JOB ANALYSIS

What is job analysis?

Job analysis is a method for describing

jobs and/or the human attributes
necessary to perform them.
Brannick, et.al (2007) there are three elements that
comprise a formal job analysis:

1. The procedure must be systematic,

i.e. the analyst specifies a procedure in advance
and follows it.

2. A job is broken into smaller units.

Components of jobs rather than the overall job.

3. The analysis results in some written product,

either electronic or on paper.
Methods of Job Analysis
 There is no one way to do a job analysis.
 Many methods provide different types of
information about jobs and human attributes
needed for jobs.

 The two approaches of job analysis:

 Job- oriented Approach
 Person- oriented Approach
Job-oriented Approach
 It provides information about the nature of task done on
the job.
 Some methods describe the tasks themselves.
 Other methods provide information about characteristics
of tasks.

 e.g. :
 a task for a police officer -------------------------

 Characteristic of an officer’s job would be:

---------------------------------------------
 Characteristics:
 Characteristics isn’t specific task but describes common
features that cut across tasks.
 The task description provide a picture of what people do
on a job.
 The characteristics of tasks is used to compare the nature
of tasks across different kinds of job.
 Eg: police officers and teachers share the characteristics
of using pencils and pens to do the tasks, so there are
some similarities in types of tasks, even though the
specific tasks themselves may vary.
 TASK:

 Tasks can be divided into a hierarchy in which higher-level

descriptions are broken down into smaller and smaller pieces of
the job.
 Eg: major task performed by police officers is apprehending
suspects.
 This police function can be further broken down into the specific
actions that are involved such as :
 Going to suspect’s house to make arrest.
 Knock on door and identify self.
 Handcuff suspect.
 Put suspect in van

 Hierarchy containing five levels of specificity
(Barnick et.al 2007)

1. Position
2. Duty
3. Task
4. Activity
5. Element
 Position
 It is a collection of duties that can be performed by a
single individual.
 Typically each employee has a single position,
although it is possible that one individual holds more
than one position.
 A similar position can be given same title :
 e.g. Patrol officer, each has a separate position and
collection of tasks, an area of the city by car, on foot
and work at a desk in the station.
Duty
 It is a major component of a job .
 Eg. Police officer, a duty would be , enforce the
law

 Each duty is accomplished by performing one or

more associated tasks.
Task
 It is complete piece of work that accomplishes
some particular objectives
 One of the tasks involved on enforcing the law is :

 Arrest suspects who violate the law.

 Each task can be divided into activities.
Activities & Elements
 Are the individual parts that make up the task.
 The activities that make the task of arresting
suspects would include:
 Driving to a suspect’s house to perform an arrest.
 to accomplish this activity, a number of very
specific actions or elements are involved .
 Eg; turn the ignition key to start the automobile
engine.
 The Person-Oriented Approach
 It provides a description of the characteristics or
KSAO’s
 1. Knowledge: is what a person needs to know to do a
particular job .
 eg; a carpenter should have knowledge of local
building codes and power tool safety.
 2. Skill : is what a person needs to know to do a
particular job’
 eg; a carpenter should have skill in reading blueprints
and in using power tools.
3. Ability :
 A person’s aptitude or capability to do job tasks or
learn to do job tasks.
 It is person’s potential to develop skills.
 Most skills require one or more abilities .
 The skill of using power tools requires several
abilities, including hand-eye coordination.
 eg: a carpenter should have good balance and an
ability to work quickly to build the roof on a house.
Other personal characteristics:
 Include anything relevant to the job that is not
covered by the other three characteristics.
 eg; a carpenter should have a willingness to do
manual tasks and to work outdoors.
 Examples of KSAO’s and Associated Tasks
KSAO Task
Knowledge of legal arrest procedures Arrest suspects
Skill in using a firearm Practice shooting firearm on firing
range
Ability to communicate with others Mediate a dispute between two
people to prevent violent incident.
Courage (as other personal Enter dark alley to apprehend
characteristic) suspect
Purpose of Job Analysis: Ash and Levine (1980)
outlined 11 common uses of job analysis
information
USE DESCRIPTION
Career development Define KSAOs necessary for advancement
Legal issues Show job relevance of KSAOs
Performance appraisal Set criteria to evaluate performance
Recruitment and selection of Delineate applicant characteristics to be
employees used as the basis for hiring
Training Suggest areas for training
Setting salaries Determine salary levels for jobs
Efficiency /safety Design jobs for efficiency and safety
Job classification Place similar jobs into groupings
Job description write brief descriptions
Job design Design content of jobs
planning Forecast future need for employees with
specific KSAOs
1. Career development
2. Legal issues
3. Performance appraisal
4. Selection
5. Training
6. Vocational counseling
7. Research
 1. Career ladder :
 C.L. means organizations having systems which
allows to employees move up through the ranks of
higher and higher positions.
 A progression is established by acquiring necessary
skills and maintaining good performance.
 The best known ladder is in the military.
 Personnel move up through the ranks from lieutenant
to captain to major to colonel to general.
 Not every one climb the ladder bcoz ___________
 Career development : Competency system

