HRM Report: Comparison and Analysis of Job Descriptions in Canada

This report provides a detailed comparison of job descriptions within the field of Human Resource Management (HRM). It begins by contrasting the general descriptions found in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) list with a specific job posting for an HR Generalist role in British Columbia. The analysis highlights key differences in responsibilities, such as the level of policy involvement and the focus on recruitment and employee management. The report explores the reasons for these differences, attributing them to company-specific needs and the nature of the organizations. It then examines the strengths and weaknesses of the NOC job description, emphasizing the need for inclusion of soft skills and updated information related to compensation and cultural competency. The report concludes with recommendations for updating job descriptions to reflect current industry demands and provide more comprehensive information for potential candidates. The appendix includes a link to the job posting analyzed.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Differences between job descriptions
The job description in the NOC list describes human resource professionals as people
who develop and implement policies related to human resource and labor relations and
evaluate them. Their job also includes giving advice to the employers as well as the
employees on matters related to human resource. Their employment opportunity lies both in
public and private sectors and many of the professionals could be self-employed as well. The
job titles that are included in the NOC site includes classification officer of human resource,
conciliator, employee relations officer, human resource consultant, labor relations officer and
many more (HR Generalist in Vancouver | BCjobs.ca., 2020). Different titles have different
job specifications but the site describes most of the common aspects that these jobs share
(Mauro et al., 2018). According to their descriptions, the human resource professionals are
responsible for all kinds of planning, development, implementation and evaluation of the
policies that are related human resource and labor and they are the responsible person to
advice employers and the employees in regard to agreements, policies, compensation, wages
and benefits. They are responsible to mediate in conflicts between employers and employees
and solve issues that serve both the parties. They create training programs and oversee
training. They also conduct research work so that they remain updated.
The job posting chosen for comparison is on the role of HR Generalist in Chorius
Corporate Solutions Inc. in British Columbia. The job gives the candidates an opportunity to
enhance their HR knowledge and their experience in a manufacturing company. A
manufacturing company has both labors and other human resource professionals which the
HR generalist would need to take care of. Their job roles would include onboarding,
administration of issues related to benefits, manage leaves of the employees, recruitments for
full cycle, management of HRIS and all the other aspects of HR administration (Dhir, 2019).
Their duties also include conducting interview, appraisals and manage their pay and benefits.

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There are some differences with the NOC descriptions. The NOC descriptions are more
general and includes all kinds of jobs related to human resource professionals. The job
description for HR generalist is much more specific and focuses on the specific roles that the
candidate has to perform in their tenure.
Reasons for changes
The BC based HR professional job shows many differences. The job description
mainly talks about the duties such as planning and conducting hire, collect hire details
properly and brief managers and other professionals about their job roles and to align job
roles with organizational objectives. The generalist also have to handle administration related
to benefits for both the salaried and hourly employees. They are responsible about the
recruitment, leave management and report generation of the HRIS system (View unit group -
Canada.ca., 2020). They are also responsible for employee wellness programs and payroll.
The changes most identifiable here is that it does not include creation of policies for the
company neither does it include the responsibilities of interpreting the policies. The main
tasks are recruitment and employee management. The reasons behind the change is that the
BC based HR professional job is a company based job and thus mentions mainly the
specifications of that job in the particular company. The job covers many of the aspects but
does not include policy making which might indicate that there is a different body responsible
for policy making. They might create policies in collaboration of the HR department or they
might be independent body, guided by the current state and country legislation (Collings,
Wood & Szamosi, 2018).
The reasons for change could be other reasons as well. The key responsibilities does
not include training and development of the employees which indicates that this is also
conducted by separate organs. Companies have different requirements from their HR

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professionals and a company’s key responsibility informs about the main criteria more
specifically rather than the descriptions of NOC, which is an overall description and
integration of the HR professionals in general (Latorre et al., 2016). The differences also
might be present due to the nature of the company. The company that recruits the HR
Generalist is a manufacturing company and thus have a separate human resource department.
They all have their specific tasks and the HR Generalist is only responsible for the specific
tasks and some other related tasks mentioned in the descriptions. It also needs to be
mentioned that the job description in BC based company mentions that the roles are not
limited to the aspects that have been covered there.
Analysis of job description in NOC list
The job description provided in the NOC list is quite apt and includes almost all the
aspects of Human Resource Professional’s job roles. The job roles include management of
human resource, analysis of human resource personnel and activities, relationship building
and policy making. Under these sections, the recruitment and training, payment and benefit,
leaves and wages, wellness and development and appraisals and promotions are included. In
the educational requirements, the NOC description, degree and diploma are included as
requirements. While it is true that these are the basic requirements of an HR professional, in
reality, many other qualities and characteristics are needed while performing the job
(Mokoena, 2019). The BC based HR generalist job description includes many other aspects
such as innovative thinking. Critical problem solving abilities, minimum experience, real life
experience, communication skills, relationship building, action based approach, negotiation
skills, computer skills, time management skills, organizing skills and legal knowledge in the
requirements.

