Personnel Management for Acme Manufacturing

Question

You’ve been in your role as Human Resources Manager of Acme Manufacturing for six months now. The employee hostilities that existed when you started your job have resolved and the shift workers are back on track, so much so that there hasn’t been a single news article written about the company since your arrival. Leadership of the company has noticed this, too, and the CEO has called you to her office for a meeting.The CEO explained that the company does not have a compensation structure for the non-represented management employees and needs to have the full gamut of HR activities performed to get this developed and approved by the board during it’s upcoming meeting in two months. She handed you a report from an external consultant to the Board’s Compensation Committee outlining the elements needed:

Develop, analyze, and explain requirements that could be used in the personnel selection process for management positions in the company

Determine and explain the specific methods by which job analysis, job design, position description, and specification for management positions are prepared; and

Explain and evaluate the relative worth of management jobs at the company and determine a compensation structure to assist retention and career management of this important element of the company’s human resources.

Prepare an 8-10 page report for the CEO that responds to the three requirements listed above. The report will be used with the Board of Directors so it must be formatted professionally and cite any references used in proper APA format.

Answer

Personnel Management for Acme Manufacturing -Legal Issues and Disciplinary Actions

Requirements that could be used in personnel selection for management position

The requirements for personnel selection can be described as basic qualifications that each prospective job candidate must meet. These requirements are advertised to prospective job applicants as minimum requirements. The outlined requirements should be objective with respect to the duties and responsibilities attached to the job.

General description

The suitable candidate should be able to ensure efficient production of goods by ensuring planned and controlled production that is timely, within set budgets and up to outlined standards.

Requirements

The suitable candidate should possess a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management, Operations, or in Civil and Mechanical Engineering.
Three years experience in a management role either at a manufacturing company or in a related field such as construction. Experience will provide an assurance that the candidate can be able to successfully implement duties and tasks assigned upon him.
A broad understanding of mechanical systems, safety rules and policies related to the field. The suitable candidate should be able to ensure that appropriate safety procedures are put in place to avoid injuries.
Knowledge and experience in the principles and applications related to manufacturing operations, equipments maintenance and general engineering requirements. The suitable candidate should be able to identify any plant malfunctions and establish preventive measures to avoid downtime.
Demonstrate strong budgeting techniques, and the application of basic accounting and financial principles in production. This should involve ability to research new methods that can reduce costs and other operational expenses while still maintaining quality of products.
Ability to ensure the plant is well maintained for production to continue smoothly, and to balance plant maintenance with production. The suitable candidate should be able to perform a detailed downtime analysis, control of machine downtime, and ensure optimal production.
Implement an efficient and effective organizational structure within departments and teams to reduce managerial costs. This involves providing day-to-day leadership, motivating employees and controlling workflow in the company.
Knowledge in stockyard management. The suitable candidate should possess extensive knowledge in loading and offloading operations so as to avoid damage to raw materials and products.

Competencies

The suitable candidate should be results oriented, highly motivated and self-driven.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
Planning and organizational skills.
The suitable candidate should be able to carry out tasks independently as well as with teams.
Attention to details.

Specific methods by which job analysis, job design, position description, and specification for management position are prepared

Job analysis can be defined as the process of collecting specific details regarding a job (Prien, 2009). Job analysis leads to job specification and job description. Job design analysis for a management position can be prepared in the following way:

Collecting and recording relevant information concerning the specific job. This can be done by describing the specific tasks to be performed and other details such as performance standards, position description and conduction occupational studies.
Indentifying core tasks. In the second step, all critical tasks involved in the job should be identified. The importance of each task on the job should be rated preferably by a subject matter expert.
Identification of core competencies. A subject matter expert can help in identifying the competencies required to fulfill each of the tasks. Competencies should also be rated based on their importance. After identifying the core competencies, cutoffs should be established based on specific rating scales.
Linking each of the tasks with competencies. In this step, tasks which does not link to any of the competencies and vice versa may be eliminated.
Identifying suitable rating factors. Ranking factors relating to competencies should be established at this point.

Job design

Job design involves organizing various duties, tasks and responsibilities for the achievement of planned objectives (Prien, 2009). Job design can be prepared in the following way:

Outlining the tasks to be performed and those that are part of the job.
Identifying the specific ways in which tasks will be performed. This helps ensure that there are no repetitive tasks.
Identifying the specific amounts in which tasks are to be done. This involves assessing the workload to be assigned to managers.
Identifying the sequence of doing the tasks. This establishes the work processes to ensure that there is a smooth flow of work.

Position description

A position description gives details concerning how the whole job fits within the entire company (Kleynhans, 2009). The following steps can be used for preparing a job description:

Describing the job title. The tile of the job should reflect the hierarchy of the position in the company. It should also be conversant with the duties and responsibilities expected of the position.
The position description should also describe the duties and responsibilities expected under the job title.
Outlining the skills and competencies. The specific skills and competencies should be outlined in a position description.
Working relationships. A position description should describe the reporting lines within the company.
Salary range for the position.

Specification

A job specification gives the exact skills and knowledge required for a particular job. A job specification can be prepared in the following way.

Describing the job title and position
Outlining the location of the job.
Summarizing the general nature of the job.
Outlining the skills and qualifications required for the job.

Relative worth of management jobs at the company and compensation structure

The relative worth of management jobs at Acme Manufacturing can be determined by using a job evaluation system. The value of the job determines the pay on most occasions (Phillips& Gully, 2013). The relative worth of the management jobs at the company can be determined in a number of ways. First, a ranking system can be used to determine the relative worth of a job. This involves listing jobs in order of importance to the company. Managerial jobs score highly compared with others such as project administrators. The relative worth can also be determined by using a job classification system. A job classification system determines the relative worth by assessing the experience required, level of education necessary for the job, and the authority assigned to individuals. A managerial job ranks high in a job classification system.

An appropriate salary structure can enable an organization to attract and retain highly motivated and skilled employees. A market-based compensation structure would be the best structure Acme Manufacturing. A market-based compensation structure involves assessing what other similar organizations pay for the same job title and basing the compensation package on such information. A market-based compensation structure can reduce employee strikes and promote employee retention (Phillips& Gully, 2013).

References

Kleynhans, R. (2009). Human resource management: Fresh perspectives. Cape Town: Pearson/Prentice Hall South Africa.

Phillips, J. M., & Gully, S. M. (2013). Human resource management. Mason, Ohio: South- Western Centage Learning.

Prien, E. P. (2009). A practical guide to job analysis. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.