 In recent years C.S. have become popular in

organizations to reward employees for acquiring the
knowledge and skills needed to both improve
performance and promotion (Levnson, et.al 2006).
 Such systems require:
 identifying critical competencies,
 the availability of the means of learning and developing
competencies and
 a procedure for evaluating progress.
Conclude :

 Job analysis provides a picture of the KSAO

requirements for jobs at each level of the career ladder
.
 This knowledge is incorporated into employee
development and training programs that focus on
skills necessary for career development.
 benefits employees : they are told exactly what they
need to be eligible for promotion.
 benefits organizations : they develop a readily
available supply of candidates for upper-level
positions.
2. Legal Issues
 Most Industrialized countries have laws prohibiting
discriminatory employment practices, especially in
the hiring of employees.
 E.g: In Canada and the United States it is illegal to
discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability,
gender, race or religion.
 Although the specific groups are protected against
discrimination vary from country to country.
 the basic idea that decisions affecting people should
be fair is almost universal .
 Fairness in employment means that decisions
should be based on job performance or job
potential rather than irrelevant personal
characteristics.

 Job analysis provides a list of relevant KSAO’s as

the basis for hiring rather than irrelevant personal
characteristics.
 Legal concept in U.S. employment : essential
functions

 are actions that must be done on a job.

 Eg. A receptionist must answer the telephone

 A non essential function might be done occasionally

but is not important for a person in that position to do
.

 The essential function helps to decide whether or not

to hire a person with a disability.
 In US an organization might be able to legally deny
employment to a person with a disability who cannot perform
essential functions under certain conditions.

 It is illegal to refuse to hire individuals with disabilities bcoz of

not able to perform nonessential functions.

 With non essential functions, and at time essential functions, an

organization is required to make reasonable accommodations so
that person is able to do the job . (Cleveland et.al 1997)
 Conclude:
 JA is used to identify essential functions and KSAOs
(Michell, et.al 1997)
 It helps to ensure that decisions about actions that affect
people are based on personal factor that job relevant.

 Promotion decisions should be based at least in part on the

KSAOs of the possible candidates for the position.

 Probable belief that they were fairly treated and will be

unlikely to file a lawsuit claiming discrimination.
3. Performance Appraisal

Behavior
Criterion focused
development appraisal
Job Analysis methods

Major job Critical incidents

component (Flanagan, 1954)
Critical incidents:

 Instances of behavior that represent different levels of job

performance from outstanding to poor, and they become
an important part of the assessment of performance.

eg: A poor incident would describe how a person actually did

something that was ineffective, such as police officer getting
into an argument with a citizen that resulted in violence.

