Human Resource Law, Job Analysis

Question

Your organization has recently experienced growth in the number of employees on its payroll. In response to this, you are beginning the recruitment process for an additional payroll clerk. You would like to create a job analysis before writing any job advertisements. As part of the information gathering process, you have decided to create a job questionnaire that the current payroll clerk will complete. You will then conduct Internet research to develop a list of performance expectations for this position. Finally, you will draft ideas for meeting Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines during the recruitment process.

Part I: Create a job questionnaire (1-2 pages)

You may refer to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook for job description information that can help you form your questions.

The questionnaire should be directed to the employee (e.g., What do you…).

At a minimum, your questionnaire should elicit information about the following:

Duties performed

Special qualifications

Equipment used

Working conditions

Interaction with others

Supervisory responsibilities

Decision-making responsibilities

Part 2: Performance Expectations List (1 page)

Use the Internet to research performance measures for the position of a payroll clerk. (You may want to refer back to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook).

Create a list of at least 8 performance measures for this position.

Part 3: Equal Employment Opportunity (1 page)

Discuss 2 or 3 strategies you will use during the recruitment process for the payroll clerk position that help ensure compliance with equal employment opportunity guidelines.

Please refer to the following multimedia course materials:

Unit 1: Job Analysis and Design

Unit 1: Job Analysis

Unit 1: Job Analysis, Discrimination

Please submit your assignment.

Answer

Human Resource Law, Job Analysis

Part I: Job Questionnaire

Over the recent period, the organization has experienced tremendous growth thus requiring new employees to fill various positions. With regard to this, there is need for hiring an additional payroll clerk who will be responsible for maintaining the financial records of the organization, and among other responsibilities. In order to gain more knowledge on the role of payroll clerks it is necessary to develop a questionnaire that explores various aspects of the job. The current payroll clerk should complete this questionnaire in order to assist the management in gathering crucial information concerning the payroll clerk position. This will assist in making sound decisions while hiring a new payroll clerk.

1. List the job title and briefly describe what the job entails. Provide information about the nature of the job, your key responsibilities, and any challenges that you experience on the job.
2. Provide a brief description of the special qualifications that one must possess in order to pursue a career as a payroll clerk. Make sure you list the minimum entry-level education (high school diploma, bachelors, masters, or other qualification).
3. Describe the equipment that a payroll clerk frequently uses while performing the various tasks. Describe the use of common equipment such as computer, multi-line phone, facsimile machine, time clock, copier, and other office equipment.
4. What are the different settings that a payroll clerk can expect to work (indoors or outdoors?). How do payroll clerks perform their job, (does it involve a lot of moving or a workstation?). Does the job entail performing routine tasks? What is the average number of hours one may expect to work in a week?
5. How important is it for payroll clerks to develop good communication skills? What role do good interpersonal skills play among payroll clerks?
6. Briefly describe the experience you have gained over the period while conducting supervisory tasks or duties. What is the appropriate length for working as a payroll staff before moving up the ladder to become the leader of the payroll staff?
7. In your job, you come across many issues that challenge your decision-making skills. What would you do if you come across a complex situation that you do not have an immediate answer?
8. What experience have you gained in handling in-house payroll applications? Please include details concerning processing responsibilities, workarounds, and methods used in disseminating workarounds.
9. What are the available career advancement opportunities as a payroll clerk? Are there better opportunities for those who have advanced their studies?
10. What is the most important thing that a payroll clerk should always consider?

Part II: Performance Expectations List

There are a number of performance measures for the position of a payroll clerk. The following are some of the common measures that are used in assessing performance of payroll clerks.

1. Communication skills – the suitable candidate should be able to express self effectively in both writing and verbally.
2. Teamwork – the suitable candidate must be a team player. The candidate should be interact with others and work with them.
3. Decision-making – the potential employee should be able to make sound decisions and in a timely manner.
4. Knowledge of job – the suitable candidate should be duly qualified, exude knowledge of the job requirements, and perform various tasks with professionalism.
5. Personal appearance – the suitable candidate should be neat and embrace personal hygiene as per the position requirements.
6. Customer responsiveness – the potential employee should exude professionalism while dealing with internal staff and external customers.
7. Dependability – the potential employee should comply with instructions and attend to his/her duties without unwarranted failure.
8. Leadership – the suitable candidate should exemplify leadership skills such as delegating, coordinating, goal setting, and others.

Part III: Equal employment opportunity

There various strategies that one can use to ensure that the recruitment process complies with the equal employment opportunity guidelines. One of the strategies is to provide training to HR managers in charge of recruitment. Training should emphasize on employment opportunity guidelines and the need to comply with all guidelines. HR managers should be held accountable for any issues that arise due to noncompliance with the equal employment opportunity guidelines. Training can enable those in charge of hiring to conduct the hiring process while keenly assessing the requirements established under equal employment opportunity guidelines.

Another strategy that will help ensure compliance with equal employment opportunities is job analysis. Job analysis entails the preparation process and job information gathering. The major purpose of a job analysis is to improve the organizational effectiveness. Job analysis is commonly used in organizations to select potential employees, developing performance appraisals, training, compensation systems, and in other roles. Apart from the above uses, job analysis can enable an organization avoid discriminating against various groups of potential employees. This is important since one of the equal employment opportunity guidelines aim at eliminating any forms of discrimination in employment.

Related: Individual Development Plans