bringing the most value to the organization (Ohme & Zacher, 2015). Companies also create attractive job descriptions to lure potential employees with specific experience and skills. This saves the companies time and resources since it also discourages candidates who have not met the requirements from applying.
Employers also used job descriptions to select the best candidates out of the most promising candidates. Selection is often major challenge for employers especially when a large number of qualified candidates have met all the requirements. The job descriptions enable the employees to select potential employees with specific skill levels to justify the selection of the best suited candidates and avoid making the others feel as if the process was not fair. Job descriptions are also used as performance management tools by employers. Companies that do not use specifications in the job description to develop their performance practices often get entangled in unfair employment practices that can cause major legal and personal engagements with authorities. Human resource managers gauge employee’s performances based on the defined tasks allocated to specific jobs. Failure to perform the mandates indicated in the job descriptions show that specific employees are either underperforming due to various factors such as lack of motivation or overworking.
Part B
Gas attendants help in pumping gas at filling stations, collect money and help maintain the gas station to maintain the required legal standards. Most gas stations employ gas attendants to either work fulltime or part time to ensure the station remains operational at all times including holidays and weekends. The attendants mostly work outside and some may be asked to move to other gas stations in other areas to fill the gaps of unavailable employees. They report to the shift managers or stores at the gas stations depending on the company’s policies. The rise and fall of fuel prices should be indicated in the job description to remind the candidates of its effects on the customer’s moods. When prices go up, customers are often angered by gas attendants as if they are responsible for it, when the prices fall, they are often happy and treat gas attendants with respect. Below is a job description for a fuel attendant:
Duties and responsibilities: Treat customers with respect despite their moods when they visit the gas station, process credit and cash payments for all transactions, maintain the cleanliness and orderliness of the station inspect vehicle fluids if requested and follow safety measures.
Skills and abilities: Salesmanship to sell extra services and products to clients, Mathematics to collect payments for services and products sold and multitasking skills to be able to serve multiple vehicles without compromising the quality of the service.
Competencies: Employees must be physically fit with a medical report on the same since gas attendants work outside and the work involves short and agile movements, customer service skills since they are required to interact with customers in a professional and friendly manner. Perseverance to manage anger since some customers may be hostile towards the attendant even when he or she has nothing to do with their attitude. Attention to details is also an important ability since small mistakes such as surpassing the requested amount of fuel result to spilling or customer dissatisfaction with the station’s services.
Part C
In the modern world of fuel price upsurges and energy crisis, the demand for workers is expected to be low in the next two years. To determine the possible outlook of fuel attendant position, the percentage of the difference between the total number of available openings for gas attendants and the total number of job seekers over 2019 and 2021 period is assessed (Card, Cardoso, Heining & Kline, 2018). The results indicate that the current upsurge of fuel prices will cause low demand in fuel as some customers opt for public transport while others lower their daily fuel consumption. The economy mostly depends on energy to boost various sectors, and the rising fuel prices indicate a decreasing economy and therefore, less demand for fuel attendants across the country.
Social concerns are also a major determinant in the labour market assessment of gas attendant position. Most people view gas attendants as individuals working in deplorable cond