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The difference is quite obvious here. The NOC site mentions only the minimum
requirements for HR jobs while the BC based HR job description mentions specific skills and
abilities that are needed for the particular organization. While skills requirements and
specifications might change according to the company, the minimum requirements and
educational qualifications remain the same. The job tasks and sub tasks are more detailed in
the NOC description as it includes all the aspects of an HR’s job role. They mention policy
making, policy interpretation, legal knowledge, mediating, recruitment and selection, analysis
of job and company requirements, pay management, benefit management, leave management,
advisory body and many such arena for the better understanding of the people who are
looking for information (Federici, Boon & Hartog, 2019). The BC based job mentions soft
skills which are increasing in demands. It is important here to note that while university
degrees constitute the basic or minimum requirements for any job, they are not a guarantee of
the soft skills that a candidate might have. Thus, the NOC list does not provide any
information about the necessity of such skills which makes it somewhat problematic.
Updating job description
If I am given the task to update the job description I would include many other aspects
into it. The most important part that seems missing in the job description is the soft skill
requirements (Tafvelin et al., 2019). In the NOC job description I would include the soft skill
requirements like communication skills, problem solving skills, personal abilities like
empathy and patience, negotiation skills and similar other skills that are actually useful for
securing a job at an organization. I would also include in the NOC description, the
specifications such as legal knowledge and cultural competency as HR professionals working
in present time requires these abilities. Moreover, the information related to pay which
actually informs individuals about the kind of compensation they should expect when looking
for a job and how much to negotiate.

5HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
In BC based HR Generalist job description there are certain things that are missing as
well. The educational requirements are quite limited and it does not provide any information
about policy making. In this case, I would include these details along with the certificates or
diplomas that might ensure that the candidates looking for the job might get a better idea
about the requirements (Lussier & Hendon, 2017). Moreover, the BC job description does not
actually mention the company the person will be working for which creates an ambiguity for
the candidates. In this description I would include areas of work into more details and ensure
that candidates seeking the job would get much better information.

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References
Collings, D. G., Wood, G. T., & Szamosi, L. T. (2018). Human resource management: A
critical approach. In Human resource management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.
De Mauro, A., Greco, M., Grimaldi, M., & Ritala, P. (2018). Human resources for Big Data
professions: A systematic classification of job roles and required skill
sets. Information Processing & Management, 54(5), 807-817.
Dhir, S. (2019). The changing nature of work, leadership, and organizational culture in future
ready organizations. Corporate culture, Management, Leadership, Job redesign,
Organizational Behavior, Innovation, Change Management, Human Resources,
VUCA.
Federici, E., Boon, C., & Den Hartog, D. N. (2019). The moderating role of HR practices on
the career adaptability–job crafting relationship: a study among employee–manager
dyads. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1-29.
HR Generalist in Vancouver | BCjobs.ca. (2020). Retrieved 23 February 2020, from
https://www.bcjobs.ca/jobs/hr-generalist-vancouver-574113?
utm_campaign=google_jobs_apply&utm_source=google_jobs_apply&utm_medium=
organic
Latorre, F., Guest, D., Ramos, J., & Gracia, F. J. (2016). High commitment HR practices, the
employment relationship and job performance: A test of a mediation model. European
Management Journal, 34(4), 328-337.
Lussier, R. N., & Hendon, J. R. (2017). Human resource management: Functions,
applications, and skill development. Sage publications.

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Mokoena, S. K. (2019). The Impact Of Job Evaluation Policy On Human Resource
Management: A Case Of Mpumalanga Provincial Government, South Africa. Journal
of Financial Economics, 1(1), 59-70.
Tafvelin, S., Stenling, A., Lundmark, R., & Westerberg, K. (2019). Aligning job redesign
with leadership training to improve supervisor support: a quasi-experimental study of
the integration of HR practices. European Journal of Work and Organizational
Psychology, 28(1), 74-84.
View unit group - Canada.ca. (2020). Retrieved 23 February 2020, from
https://noc.esdc.gc.ca/Structure/NocProfile/747a54cb38b940f88a0776e19691908e?
objectid=etfqrA
%2BXpgkMfyzZWa3aWfthj4WgUcG5qHkc0ALqXtq9XDdH9NFkpb1bx2G4S9Hv

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Appendix
Image 1: BC based HR job
Source: HR Generalist in Vancouver | BCjobs.ca. (2020). Retrieved 23 February 2020, from
https://www.bcjobs.ca/jobs/hr-generalist-vancouver-574113?
utm_campaign=google_jobs_apply&utm_source=google_jobs_apply&utm_medium=organic