Chapter 4 - Job Analysis

● Job analysis is a systematic method needed to discover and describe the differences
and similarities among jobs

Structure Based on Jobs, People Or Both

● The process for constructing a work-related internal job structure to be used to
determine pay (exhibit 4.1)
○ No matter the approach, the process begins by looking at ppl at work
○ Job-based structures look at the tasks the ppl are doing and the expected
outcomes
○ Skill- and competency-based structures look at the person
○ The underlying purpose of each phase of the process (shown in the left column
of the exhibit) remains the same for both job- and person-based structures
1. Collect and summarize info that identifies similarities and differences in
jobs
2. Determine what is valued about the job
3. Quantify the relative value of jobs
4. Translate the relative value of jobs into an internal structure
● *blank boxes for the person-based structure will be filled in when we get to Chapter 6
(this chapter and next focus on the job-based structure)
 Job-Based Approach: Most Common
● Shows how job analysis and the resulting job description are the 1st steps in the process
of creating an internal job structure
○ Each step is defined and related to designing the structure
○ Job Analysis = ​provides the underlying info for preparing job description and
evaluating jobs
○ The content of the job identified via job analysis - content serves as input for
describing and valuing work

Why Perform Job Analysis?

● Potential uses for job analysis have been suggested for every major HR functions
● Type of job analysis data needed varies according to function
○ Ex. job analysis identifies the skills and exp req to perform the work > clarifies
hiring and promotion standards;
○ Ex. performance evaluation - both employees and sup look to the req beh and
results expected in a job to help assess performance
● An internal structure based on job-related info provides both managers & employees w/
a work-related rationale for pay diff
○ Employees who understand this rationale can better direct their behaviour toward
org objs
● Job analysis data also helps managers defend their decisions when they are challenged
● In compensation, job analysis has 2 critical uses:
1. It establishes similarities and diff in the content of jobs
2. It helps est an internally fair and aligned job structure
- If jobs have equal content > likelihood the pay est for them will be equal
(unless they are in diff geographies)
- If job content differs, then those differences along w/ the market rates
paid by competitors are part of the rationale for paying jobs diff
● Key issue for comp decision-makers is still to ensure that data collected serve purpose
of making decisions and are acceptable to the employees involved
 ○ Collecting job info is only an interim step, not an end in itself

Job Analysis Procedures

● Job analysis usually collects info about specific tasks/behaviours
● Group of tasks performed by one person makes up a position
● Identical positions make a job and broadly similar jobs combine into a job family
● Job analysis terms and their relationships to one another:

● Large orgs often the biggest users of job analysis data

○ Follow a step by step approach to conducting conventional job analysis
● Some argue that such a traditional , stable structure is shrinking part of the workplace
landscape
 What Information Should Be Collected?
● Typical analysis starts w/ a review of info already collected to develop a framework for
further analysis
● Job titles, major duties, task dimensions and workflow info may already exist but may no
longer be accurate
● Good job analyst collects sufficient info to identify, define and describe a job
● Info is categorized as “related to the job” or “related to the employee”
● Typical data collected for a job analysis:
Job Data: Identification
● Job titles, depts, & # of ppl who hold the jobs are ex of info that identifies a job

Job Data: Content

● This is the heart of job analysis
● Job content data involve the elemental tasks/units of work w/ emphasis on the purpose
of each task
● New task-based questions need to be designed for each new set of jobs
● In addition to emphasis on task, other distinguishing characteristic of the inventory in the
exhibit is the emphasis on the objective of the task
● Task data reveal the actual work performed as well as its purpose or outcome
● In Canada, really important to collect info relating to pay equity legislation > thorough
info about the skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions of each job is essential
Employee Data
● Once specified the tasks and outcomes, we can look at the kinds of beh that will result in
the outcomes
● Categorizes employee data as employee characteristics, internal relationship and
external relationships:
“

● Exhibit 4.7 shows how “communications” can be described w/ verbs (ex. negotiating)
○ Verbs chosen are related to the employee characteristic being identified (ex.
bargaining skills, interpersonal skills)
○ Rest of the statement helps identify whether the beh involves an internal or
external relationship
○ Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) = ​groups work info into 7 factors: info
input, mental processes, work output, relationship w/ other persons, job context,
other job characteristics, and general dimensions
■ Similarities and differences among jobs are described in terms of these 7
factors, rather than in terms of specific aspects unique to each job
■ Comm behaviour in 4.7 is part of the “relationship w/ other persons” factor
■ Entire PAQ has 194 items > developers claim these items are sufficient to
analyze any job
 ■ Appealing it might be to rationalize job analysis as the foundation of all
HR decisions, collecting all the info for so many diff purposes is very
expensive
● Can be too general for any single purpose
● If the info is used for multiple purposes, analyst must be sure its
accurate and sufficient for each use

