Chapter 4

Job Analysis
 Structures Based On Jobs, People, Or
Both

Job-based structures look at what people are

doing and the expected outcomes

Skill- and competency based structures look at

the person
 Many Ways to Create Internal Structure
Business and Work-Related
Internal Structure

PURPOSE Job-based Person-based

Collect, summarize Job analysis

work information Job descriptions (Chapter 4)
Skill (Chapter Competencies(
6) Chapter 6)
Determine what to Job evaluation:
value classes or (Chapter 5)
compensable factors

Assess value Factor degrees and (Chapter 5)

weighting

Translate into (Chapter 5)

structure Job-based structure
 Job Analysis

The systematic process of collecting

information that identifies
similarities and differences in the
work.
• Job analysis involves the identification and
description of what is happening on the job.

• Job analysis identifies:

– required tasks
– knowledge and skills
– working conditions
 Job Analysis Job
• The process of Analysis
getting detailed
information
about jobs. Job
Descriptions

Job
Specifications
• Job Description
– Statement of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities
(TDRs) of a job to be performed

• Job Specification
– Statement of the needed knowledge, skills, and
abilities (KSAs) of the person who is to perform
the job
 Job Description for a Compensation Manager
Job Title: Compensation Manager DOT Code: 166.167-022
Reports to:
General Summary:
Responsible for the design and administration of employee compensation programs. Insures
proper consideration of the relationship of salary to performance of each employee and
provides consultation on salary administration to managers and supervisors.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Insures the preparation and maintenance of job descriptions for each current and
projected position.
2. Insures the proper evaluation of job descriptions.
3. Insures that Company compensation rates are in accordance with the Company
philosophy.
4. Insures proper consideration of the relationship of salary to the performance of each
employee.
5. Develops and administers the performance appraisal program.
6. Assists in the development and oversees the administration of all bonus payments up
through the Officer level.
7. Researches and provides recommendations on executive compensation issues.
8. Coordinates the development of an integrated HR information system.
9. Performs related duties as assigned or as the situation dictates.
 Job Specifications for a Compensation Manager
Required Knowledges, Skills, and Abilities:
1. Knowledge of compensation and HRM practices and principles.
2. Knowledge of job analysis procedures.
3. Knowledge of survey development and interpretation practices.
4. Knowledge of current performance appraisal issues.
5. Skill in conducting job analysis interviews.
6. Skill in writing job descriptions, memorandums, letters, and proposals.
7. Skill in making group presentations.
8. Skill in performing statistical computations.
9. Ability to conduct meetings.
10. Ability to plan and prioritize work.
Education and Experience Requirements:
This position requires the equivalent of a college degree in personnel, human resources,
industrial psychology, or a related degree, plus 3-5 years’ experience in Personnel, 2-3 of which
should include compensation administration experience. An advanced degree in Industrial
Psychology, Business Administration, or Personnel Management is preferred.
Work Orientation Factors:
This position may require up to 15% travel.
 Determining the Internal
Job Structure

Job analysis Job descriptions Job evaluation Job structure

Collecting information An ordering of jobs based on

about the nature of Summary reports that identify, Comparison of jobs within
define, and describe the job as their content or relative value
specific jobs an organization
it is actually performed

Some Major Issues in Job Analysis

• Why collect information?
• What information is needed?
• How to collect the information?
• Who should be involved?
• How useful are the results?
Job-Based Approach: Most Common

Why Perform Job Analysis?

 Potential uses for job analysis have been suggested for
every major personnel function
 Type of job analysis data needed differs by function

 Internal structure based on job-related information

provides a work-related rationale for pay differences
to both managers and employees
Job-Based Approach: Most Common (cont.)
Why Perform Job Analysis? (cont.)
• In compensation, job analysis has two critical uses:
• Establishes similarities and differences in the work contents
of the jobs
• Helps establish an internally fair and aligned job structure

Key issue for compensation decision makers:

Ensuring that data collected are useful and acceptable
to employees and managers involved
 Job Analysis Procedures

Job analysis usually collects information about

specific tasks or behaviors
Position – a group of tasks performed by one person
Job – made up from identical positions
Job family – broadly similar jobs

Traditional, stable structures are shrinking, but

persist in many large organizations
 Job Analysis Terminology
Grouping of related jobs with broadly similar content, e.g.
marketing, engineering, office support, technical.

