Working In Organisations

RUNNING HEAD: Working in Organisations

Working in Organisations

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[Name of the Institution]

Working in Organisations

Specifications of the Job as Defined in the Advertisement

Booth Dispensers Ltd is a UK based company that specializes in developing appliances, electronics, etc. The company has been providing products along with the services needed by businesses or households in this regard. The job advertisement that has been displayed is for the position of Customer Support Administrator. This job has interested me because it aligns with my career goals. My development plan includes working on a challenging job that gives me opportunities to have exposure to different situations. The position of Customer Support Administrator will help me in this regard.

There are different skills that are required as a Customer Support Administrator as the job requires employees to be in contact with the customers directly. The top three competencies that are required for the job as advertised are:

Exceptional Service for the Customers: The candidate is required to demonstrate people skills which means that he or she has to be courteous, polite and patient when dealing with the customers.

Able to Handle Calls: As a customer support administrator, the job would be to interact with customers mostly through phone calls directly. Sometimes there is immense pressure when it comes to calls; therefore, the candidate must be able to handle all kinds of calls.

Managing Effective Relationships: Company needs a team player as well as a person who can work alone. For this purpose, a candidate must be capable of developing and maintaining healthy relationships in the work environment.

Selection Methods available for the Job Advert

As a HR manager, there are different selection methods available to select the best candidate for the position of Customer Support Administrator. These methods are:

References

References are used as a selection tool in organisations. Candidates provide particular references either on the application or CVs. These references can be previous employers of the candidate. A strength of this method is that the former employer of the candidate can describe the performance. Similarly, credibility of the candidate can be assessed. However, a weakness of this method is that candidates mention references of their own choice which results in biased and sometimes incorrect information.

Interviews

It is the most common method that is used in the selection process. This is conducted by the organisation in different ways. There are telephonic interviews or face-to-face interviews. Normally a panel of employees conducts interviews. A panel means a group of 2 or more employees conduct the interview. A HR representative and manager of the concerned department are usually part of the panel. CITATION Ted05 \l 1033 (Johns & Leatherbarrow, 2005 ) It is most common method because there are various strengths of this method. Organisation and candidate can have a better understanding of each other. Meeting someone physically helps employers to assess whether the candidate is capable of the job or not. Similarly, a candidate can see if the organisation is suitable for them or not. However, weakness of this method is that selection is made just on the basis of interview. A candidate who gives a good interview will be selected even if he or she is not capable of performing well on the job. CITATION Fre10 \l 1033 (Lunenburg, 2010) This method is suitable for selecting the candidate for Customer Support Administrator because, in interviews, interpersonal skills of candidates can be easily assessed.

Psychometric Tests

There are some tests that are designed to assess the personality of candidates. These tests are also said to be used for determining the skills of the candidates. The strength of this method is that it can be found whether a candidate is suitable for a certain job or not. A weakness of this method is that these tests can be manipulated, yielding incorrect results.

Assessment Centers

Using this method, organisation uses different methods to assess capabilities and skills of candidates. These methods can include role-plays, presentations, etc. Strength of this method is that a candidate can be tested in different situations. However, a weakness is that it is expensive to conduct. This method is also suitable for selection of Customer Support Administrator because candidates can be tested by playing out different scenarios that they might face on the job.

Job Design and Job Satisfaction

Job Characteristics model states that characteristics or design of a job has a positive impact on motivation of employees. When employees are motivated, there is an increase in their productivity ultimately resulting in job satisfaction. According to the model, job design should be as such that employees feel content to be doing the job. There are many aspects that form the characteristics of a job. Employees are motivated and satisfied when they are given opportunity to use their expertise and skills. The concept of Job design is derived from these characteristics. Other aspects of job design are the authority of employees over their jobs, the feedback that is provided to them, skill variety required by the employee, and significance and identity of the task. All these aspects contribute to the increase in satisfaction of the employees. CITATION Syu14 \l 1033 (Ali, et al., 2014)

As a successful candidate, it will result in increased satisfaction if the job design will be as such that gives me a chance to be able to use skills in different situations through which I can challenge myself. Job autonomy is very important for a job such as Customer Support Administrator. Although there are policies that are defined for behaviour and interaction with the customers, satisfaction can be increased once I will have autonomy to adapt to different situations.

Similarly, feedback is very important because if performance has not been good, improvements can be brought. On the other hand, recognition is very encouraging if the performance has been well. Either way, knowledge regarding the results is important.

Skill Variety will help in motivation because there will be different tasks to perform instead of a monotonous job. When new tasks are being assigned, interest level in the job increases. When different tasks are assigned, responsibility will increase. Task significance and identity is also important. It will result in more satisfaction and motivation if I feel that my job is not only important to myself but to other people as well. It means that it will be more motivating for me if I realize that I can make an impact in other people’s lives.

Keeping in view these aspects, job should be designed in a way that I get the independence to mould the script according to the situation. Similarly, regular feedbacks are important for the job and myself because it will help in improvements.

Job Advertisement

Customer Support Administrator

Due to a growth in business, Booth Dispensers Limited, a leading UK manufacturer of refrigeration units, equipment for the drinks industry, require an addition to their administration department.

The successful candidate will have both excellent computer skills and be comfortable speaking with a wide range of customers and be able to multi task effectively to cope with both a high volume of orders and the varied demands placed on position. A confident communicator who is customer focused with previous experience within the brewery or soft drinks sectors would be beneficial but not essential as training will be given, an interest in the technical side of the equipment would be helpful.

Core responsibilities include –

Act on customers’ orders,

Answering customer queries via phone and email,

Keeping customers informed about the status of their orders, including orders from Europe & America

Liaising with Export carriers to ensure collections & deliveries are to schedule,

Liaising with various departments to micromanage an order/enquiry to achieve required delivery dates,

Updating customer information,

Calling existing customers to service their ongoing requirements,

Key Skills

Confident user of IT including EXCEL and Word (previous use of SAGE would be an advantage).

Excellent telephone manner

Well organised and able to work independently or part of a team as required.

Commitment to providing exceptional Customer Service.

There is an excellent remuneration package which includes life assurance, personal pension plan and medical benefits. Holiday entitlement is 5 weeks per year plus statutory bank holidays. Core hours for the position would be 8am – 4.30pm; however, we would require flexibility around these hours to help cover within the department.

Please send a CV and cover letter via Indeed.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Please send a current CV and covering letter detailing suitability for the role to:hr@booth-dispensers.co.uk

Figure 1: Job Advertisement CITATION Bra19 \l 1033 (Brandels, 2019)

Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY Ali, S. A. M. et al., 2014. Hackman and Oldham’s Job Characteristics Model to Job Satisfaction. The Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 129, pp. 46-52.

Brandels, 2019. Customer Support Administrator. [Online] Available at: https://brandels.co.uk/customer-support-administrator/[Accessed 2019].

Johns, T. & Leatherbarrow, C., 2005 . People Resourcing. illustrated ed. UK: CIPD Publishing.

Lunenburg, F. C., 2010. The Interview as a Selection Device: Problems and Possibilities. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY ACADEMIC INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY, 12(1), pp. 1-7.