Human Resource Management Job Analysis

Introduction

Human resource managers are the people who can influence (Landy & Conte, 2013, p. 112). As requested, I have interviewed Dr. Karen Briggs, the Chief Human Resource Manager of the University of San Diego, who is also the Assistant Vice President. The Human Resources Department of the University is responsible for providing all the employees on the campus with all the personnel services and also takes part in making decisions concerning how work is to be done. She has a Ph.D. in leadership and a long-term experience in Human Resources Management, making her have a broad understanding of the job. Additionally, Dr. Briggs has skills in leadership development, coaching, event planning, employee relations, program development, customer service and organizational management. She knows much about strategic planning, policy making, team building and recruiting. All these attributes made me choose her as the employee to interview.

General Description of the Job’s Requirements

According to Dr. Briggs, Human Resource Management job requires an individual to be well equipped with numerous skills, best academic and professional qualifications, and at least some experience so as to be able to run their roles to the best. The educational requirement for her employment was a Master’s degree, which she had at the National University and then she continued with her Ph.D. studies at the University of San Diego. From the year 2005, when she became the Chief Human Resource Manager at the University, to 2012, she was working in various organizations as either a manager or director. Another reason which made her more suitable for the job was that she had more than the minimum required years of experience. The skills required were the ability to do their work in an orderly manner and perfect time management. Additionally, the skills of multitasking, negotiating, communicating, conflict management, problem-solving and change management were the prerequisites.

Daily Tasks Conducted by the Human Resource Manager

As for the daily tasks that Dr. Briggs does as a human resource manager, she said that the main duties that she performs for the best part of the day, a third of a working day actually, are the personnel and management ones. With the help of the executive management of the University she is engaged in recruiting and interviewing the potential workers to ensure that the most qualified employees are positioned in the appropriate roles. The other management tasks that she is responsible for are hiring, orientation and direction of new workers and terminating the fired or retired workers. The clerical tasks are the commitments that also take a great deal of her day. They include scheduling meetings, answering calls and sorting mails. For the cognitive tasks, she is a conflict mediator who mediates when disputes arise between employees, managers, and colleagues. Besides, she participates in problem solving and decision making. The cognitive tasks are only ones done when there is a need for them. Her physical duty involves maintaining HR records and policies through the use of the HR software that processes and files paperwork on job applications. This task takes her the least time during the day but calls for the sufficient knowledge of the human resource laws and government regulations.

Performance Appraisal

Dr. Briggs’ performance on all the tasks, as mentioned earlier, is credible. She said that her long- term experience had improved her skills in human resources, and the records of the University show that she has done her best since her appointment. She also has a passion for working with people and this has eased her interactions with the employees and the management, thus refining her performance in the daily activities.

What It Takes to Do the Job

The other questions asked were what it takes to do her job and the toughest elements of it. She stressed that determination, being open minded and involving others are the qualities that have guided her performance. The reason for this is that these characteristics allow her to explore as many areas as possible and also know the thoughts of other people. Concerning the toughest elements, she said that delegating work at times is difficult to her, especially when the team is already overworking. She also said that getting the right people for a job to be able to meet the standards of the economy, which are in an upswing daily, is not easy.

Conclusion

From the interview, it can be inferred that the Human Resource Management job is demanding and takes a lot of the HR manager’s time. Because of this, the HR manager needs to be well equipped with the appropriate skills, both interpersonal and intrapersonal. The human resource manager should also be able to manage their time wisely. Running out of time before a major task has been completed can be a significant problem in the field of Human Resources (Landy & Conte, 2013, p. 112). It will lead to the main project’s failure, thus the overall failure in the department. In addition, the job calls for the ability to enforce the company’s policies without hurting any party involved. This management policy has to be handled in a consistent manner to ensure everyone is following the policies and rules strictly (Landy & Conte, 2013, p. 140). Though interviewing is a great way to performance measurement, it may not be reliable sometimes since the interviewee may give wrong information. I think if I had another chance to do a performance measurement, I would prefer to conduct an assessment. Assessment is more accurate since one gets to see how the job is factually being done, rather than interviewing someone.