eg: A good incident would describe how a person did something

that worked well, such as a police officer defusing a potentially
violent encounter by allowing a person to explain his or her side
of the story.
 4. Selection
 First step is to decide who to hire for job
 Person-oriented job analysis is conducted in the design of an
employee selection system ; i.e determine the human attributes
or KSAOs
 Choose the procedure to select, interviews and psychological
tests .
 The characteristics that a job applicant is usually expected to
have at the time of hiring and the characteristics that will be
developed.
 Eg. Accountant require a college degree, which ensures of
having reasonable level of knowledge about accounting
principles and procedures.
 5. Training
 KSAOs of the job suggest the areas in which training efforts
should be directed.
 Areas for training to be given .
 An effective training program is based on thorough analysis
of the KSAO requirement of the job.
 The KSAO requirements can be compared to the KSAOs of
the applicant or employees.
 Deficiencies on the part of applicants or employees are the
areas toward which training efforts might be directed if the
characteristics can be acquired.
 Eg. One cannot train a person to be a taller if there is height
requirement for a job.
 6. Vocational Counseling
 To assist students in making vocational choices about
their future careers.
 A number of vocational counseling tools used to match
persons’ KSAOs to the jobs’ KSAOs.
 These tools attempt to match Individual preferences
and personalities to occupations that they enjoy.
 Other approaches match individual capabilities to job
requirements .
 Job analysis is particularly useful for matching.
 Ctd.
 Converse, et.al 2004 provided an example of how JA
can be used for vocational counseling.
 A battery of ability test was administered, their ability
profile were matched to the requirements for each of
the available jobs.
 Scores indicating how well the individual KSAOs
match job requirement computes the best and worst
fitting occupations for each person.
 Eg. Good match for occupations involving driving
and poor match for health-related occupations
(physician’s assistant )
 7. Research
 Many researchers are interested in determining the role of job
requirements or task characteristics in many organizational
phenomena ranging from employee motivation and performance
to health and safety.
 Eg. Elovaninio and Kivimaki 1999 used job analysis data in their
study of individual difference in job stress.
 In this Finnish study, it was shown that people who have an
aversion to change and uncertainty are likely to experience high
levels of emotional strain (anxiety and tension ) at work but only
if their jobs are complex, as determined by JA.
 If their job are simple, these individuals are no more likely to
experience strain than are people who enjoy change and
uncertainty.
 How Job Analysis information is collected

 There are several ways of collecting job analysis

information.
 People who are trained in quantifying job
characteristics and the KSAOs necessary to
accomplish the different aspects of jobs.
 These people either survey the employees who do the
job or experienced the job firsthand by doing it
themselves or observing it.
 Who provides the information?

 Four different sources:

 Job analysts: Job analysts and trained observers actually do
the job or spend time observing employees doing the job and
translate those experiences into a job analysis .

 Job incumbents & Supervisors : Incumbents and

supervisors are considered to be subject matter experts or
SMEs, people with detailed knowledge about the content and
requirements of their own jobs or the jobs they supervise.

 Trained observers: They provide information about jobs in

interviews or by completing job analysis questionnaires.
Approaches to collecting JA Information

 Information can be provided in many ways. The

four most common used are :

 Perform the job.

 Observe employees on the job.
 Interviews SMEs.
 Administer questionnaires to SMEs.
 Methods of job analysis
 The different sources of information and the different ways of
collecting information is used.
 Some methods focus on either the job or the person, whereas others
focus on both.
 The methods vary in their use of the four sources of job analysis
information and the four ways of collecting information.
 Many of these methods use more than one source and more than one
way of collecting information.
 One reason that so many method exist is that they are not suited to the
same purposes.
 Levine, et.al (1983) found that job analysts rated different methods as
being best suited to different purposes.
 Advantages and Limitations of four techniques
1) Perform the
job
Advantage Provides the context in which the job is done
Provides extensive details about the job.

Limitations Fails to show difference among jobs with the same title
Is expensive and time consuming
Can take extensive training of analyst
Can be dangerous to analyst

2) Interview
SME’s
Advantage Provide multiple perspectives on a job
Can show differences among incumbents with the same job

limitations Is time consuming compared to questionnaires

Fails to show context in which the tasks are done
3)Observing

Advantage Provides relatively objective view of the job

Provides the context in which the job is done

Limitations Is time consuming

Might cause employees to change their behavior

4) Questionnaire
Advantage Is efficient and inexpensive
Shows differences among incumbents in the same job
Is easy to quantify and analyse statistically
Is easy to compare different jobs on common job dimensions