Levels of Analysis
● Job analysis terms defined in 4.3 are arranged in a hierarchy
○ Level in this hierarchy at which analysis begins may influence whether the work
is similar/dissimilar
○ @ the job-family level, bookkeepers, tellers and accounting clerks may be
considered similar but at the job level they are diff
 ● Employers are finding it difficult to justify the time & expense of collecting task level info
> esp for flex jobs w/ frequently changing tasks
○ May collect only job-level data and emphasize comparisons in the external
market in setting wages
○ Designing career paths, staffing and legal compliance may also req detailed info
● Using broad, generic descriptions cover a large # of related tasks closer to the
job-related family level (4.1) is one way to increase flexibility
● Reducing the # of levels in a structure may reduce the opp to reinforce positive
employee behaviour

How Can The Information Be Collected?

Conventional Methods
● Most common way to collect job info: ask ppl who are doing the job to fill out a
questionnaire
○ Sometimes the analyst will interview the jobholder and their sup OR observe
them at work
○ Exhibit 4.8 (page 63) is an example of a job analysis questionnaire
● Advantages: Involvement of employees increases the understanding of the process
○ HOWEVER whole process is open to bias & favouritism bc ppl involved all have
their own perceptions/interpretations
● Due to potential subjectivity & huge amount of time, more quantitative (& systematic)
data collection methods are used

Quantitative Methods
● Analyst have been directing jobholders to a website where they complete a
questionnaire online > quantitative job analysis b/c statistical analysis of the results is
possible
○ Jobholder is asked to assess each item if it is or not part of their job then rate
importance & how much time spent on it
○ Responses are machine scored and used to develop a profile of the job
○ Results can be used to prepare a job profile based on compensable factors
■ If more than one person is doing a particular job, results of several ppl in
the job can be compared/averaged to develop a profile
● Some consulting firms have dev quantitative inventories which can be tailored to the
needs of a specific org or to a specific family of jobs
○ Many org find it practical and cost effective to modify existing inventories
○ If important aspects of a job is omitted the resulting job description will be faulty

Who Collects the Information?

● Analysis is best done by someone thoroughly familiar w/ the org and its jobs and trained
in how to do the analysis properly

Who Provides the Information?

● Source of data hinges on how to ensure consistent, accurate, and acceptable data
○ Expertise resides on jobholders and sup > principal sources
○ For key managerial/professional jobs > sup at 2 levels above have been
suggested as valuable bc of their more strategic view
○ Sometimes involved, subordinates and employees in other jobs that interface w/
the job under study
 ● # of incumbents per job from which to collect data probably varies w/ the stability of the
job & the ease of collecting info
○ Ill-defined or changing job req either more respon. or more careful selection

What about Discrepancies?

● If there is a discrepancy b/w manager and employee when it comes to job data > collect
more data then
○ Enough data to ensure consistent, accurate and acceptable results
○ Holding a focus group w/ multiple jobholders and supervisors > disagreement is
an opp to clarify expectations, learn better ways to do the job and doc how the
job is actually performed
● Top mgmt (and union) support is critical:
○ Involvement by analysts, jobholders, and their sup, support of top mgmt and
unions is essential
■ If top mgmt/unions not willing to carry through or at least seriously
consider any changes suggested by the job analysis the process will not
be worth doing or the expense

Job Descriptions Summarize the Data

● Job Description = ​ summary of the job (all the job info collected); provides a word pic of
the job
● Job is identified by title and its relationship to other jobs
○ Relationships demo where the job fits into the org
● Job summary consists of a short paragraph that provides an overview of the job
● Essential responsibilities elaborates on the summary > includes tasks; related tasks may
be grouped into task dimensions
○ Exhibit 4.9 - ex of a job description
● Job description includes very specific standards for judging whether an essential
responsibility has been met
● Final section lists the qualifications necessary to be hired for the job
○ Job Specifications​ can be used as a basis for hiring - the knowledge, skills and
abilities required to adequately perform the tasks
● Summary may be relevant to pay decisions and therefore must focus on similarities and
diff in content

