CHAPTER 3 Job Analysis

Personnel Psychology
Personnel psychology, a specialty area of I/O psychology, is concerned with the creation, care, and maintenance of a workforce. I/O psychologists who specialize in personnel psychology are involved in: Employee recruitment and selection. Measurement of employee performance and establishment of good performance review procedures. Development of employee training programs. Formulation of criteria for promotion, firing, and disciplinary action.

Job Analysis
Job analysis is the systematic study of a job's tasks, duties, and responsibilities, and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the job. Job analysis is the starting point for many important personnel functions. A job analysis yields several products.

Job Analysis Products

1.

Job description A detailed accounting of job tasks, procedures, responsibilities, and output. Job specification Information about the physical, educational, and experiential qualities required to perform the job.

2.

Job Analysis Products

3. Job evaluation An assessment of the relative value of jobs for determining compensation. Performance criteria Work and performance outcomes required by the job that serve as a basis for appraising successful job performance.

4.

What are the use of job analysis products?

How to conduct Job Analysis?

Job Analysis Methods

Job analysis methods include observation, the use of existing data, interviews, surveys, and job diaries. Each method has strengths and weaknesses. In addition to these general methods for conducting job analysis, there are also a number of specific, standardized techniques.

Specific Job Analysis Techniques

Job Elements Method A broad approach to job analysis that focuses on the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) required to perform a particular job. Relies on subject matter experts (SMEs)

Specific Job Analysis Techniques

Functional job analysis (FJA) is a method that has been used to classify jobs in terms of workers interaction with data, people, and things. Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)

DOTs
You can use a dictionary of occupational titles to find the following information about a particular profession: Typical job tasks Essential skills Necessary knowledge and training Work environment Related occupations Average wage Job outlook

Specific Job Analysis Techniques

The DOT has been replaced by the Occupational Information Network (O*NET; www.onetcenter.org) Functional job analysis is helpful when the job analyst must create job descriptions for a large number of positions.

Specific Job Analysis Techniques

The Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) assesses several qualities of jobs: Information input Mental processes Work output Relationships with other persons Job context Other job characteristics

Specific Job Analysis Techniques

The Critical incidents technique (CIT) records specific worker behaviors that have led to particularly successful or unsuccessful instances of job performance. Job incumbents usually provide examples of critical incidents.
Refers to your own jobs, discuss particular incidents of successful and unsuccessful work behavior.

Job Analysis and the ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
Requires that employers prevent employment discrimination against disabled persons. Requires employers to understand essential elements of a job.

Job Evaluation and Comparable Worth

Job analysis yields a job evaluation, or an assessment of the relative value of a job, and is used to determine appropriate compensation. These evaluations usually examine jobs on dimensions that are called compensable factors (e.g., physical demands of a job, amount of training, working conditions, responsibility).

Job Evaluation and Comparable Worth

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 mandates that men and women performing equal work receive equal pay. However, women continue to make less than men. Women make about 75% of what men make.

Job Evaluation and Comparable Worth

Why is there a wage gap between men and women? Men have greater access to higher paying jobs. Women are paid less than men for performing equivalent tasks. Similar jobs may have different titles and different ranks depending on the sex of the worker (e.g., records manager vs. personnel clerk).

Job Evaluation and Comparable Worth

Comparable worth The idea that jobs that require equivalent KSAOs should be compensated equally. Relies on valid and fair job evaluations. Exceptioning The practice of ignoring pay discrepancies between particular jobs possessing equivalent duties and responsibilities.