Formal written job s and specifications are unnecessary. They date easily, encourage bureaucracy and restrict the flexibility and discretion of both HR specialists and line managers. Debate and discuss.

Running Head : Formal Job

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Formal Job s

Introduction

Formal job s serve as a guide in hiring and supervising employees . They are usually detailed s of what will be expected of the employees once they are hired to take up a particular position . Job s are used to guide the HR department in the administration of salary , performance appraisal , coaching and ensure legal compliance (Mark , 2002

They also deal with accountabilities and work flow and serve as a source of

information regarding the direction which the company will follow . All decisions regarding the employment , legal foundation and business needs of a particular employee are listed down on it . However with time these job s are gradually becoming irrelevant and a number of companies have begun to change their company strategy to incorporate ideas which can keep up with the present technologies . This is due to the fact that job s can not be relied on wholly to increase the company 's profitability (Peter , 2004

Why Written Formal Job s are Unnecessary

Formal job s are unnecessary , bureaucratic and restrict the flexibility and discretion of both HR specialists and line managers Formal job s are not based on the best job fit for employee 's competencies . As such , the capabilities of the employees are not fully utilized . Limiting employee 's work based on a job fails to make use of the talents possessed by a certain employee and discourages flexibilities . This is called systematic management which was advanced by Adam Smith . This kind systematic way of management is concerned more with goals than with people thus leading to widespread inefficiency . Job s do not focus on the needs of employees but the overall organizational goals (Jackdoff , 2000

Max Weber was a major contributor to bureaucracy and believed bureaucratic

structures could assist in eliminating variability in results when managers in the same organizations had different experiences , skills and goals . He thus recommended that the rules needed to be standardized to prevent personnel changes from disrupting the organization . He therefore proposed a structured and network of relationship which was formal in nature among other specialized positions within organizations . Rules and regulations , authority and standardized behavior resided not in individuals but positions . Consequently , organizations should not rely on written formal job s but success and efficiency can only be realized by following regulations in an unbiased manner and routinely and eliminating rigid standards which may interfere with productivity (Maslow , 2003

Bureaucratic procedures like the ones involved in writing a job usually foster unnecessarily specialized knowledge and skills and thus eliminate numerous subjective judgments by company employees . Formal job s are bureaucratic in nature and thus not quite appropriate model in departments and organizations which are in need of flexibility and rapid decision making . Other shortcomings emanate from faulty implementation of bureaucratic principles as opposed to the approach itself . The procedures of designing job s are therefore likely to become ends in themselves rather than means . In...