Unit II: Human Resource Planning

Meaning, HR forecasting & Procurement, Advantages of HR Planning, Factors

Influencing HR Planning, Job design & analysis, job description & Specification.

Human Resource Forecasting

Human resource (HR) demand forecasting is the process of estimating the future
quantity and quality of people required. The basis of the forecast must be the
annual budget and long-term corporate plan, translated into activity levels for
each function and department.  In a manufacturing company, the sales budget
would be translated into a production plan giving the number and type of
products to be produced in each period. From this information, the number of
hours to be worked by each skilled category to make the quota for each period,
would be computed. Once the hours are available, determining the quality and
quantity of personnel will be the logical step.

1. Managerial Judgement

Under this method, firstly experienced managers estimate the manpower

requirements for their respective departments. This is done on the basis of their
knowledge of expected future workload and employee efficiency. At last, the top
management then aggregates and approves the departmental estimates. This is a
very easy and time-saving method.

But it is quite subjective and is, therefore, suitable only for small firms. The
assistance of work study, O&M, and human resource experts can refine the
estimates based on experience. This method helps in judging the informal group
norms on Human Resource Forecasting.

2. Ratio-trend Analysis: This is the quickest HR forecasting technique. The

technique involves studying past ratios, say, between the number of workers and
sales in an organization and forecasting future ratios, making some allowance or
changes in the organization or its methods. 2. Regression Analysis This is similar to
ratio-trend analysis in that forecast is based on the relationship between sales
volume and employee size. However, regression analysis is more statistically
sophisticated. A firm first draws a diagram depicting the relationship between
sales and workforce size. It then calculates regression line – a line that cuts right
through the center of the points on the diagram. By observing the regression line,
one can find out number of employees required at each volume of sales. Example
of trend analysis – • Production of Units : 5,000 • No. of Workers : 100 • Ratio :
100:5000 = 0.02 • Estimated Production : 8,000 • No. of Workers required : 8000
× 0.02 = 160

3. Work-study Method

This method uses time and motion study to analyze and measure work. Such
studies help the managers to decide the standard time for per unit work.

Planned Output for next years 50,000 units

Standard hours per unit 2

Planned hours required 50,000 X 2

Productive hours per workers in the year 2,000

Number of workers required 1,00,000/2,000 = 50

If the span of control is ten, five (50/10) supervisor will supervise the work. When
it is possible to measure work and set standards, the work-study method is more
suitable for repetitive and manual jobs. Job method should not change
frequently.

4. Delphi Techniques: Delphi Technique Named after the ancient Greek Oracle at
the city of Delphi, the Delphi technique is a method of forecasting personnel
needs. It solicits estimates of personnel needs from a group of experts, usually
managers. The human resource planning (HRP) experts act as intermediaries,
summarize the various responses and report the findings back to the experts. The
experts are surveyed again after they receive this feedback. Summaries and
surveys are repeated until the experts’ opinions begin to agree. The agreement
reached is the forecast of the personnel needs. The distinguishing feature of the
Delphi technique is the absence of interaction among experts

HUMAN RESOURCE PROCUREMENT

Meaning of Procurement in Human Resource:

Procurement is the process of finding and agreeing to terms, and acquiring goods,
services, or works from an external source, often via a tendering or competitive
bidding process.

Procurement is first operational function of Human resource or personnel

management. Procurement is subjected to procuring and employing people who
fits the position and have necessary skill set, mindset, attitude and knowledge.

The procurement function of the Human Resources Management is considered

with the procurement of adequate and appropriate number of employees to
carry out the work in the enterprise. For this purpose, the personnel department
has to find out the requirement of personnel in each department i.e. the number
of employees required, their educational and technical qualifications, experience,
etc. so that it would be able to procure right type of persons for the various jobs
in the enterprise.

The various aspects of procurement functions are:

 (a) Procurement i.e. recruitment of adequate and appropriate number of

employees. For this purpose, it has to tap possible sources from where
prospective labour supply will come.
 (b) Collecting information about prevailing wage rates and job
requirements.
 (c) Selection of suitable candidates through proper procedure and placing
them in different places.
 (d) Maintaining records of each employee.
 (e) Introducing to the new employees the various officers – subordinates as
well as higher officers so as to enable them to acquaint fully with the
organisation.
Procurement Functions

Job analysis: It is the process of collecting information relating to the operations

and responsibilities pertaining to a specific job.

