JOB ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION
Job analysis was non – existent three decades ago. The only means of
establishing job relation factor has been to identify what the job entails and
what an worker must posses to perform successfully on the job. Job analysis
helps to establish the idea and to perform the job successfully.
DEFINITION
A Job may be defined as a, “collection or aggregation of tasks, duties
and responsibilities which as a whole, are regarded as a regular assignment to
individual employees”.
Job Analysis is the process of getting information about jobs: specially,
what the worker does, how he gets it done, why he does it; skill education and
training required; relationship to other jobs; physical demands, environmental
conditions.
Samuvel, 2003.
Job Analysis is the process of studying and collecting information
relating to the operations and responsibilities relating to the operations and
responsibilities of a specific job. The immediate products of this analysis are
job descriptions and job specifications.
Edwin. B. F, 2004.

PROCESS OF JOB ANALYSIS

Process can be obtained under two heads
1. Job description
2. Job specification

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JOB ANALYSIS

JOB ANALYSIS
A process for obtaining all
pertinent job facts

JOB DESCRIPTION JOB SPECIACATION

A statement containing
A statement of the human qualifications
items such as
necessary to do the jobs. Usually
Job title
contains items
Location
Education
Job summary
Experience
Duties
Training
Machines, tools and
Judgement
equipment
Initiative
Materials and forms
Physical effort
Supervision
Physical skills
Working conditions
Responsibilities
Hazards
Communication skills
Emotional characteristics
Unusual sensory demands such as
sight, smell and hearing

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 1. JOB DESCRIPTION
Job description is a written record of the duties, responsibilities and requirements
of a particular job. It is concerned with the job itself and not with the work.
Gankar and Mamoria, 2004.
Job description is a written record of principle duties and scope of responsibility
for a particular job, together with the required employee characteristics.
Basavanthappa. B.T., 2004.
USES OF JOB DESCRIPTION
1. Preliminary drafts can be used as a basis for productive group
discussion, particularly if the process starts at the executive level.
2. It aids in the development of job specifications, which are useful in
planning recruitment, in training and in hiring people with required
skills.
3. It can be used to orient new employees towards basic responsibilities and
duties.
4. It is a basic document used in developing performance standards.
5. It can be used for job evaluation.
6. According to Zerga, a job description help in
o Job grading and classification
o Transfers and promotions
o Adjustment of graveness
o Defining and outlining promotional steps
o Establishing a common understanding of a job between employers
and employees
o Investigating accidents
o Indicating faulty work procedures or duplication of papers
o Maintaining, operating and adjusting machinery
o Time and motion studies
o Defining the limits of authority
o Indicating case of personal merit
o Studies of health and fatigue
o Scientific guidance
o Determining jobs suitable for occupational therapy
o Providing hiring specifications and
o Providing performance indicators.

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COMPONENTS OF JOB DESCRIPTION
1. Job identification or organization position
Which includes the job title, alternative title, department, division, plant and code
number of job.
2. Job summary
It has two important purposes
o It is useful as additional information, when a job title is not adequate.
o It serves as a summary to orient the reader towards an understanding of
detailed information which follows, it gives the reader a “quick capsule
explanation” of the content of a job usually in one or two sentences”.
3. Job duties and responsibility
It gives a comprehensive listing of the duties together with some indication of the
frequency of occurrence or percentage of time devoted to each major duty.

4. Relation to other jobs

This helps to locate the job in the organization by indicating the job immediately
below or above in the job hierarchy.
5. Supervision
It is given the number of persons to be supervised along with their job titles and
the extent of supervision involved – general, intermediate or close supervision.
6. Machine, tools and equipment
Define each major type or trade name of the machines and tools and the raw
materials used.
7. Working conditions
Its usually gives information about the environment in which a job holder must
work. These include cold, heat, dust, wetness, moisture, fumes, odour, oily conditions
etc., obtaining inside the organizations.
8. Hazards
It gives the nature of risks to life and limb, their possibilities of occurrence, etc.
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A JOB DESCRIPTION
Job descriptions are written by personnel department includes
o A paragraph is allocated to each major talk or responsibility
o Paragraph are numbered and arranged in a logical order, task sequence or
importance
o Sentences are begun with an active verb
o Accuracy and simplicity are emphasized rather than an elegant style.

