Most of the time, when we visit cooperatives and ask what were the common issues in HR management, one of the prevailing concerns is the number of employees and the efficiency of their current workforce.
When it comes to efficiency, the usual answer of the management is to send their people to training offered by the federation and other providers. But training is not always the answer. Efficiency may be rooted from the time of job design, recruitment and to identifying employees for job functions.
Job designs, effective recruitment and performance management may be addressed if we have conducted job evaluations. Job evaluations identifies the job functions, competencies required for a specific functions and even the criteria & key result area or objective setting for performance evaluation. In the long run, it also determines the training needs and how an HR can setup the career path program for each employee.
Job evaluation also determines the job levels and market rate for a specific job functions. Conducting job evaluation is not done just once but the HR unit should have a system in place for this activity. From time to time, it helps to be always updated in the market value of the different positions in the company or organization.
Right job pricing is determined by the importance of the job function to the operations. A back-end post may also be rated high in terms of salary if the support needed is necessary to enable the operations employees perform their function. Specialized skills are usually rated high since expertise may be well in demand in the market. To determine this, job analysis and job evaluation must be conducted by the HR.
It is also important to conduct job evaluation when we are designing job descriptions. If we just copy and paste what is available over the net, there is a likely error to include some activities that is not actually performed by an employee on the post. Also, internal control may be neglected if conflicting functions are given to one post. For example, a bookkeeper handling cash releases may loosen internal control.
So as an HR, we suggest that you determine and include in your HR process manual the Job Evaluation and set-up policies on its conduct.