Manpower planning: It is a process of determining and assuring that the

organization will have an adequate number of qualified persons, available at
proper times, performing jobs which would meet their needs and provide
satisfaction for the individuals involved

Recruitment: It is the process of searching prospective employees and stimulating

them to apply for jobs in the organization.

Selection: It is the process of ascertaining qualifications, experience, skills and

knowledge of an applicant with a view to appraising his/her suitability to the job
in question

Placement: It is the process for matching the employee’s qualifications,

experience, skills and interest with the job on offer. It is the personnel manager’s
responsibility to position the right candidate at the right level.

Induction: Induction is nothing but the introduction of the organization to

employees where they are going to work. It is a sort of orientation. It brings
comfort to employees and helps them to get settled in the new environment.

Brief information about history of the company, nature of business, work culture,
policies, procedures, departments, rules and regulations, nature of job, duties and
responsibilities, is provided to employees to create a proper background in their
minds before they start working actively in the company.

Internal mobility: Internal mobility refers to the change of role that a worker may
choose to engage in within the organization, shifting from one organizational unit
to a different one, performing different activities.
Internal mobility can occur due to various reasons related to specific
organizational needs of the Foundation
HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING

E.W Ve er viewed human resources planning as ― a process by which an

organization should move from its current manpower position to its desired
manpower position. Through planning management strives to have the right
number and right kind of people at the right places at the right time, doing things
which result in both the organization and the individual receiving maximum
long-run benefit.
Colemn has defined human resource planning as "the process of determining
manpower requirements and the means for meeting those requirements in order
to carry an integrated plan at the organisation".
According to Leon C Megginson : human resources planning is an integrated

approach to performing the planning aspects of the personnel function in order to

have a sufficient supply of adequately developed and motivated people to
perform the duties and tasks required to meet organizational objectives and
satisfy the individual needs and goals of organizational members.
Human Resource is undoubtedly an important part of any organization. Hence,
every organization must have the right number of the workforce at the right place
and that too at the right time. In order to efficiently plan the workforce, the
proper needs of human resource are very necessary.

Advantages of using HRP

Human resource planning can be defined as the process of identifying the

number of people required by an organization in terms of quantity and quality. All
human resource management activities start with human resource planning. So
we can say that human resource planning is the principle/primary activity of
human resource management. The process of HRP plays a very important role in
the organization. The importance of HRP can be explained as follows.

Meeting manpower needs: Every Organisation needs adequate and properly

qualified staff for the conduct of regular business activities. Imaginative HRP is
needed in order to meet the growing and changing human resource needs of an
organisation.

Replacement of manpower: The existing manpower in an Organisation is affected

due to various reasons such as retirement and removal of employees and labour
turnover. HRP is needed to estimate the shortfall in the manpower requirement
and also for making suitable arrangements for the recruitment and appointment
of new staff.
Meeting growing manpower needs: The expansion or modernization programme
may be undertaken by the enterprise. Manpower planning is needed in order to
forecast and meet additional manpower requirement due to expansion and
growth needs through recruitment and suitable training programmes.

Meeting challenges of technological environment: HRP is helpful in effective use

of technological progress. To meet the challenge of new technology existing
employees need to be retrained and new employees may be recruited.

Coping with change: HRP enables an enterprise to cope with changes in

competitive forces, markets, products, and technology and government
regulations. Such changes generate changes in job content, skill, number and type
of personals.

Increasing investment in HR : An employee who picks up skills and abilities

becomes a valuable resource because an organisation makes investments in its
manpower either through direct training or job assignments.

Adjusting manpower requirements: A situation may develop in; an organisation

when there will be surplus staff in one department and shortage of staff in some
other department. Transfers and promotions are made for meeting such
situations.

Recruitment and selection of employees: HRP suggests the type of manpower

required in an organisation with necessary details. This facilitates recruitment and
selection of suitable personnel for jobs in the Organisation. Introduction of
appropriate selection tests and procedures is also possible as per the manpower
requirements.

Placement of manpower: HRP is needed as it facilitates placement of newly

selected persons in different departments as per the qualifications and also as per
the need of different departments. Surplus or shortage of manpower is avoided
and this ensures optimum utilization of available manpower.

Training of manpower: HRP is helpful in selection and training activities. It

ensures that adequate number of persons is trained to fill up the future vacancies
in the Organisation.

Factors Influencing HR Planning

There are various factors, both internal and external, which affect HR planning.

