Job Description
Then we produce the job description which provides an outline of job analysis in which it writes the specific details of the task and behaviour expected in the job. It includes:
A person specification this is a more personal profile on what kind of mental and phisycal attributes are needed of the mployee. This looks at personal attributes and achievements of the job holder, for example , this could be there actual physical self or achievements they have gained such as awards and qualifications that will make them desirable to the job. Specific skills maybe needed within the job such as technological skills. Personality could be mentioned as the job could entail working with the general public, or working in a team . There might also be a certin level of experience the consumer may need for the job. Another specification is interests and hobies that could be ideal for the job.
Advertising
After this has been arranged the next step is to find the most suitable candidate for the position , this can be done for a through a range of methods the most obvious one is too look within the company , staff could be experienced and know the business enough to fulfil the job specification. Another method is too look at people the staff may recommend , or veen to look through school, youth or college training programmes.
Another most common way of finding staff is through advertisement through specialist magazines or places Through this John Lewis are targeting specific audience. As they know the audice of the magazine for which they will place the advertisment. However this also means that extra analysis of the canditate as there is no interceder
Head hunters this is when John Lewis head hnts an employee for a specific job who is working for another company, as they have the specific skills needed. This is expensive as most make employee want to leave work.
When creating an advertisement for a job john Lewis have to include the job description clearly , where the job will be located and the salary of the job , it is also important to mention whether there are fringe benefits . How to apply for the job should be clearly stated whether this is through a CV, and application form or online.
With recent changes in demographic trends, there is a huge skills shortage, so external recruitment is becoming difficult for john lewis. However we feel that advertising our job vacancies at universities , job centres will create suitable applicants. Also through adverting with advertising agencies , such as the national press and internet can appeal to a specific audience on a larger scale. Government funded training schemes are also very helpful in finding specific applicants with the right skills. Head hunting is sometimes used when a job is v ery specific and they are will offer the employee they want a higher wage or fringe benefit to leave there company and come work for us.
There are many pro’s of hiring externally, such as new ideas are brought to the company, with different qualities and skills. Also we have a range of applicants to choose from which allows us to choose the best applicant.
However sometimes john lewis’s feel that internal recruitment maybe more convenient as it is less time consuming , employees are more aware of who they are hiring and there is less chance of making the wrong decision, and it allows career building for the applicant and influence other staff as they feel that staying with the company will be worthwhile. We broadcast the job through memos , staff notice boards and the John Lewis newsletter.
When it comes to advertising John lewis also look at the costs of this and the budget they are working on.
Applicants Strenghts And Weaknesses
After we at the Hr department have received all the applications we begin to find the suitable applicants for the job this means looking at all applicants strengths and weaknesses . the quality of the letter is very important when reviewing letters of application as many employees seem to have the same amount of qualifications, appearance and ability, it is also important to see whether they will if into the culture of the company . The applicants will then be short listed and then interviewed.
Interviewing
John Lewis’s human resources department feel that helping mangers with interview skills and techniques will ensure that the interview is fair. These techniques include body language techniques such as eye contact to everyone, ensuring there is no negative body language such as arms crossed, head down or bad posture. Pointing at the interviewee should never be done and simple techniques such as ensuring the chair is not to high as employee could feel inferior. It is important to make the interviewee feel comfortable and relaxed , and ask questions that are set, and ensure that they ask the employee if they have any questions they would like to ask about.
Johne Lewis however take great consideration in looking at :
Legislation
When creating a rough copy of the job advert, John Lewis value and respects legislations that relate to employment and recruitment. This includes the race relations act:
-The empolyments right act 1996- this is Act starts right from the point of when they submit there CV or application to the point when they leave the cmpany.
- The disability discrimination Act 1995- this act states that an employer of more than 20 must not dicrimantate against a person of diability when in the process of recruitment, training, promotion opportunities or dismissal.
-The equal pay act 1970- This act is in relation to men and women whom are doing the same work to have equal pay.
