Job Analysis

Ranjeet Nambudiri
Indian Institute of Management Indore

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Job analysis

Establishing job related factors that the incumbent must perform at the
workplace

Identifies the tasks, duties and responsibilities of a particular job

Collecting job related information that leads to job description and job specification

Information collected
- Work activities
- Behavior and human requirements (KSAs)
- Machine, tools, work aid
- Performance standards
- Job context

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Process of job analysis

Job description
Duties / Responsibilities
Sources of Data Tasks
Employee Context / Equipment
Job Data
Supervisor Tasks
Performance
Duties / Responsibilities HR functions
Job context Recruitment
Equipment used Selection
Knowledge required T&D
Methods of collecting data PMS
Skills required Compensation management
Interviews Experience needed
Survey
Observation
Records Job specification
O*Net Skills requirement
Physical demands
Knowledge requirement
Attitudes
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Sales Executive – Consumer Goods
Duty / Responsibility Task

Sales Field visits

Dealer support

Coordinate with the factory

Compliance A/c receivable

Documentation

Dealer training

Business development New territory mapping

Market intelligence Report generation / scanning

Knowledge Qualifications / Experience

Skills Communication / MS / Team skills / Leadership
Attitude Willingness to travel / Integrity (Trait based
measures)

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Utility of job analysis

• Recruitment and selection

• Performance management

• Training needs identification

• Compensation and benefits

• Legal compliance

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Process of job analysis

• Strategic choices regarding,

• Data source and Employee involvement
• Level of details required
• Timing and frequency of analysis

• Gathering information
• Data collection methods,

• Preparing JD and Job specification

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Data collection

• Observation
• Interviews – Qualitative data
• Survey
• Checklists
• Technical conference
• Diary method
• Quantitative techniques
• PAQ
• Management Position Description Questionnaire

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Data collection

• Observation method
• Useful when jobs consist more of physical activity than mental activity, e.g.?
• Not very useful when the job calls for only some important activity?
• Hawthorne effect?
• Interviews – Qualitative data – structured / unstructured, individual / group
• Simple and quick to conduct
• Comprehensive since the interviewer can elicit detailed information
• Susceptible to interviewer and respondent bias?
• Difficulties in coding and analyzing
• Survey questionnaire
• Quick to conduct, allows collection of data from large samples
• Inexpensive
• Calls for reliability and validity
• Respondent bias (social desirability)

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Data collection

• Checklists – similar to surveys – with closed ended questions about the activities & time
spent on each activity

• Technical conference- services of experts (supervisors possessing extensive knowledge

about the job) are used
• Job analyzed from the perspective of experts
• Job incumbent’s perspective is missing
• Diary method – use of worker logs / diaries
• Produces real time and comprehensive picture of the job
• Challenge of maintaining logs
• Risk of inflating information
• Some techniques
• PAQ
• Task inventory analysis
• Management Position Description Questionnaire

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PAQ

• 194 items organized into 6 sections

• Information input: Where does the employee get information to perform the job

• Mental process: The reasoning, decision making, planning and information processing
activities associated with the job

• Work output: The physical activities, tools, and devices used to perform the job

• Relationships: with other personnel

• Job context: The physical and social context in which the job is performed

• Other characteristics: Anything else relevant to the job

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PAQ

• Information input
• Sources of job information: Rate each of the following items in terms of the extent to
which it is used by the workers as a source of information in performing the job
NA 1 5

Does Not apply Limited / nominal Very substantial

Item # Description Rating

1 Written materials such as books, office notes, journals

etc.

2 Pictorial material such as x-ray films, TV graphics etc.

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PAQ

• Mental processes
• Decision making: Using the response scale given below, indicate the level of
decision making typically involved in the job: considering the number and complexity
of tasks involved

1 2 3 4 5

Very limited Limited Intermediate Substantial Very

substantial

e.g., decision Decisions such Decisions such Decisions such Decisions such
such as those in as those as those in as those in as those in
selecting parts despatching a setting up determining approving
in a routine taxi machines for production budgets,
assembly operations quotas or hiring selecting plant
decisions location etc.

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Challenges in job analysis

• Objectivity in data collection – suppression of biases

• Participation of all employees

• Low knowledge of incumbents , inadequate training

• ‘What is in it for me syndrome’ among incumbents

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Job design

• Job design: The process of organizing work into the tasks required to perform a specific job
• Organizing tasks, duties and responsibilities into a unit of work to achieve organizational
objectives

• Specification of individual tasks : Job content

• Methods of performing each task

• Factors affecting job design

• Task characteristics
• Work flow
• Ergonomics
• Work practices
• Employee abilities and availabilities
• Social and cultural expectations
• Feedback

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Writing Job Descriptions

Job
Identification

Job Job
Specifications Summary

Sections of a
Typical Job
Description Responsibilities
Working Conditions
and Duties

Standards of Authority of the

Performance Incumbent

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 Job analysis or the flexible job?

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 Thank you for your time and attention

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