Determining the Proper Job Classification

Introduction

Assume you are an HR Consultant that has been hired to help Comfort Assisted Living with a recent grievance that was filed by one of its employees. You will not be working on the legal aspects of the case, but you will help the company determine if the employee’s job classification is correct. Comfort Assisted Living has an HR Department but would like to obtain an outside opinion.

The employee, Gregory Williams, is currently working as a Senior HR Specialist for Comfort Assisted Living. His current job duties are provided in the Supplemental Information document posted in our classroom. Mr. Williams has been in the position for 5 years and had consistently received “outstanding” ratings on his performance evaluations until this year when he received a “meets expectations” rating. A month ago, he saw a job announcement that Comfort Assisted Living placed on Monster.com for a Deputy VP of HR. Mr. Williams was angered by the job announcement because he felt he was already performing the duties stated in the announcement. When he asked his supervisor about the job, he was told that the Deputy position was a new one that was being created and that he would have to apply for the job just like everyone else. Mr. Williams disagreed and felt his current position should be reclassified to that of a Deputy VP of HR. He has filed a grievance with Comfort Assisted Living and you have been hired to determine if Mr. William’s current job is equivalent to the new Deputy position. You have been told upfront that it has been years since the company conducted a job analysis for its HR positions so you might have to begin there before making your determination. Also, you have heard from employees that work with Mr. Williams that he has been slacking on the job lately. According to them, he routinely comes in late, takes extra long lunches, and does not submit all of his work on time. At least one of his coworkers said Mr. Williams was having health issues and that he might have to undergo chemotherapy. Another coworker said the health issues weren’t with Mr. Williams, they were with his young daughter, who has a mysterious illness that doctors are having difficulty diagnosing. You’ve checked his leave records and nothing is on file regarding an FMLA request and there is no documentation regarding possible medical issues.

In completing this assignment, you will showcase that you can conduct a job analysis and use the results to develop a job description, which will help address organizational needs/concerns. You will also demonstrate that you have an understanding of the ethical issues involved with job analyses, job evaluation, and job design. Additionally, you will show that you understand the HR context and have mastery of the fundamental student competencies identified by UMUC’s Graduate School including: communication and critical thinking.

Steps to Completion

Review the information in the Supplemental Information file and relevant course material regarding the nature of a job analysis and its relationship to job descriptions and job classifications.
Determine what additional information you will need in order to determine if Mr. Williams is justified in his claim.
Decide which of the four most commonly used methods of job analysis (observation, interviews, questionnaires, functional) you will use and be prepared to defend your choice.
Determine how you will overcome some of the most common problems in performing a job analysis. Our course material discusses several of them.
Review and understand the key ethical considerations when conducting a job analysis and designing a job description.
Conduct an internet search to find job typical job descriptions for Senior HR Specialists. Compare and contrast the components in those descriptions with the information given regarding Mr. Williams’s current job duties.