- The sex discrimination Act 1975 and 1986- This act makes it unlawful for a company to discriminate a person in relation to their gender or material status.
- The race realtions act 1976- Act requires the equal access to job and promtion is provided to people of equal ability irrespective of race , colour or creed.
John Lewis understands and respects these legislations and ensures that every employee is made aware of them. If they breech these laws the consequences will result in heavy fines , legal costs , bad publicity for the company and profits/ shareholders.
Task 5 (E4)
A variety of training methods are used within John Lewis , as they feel it is important to constantly develop and teach new skills to the staff. The purpose of this is we feel that it will enable them to work better in the business and make it more efficient as staff feel more competent and confident in their jobs. Training is the process of teaching employees new skills or improving those skills that they already have. Training a workforce is essential in ensuring that employees know how to do their job well helping the business to achieve its objective of making a profit. The most popular training methods that businesses use are as follows:
On-the-job training – this is where training occurs ‘in-house’ and can take the form of any of the previously mentioned methods of training. It is usually carried out by employees working for the firm so it remains a cheap way of training the workforce. The only disadvantage of this type of training is that bad habits are often passed on as those doing the training are not always the most qualified or experienced person in that field.
Induction – this is the initial training that an employee has at the commencement of employment with a business. It is usually used to brief new employees about the policies and practices for the new company that they work for.
Mentoring – this is where employees are monitored usually by a more experienced colleague and progress is recorded and targets set. It is performed in order to ‘add value’ to the employees progress in the firm.
Apprenticeships – this is confined to those types of jobs that involve practical or skill based employment. Recruits are usually employed with little or no formal qualifications and are trained ‘on the job’ picking up skills as they work. They are paid a marginal wage and gain qualifications in their chosen career.
Job rotation is used for training , this involves the new employee, rotating around different jobs and tasks. Through this it allows the staff to gain a diversity of skills and also reduces boredom and increase motivation as they are constantly leaning new skills.
Off the Job
Off-the-job training – this takes place when employees are sent on courses. They are usually held by qualified and well experienced personnel and are expensive
John Lewis also offer in house courses to their staff , in which they are trained outside the owrk force
Training and development is important not only to the business, because it improves its skill resource, but its often seen these days as an important "perk" for employees if a training budget is allocated to them as part of their employment package. Training leads to employees improving their skills, which in turn makes them more valuable as employees. You could also argue that a happy employee is a better employee and might work harder or more successfully for the business, therefore improving business performance. It also cretes transferable skills for the staff which can be used when staff are sick , fellow employees ahve the skill to do the work, saving money and stress for the company. It also give the staff confidence and opens new opportunities to fill gaps in open job positions. this motivaites staff. Through trianing the staff become aware of new product development, legislations and technical advances which will mean staff can work faster and provide better customer service as they are aware of the product and technology.
Also john Lewis feel that through trainignstaff there will be a reduction in accident rates as they will be trained about Health and safety , which means a more positive image of the company and reduction in fines.z
E5
Preformance management
Preformance management is essential within John Lewis , as if it is not manged efficiently the company could become uncompetitive as staff are not being monitored.
Information that is provided from the performance management is vital , as it can look at skills analysis and fill the gaps through further training and can also look at promotion opportunities for staff.
John Lewis managers do out performance management and control by a number of methods:
They ensure that instant action is taken when mistakes have been made to the company and need to e corrected, planning and setting objectives for the staff and departments help them keep on track on their targets. Making comparisosns of the companies targets against their objectives, looking the staffs actual performance and keeping constant monitoring on it. Looking at the performance standards of staff is another target for the company , and ensuring that they are performing at the levels they should be at.
When planning and setting objectives for the company they can be either quntifies, so for example an actual figure is set for the goup or individual e.g. 30% increase for prodution or annual sales. Qualitive is another for of setting company objectives , and this centres around the actual quality provided by the service for example John lewis might set and objective for products to be delivered before the 24 hours of order.
