Job Specification Process example essay topic

Multinational organisations, defined as organisations with operations, subsidiaries or investments in more than two countries, are becoming more commonplace as the concept of globalization and the global economy becomes more widespread in practice. It is evident that the globalization phenomenon has dramatically advanced in the last twenty years, as globalization is a more advanced form of inter nationalisation; which includes the connection of various practices within organizations and countries to include the functional integration of cross-border economic activities. This is primarily due to technological advances enabling goods and information to travel further and faster with greater ease. It is also due to the proliferation of the more liberal political philosophies and, thus, reduced barriers to trade across borders and continents; especially since the end of the Cold War. As a result, multinational corporations are expanding in number and size, and the problems facing these corporations are different compared to those faced by domestically competitive organisations. As multinational organisations first developed their business internationally, they encountered many initial problems, problems which still exist today.

Geert Hofstede states: "For those who work in international business, it is sometimes amazing how different people in other cultures behave. We tend to have a human instinct that 'deep inside' all people are the same - but they are not. Therefore, if we go into another country and make decisions based on how we operate in our own home country - the chances are we " ll make some very bad decisions". (web accessed 19/11/04). This lack of individual multicultural understanding has led to many multinationals initiating their own proactive methods for embracing diversity and multiculturalism. Proctor and Gamble, one of the largest domestic product manufacturers globally, says "At P&G we view diversity as a huge asset that generates fresh attitudes, different perspectives and exciting new ideas. We embrace diversity because it's the fair and right thing to do, and because it helps us to successfully mirror the positive changes occurring within our global society.

By utilizing a diverse workforce that interacts effectively, we learn from each other and, in doing so, deliver increasingly effective and innovative solutions and products". (web accessed 20/11/04). Proctor and Gamble are not alone. McDonalds says of its diversity policy "Diversity at McDonald's is understanding, recognizing and valuing the differences that make each person unique". (web accessed 21/11/04). As can be seen, multinational organisations are fast identifying the business case for embracing diversity and equality throughout their employment operations. Some of this is dictated through government legislation that prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on gender, ethnicity, and disability. In the United Kingdom, the Sex Discrimination Act, Race Relations Act and Disability Discrimination Act are examples of these.

However, many organisations are going further, in an attempt to achieve their business goals, especially in countries where some of this legislation may not exist. Proctor and Gamble states "At P&G, we operate on the fundamental belief that individual differences are good and such difference will produce a genuine competitive advantage. ' (web we are / diversity. j html, accessed 23/11/04) Although this essay will concentrate on the issues surrounding consistency in assessment of applicants, it is also acknowledged that inconsistencies may occur at the initial recruitment phase. If a company advertises for employees using certain media, then it should expect to receive applications from a range of individuals likely to experience that media. Therefore, in order to champion equality on the recruitment process, a range of media experienced by appropriate groups should be employed to ensure that an appropriate pool of applicants is able to apply for those available employment opportunities, reflecting the demographics and culture of the regions in question. At the start of the assessment process the job specification and person specification are traditionally constructed.

In UK and US law, an organisation must be able to show that their procedures are as job related as possible. (Pearn et al, 1998). The job specification process should focus on the activities the successful candidate will be completing. The trap many job specifications fall into is to include every activity, however minor or infrequent, that the employee might be asked to complete; to avoid the response "it's not my job to do that". Cook (2004) states that this leads to vagueness in the completed document, which hinders the construction of the person specification, which also may fall into this trap.

The person specification must detail the type of personality best suited to undertake the responsibilities within the job specification to avoid discrimination. The construction of the person specification may well dictate the type of assessment employed further into the process. Multinational organisations must adapt these processes according to the needs of the business locally, the traits of the labour market in the associated area, and the overall objectives of the parent company. In India, for example, attitudes towards women are very different to those found in the UK. It might be concluded that a person specification might be more biased towards a male applicant, something which would not be legal in the UK. There are many acknowledged forms of applicant assessment, which Arnold et al (2005) list as follows: o Interviews Methodology varies, but increasingly accepted formats include panels.