JOB Group of tasks performed by one person that make up

the total work assignment of that person, e.g. customer
FAMILY support representative.
JOB
TASK
Smallest unit of analysis, a specific statement of
what a person does; for example, answers the
telephone. Similar tasks can be grouped into a
task dimension, e.g. responsible for ensuring that
accurate information is provided to customer.
Conventional Job Analysis Procedures
Conventional Job Analysis Procedures
Develop initial
job Information

Conduct initial
tour to Work
Site

Conduct
Interviews

Note on
selection of
interviewee

Conduct second
tour to Work Consolidate job Verify Job
Site information Description
 What Information Should Be
Collected?

Job data: Identification

Job titles, departments, the number of people who hold
the job etc.
Job data: Content
Elemental tasks or units of work, with emphasis on the
purpose of each task
Employee data
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
McFry Nine Step Program
Typical Data Collected for Job Analysis
Communication: Task-Based Data
Communication: Behavioral-Based Data
 The McFry Nine Step Program
(McDonald Example)
• 1. Open a bag of fries.
• 2. Fill basket about half full (at McDonald’s, a machine does this step because we
humans might make a mistake. At most places, the task is manual.)
• 3. Place basket in deep fryer.
• 4. Push timer button to track cooking time.
• 5. Play Pavlov’s dog—remove basket from fryer when buzzer rings and tip so fries
go into holding tray. Be careful; this takes two hands, and hot grease can be flying
about. Don’t spill even a drop of grease on the floor or you will be skating—not
walking—in it for the rest of the day.
• 6. Salt fries.
• 7. Push another button that signals when 7 minutes are up, the “suggested
holding time” for fries.
• 8. Check screen for size fries requested on next order.
• 9. Fill the corresponding fry container with fries and place in holding bin.
 What Information Should Be Collected?
(cont.)

Level of analysis
Level at which an analysis begins influences whether
work is similar or dissimilar
Microscopic approach
Broad, generic descriptions
Countervailing view
Promotion to a new job title is part of the organization's
network of returns
Reducing title may reduce opportunities to reinforce
positive employee behavior
How Can the Information Be Collected?

Conventional methods
Questionnaires and interviews
Advantages: involvement increases understanding of
process
Disadvantage: open to bias and favoritism
How Can the Information Be Collected?
(cont.)

Quantitative methods
Quantitative job analysis
Advantages: practical and cost-effective
Disadvantages:
Important aspects of a job may be omitted
Resulting job descriptions can be faulty
3M’s Structured Interview Questionnaire
How Can the Information Be Collected?
(cont.)

Who collects the information?

Who provides the
information?
What about discrepancies?
Top management (and union)
support is critical
 Job Descriptions Summarize The Data

Job description – information collected is

summarized and documented in a way that will be
useful for HR decisions, including job evaluations
Job specifications – knowledge, skills, and abilities
required to adequately perform the tasks
Describing managerial/professional jobs –
more-detailed information on the nature of the
job, its scope, and accountability
Verify the description
Job Analysis: Bedrock or Bureaucracy

Reducing number of different jobs and cross-

training employees makes work content more
fluid and employees more flexible

Generic job descriptions provide flexibility in

moving people among tasks without adjusting pay

Traditional job analysis making fine distinctions

among levels of jobs could reinforce rigidity

Analyzing work content is now conducted as part

of work flow and supply chain analysis
 Judging Job Analysis
Reliability
Measure of consistency of results among various
analysts, various methods, various sources of data, or
over time

Validity
Examines the convergence of results among sources of
data and methods

Acceptability
Usefulness
Practicality of information collected
 A Judgment Call

Work-related information is needed to determine

pay, and differences in work determine pay
differences – no satisfactory substitute
Real issue should be:
“How much detail is needed to make these pay
decisions?”