What are the limitations of job evaluations?

Though job analysis plays a vital role in all other human related activities but every process that has human interventions also suffers from some limitations. The process of job analysis also has its own constraints. So, let us discuss the advantages and disadvantages of job analysis process at length.

Advantages of Job Analysis

• Provides First Hand Job-Related Information: The job analysis process provides with valuable job-related data that helps managers and job analyst the duties and responsibilities of a particular job, risks and hazards involved in it, skills and abilities required to perform the job and other related info.
• Helps in Creating Right Job-Employee Fit: This is one of the most crucial management activities. Filling the right person in a right job vacancy is a test of skills, understanding and competencies of HR managers. Job Analysis helps them understand what type of employee will be suitable to deliver a specific job successfully.
• Helps in Establishing Effective Hiring Practices: Who is to be filled where and when? Who to target and how for a specific job opening? Job analysis process gives answers to all these questions and helps managers in creating, establishing and maintaining effective hiring practices.
• Guides through Performance Evaluation and Appraisal Processes: Job Analysis helps managers evaluating the performance of employees by comparing the standard or desired output with delivered or actual output. On these bases, they appraise their performances. The process helps in deciding whom to promote and when. It also guides managers in understanding the skill gaps so that right person can be fit at that particular place in order to get desired output.
• Helps in Analyzing Training & Development Needs: The process of job analysis gives answer to following questions:
• Who to impart training
• When to impart training
• What should be the content of training
• What should be the type of training: behavioral or technical
• Who will conduct training
• Helps in Deciding Compensation Package for a Specific Job: A genuine and unbiased process of job analysis helps managers in determining the appropriate compensation package and benefits and allowances for a particular job. This is done on the basis of responsibilities and hazards involved in a job.

Disadvantages of Job Analysis

• Time Consuming: The biggest disadvantage of Job Analysis process is that it is very time consuming. It is a major limitation especially when jobs change frequently.
• Involves Personal Biasness: If the observer or job analyst is an employee of the same organization, the process may involve his or her personal likes and dislikes. This is a major hindrance in collecting genuine and accurate data.
• Source of Data is Extremely Small: Because of small sample size, the source of collecting data is extremely small. Therefore, information collected from few individuals needs to be standardized.
• Involves Lots of Human Efforts: The process involves lots of human efforts. As every job carries different information and there is no set pattern, customized information is to be collected for different jobs. The process needs to be conducted separately for collecting and recording job-related data.
• Job Analyst May Not Possess Appropriate Skills: If job analyst is not aware of the objective of job analysis process or does not possess appropriate skills to conduct the process, it is a sheer wastage of company’s resources. He or she needs to be trained in order to get authentic data.
• Mental Abilities Can not be Directly Observed: Last but not the least, mental abilities such as intellect, emotional characteristics, knowledge, aptitude, psychic and endurance are intangible things that can not be observed or measured directly. People act differently in different situations. Therefore, general standards can not be set for mental abilities.

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The article is Written By “Prachi Juneja” and Reviewed By Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.

When we discuss the term Job Evaluation the very first question that arises in our minds is,

What Is Job Evaluation?

Job Evaluation is a management tool or management process for any organization or company which helps them to decide the function, working, time duration, post, and the salaries of the hired employees for the company.

Moreover, Job Evaluation methods play a vital role in the success of an organization by providing management power and systematic functioning of the hired employees.

Job Evaluation has its advantages as well as disadvantages, moreover, there is a reason behind every step that takes in a company, so there are many different reasons and factors that make the company imply the Job Evaluation process.

These reasons vary for every company and also it can imply for the betterment and growth of the company.

Reasons for Job Evaluation:

1. In the late 1930s and 1940s, the Job Evaluation process speared globally. As at that period it was difficult for the industries to determine the wages for the workers, Job Evaluation came into the role. By doing a systematic Job Evaluation for every worker help the industries to fix up the wage problems facing by the workers, and also it helps the works to get a systematic way of working.
2. In some of the big industries or the MNC’s which root all over the world have to opt for the process of Job Evaluation. This is to maintain the working of different sectors in the company, the management of the workers should perfect and the working of the employees should predefine so that, at the end of the day there are no such issues with both the workers as well as the wages give for their work.
3. The Job Evaluation system has become the main tool for management in the Governmental Organizations, as these organizations need perfect and systematic management so the Job Evaluation Process serves the best to determine the wages, post, work, and duration for the government employees.

Factors of Job Evaluation Process:

There are many different compensable factors of Job Evaluation but the main six factors are:

Let us see how these six factors help in the process of Job Evaluation:

1. Job Analysis:

The job analysis process is a method by which an organization can filter the employees and select the best suited workers for their organization.

Moreover, the job analysis process happens to determine the overall performance and working of an employee so that useful changes can make to increase the efficiency of every individual worker by removing the wrong methods.

By this, the company’s performance and the output become more efficient and accurate. The job analysis process helps the company to look out the work and performance and decide the promotion of any working individual of the company.

2. Job Description:

The Job Description term self defines that it is the process where all the description of the working of the company provided to the employee.

It includes all the needed information of the work such as; working, format, qualification, needs, documents, T & C of the company, designations, posts, departments of the company, education of the employee, experience required, skills required, techniques, and all the responsibilities of the worker that should be kept in mind while doing the work.

3. Job Specification:

The job specification is an official document provides by the company or the organization to the employee in which all the work details and minimum qualification documents list that should provide to the company.

