Abstract
The job task analysis helps in determining the job contents by means of the responsibilities and duties that are required to be carried out in order to perform the work related activities. It helps in determining the significance and criticality of the tasks in accordance with the identified job tasks. It also helps in determining the extent of efforts and skills that are required to carry out the work related activities in an effective manner. The current paper enlightens the task analysis of a Customer Experience Specialist from Airbnb Incorporation. The identified tasks are discussed in accordance with their significance, organizational culture and relation to coworkers. The task analysis was conducted by incorporating a survey which was filled by the 4 incumbents, whereas one incumbent was shadowed in order to observe the tasks and responsibilities that were carried out. Moreover, the extra-role performance of the incumbent was also observed which indicated that the incumbent was highly motivated to carry out his work related tasks due to the transformational leadership of the manager. The manager provided the on-going assistance and mentoring to the incumbent in order to ensure that the incumbent achieves the work related objectives in an effective manner. The incumbent was enlightened with his role towards contributing to the organizational objective of increasing customer retention by means of making the customers satisfied and responding to their queries in an effective manner. The incumbent’s innovation, problem solving and autonomy was supported by the organizational culture, whereas focus towards maintaining the transparency in the organization enhanced the incumbents’ level of extra-role performance and organizational citizenship behavior. The incumbent’s people skills and technical skills were required to carry out the work related activities, whereas the incumbent was intrinsically and extrinsically motivated by the compensation mechanism of the organization.
Keywords: Job Tasks Analysis, Customer Experience Specialist, Airbnb
Introduction
The job analysis is conducted to determine the valid job content in order to develop the adequate job descriptions. It helps in defining the knowledge, skills and abilities on the basis of the identified tasks, duties and responsibilities (Hendry, 2012). The current paper enlightens the job of a Customer Experience (CE) Specialist at Airbnb by means of conducting a Task Analysis by surveying 4 incumbents.
Brief Description of the Job
The Customer Experience Specialist is responsible to provide friendly services to its customers and handle the customer complaints in an efficient manner. The CE Specialist is also required to handle the urgent situations and identify the issues based on their urgency. The effective means of communication with customers is also required to be maintained by means of adequate responsiveness to the phone calls and emails. The active engagement towards achieving company’s goals and objectives is also required. The CE Specialist will have to work on a tight schedule and should be able to work on multiple projects and tasks in an efficient manner. The formal reporting relation with the supervisors will be maintained by means of personal communication and quarterly reports will be presented to the supervisor in order to enlighten the activities conducted in the quarter (Airbnb, 2016).
The task analysis was conducting in which the job incumbents were asked to rate the job tasks in accordance with their importance and time spent. Moreover, the incumbent was also shadowed for an entire work shift in order to determine the job tasks that were performed and their criticality to the organization. The CE Specialist was observed to be highly adept at communication skills, in which interpersonal relation with the customers were maintained. The CE Specialist was required to determine the customers’ needs and offer them with the adequate solutions in order to increase their level of satisfactions. The CE Specialist was objectified on customer retention and hence, every work activity of the incumbent was focused on enhancing the overall experience of the customers.
The work activities of CE Specialist were highly integrated with the customers and coworkers and hence, the objective of enhancing the customer experience and retention was incorporated among the Customer Experience Teams. The teams were provided with the lead by example from the CE Specialist, in which the role of the CE Specialist was considered as a benchmark for the subordinates to follow. The organization was objectified on customer retention due to which the team goals were highly focused on retaining the customers by providing them with the adequate solutions. In this manner, the innovative solutions were incorporated to address the issues of the customers and enhance their experience in an effective manner.
The role ambiguity among the CE Specialists was reduced by providing them with the adequate team objectives that were aligned with their individual objectives. It enhanced the role clarity and provided them with the ability to contribute towards the strategic direction of the company. The CE Specialists were not only focused on addressing the customer concerns but were also focused on determining the issues in the team and provide support to their team members in such manner that they actively achieve the team objective by enhancing the customer experience.