Limitations Ignores the context in which the job is done

Limits respondents to the questions asked
Requires knowledge of the job to design the questionnaire
Allows job incumbent's to easily distort answers to make their
jobs seem more important than they are
Four methods of J.A
1. The Job Components Inventory,
2. Functional Job Analysis,
3. Position Analysis Questionnaire ,
These are used to compare different jobs.
4. The task Inventory : is used to provide a
description of the specific components and tasks
of an individual job.
 1. Job components Inventory
 JCI was developed in Great Britain to address the
needs to match job requirements to worker
characteristics (Banks, et.al 1983)
 This method allows for the assessment of the job
requirements and a person’s KSAOs.
 The degree of correspondence of the lists is used to
determine if an individual is suited to a particular job
or if the person needs additional training .
 The JCI has been used in school settings for both
curriculum development and vocational guidance.
 The JCI covers 400 features of jobs that can be
translated into skill requirements
 Five components of job feature represented in the JCI:

1. Use of tools and equipment

2. Perceptual and Physical requirements
3. Mathematics
4. Communication
5. Decision making and responsibility
 Examples of Frequently Needed Skills for British Clerical
Occupations Grouped by the Five Components of the Job
Components Inventory
Component Skill
Use of tools and equipment Use of pens
Use of telephone

Perceptual and Physical requirements Selective attention

Wrist/finger/hand speed

Mathematics Use of decimals

Use of whole numbers

Communication Provision of advice or help to people

Receipt of written information

Decision making and responsibility Ability to decide on sequencing of work

Source : From “skills Training for Clerical Work: Action Research within the youth
opportunites Programme,’ by M.H. Banks and E.M. Stafford, 1982, BACIE Journal, 37,57-66
 Functional job analysis
 According to Fine & Wiley, 1971 FJA uses observation and
interviews with SMEs to provide both a description of a job
and scores on several dimensions concerning the job and
potential workers.
 These dimensions are applicable to all jobs, so that the
procedure can be used to make comparisons among jobs.
 FJA was the job analysis used by the U.S. Department of
Labor to produce the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)
 This is large document contains job analysis information for
more than 20,000 jobs.
 The index from the 1977 edition lists from abalone diver to
zyglo inspector
 The first and last entries in the Dictionary of
Occupational Titles, Fourth Edition, 1977 Index
 ABALONE DRIVER: Gathers or harvests marine life,
such as sponges, abalone, pearl oysters, and geodlucks
from sea bottom wearing wet suit and scuba gear, or
driving suit with air line extending to surface.

 ZYGLO INSPECTOR: Applies iron oxide and zyglo

solutions to ferrous metal parts and examines parts
under fluorescent and black lighting to detect defects,
such as fissures, weld breaks, or fractures.
 Occupational Information Network
 With the help of I/O psychologists from both research
firms and universities, the U.S Department of Labor
launched the Occupational Information Network
(O*NET) in the 1990s, and its development and
refinement are an ongoing process.

 It is a computer-based resource for job-related

information on approximately 1,100 groups of sharing
common characteristics (Petterson,et.al 2001).
 It is available in several forms , including CD- ROM for the personal
computer and via the world wide web (http://online.onetcenter.org)

 The idea is to make this database widely available to individuals and

organizations.

 O*NET began with much of the raw material that went into the DOT,
but the contents of the O*NET are far more extensive.

 The O*NET98 Data Dictionary (U.S. Department of Labor, 1988) lists

over 450 separate dimensions along which jobs are described and rated.
 Sample of Information Provided by O*NET for
a Police Patrol Officer Job
Domain Contents of Domain Examples of Patrol Officer
Information
Experience Requirements Training, learning, licensing Training in vocational schools, related
on-the-job experience, or an associate’s
degree. May require a bachelor’s
degree.

Worker Requirements Basic skills, cross-functional skills, Skill in problem identification and
general knowledge, education speaking. Knowledge of public safety
and law.

Worker Characteristics Abilities, interest, work styles Quick reaction time and far vision.
Interested in work activities that assist
others. Achievement oriented.

