Critically discuss the work and skills involved in front-line jobs and Essay

Critically discuss the work and skills involved in front-line jobs and the extent to which these skills argon controlled - Essay ExampleThey are associated with the daily operations of a company and produce direct contact with the money making process of the company. Some examples of front line workers include the assembly worker, till tellers, and workers servicing in the service industry. Skills of frontline workers are crucial to the success of an organization. Skills in people can be improved upon by imparting formulation to them. The central concept of skill has been explained in the human capital theory by Schultz. According to the human capital theory, the productivity of workers can increase manifold if they are imparted useful knowledge and skills. This leave alone inevitably lead to increase in their future earnings and future income. This theory rests on the importance of firm-specific training. The paper will focus on skills needed at work in lieu of front line work ers. The paper will discuss the work and skills involved in front-line jobs and the extent to which these skills are controlled. Various theories and counter theories and evidence will be presented from literature to support the argument. The crux of the argument would revolve around the importance of training and using measures like performance appraisals to build on skills needed for front line workers. Skills Skills have been increasingly debated world over. According to many critics this term is really popular amongst most managers, policy makers and academic circles in precarious and amorphous ways to the point that today it comes close to meaning everything yet nothing. Spenners study on skills shows that there used to be a unanimous consensus that skills comprise of two main elements. These are job complexity and job discretion. Job complexity implies the relief and difficulty associated with doing a particular job. Task discretion refers to the extent to which decision mak ing power is given to the job holder. Does the worker have enough line of latitude to choose from a wide range of techniques in solving a problem or does he have to pass on the problem to an safe worker or does he have to ask a supervisor?. It is said the greater the latitude the job holder has, the higher skilled is the job. (Tett , 1991) An great aspect of skilled jobs that has been debated over and over again is the proxies which are used to measure skills and the kind of competencies that they measures. The most popular modes of skill assessment have been fate qualifications and the level of training needed to inculcate those skills. These are partial measures of skill assessment. Skills and their control has often been a crucial aspect of debates in policy circles and academia. These debates have varied from skills related to people working in the manufacturing sector to people associated with the service sector. These could be home care assistants, the nurses, the retail s tore workers, the call contract workers and the job centre work. However work on service sector related skills and has often raised eyebrows by analysts. Some analysts feel that the neglect should not be treated as astonishing and shocking as the same principles apply equally from manufacturing related workers to services related workers and from knowledge work to services. (Salgado, 1999) recently conducted surveys by the Institute of Employment studies and MoRI denote that the major areas of deficiencies in the skills of front line workers are in communication skills. According to the survey, this skill deficiency leaps across the board