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 o Examples of work performed are often quoted and are useful in making the
job description explicit.
o Statement of opinion, such as “dangerous situations are encountered” should
be avoided.
2. JOB SPECIFICATION
Definition
A job specification (also called man specification) is a statement of the minimum
acceptable human qualities necessary to perform a job satisfactorily.
Purposes
o Encourage self direction in the development of personal goals
o Enhance creativity and job commitment
o Induce “goal consciousness” among supervisors and sub ordinates
Qualifications
1. Physical characteristics
Which includes health, strength, age, range, body size, height, weight, vision,
voice, poise, eye, hand and foot co- ordination, motor co – ordination and colour
discrimination.
2. Psychological characteristics
Includes mechanical aptitudes, judgment, resourcefulness, analytical ability,
mental concentration and alertness.
3. Personal characteristics
Such as personal appearance, good and pleasing manners, emotional stability,
aggressiveness or submissiveness, leadership, cooperativeness etc.
4. Responsibility
Includes
o Supervision of others
o Production, process and equipment
o Safety
o Generating confidence and trust and
o Preventing monetary loss.
5. Other features
Demographic nature which are age, sex, education, experience and language
ability.
PURPOSES AND USES OF JOB ANALYSIS
The purpose and uses of job analysis programme are useful in
o Human resource planning
o In employees hiring, recruitment and selection

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 o In training and development
o Job evaluation
o Remuneration of performance appraisal
o In assessment of the actual performance of an employees
o In personnel information systems and
o An excellent opportunity to uncover and identify hazardous conditions.
1 Human resource planning
The number and type of personnel will be determined by the size of the unit and
the nature of the jobs which will be needed to be staffed.
2 Recruitment and selection
Job analysis helps human resource manager to locate places to obtain employees
for opening anticipated in the future. The objective of employee hiring is to match the
right people with the right jobs.
3 Training and development
It can be designed depending on the job requirements.
4 Job evaluation
It involves determination of relative worth of each job for the purpose of
establishing wage and salary differentials.
5 Remuneration
It involves bonus and other benefits.
6 Performance appraisal
It involves assessment of the actual performance of an employee against what is
expected of him/her. Such assessment is the basis for awarding, promotions, effecting
transfers or assessing training needs.

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 Human resource planning

Recruitment and selection

Job Training and development

description

Job evaluation
Job analysis

Job Remuneration
specification

Performance appraisal

Personnel information

Safety and health

Purposes and uses of job analysis

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 7 Personnel information
Organizations generally maintain computerized personnel information systems. It is
helpful in improving the administrative efficiency by speeding up the provision of data, by
reducing the resources required to carryout routine administration.
8 Safety and health
Job analysis provides an excellent opportunity to uncover and identify hazardous
conditions and unhealthy environmental factors like heat, noise, fumes and dust, so that
corrective measures can be taken to minimize and avoid the possibility of human injury.
CONTENT OF JOB ANALYSIS
A job analysis provides the following information
a. Job identification
It includes its code number
b. Significant characteristics of a job
Its location, physical setting, supervision, union jurisdiction, hazards and discomforts.
c. What the typical worker does
Specific operation and tasks that make up an assignment their relative timing and
importance, their simplicity, routine or complexity, the responsibility or safety of others for
property, funds, confidence and trust.
d. Which materials and equipment a workers uses
Metals, plastics, grains, yarns, milling machines, punch presses and micro meters.
e. How a job is performed
Nature of operation; lifting, handling, cleaning, washing, drilling, driving, setting up and
many others.
f. Required personnel attribute
Experience, training, apprenticeship, physical strength, co ordination or dexterity,
physical demands, mental capabilities, aptitudes and social skills.
g. Job relationship
Experience required opportunities for advancement, patterns of promotions, essential co
operation, direction or leadership from and for a job.
STEPS IN JOB ANALYSIS
There are 5 basic steps in job analysis
Step 1 : Collection of background information
According to Terry, “the make up of a job, its relation to others jobs, and its
requirements for competent performance are essential information needed for a job evaluation”.
This information can be had by reviewing available background information such as
organization chart, class specifications and the existing job descriptions which provide a starting
point from which to build the revised job description.
Step 2 : Selection of representative position to be analyzed
Since the analysis of all jobs would be time consuming, flow representative positions
should be analyzed.
Step 3 : Collection of job analysis data

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 Job data on features of the job, required employee qualifications and requirements,
should be collected either from the employees who actually perform a job, or from other
employees known as trade job analysis.
Step 4 : Job description
The information collected is to be developed in the form of a job description. This is a
written statement that describes the main features of the job, as well the qualification/activities
which the job incumbents must possess.
Step 5 : Developing job specification
Job specification is to specifically mention what personal qualities, traits, skills and
background is necessary for getting the job done.