Occupation Requirements Generalized work activities, work Working with the public, operating
content, organizational context vehicles or equipment

Occupation Specific information Occupational knowledge, occupation Patrols specific area, maintains order,
skills, tasks, machines, tools and arrests perpetrators, monitors traffic.
 With O*NET it is possible to look up a particular
job and get a description and detailed information
about the six domains.
 Although the underlying data are the same, the
version for personal computers and the online
version provided information in a somewhat
different format.
Position Analysis questionnaire
 PAQ (McCormick, et.al 1972) is an instrument that
can be used to analyze any job.
 The questionnaire consist of 189 items dealing with
the task requirements or elements of jobs.
 KSAO profile for job can be developed from the
elements.
 The PAQ elements are general and allow
comparisons of different jobs on a common set of
dimensions or KSAOs.
 Major categories of the PAQ

CATEGORY EXAMPLE

Information input Collecting or observing information

Mediation Processes Decision making and information processing

Work output Manipulating objects

Interpersonal Activities Communicating with other people

Work Situation and Job Context Physical and psychological working

conditions

Miscellaneous Aspects Work Schedule

 The elements cover a wide a variety of task
requirements, including the inputting and
processing of information, the use of equipment
and tools, general body movements, interpersonal
interaction, and work context.
 The elements can be translated into KSAOs for
any job.
 Bcoz the PAQ generates a standard list KSAOs,
jobs can be compared on their KSAO requirements.
 PAQ produces a profile of the task elements and KSAOs for
a job.
 The profile compares a given job to the hundred of jobs in
the PAQ database.
 It indicates the percentile score for each element and KSAO
in comparison to all jobs.
 A low score means that the element or KSAO is a less
important part of the target job than it is for jobs in general.
 A high score means that the element or KSAO is a more
important part of the target job that it is for jobs in general.
 A percentile of 50 means that the job is average on the
element or dimension in question.
PAQ KSAOs and Task Elements for a Police Officer

KSAO’s Task Elements

Far visual acuity Interpreting what is sensed

Simple reaction time Being aware of environmental conditions

Movement detection Controlling machines and/or processes

Rate control Engaging in general personal contact

Auditory acuity Wearing specifies versus optional apparel

 Task inventory
 It is a questionnaire that contains a list of specific tasks
that might be done on a job that is being analyzed .
 The inventory also contains one or more rating scales
for each task.
 Ratings might be made on dimensions such as :
 Amount of time spend doing the task
 Critically of the task doing a good job
 Difficulty of learning the task.
 Importance of the task.
 Job incumbents complete the inventory of their own.
 Results are complied across incumbents to give a picture
of the average importance or time spent for each task in a
particular job.
 When several people complete a task inventory, they are
certain to give somewhat different rating on the same
dimensions for each task.
 This reflect difference in how individuals make judgments
about their jobs.
 Eg: two people spend the same amount of time on a task,
one might give it a higher time-spent rating than the other.
 This differences in ratings reflect real differences in
the content of jobs with the same title in the same
organization. (Harvey & Wilson 2000)
 Lindell, Clause et.al 1998 found that (among
emergency preparedness departments) the number
of employees in the work unit affected ratings
made concerning amount of time spent in various
task.
 ??????????
 Dean, Ringenbach, Moran and Landy 2005 showed
that feelings about the job related to job analysis
ratings.
 Individuals who were satisfied with their jobs
reported spending more time on various tasks than
people who were dissatisfied.
 According to Borman, Dorsey & Ackerman 1992,
Stockbrokers who spent more time with clients
away from the office sold more than their
counterparts who spent less time.
 A task inventory for even a fairly simple job can contain
hundreds of tasks.
 To make interpretation easier, tasks are often placed into
dimensions that represent the major components of a job.
 Major dimensions of a Police Officer Job from a Task
Analysis
Driving a Police Vehicle Investing accidents and related problems

Making a arrests Issuing tickets and citations, such as those

traffic violations

Interviewing witnesses and other people Responding to disturbance, such as family