These factors are as follows:

Factor # 1. Type of Organization:

Type of organization affects HR planning. Type of organization may be identified
on two base- nature of business and pattern of ownership. Nature of business of
the organization determines its production/operations process which affects ratio
of operatives and supervisory and managerial personnel.

Factor # 2. Approach of Organization towards Planning:

Approach towards HR planning in an organization depends on its approach
towards overall organizational planning. Different organizations adopt different
approaches towards overall planning. These approaches may be analyzed in two
forms- proactive or reactive approach and formal or informal approach. In
proactive approach, an organization anticipates future environment and makes
strategic decisions based on this anticipation.
In reactive approach, strategic decisions are in the form of reactions to
environmental changes. Since an organization collects information for
undertaking planning process and relevant part of this information is also used in
HR planning process, HR planning may be either proactive or reactive.
Similarly, if an organization undertakes overall planning on formal basis which is
quite comprehensive, HR planning tends to be comprehensive. As against this, if
an organization undertakes overall planning on informal basis which is
fragmented, HR planning also tends to be fragmented and only a few HR issues
are considered in HR planning.

Factor # 3. Strategy of Organization:

Strategy of an organization considerably affects HR planning because an HR plan
is derived from strategy of the organization. An organization has different
strategic option- stability, growth, and retrenchment. In stability strategy, the
focus is on incremental growth by making the existing facilities more productive.
In this case, emphasis in HR planning is more on developing existing personnel
and making few adjustments of personnel.
In growth strategy, the emphasis is on making additional investments which
requires additional personnel. Therefore, the organization needs comprehensive
HR plans. In retrenchment strategy, the focus is on reducing business volume by
reducing scale of business operations or divesting some businesses. Therefore, HR
planning puts emphasis on reducing number of personnel.

Factor # 4. Organizational Growth Cycle:

Organizations have a definite pattern of growth cycle- birth and infancy,
adulthood, maturity, and old age. At each stage of growth cycle, there are specific
organizational objectives and strategic focus, consequently, HR planning. At birth
and infancy, organizational objectives are survival and growth to some extent;
strategic focus is on mobilizing resources (including human resources too) and
defining products and markets; and focus of HR planning is on mobilizing human
resources.
At adulthood, organizational objectives are quantitative growth of business
volume and qualitative growth through product differentiation and creating
niche; strategic focus is on increasing market share, product innovation, and
reaping rewards of previous and present efforts; focus of HR planning is on
developing individual, group, and organizational competency.
At maturity, organizational objectives are stabilization of business and
contribution to social cause; strategic focus is on maintaining organizational
position with stability; focus of HR planning is just to continue the pattern of
previous stage. At old age, organizational objective is survival; strategic focus is on
retrenching products/businesses that are not rewarding; focus of HR planning is
on pruning size of workforce.
This is a general pattern of organizational growth cycle. There is no fixed time
frame for completion of each stage. This depends how an organization is
managed. For example, Tata Steel, formed in 1907, is still going strong while many
organizations formed during this period have become extinct long back.

Factor # 5. Level of Environmental Uncertainty:

Environment is dynamic and changes continuously. Rate of this change
determines level of environmental uncertainty. If rate of change is high, level of
environmental uncertainty is high and the HR planning premises on the basis of
which an HR plan is formulated may not work.
Therefore, there is a need for formulating contingency HR plans. This ensures that
if one HR plan is not suitable in the changed situation, other HR plans are
available. If the level of environmental uncertainty is low, only one HR plan is
sufficient.

Factor # 6. Time Horizon:

Time horizon of HR plans affects HR planning. Longer the time horizon higher is
the uncertainty in HR formulation. This is so because it is very difficult, sometimes
even impossible if the environment changes on irregular pattern, to forecast
future environment precisely.
Therefore, HR plans for remote future become meaningless. Because of this
limitation, most of the organizations prepare HR plans for five years along with
short- terms HR plans every year. In this case, short-term HR plans are based on
long-term HR plan. In order to make long-term HR plan flexible, many
organizations prepare yearly HR plan and recast long-term HR plan every year.

Factor # 7. Type and Quality of Information:

Quality of HR planning is based on the type and quality of information because
formulation of HR plan is based on information. If required type of information
with high quality is available at right time, HR planning becomes effective. In the
alternative case, it tends to be ineffective.

