Job Analysis and design

The Vocabulary of Job Analysis

 Position: the responsibilities and duties performed by an individual. There
are as many positions in an organization as there are employees
 Job: group of positions that are similar in their duties, such as computer
programmer
 Job analysis: a purposeful, systematic process for collecting information
on the important work-related aspects of a job
 Job description: the principal product of a job analysis. It represents a
written summary of the job as an identifiable organizational unit
 Job specification: a written explanation of the knowledge, skills, abilities,
traits, and other characteristics (KSAOs) necessary for effective
performance on a given job
 Tasks: Coordinated and aggregated series of work elements used to
produce an output
LINKAGE BETWEEN ORGANISATION & JOBS

Jobs are therefore:

 the basic units of an organizational structure
(The Building Blocks)
 the link between an individual and the organization
(Employee/Employer)
 the bridge between people and what is expected of them
(Their Work)
 designed independent of the person doing the job at that
point in time
 Help evaluate the job for identifying compensatory
specifications
JOB ANALYSIS IS ….
NOT

 A personal analysis

 A performance appraisal
Job Analysis
Job analysis is the process of gathering information about the job and
evaluating such information in terms of what is necessary and relevant.
Essentially, job analysis involves three questions:

1. What is a job?

2. What should be analyzed?

3. What methods of analysis should be used?

Types of Information Collected
Work
activities

Human Human
requirements behaviors
Information
Collected Via
Job Analysis Machines, tools,
Job
equipment, and
context
work aids

Performance
standards

4–6
 Nuts and Bolts

 Who is involved in the job analysis?

 Management

 Supervisors

 Job analysts
 Job incumbent

 Unions

 Consultants
JOB ANALYSIS
TWO BASIC RULES:

 We will not analyse the strengths and weaknesses of

the incumbent holding the job

 We will analyse the value contribution of the job to the

organisation, as if it is being performed at the normal
level
 The Steps in Job Analysis

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6

Examine the Determine Select jobs Collect data Prepare job Prepare job
total organi- how job to be by using description specification
zation and analysis analyzed acceptable
the fit of information job analysis
each job will be used techniques

Use information from

Steps 1–6 for:
Job design
Planning
Recruitment
Selection and training
Performance evaluation
Compensation and benefits
EEO compliance
Follow-up evaluations

Fig 6-1
Methods of Data Collection
 When collecting job data, these basic methods
can be used separately or in some combination:
 Observation

 Interview

 Questionnaires

 Job incumbent diaries or logs

 In each method, job information is:
 Collected

 Studiedin terms of tasks completed by the job

incumbent (job oriented analysis)
Methods of Data Collection
 When collecting job data, these basic methods
can be used separately or in some combination:
 Observation

 Interview

 Questionnaires

 Job incumbent diaries or logs

 In each method, job information is:
 Collected

 Studiedin terms of tasks completed by the job

incumbent (job oriented analysis)
Methods of Collecting Job Analysis
Information: Observation
 Information Source
 Observing and noting the
physical activities of
employees as they go about
their jobs
 Advantages
 Provides first-hand information
 Reduces distortion of
information
 Disadvantages
 Time consuming
 Difficulty in capturing entire
job cycle
 Of little use if job involves a
high level of mental activity
4–12
 Methods of Collecting Job Analysis
Information: The Interview
 Information Sources  Interview Formats
 Individual employees  Structured (Checklist)
 Groups of employees  Unstructured
 Supervisors with knowledge of
the job
 Advantages
 Quick, direct way to find
overlooked information
 Disadvantages
 Distorted information
 FIGURE 4–3
Job Analysis Questionnaire for
Developing Job Descriptions

Note: Use a questionnaire

like this to interview job
incumbents, or have them
fill it out.

Source: www.hr.blr.com. Reprinted with

permission of the publisher, Business and Legal
Reports, Inc., Old Saybrook, CT

4–14
Job Analysis: Interviewing
Guidelines
 The job analyst and supervisor should work together to
identify the workers who know the job best.
 It is advisable to quickly establish rapport with the
interviewee.
 Follow a structured guide or checklist, one that lists open-
ended questions and provides space for answers.
 Ask the worker to list his or her duties in order of importance
and frequency of occurrence.
 After completing the interview, review and verify the
data.
Interviews
 Interviews are difficult to standardize
 Different interviewers may ask different questions
 The same interviewer might ask different questions
of different respondents
 Information may be unintentionally distorted by the
interviewer
 Interviewing costs can be high, especially if
group interviews aren’t practical
Questionnaires
 Questionnaires are the least costly data collection
method
 They can collect large amounts of data in a short time
 A structured questionnaire includes specific questions
about the job, working conditions, and equipment
 An open-ended format permits job incumbents to use
their own words and ideas to describe the job
 The format and structure of a questionnaire are
debatable issues
Questionnaires

 To make a questionnaire easier to use:

 Keep it as short as possible
 Explain what the questionnaire is being used for

 Keep it simple

 Test the questionnaire before using it

Job Incumbent Diary or Log
 The diary or log is a recording by incumbents of:
 Job duties
 Frequency of the duties

 When the duties are accomplished

 Most people are not disciplined enough to keep a

log
 Kept properly, the log permits an examination of
routine duties and exceptions
 The diary or log is useful when analyzing jobs that are
difficult to observe
Which Method to Use?
 Many organizations use a multi-methods job
analysis approach
 The analyst interviews incumbents and supervisors in
conjunction with on-site observation
 A task survey based on expert judgments is constructed
and administered
 A statistical analysis of the responses is conducted

