Chapter 2: Job Analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hLE9brfHGY
 Learning Objectives
Basics of Job analysis
Information collected from job analysis
Uses of job analysis information
Methods of collecting job analysis information
Parts of job analysis: Job description and job specification
Competency-based job analysis and skill matrix
 What is job analysis?
The process of determining the duties and responsibilities of a
job and finding out about the characteristics of the person who
will be most suitable for it 1

Specifically conducted to write job description and job

specification
Two general types of information are obtained from job
analysis:-
◦ Information about the work (for job description)
◦ Information about the characteristic of the person who will do the work
(for job specification)
 Information collected through job analysis

Work activities- job’s actual work activities; how, why and when the tasks
are performed
Human behaviors- human behavior that the job requires such as
communicating, walking, handling clients
Machines, tools, equipment, and work aids- type of machines, equipment,
tools applied in the work
Performance standards- standard of performance required for the job in
terms of quantity or quality (units to be produced per day, <5 mistakes an hour
etc.)
Job context- physical working condition, work schedule.
Human requirements- knowledge, skills, personality, attitudes
 Uses of job analysis information

 Recruitment and Selection- Since job analysis provides

information about the duties and responsibilities of a job as well
as human characteristics, this information can be used to select
potential candidates
 Performance Appraisal- Since performance standards are set
through job analysis, it can be used to evaluate employees’
performance
 Compensation- When the duties, responsibilities of a job and the
personal qualities required for it are known, a pay scale for that
job can be established
 Uses of job analysis information

 Training- Knowing about the duties and responsibilities of a job

also helps to determine what kind of training is required for the
job
 Clarifying unassigned tasks- When all the duties of a job are
known, there will no left-out tasks and so any confusions can be
clarified
 Others-It is important for legislation, compliance; often required
for employment relations management and collective bargaining
 Conducting a Job Analysis

There are six steps in doing a job analysis of a job, as follows.

Step 1: Decide How You Will Use the Information Some data
collection techniques-like interviewing the employee are good for
writing job descriptions. Other techniques can be used to compare jobs
for compensation purposes.
Step 2: Review Relevant Background Information About the Job,
Such as Organization Charts It is important to understand the job’s
context. For example, organization charts show the organization wide
division of work and who will do it.
Step 3: Select Representative Positions the manager generally selects a
sample of positions to focus on.
Step 4: Actually Analyze the Job
 Conducting a Job Analysis
Step 5: Verify the Job Analysis Information with the Worker
Performing the Job and with His or Her Immediate Supervisor
This will help confirm that the information is factually correct and
complete
Step 6: Develop a Job Description and Job Specification

The job description lists the duties, activities, and responsibilities of

the job, as well as its important features, such as working conditions.
The job specification summarizes the personal qualities, traits, skills,
and background qualifications required for getting the job done
 Methods of Collecting Job Analysis Information

Interview
Questionnaire
Observation
Participant diary/logs
Electronic job analysis methods
 The interview
Can be structured or unstructured
Can be conducted with:
 individual employee
 group of employees
 One/more supervisors
 The interview: Pros and cons
 Pros:
Simple and easy to understand
In depth information can be quickly collected
Employee reactions can be observed

 Cons:
Distortion of information can occur
 Guidelines for job analysis interview
Quickly establish rapport with interviewee
Prepare and follow a structured guideline for identifying
crucial questions
Ask the worker to tell his/her duties in order of importance
and frequency of occurrence.
After completion, review and verify the information with
the worker’s immediate supervisor and with the interviewee.
Typical interview questions:
1. What are the major duties of your position? What
exactly do you do?
2. What physical locations do you work in?
3. What are the education, experience, skill, and [where
applicable] certification and licensing requirements?
4. In what activities do you participate?
5. What are the job’s physical demands? The emotional
and mental demands? 2
 Questionnaire
Employees fill out questionnaire forms to describe their job-
related duties and responsibilities
It is one of the most popular method of collecting
information
Questionnaire formats
Structured checklists
Open-ended questions
(The best questionnaire format is a mix of this two)
 Questionnaire: Pros and Cons
 Pros:
It is an efficient and quick way to gather information from large
numbers of employees
It is less expensive to administer, easy to understand, no special
skills required
The employee can fill out questionnaire at his own
time/convenience
 Cons:
Developing questions for the questionnaire is time consuming
Distortion of information can occur
 Observation
Directly observing and noting down the physical activities employees are
doing
Usually used with interview
 Pros:
No distortion of information
direct information about the job is collected
 Cons:
It is not appropriate when the job includes a lot of mental activity (e.g. of
lawyer, interior decorator)
It is not useful if the employee only occasionally engages in important
activities, (e.g. a nurse who handle only emergencies)
Worker’s reactivity (changing of attitude) occurs when they are being
observed
Participant diary/logs
Workers keep a diary/log book in which they list all the
activities in which they engage along with the time of each
activity
 Pros:
Provides a detailed picture of the job
 Cons:
Time consuming
Depends on employee’s ability to properly recall all the
activities
Electronic job analysis methods
Using the internet to review existing information about the
job e.g. O*NET
Taking interviews through skype or distributing questionnaire
online
 Pros:
Information can be collected from large number of
geographically dispersed employees
 Cons:
Confusion may arise if clear instructions are not provided
Parts of Job analysis
 Job description
A written statement of the duties and responsibilities of a
job, i.e. what the worker will actually do, how it will be
done and what the job’s working conditions are
Sections of a Job Description

