Running head: DISCOVERY AND DESIGN PROJECT 1

Discovery and Design Project

Susan Rardin

HRM 620: Job Analysis and Design

Instructor Slusser

January 11, 2021

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Discovery and Design Project

Job Analysis

I. Purpose of job analysis, and why it is important:

A job analysis is a study conducted to determine the skills and knowledge needed by individuals

working in the specific profession (Waters, Mironova & Stobinski, 2017). It is very important

for organizations to repeat the analyses for all of their positions in regular intervals (every few

years is sufficient), to ensure that the particular program is keep current and up to date. Doing so

will keep the top employees in the ideal position, and also will keep the organization running as

efficiently as possible.

II. Analysis tool(s) that would be a good fit for this organization, and why:

There are ways of analyzing positions that are best suited for certain types of business. For

smaller manufacturing organizations, a simple competency model is ideal. This simply explains

the KSA’s (knowledge, skills & abilities) that one must have for the given position, fine tuned

for the individual business and its needs.

III. External resources available to Human Resources, and how they will be used:

Social media is a valuable, readily available resource that Human Resources can utilize.

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have hundreds of millions of combined users - use of these

mediums are a fantastic way to not only advertise, but interact with the public and/or potential

customers or clients. It gives the company extra insight, and provides management with

information they might not necessarily obtain otherwise.

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Google, and other search engines, are also valuable resources. Google, in particular, has many

sources that can obtain all forms of data, statistics, financial information, and the like. This

information is free and available to the public.

IV. Summarize the data to be defined during analysis, and explain why it is important to

the job design and performance evaluation:

In an effective job analysis, the Human Resource Management practice is a specific process for

collecting and analyzing all the information about a particular job; it is considered to be the

foundation upon which many important Human Resource Management systems are built,

including selection, training and performance management (Safdar, Waheed & Rafiq, 2010). It

is not unusual for some organizations to spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars

annually on job analyses.

There are 5 ways to collect data for this type of an analysis: self-reports, direct observations,

interviews, review of documents, and questionnaires and surveys (Prion, Goodstein, Goodstein

& Gamble, 2009). Data collected will include employee performances over a period of three

years, as well as the productivity and overall success of the organization over the same time

period. Any shortfalls or shortcomings will be investigated further, to determine the potential

underlying cause, and what was done (or not done) that could have brought forth a more positive

outcome.
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Job Design

Job design theory covers many individual components, including the job characteristics

model, overall job enrichment, and quality of work life; an effective job design will satisfy the

requirements of the tasks at hand, as well as fulfilling the psychological and social needs of the

individual (Baytos & Kleiner, 1995).

I. Create a job description for the organization and defend the importance of each to the

organization’s selection process:

Job Title:

Reports to:

Date listed:

Department/Location:

Job Overview:

Responsibilities and Duties:

Working conditions:

Supervision:

Qualifications:

Education and experience:

Other skills and requirements:

Personal Characteristics:

All of these are quite simple, but when put together, they form the outline that best suits the

organization. Job title, job overview, job qualifications and their individual components help
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form a view of an ideal employee. This makes the search that much easier when the time comes

to fill the position, or update the job analysis.

II. Explain how the required employment and labor laws are incorporated into the job

description, and evaluate how the organization will account for the deployment of these

laws:

The Bona Fide Occupational Qualification, The Americans with Disabilities Act, The

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Occupational Safety and Health

Administration are all laws that are posted throughout the organization, and are also discussed

upon initial hire.

All are treated as equal in importance, but because this is a manufacturing organization,

almost all of our dealings have been in regard to OSHA regulations. The company is very proud

of its safety record, and a chart is posted displaying the number of continuous days there have

been no accidents or safety issues.

III. Explain why the chosen design is appropriate for the organization:

Simply put, a job description is a clear, brief - yet concise - depiction of a job’s duties and

requirements; it is the first thing potential employees will read about the company, so it is a great

way to “sell” the job to the particular candidates you are trying to lure in, as well as weed out

those applicants who are unable to meet the expectations of the organization (Mader-Clark,

2013).
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The design chosen by the organization is simple, yet detailed enough to ensure no stone has been

left unturned. The applicant will understand all the components and ins and outs of the position,

and the organization makes sure there is nothing left out that could turn into any

misunderstandings in the future. Job tasks and skills are distinct; a task is a unit of work activity

that produces output, whereas a skill is a worker’s stock of capabilities for performing various

tasks (Moon, 2018).

Performance Appraisal

I. Explain the purpose and intended outcomes of a performance appraisal, and describe

how the elements of the job description will be measured:

A good employee job performance review will be encouraging to the employee, will increase

their participation in the company, and take organizations to a higher level of success. However,

not everyone, including both employees and management, are overly excited about the idea of

performing one. According to a recent major review of appraisal literature, the appraisal of

performance appraisals is not good….in fact, our review indicates that, regardless of a (appraisal)

program's stated purpose, few studies show positive effects (Cederblom, 2002).

Some may seem an appraisal to be a waste of time, but there are actually very good reasons to

conduct them. A performance appraisal is a structured system of measuring and evaluating an

employee’s job-related behavior, as well as a way to determine how the employee is currently

doing their job, and what could be done so that they can perform more effectively in the future

(Deepa, Palaniswamy & Kuppusamy, 2014).