Factor # 8. Nature of Human Resource Market:

Human resource market consists of people with skills and abilities from where an
organization may fill its positions. Nature of human resource market affects
availability of people with requisite skills and abilities. In India, there is a paradox
so for availability of human resources is concerned.
On the one hand, there is abundant supply of people so far as their educational
qualifications are concerned. On the other hand, only a very small percentages of
such people is employable because of poor quality of majority of educational
institutions. Therefore, while assessing supply of human resources, this fact must
be kept in mind.

Factor # 9. Outsourcing HRM Functions:

Some HRM functions which are of administrative nature may be outsourced
instead of performing these functions internally. To the extent HRM functions are
outsourced, HR planning workload gets reduced. If an organization adopts
practice of outsourcing HRM functions, it may concentrate on core HR issues in
HR planning.

Human Resource Forecasting

Human resource (HR) demand forecasting is the process of estimating the future
quantity and quality of people required. The basis of the forecast must be the
annual budget and long-term corporate plan, translated into activity levels for
each function and department.  In a manufacturing company, the sales budget
would be translated into a production plan giving the number and type of
products to be produced in each period. From this information, the number of
hours to be worked by each skilled category to make the quota for each period,
would be computed. Once the hours are available, determining the quality and
quantity of personnel will be the logical step.

1. Managerial Judgment

Under this method, firstly experienced managers estimate the manpower

requirements for their respective departments. This is done on the basis of their
knowledge of expected future workload and employee efficiency. At last, the top
management then aggregates and approves the departmental estimates. This is a
very easy and time-saving method.

But it is quite subjective and is, therefore, suitable only for small firms. The
assistance of work study, O&M, and human resource experts can refine the
estimates based on experience. This method helps in judging the informal group
norms on Human Resource Forecasting.

2. Ratio-trend Analysis: This is the quickest HR forecasting technique. The

technique involves studying past ratios, say, between the number of workers and
sales in an organization and forecasting future ratios, making some allowance or
changes in the organization or its methods. 2. Regression Analysis This is similar to
ratio-trend analysis in that forecast is based on the relationship between sales
volume and employee size. However, regression analysis is more statistically
sophisticated. A firm first draws a diagram depicting the relationship between
sales and workforce size. It then calculates regression line – a line that cuts right
through the center of the points on the diagram. By observing the regression line,
one can find out number of employees required at each volume of sales. Example
of trend analysis – • Production of Units : 5,000 • No. of Workers : 100 • Ratio :
100:5000 = 0.02 • Estimated Production : 8,000 • No. of Workers required : 8000
× 0.02 = 160

3. Work-study Method

This method uses time and motion study to analyze and measure work. Such
studies help the managers to decide the standard time for per unit work.

Planned Output for next years 50,000 units

Standard hours per unit 2

Planned hours required 50,000 X 2

Productive hours per workers in the year 2,000

Number of workers required 1,00,000/2,000 = 50

If the span of control is ten, five (50/10) supervisor will supervise the work. When
it is possible to measure work and set standards, the work-study method is more
suitable for repetitive and manual jobs. Job method should not change
frequently.

4. Delphi Techniques: Delphi Technique Named after the ancient Greek Oracle at
the city of Delphi, the Delphi technique is a method of forecasting personnel
needs. It solicits estimates of personnel needs from a group of experts, usually
managers. The human resource planning (HRP) experts act as intermediaries,
summarize the various responses and report the findings back to the experts. The
experts are surveyed again after they receive this feedback. Summaries and
surveys are repeated until the experts’ opinions begin to agree. The agreement
reached is the forecast of the personnel needs. The distinguishing feature of the
Delphi technique is the absence of interaction among experts

Job analysis

Job analysis is a process of determining which characteristics are necessary for

satisfactory job performance and analyzing the environmental conditions in which
the job is performed. It analyzes the work content of job & job content of work.
The process of job analysis leads to development of two documents viz., job
description and job specification. Job description indicates the tasks and
responsibilities, job title, duties, machines, tools and equipment, working
conditions and occupational hazards that form part of the job whereas job
specification comprises of the capabilities required to perform job, education,
experience, training, judgmental skills, communication skills and personal skills
required to perform the job effectively.
Significance of Job Analysis

Job analysis is a vital tool in taking a variety of human resource decisions. It is

used to design and execute a number of human resource management activities
and programs. They are described here:
1. Manpower Planning: job analysis helps in forecasting manpower requirements
based on the knowledge and skills and quality of manpower needed in
organization.

