HR manager: Conducing a job analysis of a new customer service positon Job analysis

Three types of techniques can be used when conducting a job analysis in the workplace of a particular position. The first, that of job observation, takes the form of a trained workplace analyst observing the employee completing his or her tasks. While for some positions this may be useful, particularly manual tasks, other jobs are more difficult to assess visually. In these cases, managers may request a work sampling (such as a representative report) or ask the employee to keep a diary or log of their work ("Job analysis methods" 2015). For a customer service job, observing might take the form of listening to selected calls fielded by existing employees in the position. The disadvantage of this approach is that it can be extremely time-consuming. Also, the trained observers can only give subjective impressions and may not fully understand the job requirements based solely upon their personal impressions. Likewise, the employees themselves may not report the necessary critical skills needed to perform the tasks in the form of a log.

The second method is that of interviewing, whereby the HR manager or another specialists interviews the individuals conducting the job search either on-site or at company headquarters. A predetermined battery of questions is usually asked although some deviation from the format may be allowed. This allows the manager to probe more deeply into any questions he or she might have about the job and is easier to use for non-manual tasks. It can also be time-consuming, however.

Questionnaires submitted to employees take less time but managers have far less ability to ask follow-up questions than they do with interviews. The value of questionnaires lies in their ability to be submitted to a wide range of employees very quickly. "Employees may vary in their perceptions of the jobs, and even in their literacy. For these reasons, the questionnaire method is usually combined with interviews and observations to clarify and verify the questionnaire information" ("Job analysis methods" 2015).

For a customer service position, a combined approach would likely be most advantageous. Given it is relatively easy to record interactions with customers, a combination of actual, recorded interviews with customers (both successful and unsuccessful in terms of their resolution) and questionnaires submitted to both employees and customers would give the most balanced portrait of the types of skills and character traits required to succeed.

Approaches to job design

There are four common approaches to job design: the mechanistic concept popularized by scientific management; the biological approach; the motivational approach; and the perceptual-motor approach (Campion & Thayer 2001). For a service-driven job vs. A manual, task-driven job, the latter two approaches seem most suitable. The motivational approach stresses that individuals succeed in jobs they find to be personally fulfilling. By making jobs meaningful "from a task-oriented perspective" and providing growth opportunities for employees through constructive feedback, rewarding achievement, and encouraging participation, the full value of the job can be exploited (Campion & Thayer 2001: 71). This approach would seem to be very useful for customer service, given that such positions are often viewed as a lower-level, entry level jobs. But these workers cab possess considerable hidden power, given that the representative is the face of the company. Representatives, through their interactions with customers, can provide helpful information to higher-level mangers about customer needs. Not only is this useful but from a motivational perspective it also encourages the employees to feel more personally invested in the organization as they are making a meaningful contribution to its growth and development.

Investing in the education and training of employees on a regular basis is also motivational, demonstrating that the company sees workers as valuable participants, not as disposable, easily replaceable workers. This will help lower the high rates of employee turnover common to so many customer service positions. Monitoring employee performance is also vital. Employees who go the extra mile to help customers should be rewarded. Through careful tracking of employee performance in terms of calls, employees should receive personal and targeted feedback. Instead of merely monitoring calls to see how long it took to resolve a customer complaint, the quality of interaction on a selected number of calls for each employee should be assessed.

The perceptual-motor approach to job design might also be useful because it stresses how the human mind processes information and suggests that job design should reflect these realities. For example, limiting the call volume may be necessary given...

Jobs that require intense vigilance can be extremely draining (Campion & Thayer 2001: 73). Giving employees a script in terms of how to deal with irate customers or customers with complex requests might be one way to exercise quality control. The problem with this approach, however, is that it tends to decrease job satisfaction, given that workers lack a sense of engagement when forced to adhere to a relatively routine set of tasks on a day-to-day basis. Employees may need and want additional discretion to deal with complex customer requests. Overall, the motivational approach is preferred for a customer service job.
Strategies to attract candidates

The organization must stress the unique nature of this customer service position in the way it permits employee autonomy and the fact that workers are doing a valuable service for the company and for customers. Recruiting at colleges to attract young people who are looking for their first, entry-level jobs but who still desire work which is fulfilling in some way, shape, or form beyond a paycheck also reflects a motivational philosophy of job design.

However, a combination of recruitment techniques can be used. For example, in terms of the biological approach to job design, which stresses minimizing physical and psychological dimensions of work: biological approaches emphasize using ergonomics to, for example, reduce the discomfort of sitting for long periods of time while talking on the phone (Campion & Thayer 2001: 71). Allowing workers to work from home via telecommuting would reduce the physical and psychological discomfort of being in a call center all day. Or, call centers could be equipped with more comfortable chairs and tables; telephones which were relatively easy to use with minimal static; and keyboards that minimized the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome. Reducing the psychological stresses of customer service would also in the long run serve this purpose. For example, giving employees a training course in stress management for dealing with difficult customers and allowing them to call a manager if customers became abusive could reduce the physical aspects of psychological stress as well. Finally, ensuring that there was plenty of natural light in the center, giving breaks to employees so they can get up to go to the bathroom and walk around, and minimizing the number of long shifts and overnight work would promote the biological health of workers.

Customer service work has tended to be conceptualized in a mechanistic fashion, however. Mechanistic job designs emphasize standardization to improve quality control. This approach has fallen out of favor with the rise of white-collar work and desk jobs which are difficult to reduce to a series of movements. However, many call centers attempt to employ a standardized approach in terms of the greetings used by workers and also the standard operating procedures the workers are instructed to follow when dealing with customer complaints.

Perceptual-motor approaches could likewise be integrated into the job recruitment strategy. Given that the focus of this motivator is not to overwhelm the employee, limiting the number of calls fielded per day would be optimal. A critical component of this approach would be recruiting enough workers to ensure that no single employee had to deal with too many calls at one particular time. Overwhelming employees with late night shifts would also be frowned upon. In this instance, outsourcing late night work to different time zones via telecommuting might be preferred, versus having a number of employees in the same zone working a 24-hour customer service line.

Ideally, all job design strategies can be integrated to some degree into the recruitment approach. However, a motivational perspective is clearly preferred, given that the company would ideally prefer highly engaged employees, versus employees who are merely comfortable or task-driven. Above all it is essential to allow participatory engagement by employees and stress this throughout the recruitment process and to ensure employees are entering a comfortable workplace.

Measuring the performance of customer service representatives

As well as deploying effective techniques to recruit high-quality employees, it is also essential to measure employee job performance in an effective manner. Call center employees are sometimes evaluated by the length of time it takes to resolve a complaint. This can be ineffective, however, given that taking the time to help a customer can be more productive in creating a good impression. Instead, select calls should be recorded and screened (after informing both customer and employee) and evaluated for the quality of the employee's interactions. Dealing with difficult customers should be seen as a bonus and…