Questions directly put to the candidate, and normally job-related. o Psychometric testing Assesses cognitive ability, including general intelligence, verbal ability and numerical ability. May also include self-reports into personality measures. o References Usually obtained from current or previous employers. Often used at final stages of recruitment process. o BiodataSpecifications for biographical information about the applicants. May include objective data such as professional qualifications and subjective data such as work preferences. o Work-sample tests Tasks are set relevant to the job, and time given to complete them. o Handwriting analysis Otherwise known as graphology, inferences are made about the personality and characteristics of the applicant by examining specific features of handwriting. o Assessment Centres Includes a combination of some of the measures included above. Candidates are put into groups, and some tests are used to evaluate interactions with other applicants. Pearn, Ka ndola and Mottram (1987) reviewed selection techniques and concluded that fairness and efficiency were best achieved if organisations used assessment centres and work sample tests in their recruitment process.

Schmitt (1989) agreed with their findings, and this was re-iterated by Wood in 1994. Wood goes on to predict that the use of work samples will increase over time. Pearn et al state that a balance between validity and fairness should be the focus of the recruitment process, ensuring that the effectiveness of the test and procedure matches the desires of the organisation. As a principle, this remains relevant for multinational organisations as well as domestic ones; however the logistics behind the principle would differ in their complexity. Cook (2004) states: "The Assessment Centre is often regarded as fair or even 'EEOC proof', meaning that it creates no adverse impact on women or minorities".

Both Pearn et al and Cook agree that the system is not fool-proof. In fact, Cook goes on to state that the practice may lose its validity as a result of "careless practice" (such as untrained assessors, incoherent questioning) (2004, p 180). This careless practice is more likely to have an adverse effect on the process if the cultural uncertainty variable is added into the process, as is common in multinational organisations. Joynt and Morton (1999) say that "the key to cross-cultural assessment centres is to design the assessment process so that it is very adaptable to the local environment in which it will be operated". They go on to qualify this, stating: "The need for adaptability argues against having overly structured exercises, and most structured tools (such as situational interviews and work simulations) have to be modified". In order for the process to be given meaning, a sense of g localisation, defined as "local responsiveness within a global framework" (web managers / g localisation. htm, accessed 23/11/04) is required.

Joynt and Morton (1999) say: "Interviews are easy to adapt, but assessors also have to build in as many anchors into the local marketplace as possible in order to give the assessment process meaning". They go on to conclude: "this involves... simple renaming of case-studies and scenarios through to adoption of local norms for psychometric instruments". British Airways recently ran a customized recruitment process in Japan, and experienced problems in interview. These ranged from candidates being unwilling to offer critical incident examples, to take the lead in group exercises or to use the word 'I'. "After some modification of the interviewer cues, exercise design and prompting, candidates were able to demonstrate the behaviour's on which assessment could be made". (Joynt and Morton, 1999, p 109).

British Airways used the expertise of a local HR manager to look at the behaviour al indicators, and to adapt as necessary to more fit in with the "Japanese cultural context" (Joynt and Morton, 1999, p 109) Conclusion In order to properly embrace the concept of diversity, multinationals must begin by embracing the differences that make all employees unique, and to allow for these differences from the first time the organisation meets the individual. In many instances, this will be at the recruitment stage. The generally accepted best methods of employee assessment are applicable domestically and to the multi-cultural context, as is often experienced by multinational organisations. The construction of the individual process must be flexible to the local culture, yet answer the needs of the organisation on a global level. This sense of g localisation is key to the success of the process. The key to the process is the appropriate training provided to those carrying out these exercises.

As in many areas of work, without substantial and comprehensive training, the output of the process will not be as effective as the sum of the inputs. There may be differences in the set-up of the recruitment process depending on the job specification. This essay deals primarily with the recruitment process for management, yet has not investigated the 'ex-patriate' phenomenon, and how this might affect the processes discussed. Another associated limitation of the research is the lack of data available for non-management roles internationally. Assessment centres, as the recommended route for multinational organisations, may be prohibitively expensive for lower level jobs. Employee selection becomes inefficient if multicultural organisations are unable to maintain high levels of retention.

Therefore, in order to compliment the best methods of multinational recruitment, best practice in appraisal, motivation and reward systems must also be adopted, for the employee cycle to be truly efficient and productive.