2. Recruitment: A carefully designed job analysis provides information as to what

sources of recruitment are to be used to hire employees. For example, job
analysis in a retail stores about merchandise sorters tells that village level schools
are potential source of recruitment.

3. Selection: Selection of the right candidate to the right job can only be done
with the help of job analysis. In the case of retail stores, a billing assistant can be
selected with the knowledge of accounting, cash, and computer operations. This
is possible with the help of job analysis.

4. Training and Career Development: Job analysis provides valuable information

to develop training programs. It provides information about what skills are to be
trained. It also provides information about various techniques to be used in
career development of employees.

5. Placement and socialization: After people are selected and trained, they must
be placed in suitable jobs. Job analysis provides information about the suitability
of jobs. A clear job analysis guides the process to socialize the employees to
develop sound relationships with all those persons.

6. Compensation: Job analysis provides information as to how much

compensation and other financial and non-financial benefits to be associated with
each job.
7. Employee Safety and Welfare: Job analysis details information on working
conditions. Thus, management tries to provide safety and welfare measures that
are outlined in job analysis.

8. Performance Appraisal: Performance of employees is appraised based on

standard criteria provided in the job analysis.

9. Counseling: A good job analysis provides information to the superiors about

the jobs. They use this information to guide and counsel employees about their
career options, performance, training requirements and skill up-gradation.

10. Strategic Planning: Job analysis enables human resource manager to develop a
long-range strategic plan in all concerned areas of human resources.

METHODS OF JOB ANALYSIS

1. Observation Method: Observation of work activities and worker behaviors is a

method of job analysis which can be used independently or in combination with
other methods of job analysis. Three methods of job analysis based on
observation are:
(i) Direct Observation; (ii) Work Methods Analysis; and (iii) Critical Incidents
Technique.

(i) Direct Observation: Using direct observation, a person conducting the analysis
simply observes employees in the performance of their duties. The observer
either takes general notes or works from a form which has structured categories
for comment. Everything is observed: what the worker accomplishes, what
equipment is used etc. The limitation of this method is that it cannot capture the
mental aspects of jobs, such as decision making or planning, since mental
processes are not observable.
(ii) Work Methods Analysis: This method is used to describe manual and repetitive
production jobs, such as factory or assembly-line jobs. This method is used by
industrial engineers to determine standard rates of production.

(iii) Critical Incidents Technique: It involves observation and recording of examples

of particularly effective or ineffective behaviors. Behaviors are judged to be
“effective” or “ineffective” in terms of results produced by the behavior. In this
method a person using the critical incidents must describe behavior in retrospect,
or after the fact, rather than as the activity unfolds. Accurate recording of past
observations is more difficult than recording the behaviors as they occur.

2. Interview: In this method, the Analyst interviews the employee, his supervisor
and other concerned persons and record answers to relevant questions. The
interviewer asks job related questions and a standard format is used to record the
data. The limitation of this method is that it does not provide accurate
information because the employee may not provide accurate information to
protect his own interest. Success of this method depends upon the rapport
between the analyst and the employee.

3. Questionnaire: In this method properly drafted questionnaires are sent to

jobholders. Structured questionnaires on different aspects of a job are developed.
Each task is described in terms of characteristics such as frequency, significance,
difficulty and relationship to overall performance. The jobholders give their rating
of these dimensions. The ratings obtained are analyzed and a profile of actual job
is developed. This method provides comprehensive information about a job. The
limitation of this method is that it is time consuming and costly.

Job design

Job design is next to job analysis. Job design involves systematic attempts to
organize tasks, duties and responsibilities into a unit of work to achieve certain
objectives. Job design integrates the work content and qualifications required for
each job that meets the needs of employee and the organization. Job design
makes the job highly specialized and well-designed jobs are important in
attracting and retaining a motivated work force.

Job Design is affected by three categories of factors:

Organizational Factors: The organizational factors that affect job design are
characteristics of task, work flow, ergonomics and work practices.

 Characteristic of task: Each task consists of 3 elements, namely, planning,

executing and controlling. Job design involves the assembly of a number of
tasks into a job or a group of jobs. A job may require an employee to
perform a variety of connected task. All these characteristics of jobs are
taken into consideration for job design.