Discussions take plave between the manger and employees on in which they set out there objective, when deciding upon this Smart is the idea they use in their decisions. All objectives set out go along the lines of SMART; Specific as employees need to know exactly what the objective is so there is no wrong information, Measurable, the managers give the emplyee a quantible figure to be met, Agreement between whom is setting the targets and who will be meeting them, Realistic objectives as the target needs to be achievable, Time related needs to be a set time period.
Monitoring Performance is an important role in assessing john lewis’s achievements, they can compare performance measurements to the objectives they have set out.
There are different ways John lewis’s measures its performance, one of these is through analysing their output , profit and sales over a period of times.
Benefits of preformance management include employees being motivaited as it sets them an objective to work to :
- focouses on results rather than behaviour and activites. For if an employee may seem to be working hard , yet the results differ from this , the company will be able to observe this through preformance management . Thus they will be able to identify problems and then motivaite employees to work towards the goals and objectives of the organisation.
-John lewis through performance management identifies organizational goals, results needed to achieve those goals, measures of effectiveness or efficiency (outcomes) toward the goals, and means (drivers) to achieve the goals. This chain of measurements is examined to ensure alignment with overall results of the organization.
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Motivational theories
Analysing Training and Development in depth
John Lewis values the training and development process emencely as they feel that this allows staff to develop skills and knowledge, which will inturn benefit the company as with more trained staff means a better business, which means more profit.
John Lewis use two main types of training in there business these are on the job training and off the job training . Both have different benefits for staff.
On the job Training
this is where training occurs ‘in-house’ , it is usually carried out by employees working for the firm so it remains a cheap way of training the workforce. The only disadvantage of this type of training is that bad habits are often passed on as those doing the training are not always the most qualified or experienced person in that field.On the job Taining includes:
Coaching- this is where employees are monitored usually by a more experienced colleague and progress is recorded and targets set. It is performed in order to ‘add value’ to the employees progress in the firm
Shadowing- This is where the new employee is shown how to do the job by a more experienced collegue of the workplace. Through this the employee will then learn how to preform the job well through observation and advise.
Job Roatation- This is the process in which the employees are trained in various jobs ib a small amount of time. Through this , it develops the skills of the employee making them more versatile. But it also gives them an insight into how each department of the company works.
Modern Appernticeships- This form of training is confined to those types of jobs that involve practical or skill based employment. Recruits are usually employed with little or no formal qualifications and are trained ‘on the job’ picking up skills as they work. They are paid a marginal wage and gain qualifications in their chosen career. They spend one day at the workplace and the other may be spent at a university or college . This shcmeme is subsizdized by the government , as it provides a greater incientive for the employee. Through this the employee can also gain and NVQ.
Off the Job Training
this takes place when employees are sent on courses. They are usually held by qualified and well experienced personnel and are expensive. These include:
- In house courses- John Lewis run their own in house training for employees, this is somtimes a favoured method of training when new skills have to are infact more business specific.Joh Lewis infact run their own residental training centres or colleges offering speacialist training cources.
External coureses- These are also speacialist training centres where employees are trained outside of the company this may also be through another employer. Another way to train employees on thhe latest equipment and technology is to use a trained supplier who will be willing to train them.
Vocational and Proffesional Courses- these are taken in unniversities and schools , in which they will gain qualifitcations whcih will be needed when starting the job. these include.
How does the business select approptiate workers for the business Today firms operate with reduced workforces. Thus firms have a much higher expectation of each employee in terms of the performance they will deliver The workers are the means by which the firm will achieve its objectives (e.g. sales, profits etc). Thus it is vital to the success of the firm to have a knowledgeable and technically competent workforce, which are highly motivated and flexible.
The firm must apply very rigorous selection procedures to ensure that it recruits the right staff.They do this through the recruitment and selection process, in which they review all the applicants documn