Using Generic Job Descriptions

● To avoid writing them from scratch or a way to cross-check externally it is useful to refer
to a generic JD that have not yet been tailored to a specific org
○ Readily accessible source is the ​National Occupational Classification (NOC) >
www.esdc.gc.ca/noc
● NOC:
○ Federal gov’t NOC is a good reference when preparing JD
○ Excellent source of standardized job info, based on systematic field research by
Employment and Social Development Canada
■ Contains 40K job titles w/ generic descriptions and qualifications
○ Classifies occupations into major groups based on 2 dimensions: skill level and
skill type
■ Major groups identified by 2 digit #s
Describing Managerial/Professional Jobs
● JD of managerial/professional jobs often include more detailed info about the nature of
the job, its scope, & accountability
● Challenge - ind mgr can influence the job content
○ Ex. job-based and person-based approach: JD must capture the relationship b/w
jobs, person performing it and the org’s obj, results expected and what person
performing it brings to the job
■ Someone w/ strong info systems and computer expertise performing the
comp manager’s job will probably shape it diff on the basis of this
expertise than someone w/ strong negoti or counselling exp

Verify the Description

● Final step of job analysis process is to verify the accuracy of the JD
○ Jobholder and sup verify if the proposed JD is accurate and complete
○ JD discussed line by line - take notes of any omissions, ambiguities or req
clarification
○ NOC can be used as a reference

Job Analysis and Globalization

Job Analysis and Susceptibility to Offshoring

● Offshoring = ​refers to the movement of jobs to locations beyond home-country borders
● Normally low-skill jobs are offshored bc in other countries the cost savings is higher due
to the low hourly costs
○ hence why lots of companies set up production operations abroad
○ w/ lower cost = lower productivity; far from customers; limited availability of
higher edu workers
● Increasingly white collar jobs are being outsourced
○ More susceptible to outsourcing when input/output of jobs can be easily
transmitted electronically, req little interaction with others, little local knowledge is
needed, and work can be routinized
○ Jobs not as susceptible to outsourcing are managerial, require local knowledge,
or need to be on the ground (ex. Landscape architects)

Job Analysis Information and Comparability across Borders

● Since companies have workers in multiple countries there is a need to analyze jobs to
maintain consistency in job content or else be able to measure the ways in which jobs
are similar or diff
○ Norms or perceptions regarding what is and what is not part of a job may vary in
diff countries

Judging Job Analysis

● Several ways to judge job analysis:

Reliability
● Reliability = ​is a measure of the consistency of results if the same measure is repeated
many times
 ○ Measure something tmr and the results are the same as today the measurement
is considered reliable but doesn’t mean it is right
Validity
● Validity = ​is the extent to which a process such as job analysis measures what it claims
to measure
○ Does the analysis create an accurate portrait of the work BUT no way to show
statistically how accurate the analysis is
○ Validity measures convergence of results among diff sources of data and
methods
Acceptability
● If jobholders and managers aren’t satisfied w/ the initial data collected or w/ the process
they aren’t likely to buy into the results of the job structure or the pay rate
● Collecting info one on one or by obser is subj to favoritism or subjectivity
● More quantitative approach might not work to bc u may be tempted to collect too much
info for too many purposes

Currency
● To be valid, acceptable, and useful job info must be up to date
● Can hinder compensation practitioner and decision making but also employee selection,
training and dev if not up to date
● Most orgs unlikely to update unless significant changes occur or if job is re-evaluated for
comp purposes
○ Useful to dev a systematic protocol for evaluating when job info needs to be
updated

Usefulness
● Refers to the usefulness of the info collected
● For pay purposes, analysis provides work-related info to help determine pay for a job
○ If it is a reliable, valid and acceptable way then the technique is practical use

A Judgment Call
● Work-related info is needed to determine pay and diff in work determine pay diff
○ there is no substitute that can ensure the resulting pay structure will be work
related or provide reliable, accurate data to make and explain pay decisions
○ If work info is needed, the real issue is how much detail is needed to make a pay
decision
■ Enough to help set ind employee pay, encourage continuous learning,
increase the exp and skill of the workforce and min the risk of pay-related
grievances