 Workflow: The flow of work in an organization is strongly influenced by the

nature of the product. This product usually suggests the sequence and
balance between jobs if the work is to be completed efficiently

 Ergonomics: Ergonomics is concerned with the designing and shaping of

jobs as per the physical abilities and characteristics of individuals so that
they can perform their jobs effectively

 Work Practices: Work practices are the set methods of performing work.
This can affect the job design as there is little flexibility in designing the job
especially if the work practices are approved by employee unions.

Environmental Factors: Environmental factors affect job design. Environmental

factors include employee abilities & availability and Social & Cultural
expectations.

 Employee Abilities & Availability: Abilities and availability of people plays an

important role while designing jobs. Due attention needs to be given to the
employee who will actually perform the job.
  Social And Cultural Expectations: Jobs should be designed keeping the
employees in mind. Due to increase in literacy rate and knowledge,
employees are now more aware and only perform jobs that are to their
liking and match their profile.

Behavioral Factors: Behavioral factors are related to human needs and they
need to be satisfied properly. Behavioral elements include the following:

 Feedback: Employee should be given proper feedback about his job

performance. This will enable the employee to improve his performance
and complete the job in a proper manner.

 Autonomy: Employee should be given proper autonomy required to

perform the work. The absence of autonomy may lead to poor
performance on the part of employees.

 Use of Abilities: The job should be designed in such a manner that an

employee will be able to use his abilities fully and perform the job
effectively.

 Variety: Absence of variety in the job assigned may lead to boredom.

Adequate scope to variety factor should be given while designing a job.

METHODS OF JOB DESIGN

Job Simplification: In the job simplification technique, the job is simplified

or specialized. A given job is divided into small sub-parts and each part is
assigned to one individual employee. Job simplification is introduced when
job designers feel that the jobs are not specialized enough.

Job Rotation: Job rotation implies systematic movement of employees

from one job to the other. Job remains unchanged but employees
performing them shift from one job to the other. With job rotation, an
employee is given an opportunity to perform different jobs, which enriches
his skills, experience and ability to perform different jobs. It is the process
of preparing employees at a lower level to replace someone at the next
higher level. It is generally done for the designations that are crucial for the
effective and efficient functioning of the organization. By this to some
extent boredom is reduced. However for this people interest is primary
importance. By this they can also learn new things, new techniques, and
new ways of doing better work. It may also happen that over a period of
time they will be finding a job for which they are better suitable. They can
also contribute in a better way to achieve the goals of the organization.

Job Enlargement: Job enlargement means expanding the scope of the job.
Many tasks and duties are aggregated and assigned to a single job. It is
opposite to job simplification. Job enlargement is an extension of Job
rotation, exposing the people to several jobs without changing the job
duties to be performed. He is taken off the boring job for a while & is
allowed to take up a related task & so on. Monotony is relieved
temporarily. Job enlargement is to expand in several tasks than just to do
one single task. It is also the horizontal expansion of a job. It involves the
addition of tasks at the same level of skill and responsibility. It is done to
keep workers from getting bored. This would also be considered multi-
tasking by which one person would do several persons jobs, saving the
company money and man hours that normally would be paid to additional
workers. Small companies may not have as many opportunities for
promotions, so they try to motivate employees through job enlargement

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job description is an informative documentation of the scope, duties, tasks,

responsibilities and working conditions related to the job listing in the
organization through the process of job analysis. Job description also details
the skills and qualifications that an individual applying for the job needs to
possess. It basically gives all the details which might be good for both the
 company and the applicant so that both parties are on the same page
regarding the job posting.
The job description is used in the recruitment process to inform the
applicants of the job profile and requirements, and used at the performance
management process to evaluate the employee’s performance against the
description.

Importance of Job Description

Job description is the most important thing which a candidate gets about a
job listing. It gives all the relevant and necessary details about a job. The
details which can help one decide whether the job is relevant or not.
Qualifications, roles, responsibilities etc are included in the job description
document which paints a clear picture of what is expected from the
particular role. It gives an opportunity for a candidate to prepare well for a
job interview. It also helps companies identify all skills required by a right
candidate.