TECHNIQUES OF JOB ANALYSIS DATA

The techniques are
Personal observation
The materials and equipment used, the working conditions and probable hazards and an
understanding of what the work involves are the facts which should be known by an analyst.
Sending out questionnaires
The method is usually employed by engineering consultants. Properly drafted
questionnaires are sent out to job holders for completion and are returned to supervisors.
However, the information received is often unorganized and incoherent.
Maintenance of log records
The employee maintains a daily diary record of duties he performs, making the time at
which each task is started and finished. Moreover its time consuming.
Conducting personal interviews.
May be held by the analyst with the employees and answers to relevant questions may be
recorded.
DIFFERENT METHODS OF COLLECTING DATA FOR ANALYSIS
By observational methods
The job analyst carefully observes the job holder at work and records the performance of
what he/she is doing, how he/she is performing and the time taken and time needed of a given
task.
By taking interviews of the job holders
The analyst takes interviews of the job holder and his supervisor to gather information
about the job. It has been seen that a structured interview, the analyst must make judgement
about the information to be included and its degree of importance.
By providing structured questionnaire
The questionnaire provided to job holders must be approved by their supervisors.
Standard questionnaires are prepared under the supervision of the analyst. Normally, the
standard questionnaires should contain the following

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  The job title of the job holder
 The job title of the job holder’s managers or supervisiors
 The number of the staff reporting to the job holder
 A brief description of the over all role or purposes of the job.
By the preparation of checklists about the jobs
Preparation of a checklist is a challenging job. The specialist who prepare the list must
collect all relevant information about the job concerned. Such information can be obtained and
collected by asking supervisors, industrial engineers and other familiar with the work.
By technical conference method
In this method a conference of supervisors who posses extensive knowledge about the
job is organized and here the analyst initiates discussion which provides details about the jobs.
By using activities
Diary method; under this method the job holders are required to record job activities
each day.
JOB ACTIVITIES
Job activities are delegated by management to enhance the accomplishment of
management system objectives. Three areas are related to job activities
o Dividing job activities
o Clarifying job activities of managers
o Being responsible
Dividing job activities
1. Functional similarity method
This method suggests that management should take 4 basic inter related steps to divide
job activities in the following sequence
o Examine management system objectives
o Designate appropriate activities that must be performed to reach those objectives
o Design specific jobs by grouping similar activities
o Make specific individuals responsible for performing those jobs.

Examine Designate Design jobs by Make

objectives activities grouping individuals,
necessary to similar responsible for
reach activities performing jobs
objectives

2. Functional similarity and responsibility

a. Overlapping responsibility
it refers a situation in which more than one individual is responsible for the same
activity.
b. Responsibility gap
It exists when certain organizational tasks are not included in the responsibility area of
any individual organization members.

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SUMMARY
Till now we have discussed regarding job, job analysis, process of job analysis includes
job description and job specification, purposes, content, steps, techniques and different methods
of data collection.
CONCLUSION
Job analysis is a process of getting information about jobs, its carried out in two ways by
job description and job specification. Through this job analysis we can finalize the resourceful
person and make a proper plan of management.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Mamoria. C B and Gankar. S V, 2003, “Personnel Management”, 23rd edition, Himalaya
publication, Mumbai, Pp – 166 -179.
2. Prasad M. 2003, “Management, Concepts and practices”, 3 rd edition, Himalaya publishing
house, Mumbai, Pp – 729 -799.
3. Samual. C.C, 2003, “Modern management”, 9th edition, Printer hall of India, New Delhi, Pp
– 236 -239, 259 -260.
4. Basavanthappa B T, 2004, “Nursing administration”, 1 st edition, Jaypee brothers, New
Delhi, Pp – 317 – 319.
5. Tripathi. P C and Reddy P N, 2006, “Principles of Management”, 3 rd edition, Tata Mc. Graw
Gill publishing, New Delhi, Pp 166 – 168.

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