The CE specialist has been focused on enhancing the productivity of the organization by means of addressing the issues of the customers in an effective manner. It increases the company’s image due to the increased level of customer satisfaction. The satisfied customers are more prone towards retention and hence, the provision of efficient customer services is highly considered (Eisenberg et al., 2013). The job design of the CE Specialist ensures the prevalence of autonomy, in which the adequate decisions are made in order to address the issues of customers without the acquisition of any formal permit from the supervisor. Similarly, close interaction with the coworkers has also been observed in which the CE Specialist communicates, guides and seeks assistance from the coworkers. Similarly, the prevalence of support has also been observed from the manager, which eventually indicates the organizational and managerial support to the CE Specialist.
The transformational leadership has been observed in the organization, in which the CE manager has objectified the CE Specialist towards customer retention and customer satisfaction. The manager provides adequate support to the CE Specialist in accomplishing the work tasks in an effective manner. The manager has enlightened the CE Specialist with the contribution that has been made by achieving the assigned objective of customer retention and hence, adequate mentoring and supervision is provided to the CE Specialist in order support to ensure that the assigned objectives are met (Eisenberg et al., 2013).
The organization incorporates the transformational and transactional leadership, in which the employees are provided with the objectives that are required to be accomplished in accordance with their significance to the company’s strategic objectives. Moreover, the employees who succeed in achieving their objectives, are provided with the extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Similarly, the underperforming employees are provided with the adequate trainings in order to enhance their level of performance. Moreover, continuous supervision and mentoring is incorporated in the organization, in order to ensure that the employees are assisted and motivated in an effective manner (Hendry, 2012).
The prevalence of open communication and transparency was observed, in which the employees are communicated with the organization’s strategic direction and objectives. In this manner, the prevalence of ambiguity is hindered whereas, open communication ensures that the employees can communicate horizontally and vertically in the organization in order to provide them with the adequate feedback mechanism and departmental support to address the customer issues (Eisenberg et al., 2013). It makes the work processes efficient and reduces the time that CE Specialist requires to respond and solve the customer queries.
The organizational culture at the Airbnb ensures that the employees are highly committed to the organization and are being provided with the adequate information in an efficient manner. The organization ensures that the employees receive information via its internal procedures rather than external procedures as it may hinder the organizational citizenship behavior within the company. The organization supports the culture where innovation is appreciated and employees are provided with the equal opportunity to share their thoughts, ideas and concerns (Airbnb, 2016).
The CE Specialist is observed to be working close to the workplace technicians, finance officers and operations department because the effective communication and integration with these positions is required to address the customers’ issues related to technical faults, reservation and cancellation of their orders. Similarly, the CE Specialist remains in contact with the CE Supervisor in order to enlighten the manager with the prominent concerns of customers. The CE Specialist also incorporates an integrated communicated with the supervisors i.e. CE Officers in order to assist them in addressing the issues of the customers.
The similar job titles are observed to be found as the Customer Representatives, Customer Compliance Officers and Help Desk, however, the job responsibilities of CE Specialist are broad with respect to the level of autonomy, accountability and strategic role. The CE Specialist requires the technical and people skills in order to carry out the assigned work related responsibilities and objectives. The technical skills include the writing skills, computer skills and MS Office skills, whereas the people skills are comprised of interpersonal skills and communication skills. Moreover, persuasive skills, problem solving skills, stress management skills and multitasking are required to carry out the job duties and tasks in an effective manner (Airbnb, 2016).
The incumbent indicated the job of CE Specialist as the job in which the close communication with the customers is incorporated to address their concerns and report these concerns to the supervisors in a formal manner so that the organization understands the inclination of the customers. The employment trend towards the customer service specialists and services has been increased because these jobs provide the individuals towards the ability to communicate within the organization and maintain effective relation with customers in order to address their concerns. It intrigues and challenges the employees to work at their full potential by utilizing their people and technical skills in an effective manner. The market competitive wage for the schedule of 40 hours per week, whereas stock options, insurance, conveyance and pension plan also includes the benefits included in the compensation of CE Specialist (Airbnb, 2016).
References
Airbnb. (2016). Customer Experience Specialist. Airbnb. Available from: https://www.airbnb.com/careers/departments/position/254230
Eisenberg, E. M., Goodall Jr, H. L., & Trethewey, A. (2013). Organizational communication: Balancing creativity and constraint. Macmillan Higher Education.
Hendry, C. (2012). Human resource management. Routledge.
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