Introduction
Work place assessment refers to examination of workers based on their respective duties. These assessments mainly get conducted in areas of potential risks or identified problems. They also ensure that barriers do not occur especially among people with disabilities (Hont & Hodes, 1982). The process of assessment enables professional work place assessors to provide appropriate advice adjustments in the work place and modify equipment.
Advantages of Work Place Assessment
In running of the organization, some managers suggest work place assessment especially in cases whereby, a worker maybe declared to be medically fit after an ailment that previously led to him or her leaving the work place (Gustafson & Orne, 1954). The assessment helps in offering vocational rehabilitation programs and helps the individual get back to work. It also helps in preparing a worker for placement in a job position that requires suitability of the work to be performed. The assessment may also prepare and help a worker undertake training or a work trial or even still report pain or discomfort at work.
Role of the Human Resource Manager
The manger in the organization is solely responsible for the assessment project. He or she puts the employee in a preparation process so as to empower the individual and help him or her understand what gets involved in the whole process of assessment. He or she also provides support and encouragement to the worker so as to help him or her get rid of any fears about assessment. He or she should also provide adequate time for employees to prepare their duties in order to avoid interference of their activities with the assessment period.
Misuse of Assessments in the Work Place
Assessments are more often than not misused in the workplaces, a fact that affects the results of an organization. Capability assessment is an example of an assessment that gets frequently misused in the work place. This is due to the many definitions available among different people about the same (Gustafson, & Orne, 1954). Capability can be used to refer to an individual’s potential to get developed. In some organizations, capability assessments get ignored, and this leads to poor job performance as some employees get assigned to duties which they cannot handle or which are above their capacity. This at times, leads to firing of the worker from the organization following claims that they may not have the required qualifications for the job.
Use of polygraphs in Work Place Assessment
A polygraph is an instrument used for measuring fear that may lead to detection or physiological indicators that may come about in response to questions that a worker may be asked to indicate truthfulness or deception (Backster, 1962). The polygraph is not an accurate assessment measure as it does not clearly indicate whether a person is being truthful or not (Ansley, 1983). The assessor only puts the subject through a set of questions and assesses his or her deception or truthfulness through the subject’s reaction.
This measure is not appropriate in measuring assessment as a worker may react to a given question due to personal feelings or an experience (Ansley, 1983). In this case, the organization handles him or her in the wrong manner or assumes that he or she is incompetent and hence incapable of performing certain tasks in the organization.
There are some illegal considerations that get undertaken by a number of organizations which implement the polygraph in running of their activities. Some of these considerations include false negatives and countermeasures. These include physical movement, drugs and hypnosis. Research in these areas becomes inhibited giving room for invalidity of the results. According to OTA, some victims of crimes in the work place suffer immense consequences as a result of detection of a small negative rate.
This is because the polygraph gets relied upon by national security. False positives, which include mathematical chances, give rise to incorrect identification where innocent people get regarded as deceptive or the vice versa. This gets extremely dangerous as a victim may get away with a committed crime or an innocent person termed guilty of offense that he or she never committed.
Conclusion
Assessment in the work place is of immense importance as it helps the manager of the human resource department identify strengths as well as weaknesses of the workers in the organization. Assessment should be conducted appropriately and accurately to ensure that every worker meets his or her specified job specifications and provides the expected output. This involves use of effective instruments in the assessment and giving the employees adequate time to prepare for the same.
References
Ansley, N. (1983). Quick Reference Guide to Polygraph Admissibility Licensing Laws and Limiting Laws. Severna Park, Md.: American Polygraph Association.
Backster, C. (1962). Methods of Strengthening Our Polygraph Technique. Police 6:61- 68.
Gustafson, L. A. & Orne, M. T. (1954). “ Effects of Heightened Motivation on Detection of Deception, “Journal of Applied Psychology. 43: 408-411.
Honts, C. R. & Hodes, R. L. (1982).“The Effects of Simple Physical Countermeasures on the Detection of Deception,” Psychophysiology. 19: 564.