Introduction
I worked as a claim specialist at a City Law department, where I was entitled to massive duties, which required proper skills and understanding to execute duties appropriately. This job goes with several duties that need be carried out accordingly. I was required to arrange for a court appearance, through subpoena among other ways of witnesses required for proper presentation of a case. I was also supposed to confer with the attorney assigned to a case concerning the facts developed during an investigation as well as assist the attorney before and during trial. I could also prepare the court calendars and attend calendar calls. Sometimes I could interpret rules and regulations as applied to minor claims: sometimes make recommendations as to approval and disallowance of such claims. I was also expected to assist on risk management projects. It was also my duty to maintain coherent and consistent claim file which includes a record of the content of all contacts with individuals made during an investigation process. Preparation of written reports was also my duty. I was also entitled to negotiations, settlement and adjustment of small claims within authorized limit.
Discussing claims with superiors, indicating applicable laws and precedents, as well as conducting allegations for cases that required extensive investigation were also parts of my duties. I was also expected to train new staff and maintain liaison with governmental and private organizations with the aim of obtaining and exchanging information.
Point factor job evaluation system
With all these duties allocated to an individual, a technique needs be implemented while conducting job evaluation in all these sectors. The most significant method to use in such evaluation is the point factor evaluation method. Point factor method is a widely used job evaluation system. It is also known as the mercer system and was implemented in 1994 (Armstrong, 2007). Since then, the system has become a sweeping force in job evaluation strategies. This system does not evaluate individuals; it evaluates positions. As the title indicates, the method applies certain points to define the direction of the judgment for particular positions. These point factors are also known as compensable factors. These factors depend on the field on which the evaluation is being conducted (Short,1992). In most cases, these factors are alike since most organizations have the same job positions.
Point factors for claim specialists
While conducting an evaluation on this field of work, several points must be considered to make the evaluation reliable. The four main points that may be evaluated in this case include skill, responsibility, effort and working conditions (Armstrong & Baron, 1995).
Skill point factor
Skill is the ability for an individual to carry out certain activities through knowledge on the given area of work. This defines whether an individual can deliver the required services accordingly with full knowhow of conducting the intended activity. Skills are usually gained out of knowledge acquired from school or through experience, which is gathered through consistent working on given field (Armstrong, 2008).
As a claims specialist, several duties surrounded me, and I had to deliver on all of them accordingly. Therefore, skill at work was a tremendously significant element. Upon evaluation, my skills would have been weighted “standard”. The reason for rating this point this way is the inadequacy of experience in handling some of the duties. Not all tasks were easy some of them required experience so that one may deliver the intended solution. Some of the tasks required comparison with such cases, which had been solved earlier. Since I had not been in the field for a long time, it became hard to deal with such cases. This made me feel that if enough time was given in the position, I would require less amount of time to acquire adequate skills, which would assist me in handling all activities in the field accordingly.
Based on other factors that define skills like education level and ability I could have achieved “excellent” as the weight for the evaluation point. I have adequate knowledge based on informative study of the law and its relevance. I have read of several cases, which has imparted me the knowledge on how some laws need be employed in real life situations. I have also been imparted with a reliable mind ability that assists me in making conscience related decisions. With the mental ability and education training the score on skills would have been excellent, but with the introduction of experience in the evaluation, the weight of the element gets to standard. This means that in remuneration, my educational experience may be considered, but the compensation may not match the high compensation for the excellent individuals with educational strength, ability to execute duties accordingly and work experience.
Responsibility point factor
Responsibility is the other point of evaluation that could have been considered for a claims specialist. This defines the roles that one is supposed to carry out and how he or she carries them out. It can also be defined as the measure for the seriousness that one has over his or her line of duty. Responsibility means that one needs not be followed by a supervisor or the senior management or leadership in the field of work.
On this point, I scored a weight of “excellent”. This means that it had been identified that I conducted my duties diligently without being pushed so much to do one or the other thing. Despite having all those duties aligned to me, I never ignored any of them. However, small the activity was, I conducted it with all due seriousness. Sometimes, I dealt with people who had little knowledge in law and I never took advantage of them. Instead, I assisted them to my best to ensure that I was blameless for any outcome of the case.
I was also timely in the execution of my duties to ensure there were no delays in any case that I was involved. Time is a fundamentally crucial factor in the definition of responsibility in an individual. Every duty assigned to an individual must be executed accordingly in a timely manner.
In most cases, rewards in a company are given depending on how one executes his or her duties. In this case, I could have been considered as a responsible employee who is able to demeanor his or her duties accordingly.
Effort point factor
The third element of evaluation in the field of claim specialists is effort evaluation. This may be defined as either mental or physical effort (Fischer, 1997). I am equally gifted in these two elements.
The mental ability holds a lot of information at the same time without confusion of the information (Milkovich, Newman, & Gerhart, 2011). This field fully suited me since I could conduct different activities at the same time without confusing. Where I was required to reason, I stretched my mind to the fullest to ensure that success was defined. This work requires massive concentration, which I had gathered for all the time I had been in the field.
Physical strength is also a crucial element of evaluation on effort evaluation. I also scored “excellent” since high mental ability is supported by good physical health. There is no way I could have handled all these activities without proper mental strength to assist me in executing the intended duties accordingly.
Working conditions point factor
Working conditions had also to be considered in the ample execution of duties for claims specialists. This is one of the fields where proper working environment must be maintained. Proper working environment defines the success of a business (Cournoyer, 2011). This is based on the ability to work in a pace free of disturbances. My field ranked excellent on weight for this element. This is a dictation of how any law related office needs be to allow proper and peaceful execution of duties in the place of work. The office had settled on the conditions that work in the courtroom. Respect was a core factor, which dictated peace enhancing proper working conditions.
The status of a given working environment determines the success for the field. This means that poor working conditions will result to poor results while proper working conditions dictate high quality performance (Aswathappa, 2005).
Significance of point factor method to businesses
Point factor method would be hugely significant in any business environment. All businesses are administered through departments with each department having unique interpretation of its duties. This evaluation method would assist in measuring the strength that each department has and how well it executes its duties (Murlis, 2007).
This would be a highly significant technique to award employees. Through accurate analysis of their efforts at work by point factor evaluation method, it would be easy to get information on how they conduct their activities (Reda, Reifler & Thatcher, 2008). High performance will attract high rewards while low performance will attract motivation for hard work and improvement.
References
Armstrong, M. (2007). A Handbook of Employee Reward Management and Practice. Newyork: Kogan Page Publishers.
Armstrong, M., & Baron, A. (1995). The job evaluation handbook. London: Institute of Personnel and Development.
Armstrong, M. (2008). A handbook of employee reward management and practice (2nd ed.). London: Kogan Page.
Aswathappa, K. (2005). Human resource and personnel management: text and cases (4th. Ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill.
Cournoyer, B. (2011). The social work skills workbook (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
Fischer, G. N. (1997). Individuals and environment: a psychosocial approach to workspace. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Milkovich, G. T., Newman, J. M., & Gerhart, B. A. (2011). Compensation (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Murlis, H. (2007). Reward management a handbook of remuneration strategy and practice (Rev. 5th ed.). London: Kogan Page.
Reda, J. F., Reifler, S., & Thatcher, L. G. (2008). Compensation committee handbook (3rd ed.). Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.
Short, C. (1992). Making job and skills evaluation more equitable. Canberra: AGPS.