 Using a comprehensive process is relatively

expensive and time-consuming
 The quality of information derived from a compre-
hensive approach is strongly endorsed by courts
Specific Quantitative Techniques
 Three of the more popular quantitative
techniques:
 Functional job analysis
 Position analysis questionnaire

 Management position description questionnaire

Functional Job Analysis
 Functional job analysis (FJA) is the result of 60 years of research on
analyzing and describing jobs
 Conceived in the late 1940s

 Developed to improve job classifications in the Dictionary of

Occupational Titles (DOT)
 DOT descriptions helped job analysts learn what was involved in a
particular job
 FJA could then be used to elaborate and more thoroughly describe the
content of a job
 The goal was creating a common language for accurately describing
jobs
Functional Job Analysis
 FJA assumes jobs can be described in terms of three basic
relationships the worker has with the work:
 Physically relating to things
 Using mental resources to process data
 Interacting with people

 Using behavioral terms, each relationship can be organized

along a continuum of complexity
 Lowest to highest

 Each job has a quantitative score

 Jobs with similar ratings can be assumed to be similar
Functional Job Analysis
Experience Requirements
• Training
• Experience
• Licensing

Worker Requirements
• Basic skills Occupational Requirements
• Cross-functional skills • Generalized work activities
• General knowledge • Work context
• Education • Organizational context

O* NET

Worker Characteristics Occupational Specific Requirements

• Abilities • Occupational skills, tasks,
• Interests and work values and knowledge
• Work styles • Machines, tools, and equipment

Occupational Characteristics
• Labor market information
• Occupational outlook
• Wages
Position Analysis Questionnaire
 The position analysis questionnaire (PAQ):
 Was developed by researchers at Purdue University/Contains 195 items

 the position analysis questionnaire is a structured job analysis

questionnaire containing 194 items called job elements. These elements
are worker-oriented. The items are organized into six divisions:
Position Analysis Questionnaire
 Computerized scoring of the PAQ is based on seven
dimensions: each presents a basic element that may or may
not be a part of the job
 Decision making
 Communication
 Social responsibilities
 Performing skilled activities
 Being physically active
 Operating vehicles or equipment
 Processing information
 The scores permit development of job profiles and job
comparisons
Management Position Description Questionnaire

 Conducting a job analysis for managerial jobs is

challenging because of:
 The disparity across positions
 Levels in the hierarchy

 The type of industry

 An attempt to systematically analyze managerial

jobs was conducted at Control Data Corporation
 Theresult is the management position description
questionnaire (MPDQ)
Management Position Description Questionnaire

 The MPDQ is:

A checklist of 208 items related to the
concerns and responsibilities of managers
 A comprehensive description of managerial work

 Intended for use across most industrial settings

 Outcomes of Job Analysis
4-29

Figure 4-1
 Person Specification
4-30

 Person specification: summarizes the characteristics of someone

able to perform the job well
 Essential criteria: job candidate characteristics that are critical
to adequate new hire performance and for which candidates
should be screened
 Desirable criteria: job candidate criteria that may enhance the
new hire’s job performance, but that are not essential to
adequate job performance
Use of Job Analysis Information
Recruitment and
Selection

Legal
Compliance Compensation
Information
Collected Via
Discovering Job Analysis
Performance
Unassigned
Appraisal
Duties

Training

4–31
 Job Description
4-32

 A written description of the duties and responsibilities of the

job itself based on a job analysis. Job descriptions usually
include:
The ELEMENTS OF JOB DESCRIPTION

 Job Purpose

 Job Context & Major Challenges

 Principal Accountabilities

 Organizational Relationships
Job Enrichment: A Motivational Approach

 Job enrichment tries to design jobs in ways that

help incumbents satisfy their need for:
 Growth

 Recognition

 Responsibility

 The job is expanded vertically

 Employees are given responsibility that might
previously have been part of a supervisor’s job
 According to Herzberg, employees are motivated
by jobs that enhance their feelings of self-worth
Job Enrichment: A Motivational Approach

 A job must possess “core job dimensions” to lead

to desired outcomes:
 Skillvariety
 Task identity

 Task significance

 Autonomy

 Feedback
Work-Family Balance and Job
Design
 Work-family tension is driven by changing
workforce demographics
 Women and single parents entering the workforce
 Dual-career couples

 The aging population

 Some organizations meet employees’ needs

through flexible work arrangements:
 Job sharing
 Flextime

 Telecommuting
Work-Family Balance and Job
Design

 Benefits of family-friendly arrangements:

 Higher recruitment
and retention rates
 Improved morale
 Lower absenteeism
and tardiness
 Higher levels of employee productivity
 Telecommuting allows employees to work at home part- or
full-time
 Communication is through phone, fax, computer
 Often resisted by managers who fear loss of control and subordinate
accessibility
Job Analysis in a “Jobless” World
De-jobbing the
Organization

Using Self- Reengineering

Flattening the
Managed Work Business
Organization
Teams Processes

4–38
Competency-Based Job Analysis
 Competencies
 Demonstrable characteristics of a person that enable
performance of a job.
 Reasons for Competency-Based Job Analysis
 To support a high-performance work system.
 To create strategically-focused job descriptions.
 To support the performance management process in
fostering, measuring, and rewarding:
 General competencies
 Leadership competencies 4–39
 Technical competencies
 THANKYOU!