◦ Job identification
◦ Job summary
◦ Responsibilities and duties
◦ Authority of incumbent
◦ Standards of performance
◦ Working conditions
 Parts of job description
 Job identification:
The section at the top containing the title, location of the job, department,
pay grade, line of authority and job level e.g. lecturer I lecturer II
 Job summary:
summarizes the essence of the job and include only its major functions or
activities
e.g for a telesales representative: The person in this position is responsible
for selling college textbooks, software, and multimedia products to
professors, via incoming and outgoing telephone calls, and to carry out
selling strategies to meet sales goals in assigned territories of smaller
colleges and universities.
 Responsibilities and duties:
Usually a list of duties and responsibilities of the position in order of
importance. It is the heart of the job description and this information is
found out from the job analysis techniques (interviews, questionnaires etc.)
 Relationships to Maintain:
Sometimes there can be a relationship statement that shows the jobholder’s
possible relationships inside and outside the organization
Example:-
For a HR manager, the relationship section might look like:
Reports to: Director of HR
Supervises: HR officer, HR executive, labor relations director
Works with: All departmental managers and sometimes, top level
management
External Relations: employment Agencies, Recruiting Firms, Union
Leaders etc.
 Standards of Performance:
This section outlines the standards the company expects
the employee to achieve for each of the job description’s
main duties and responsibilities
 Example:-

For an assembly line worker, no less than 50 units produced per day
 Working Conditions:
Gives an overview of the conditions under which the
work will be performed such as the noise level,
hazardous conditions or heat
 Job specification
It lists the human traits, qualities and skills that are required
to do the job effectively
May be a section of the job description, or a separate
document
Content of JS: KSA
 the knowledge, skills and ability that are required to do a
job effectively
 Making Job specification
Specifications Based on Judgement
◦ Make an educated guess (by reviewing the duties and deduce the
required skills and traits)
◦ By looking at web-based job specifications of similar jobs (O*Net,
SOC etc.)

Specifications Based on Statistical Analysis

◦ Statistically finding relationship between human traits and
performance indicators (such as through correlation analysis)
 Making Job specification
The best method often depends on organizational
structure, nature of job, responsibilities and hierarchy
4

Often one or combination of methods are used to

obtain most information based on the purpose of the
analysis
 Competency-based job analysis
Competencies: observable/ measurable behavior that can
predict performance
Competency-based job analysis: describing the job in
terms of measurable, observable, behavioral competencies
(knowledge, skills, and behaviors) that an employee doing
the job must demonstrate
More ‘worker focused’ rather than ‘job focused’
Used by IBM, BP and Canon
 Profiles/competency model
Organizations are now becoming flatter; employees need to
complete broader responsibilities which are specifically not
under their JD
Job profiles (also known as competency model) are created
which list the competencies (a set of traits, knowledge, and
experience) that employees need to complete multiple jobs
 How to write competency statements
E.g. in case of a project manager:
Proficiency Level 1. Identifies project risks and
dependencies and communicates routinely to stakeholders
Proficiency Level 2. Develops systems to monitor risks and
dependencies and report changes
Proficiency Level 3. Anticipates changing conditions and
impact to risks and dependencies and takes preventive action
Competency based job description
FIGURE : The Skills Matrix
for One Job at BP
Note: The light blue boxes indicate
the minimum level of skill required
for the job
 Further reading
Chapter 4, Dessler, G. (2017), Human Resource
Management. Pearsons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riomEbod8Vk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy09Ls6NqEo
https://www.citeman.com/2253-competency-based-job-anal
ysis.html
Talent management factsheet, CIPD [given in google
classroom]