A Job description will include the following components:

- Roles and responsibilities of the job.
- Goals of the organization as well the goals to be achieved as a part of the profile
are mentioned in the job description.
- Qualifications in terms of education and work experience required have to be
clearly mentioned.
- Skill sets like leadership, team management, time management, communication
management etc required to fulfill the job
- Salary range of the job are mentioned in the job description

Steps to Write a Job Description

Companies have to make sure that they write an accurate & comprehensive job
description giving all job-related details. The main steps to write a job description
are:
1. Job Title
The first step is to write the job title decided internally for official purposes.
2. Role Summary
The second step is to write the summary about the job role.
3. Duties
The next step involves writing down all the job responsibilities as well as the job
duties which are required with this particular job.
4. Qualifications
The fourth step is to give the basic education qualifications, work experience or
other criteria required for this job role.
5. Role Expectations
This step defines what is required by an employee to be successful.
6. Reporting
The sixth step is to highlight who the reporting manager would be and who would
be the subordinates.
7. Verification
The final step is to get the job description verified by the HR team for any
changes, updates or validations.

Advantages of Job Description

There are many advantages of having a comprehensive job description given by a
company. Some of the advantages are mentioned below:
1. Helps companies understand the type of candidate they should search for
based on title, position and location
2. Employees are well aware about their job roles & duties
3. Job description helps in understanding the workplace environment, benefits etc
for a prospective employee
4. Helps in better recruitment & selection
5. Job description clearly highlights all the requirements, objectives & goals that it
wants an employee to perform
Disadvantages of Job Description
Despite being a thorough documentation related to the job, there are certain
limitations of job description:
1. They are time bound and can change with organization structure, industry
policies, company requirements etc
2. It can only highlight the macro criteria of a job but cannot fully explain the
obstacles, emotional requirements etc related to the job
3. Incomplete job description lacking quality information can misguide both the
HR manager as well as the employee

JOB SPECIFICATION
Job specification is another aspect of job analysis. It describes the type of
employee required (in terms of skill, experience, and special attitude, and test
scores of various types) and outlines the particular working conditions that are
encountered on the job. It is essentially a set of specification about people
required on the job. The job specification (in the usual form) includes a brief job
summary designed to give the recruiter a feel of the job and to set the stage for
greater detail.
It is a standard for personnel and specifies the qualities required for acceptable
performance. Therefore, it is a written record of the requirements sought in an
individual worker for a given job. In other words, a job specification is a summary
of the personal characteristics required for a job.
According to Edwin B. Flippo, “A job specification is a statement of minimum
acceptable human qualities necessary to perform a job properly.”
According to Dale Yoder, “The job specification, as such a summary properly
described is thus, a specialized job description, emphasizing personnel
requirement and designed especially to facilitate selection and placement.”

Thus the preparation of sound job specifications involves

three distinct activities:
(a) Collecting relevant data about the job,
(b) Analyzing the data and transferring it into a written job description, and
(c) Deriving from that description a job/person specification.

The job specifications are used for certain significant

purposes, which are as follows:
i. Searching deserving candidate – Assists the HR department to find the right
candidate for the defined profile. It also helps the HR executives, who are not
technically aware of the exact requirement, to get the appropriate candidate. In
addition, it helps the interviewer in preparing the questionnaire to short-list the
candidates.
ii. Inducing the candidate to look into the offer – Requires that the job
specification help the candidate to decide his/her suitability for the stated job
profile.
iii. Establishing organizational competency – Involves setting up the core
competencies of the organization that can provide an edge to the organization
over its competitors. The identification of the organizational competency
demands implementation of the competency programs specific to organizations.
iv. Recognizing candidates’ competency – Ensures the selection of the right
candidate. Job specification identifies the exact duties and competencies of
various job positions, with which skills and abilities of the employees are
matched.
v. Providing direction to candidate – Requires that the job specification gives brief
description to candidates so that they can determine if their experience and
qualifications suit to the job position.

The characteristics of job specifications are:

1. Physical Characteristics – It includes health, strength, endurance, age range,
body size, height, weight, vision, voice, foot coordination, colour discrimination
and motor coordination.
2. Psychological Characteristics – It includes qualities like manual dexterity,
mechanical aptitude, judgment, analytical ability, resourcefulness, mental
alertness and concentration.

3. Personnel Characteristics – It includes the qualities like personal appearance,

good and pleasing manners, emotional stability, aggressiveness and
submissiveness, extroversion or introversion, leadership, cooperativeness, skill in
dealing with others, unusual sensory qualities of sight, etc.
4. Responsibilities – It includes the qualities of supervision of others, responsibility
for production process and equipment, responsibility for the safety of others,
responsibility for preventing monetary loss.
5. Demographic Characteristics – It includes features like age, sex, education,
experience, and language ability.