An appraisal needs to be thorough without being redundant, and include important elements such

as:
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 Quality of work

 Productivity

 Motivation

 Communication

 Ability to work as part of a group

 Honesty

 Integrity

 Dependability

 Attendance

The employee’s quality of work and overall productivity and initiative are very important. Even

if the employee is exemplary in all other areas, that will not be of any benefit to the organization,

or themselves if they can’t perform good, quality work with minimal supervision.

Good communication, and the ability to work as part of a group are also crucial. The better the

communication and positive interaction there are between employees, the better the overall

atmosphere of the organization will be. Any issues or tension of any kind should be attended to

right away.

A good employee must be honest and possess integrity. The most ideal worker in the world will

be no good for an organization if they do not have the best interest of the company in mind at all

times. Showing company loyalty is a great way to make a positive initial impression on

superiors.

Lastly, an employee must be dependable, and come to work regularly. An employee must be

there in order to do their job, so good attendance is an absolute must. Not only is attendance
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important on a daily basis, but keeping break and lunch times within the allotted times needs to

be obeyed.

II. Develop a performance appraisal using the measurable actions defined within the job

description:

Quality of work – whether work quality went up, went down or remained the same;

Productivity – determine if productivity level went up, went down or remained constant;

Motivation – What is the employee’s motivation level?

Communication – How well does the employee communicate ideas and/or issues to superiors?

Ability to work as part of a group – Is the employee a team player?

Honesty – Is the employee completely honest? Have there been any issues?

Integrity – Is the employee loyal to the company? Does he speak well of the company?

Dependability – Is the employee someone that can be counted on?

Attendance – Does the employee take attendance seriously?

**The employee and the supervisor should review the job description and yearly goals to prepare

for the performance review. The review will contain the previously listed components, and

should:

*Examine the previous year’s performance review

*Review the employee’s individual position description, as well as have the employee

complete the annual self-review questionnaire

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*Review the employee’s newly completed self-review questionnaire

*Meet with the employee to discuss the forms, and discuss the goals and course of

action for next year, as well as identify areas that need improvement

*Both employee and supervisor will sign, and keep a copy as well as send a copy to

Human Resources

III. Explore the challenges and opportunities that a performance appraisal adds to the

overall job analysis and job design process:

To design an effective performance appraisal system, it is important that it is supported by a

solid foundation; the critical components of that foundation include job descriptions, measurable

goals and objectives, and clearly articulated standards of performance (Montague, 2007). It is

more than just the format and template structure – the content must be raised to increase the

performance expectations as well (Falcone & Tan, 2013).

The performance appraisal can be considered the icing on the cake. It ties together the previous

steps of job analysis and job design, and explains the successes and/or any failures encountered

along the way.

Summary

Upon completion of all of these steps, the organization will have a better understanding of the

makeup of each of their positions (and why an analysis needs to be completed every few years),

as well as the right kind of employee needed to fill those positions. Additionally, the yearly

performance appraisals will ensure that the employee at the very least stays on track from

previous years, but ideally will have shown improvement. If no improvement, or if not enough
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improvement has been made, both the employee and the organization will determine what needs

to be done to make sure they see improvements in the future.

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References

Baytos, K., & Kleiner, B. H. (1995). New developments in job design: The national magazine

of business fundamentals. Business Credit, 97(2), 22. Retrieved from https://search-

proquest-com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/trade-journals/new-developments-job-design/

docview/230140857/se-2?accountid=32521

Cederblom, D. (2002). From performance appraisal to performance management: One agency’s

experience. Public Personnel Management, 31(2), 131-140. Retrieved from

https://search-proquest-com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/scholarly-journals/performance-

appraisal-management-one-agencys/docview/215942384/se-2?accountid=32521

Deepa, E., Palaniswamy, R., & Kuppusamy, S. (2014). Effect of performance appraisal system in

organizational commitment, job satisfaction and productivity. Journal of Contemporary

Management Research, 8(1), 72-82. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.proxy-

library.ashford.edu/scholarly-journals/effect-performance-appraisal-system/docview/

1718121048/se-2?accountid=32521

Falcone, P., & Tan, W. (2013). The performance appraisal tool kit: Redesigning your

performance review template to drive individual and organizational change. Retrieved

from https://redshelf.com/

Mader-Clark, M. (2013). The job description handbook (3rd ed). Retrieved from
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https://redshelf.com/

Montague, N. (2007). THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: A POWERFUL MANAGEMENT

TOOL. Management Quarterly, 48(2), 40-53. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-

com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/trade-journals/performance-appraisal-powerful-

management-tool/docview/233578866/se-2?accountid=32521

Moon, S. (2018). Skill Development, Bargaining Power, and a Theory of Job Design. Journal

of Economics and Management Strategy, 27(2), 270-296.

Prien, E. P. Goodstein, L. D., Goodstein, J., & Gamble, L. G. (2009). A practical guide to job

analysis. Retrieved from https://redshelf.com/

Safdar, R., Waheed, A., & Rafiq, K. H. (2010). Impact of job analysis on job performance:

Analysis of A hypothesized model. Journal of Diversity Management, 5(2), 17-36.

Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/scholarly-

journals/impact-job-analysis-on-performance-hypothesized/docview/506643513/se-2?

accountid=32521

Waters, L. D., Mironova, O., & Stobinski, J. X. (2017). The many potential uses for a job

analysis. Journal of the Association for Vascular Access, 22(3), 124-128. doi:http://dx.

doi.org.proxy-library.ashford,edu/10.1016/j.java.2017.06.007