All the specifications such as the type of work, the duration of the work, the different departments in the company are all mentioned in detail in the specified document.

4. Job Rating:

After the allocation and the determination of the employee’s work in the company, he or she is rated according to the work or the performance they have possessed in their work.

It is very necessary to remove the weak links in the working team and on the other hand it is also necessary to appreciate or increment the workers who have performed continuously outstanding in their work.

5. Job Wages:

The determination of the Job Wages according to the work is a very necessary step that helps the company to run with the flow because if the wages are not predefined then situations may occur that will be not in the favor of the company.

The wages for the job should be decided by keeping two things in mind i.e. the type of work and the duration of the work that the employee is going to do for the company.

6. Worker Classification:

The classification of all the workers is very necessary for the systematic management of the company. The classification is generally done on the complexity of the job or the complexity of the work given to the employee.

Also, the classification of the workers helps to determine the quality of every single worker with ease.

So, these were six factors or the Principal factors that play an important role in the process of Job Evaluation of the workers. As everything has its advantages and disadvantages the Job Evaluation process also has the same.

Let us see what advantages and disadvantages does the job evaluation possess on an organization or a company.

Advantages of Job Evaluation:

The following mentioned are few vital benefits of job evaluation. They are

1. The job evaluation process defines a systematic and definite way of working for the workers as well as the management, which works as the backbone of the success of the company. The stronger and systematic management of the company, the greater will be its output and growth.
2. When a worker has been through a job evaluation process he or she is well satisfied with all the factors for working in the company such as; the wages, duration of working, incentives, promotions, targets, works, responsibilities, functioning and the management of the company.
3. In general, it has been noticed that a satisfied worker does his or her work in the most efficient way possible, which is very beneficial for the organization. Moreover, issues such as wages, working, duration and many more are not to be faced by the company. All the satisfied works possess a very positive environment for working and perform at their best, resulting in the better growth of the company.
4. The Unions of the workers become more flexible with the company and all the employees work with full efficiency as there is no confusion left regarding anything related to their jobs.
5. By the process of Job Evaluation during the recruitment of the employees, the company can filter the best out of the crowd, which will increase the efficiency of the company.

Disadvantages of Job Evaluation:

The following mentioned are a few cons or limitations of job evaluation. They are

1. Sometimes the market bounces up eventually increasing the demand for the product or the services in the market. This demanding market demands more output from the workers so there is sometimes more pressure and work that has to do by the workers but by job evaluation the wages fixed. This creates a problem for the company to convince the workers with the same wages for extra or excessive work.
2. Some of the Workers Union opposes the Job Evaluation process as it defines and fixes the wages of the workers which not acceptable by the union. They want to receive according to the work or the output that they are giving to the organization or the company.
3. In some of the big and complex organizations, the job rating plays a very important role especially in the governmental organizations but unfortunately due to politics or unfair judgment, some of the efficient strong employees wash out of the system and the weak links keep alive.
4. The assessment of the hired employees is generally poor by most of the companies, as many are not able to judge the real qualities of an individual in the specific work field.

Importance of Job Evaluation:

Let us have a look at the following pointers which provides us the importance of job description.

1. The job evaluation process helps the companies and organizations to remove the complexities of the work as well as the workers.
2. This job evaluation process helps to determine the true qualities and efficiency of work in the given work field.
3. The job evaluation process defines the wages for the work to be done by the workers, which helps the works to be specific about their work and wages that they are going to get after the decided time.
4. It helps to keep the organization or the company from employee issues or the union issues because if all the employees hired by the job evaluation process no such confusion or instance will take place.
5. Most important of all the job evaluation process helps the companies to get a systematic and functional way of work which results in strong management of the company, which is very important for the company to sustain and grow in the fluctuating market conditions.
6. Moreover, it helps to determine the post of the workers according to the work given to them which becomes a morale booster for the workers.

Also with regular incentives on the achievement of the target and promotions by the evaluation of the work, it helps to maintain the quality of the work for the company.

So far we have been through all the advantages and disadvantages, importance, factors of job evaluation but as everything has some of the limitations, we will discuss some of the limitations of the Job Evaluation process.

Limitation of Job Evaluation Process:

1. The process of job evaluation is not truly scientific; it is purely based on human judgments and human analysis of an individual worker of the company.
2. Some of the times or we can say a majority of times it becomes very difficult for the supervisors to handle the unexpected situations of the market according to the wages set by the process of job evaluation.
3. This job evaluation process is very time consuming at times when you are hiring the workers and the number of candidates more than expected. To follow all the steps for the job evaluation process with each candidate it becomes very hectic at times.
4. As the market is unstable and changing with the increase in technologies, the tough time when the market is at its low becomes very difficult for the companies to give the defined wages to the worker without even earning profits from the market.
5. At times it has been seen that some of the companies who are new to the market and who go with the Job Evaluation process strictly tend to close their doors forever in the downfall of the market.
6. Sustaining the market conditions and the union issues at the same time is not possible for any company or organization which possesses the Job Evaluation process. At times, changes are to make to sustain in the market so job evaluation can’t be followed at all times.
7. The old sustaining Unions of the Workers may create issues and problems if the job evaluation process not changed with the changing market and changing the time.

Different things happen under different circumstances and specifically when we are talking about the fluctuating market conditions it has been suggested by the experts of British Management University that “The Job Evaluation process is a very beneficial method for a company, but one should always keep in mind the needs and demands of the market and decide accordingly for the workers, as the workers are the actual backbone of the organization’s growth and success.”

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