COMPARATIVE STUDY OF JOB EVALUATION PRACTICES IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC COMPANIES
ABSTRACT
Jobs are seen as the medium for a means to an end and not ends in themselves. In its plain philosophical nature it is a process for getting something done for one reason or the other.
Every organization is set up with a defined objective, which is highly varied in scope; the varied nature of these scopes make the difference in organizational objectives and their accomplishments. These organizations have several techniques for arriving at the set objectives and most time these techniques are fashioned in the way and manner that human resource could use these techniques for optimal results. Before a set goal is arrived at, there are several sets of complex processes that are undergone, and these processes encompass the natures and types of jobs of that organization.
Nothing is achieved without a springboard, which serves as a base. These springboards are the myriad of functions that are performed by teamwork. In factories, workshops, shop floors, manufacturing/production centers a lot of beehive activities are processed and conducted in such a way that each aspect of a job is a subset and a complement of another which is capable of contributing to the final production and achievement of the company’s corporate goal. Moreover, there is no activity that is totally independent of another in a structured organization, where the results of these individuals but systematized processes form and contribute to the total outcome of the organization, thereby strengthening our postulation that the sum total of the results are a function of team work.
Within the organizational set up the process of jobs and classified into categories and these classification enables the human resources manager to establish and determine how the jobs should be done, who does the job and with what tools or equipment shall be used for the job.
CHAPTER ONE/INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Job evaluation is the process of planning, assessing and dissecting the different jobs done by different categories of workmen in a particular time frame, while using designed technique to match jobs to the appropriate staff and to achieve some results in an organisation. In as much as job evaluation is a subset of Human Resource Management, we illustrate the Human Resource Management as a set of organisation-wide functions or activities that are designed to influence the effectiveness of employees in the organisation. All these activities include such functions as recruitment, staffing, training and development and even compensation.
Most managers engage in these activities daily with both prospective employees and their own subordinates. The Human Resource Managers play a major role as the lubricant of a 4-stroke engine who sees to the planning of the company’s workforce and ensures that they are coordinated, supervised and managed to the maximal use of the company resources.
Matching the individual’s ability and motivation with job’s requirements and rewards is the crucial factor influencing personnel/human resource outcomes. Individuals must be analysed in order to identify the ability requirements necessary for the employee to successfully complete the job’s expectations. Likewise, it is necessary to identify the rewards associated with the job and how these rewards can be used to motivate employee behaviours.
Independent of another in a structured organisation, where the results of these individuals but systematised processes from and contribute to the total outcome of the organisation, thereby strengthening our postulation that the sum of the results are a function of a team work.
Within the organisational set up, the process of jobs are classified into categories, and these classifications enables the human resources manager to establish and determine how the job should be done, who does the job and with what tools or equipment shall be used for the job.
It is not substantive enough to garner resource and put them to task towards goal actualisation without explicitly defining the individual roles, functions and articulating or evaluating the role one plays to contributing to the organisational objective. In the light of the these aforementioned constraints, it is quite glaring why the jobs should be described, specified, analysed and evaluated in private and public companies.
Inspite of the above premise, we put into consideration the fact that we are doing a comparative study of the job evaluation both in private and public companies. In the contemporary nature one expects the private companies to be smaller than the public companies. Therefore leaving the public companies as bigger investments. As this is normally the case, the technique or approach of job evaluation is most likely to differ from the private and public companies. Which goes longer in explaining the varied methods. Procedures and designs of job evaluation in these organisations.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Lamentations from employees over the problem created in most organisations due to the failure of management to evolve and articulate job evaluation schemes could be said to be perennial.
In most organisations in Nigeria in general, and Enugu in particular, criticisms have been levelled on management, that the relative worth of jobs are not usually determined by the applications of objective criteria or systematic principles, rather they are determined more often than not by a host of extraneous subjective factors such as the impressions of management about the appearance of personalities of prospective employees, the kinship relationship and so on.
The approaches to the determination of wage rates usually lead to the inequitable wage rates, which often generate intense, disharmony and dissatisfaction among the staff thereby affecting employee job performance.
Evidence abound where whole jobs requiring high and mental inputs are given grossly inadequate rating in terms of pay as a result of the absence of an articulate job evaluation practices in both private and public companies.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
It may not be an overstatement to say that the job evaluation has a positive final contribution to the growth of an organisation, and this is why a trained manager upholds to apply its principles and mechanisms.
In so far as every project has a focus, a defined mission statement is it apparently unambiguous to state that the purposefulness of a study determines its course and directions. And for us to take a clear benchmark or nautical bearing we shall have to understand the purpose for undertaking this research work.
In a clearer view, the word purpose includes the intention of the researcher, the determination of the researcher and what the researcher is trying to achieve. Therefore through this research work we intend to:
- understudy the comparative nature of job evaluation practices both in private and public companies; draw their similarities and dissimilarities,
- check the contribution of job evaluation to the company’s optimality,
- know whether job evaluation embraces productivity in private and public companies,
- check the job evaluation techniques in determining the salary structure of the employees of these firms and finally
- verify it job evaluation is more result-oriented in private than public company or vice versa.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The study was aimed at finding solutions to the following research questions:
- Is there any relationship between job evaluation and equitable salary structure?
- Is there any significant relationship between employee responsibility and salary structure?
- Which type of organization between the private and public companies engage more in job evaluation practices?
1.4.1 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
From the questions that were asked in 1.4 above, the following hypothesis were used for the purpose of this study:
- There is no positive and significant relationship between job evaluation technique and equitable salary structure.
- There is no positive and significant relationship between employee responsibility and salary structure.
- There is no positive and significant relationship between job evaluation programme and employee motivation and performance.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significant of the study lies in the contribution it will make to organizational effectiveness by making information available on how to use job evaluation technique to establish a fair and equitable pay structure within organization.
Employees remain the most important determinant of organizational effectiveness and job evaluation is geared towards greater employee motivation through the establishment of a fair and equitable pay structure, which in effect could enhance performance and productivity in the said organization.
It is also significant that the outcome of this study would be useful to managers and other policy makers in decision-making concerning the conditions of service for the general management of firms. It would also serve as a guide in planning the management services in organizations.
Finally, this study shall also provide a basis for further research work on some other factors affecting job evaluation practices in private and public companies.
1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The scope of this study deals with the coverage area and the possible extents we want to reach while conducting the research. Owing to the research topic and title one could easily discern that since we are talking about the private and public companies our searchlight should beam on the totality of the companies in Nigeria. But that is not the case. For the purpose of this study we have designed to use about five (5) private companies and five (5) public companies in Enugu State as a study case.
We also have various limitations for the study which begins with the fact that exhaustive information is not readily at hand which makes the research work more difficult; people develop cold feet in releasing information.
The researcher was faced with the constraints, because combining company official works and the academic pursuits is very cumbersome, tiresome and difficult, which shows that running academic programmes on full time is better than part time programmes.
Another limitation to the study was caused inadequate and unavailability of sufficient finance. The researcher faced several financial obstacles during the course of this study and could not widely and extensively delve into some salient and critical areas that could be bother more revealing and rewarding for the organizations and the general public.
Download Full Material-N5000