quarrels

Maintaing vigilance during routine Patrol Providing service to citizens

Choosing a job analysis method
 Levine et al. (1983) asked job analysis experts to rate the
effectiveness of seven job analysis methods for 11 purposes.
 Each method was better suited for some purposes than
others.
 FJA was seen as being relatively effective for almost all
purposes, however, it was also seen as one of the most time-
consuming to complete.
 Choice of method requires considerations of several factors,
including cost and purpose.
 RELIABILTY AND VALIDITY OF JOB
ANAYLSIS OF INFORMATION
 JA depends on the judgments, which may be imperfect.
 It is important to determine how reliable and valid each JA method is.
 In general, results suggest that different people’s ratings of jobs are
often reasonably reliable.
i.e. there will be relatively high correlation among different
people’s ratings of the same job or at least some job
analysis methods.
 Validity is a more difficult question, and some researchers have begun
to study the question of what JA ratings actually represent.
 Reliability
 Dierdorff and Wilson (2003) used meta-analysis of 46
studies for various JA method and found mean test-retest
reliability of .83
 Inter-rater agreement was somewhat lower, depending on
the types of raters (SME vs. job analysts ) and
dimensions.
 Correlations among ratings by different rater types
ranged from .48 to .81
 Several studies examined reliability of task inventory ratings.
 Wilson, Harvey, and Macy (1990) found that test-retest
reliabilities varied considerably for different rating scales,
such as amount of time spend doing the task or importance of
the task.

 Sanchez and Fraser (1992) found that inter-rater reliabilities

among job incumbents varied across different rating scales
and across different jobs as well.

 Care should be taken in deciding which scales to use for

rating tasks when job incumbents are the SMEs.
 Validity
 The best evidence of the validity comes from studies that
compared different methods or source of information
(incumbents versus supervisors).
 Spector, Brannick, and Coovert (1989) summarized the
results of nine studies that reported correlations among
methods or sources that ranged from 0.47 to .94.
 These results are suggestive of validity for job analysis
ratings, but an intriguing study raises some doubts about
the interpretation of source agreement.
 J.E. Smith and Hakel (1979) compared the PAQ ratings of
trained job analysts with the ratings of college students
who were given only job titles.
 The students rating correlated very well with the rating of
the analysts.
 This seemed strange because the analysts conducted in-
depth interviews with incumbents, whereas the students
were given limited information about the job.
 Smith and Hakel wondered if the analyst rating reflected
preconceived notions about the job rather than the information
gathered with the job analysis procedures.
 If this is the case, then job analysis ratings might be less valid
than I/O psychologists usually assume.
 Cornelius, DeNisi, and Blencoe (1984) believed that students
have accurate knowledge about many jobs, therefore, both job
analysts and students can provide valid indicators of job
information .
 Although students have accurate knowledge, more extensive
information can be gathered in a thorough job analysis
conducted by a trained analysts
 Green and Stutzman (1986), conducted a job analysis in
which they had job incumbents complete a task
inventory.
 The task inventory included tasks that no one did on the
job the researchers were analyzing.
 Over half of the incumbents indicated that they did at
least one fake task.
 This finding suggests that many people are either
careless or not completely honest when they complete
task inventories.
 Hacker (1996) followed up on this research by conducting
a similar study and comparing incumbents who endorsed
fake tasks with those who did not.
 He found that both groups of people did not differ in their
ratings of all other tasks or in the reliability of their
ratings of all other tasks.
 His results suggest that this phenomenon does not affect
job analysis results.
 Research on Validity of JA ratings
 Can provide useful information, but they are not perfect
and are potentially subject to some biases because they
are based on human judgment. (Morgeson & Campion
1997 e.t.al 2004).
 Green and Stutzman’s (1986) results emphasize that
incumbents are not necessarily accurate in making their
ratings.
 However, that accuracy is not constant across different
kinds of job analysis ratings.
 Dierdorff and Morgeson (2009) showed that people are
more accurate when rating specific tasks (e.g. Recording
medical information on patients) than when rating traits
people need to do the job (e.g. dependability).

 They argued that the more specific the task or trait is and
the easier it is to observe, the more reliable and accurate
ratings will be .
 Sanchez and Levine (1994) attempted to improve job
analysis results by training incumbents in how to rate their
jobs.

 Although the results were only partially successful, such

training might prove useful in the future.

 Even though there is a need to improve job analysis

procedures, the various methods are important tools used
by I/O psychologists.
 Job Evaluation
 Job evaluation refers to a family of quantitative
techniques that are used to scientifically determine the
salary levels of jobs (Morgeson, Campion, & Maertz
2001).
 Many job analysis methods sometimes are used for JE.
 Eg: Robinson, Washlstrom, and Mecham (1974) used the
PAQ to conduct a job evaluation.
 The major difference between job analysis and job
evaluation is that job evaluation has the specific purpose
of determining the relative salaries for different jobs by
mathematically combining job information.
 The most popular JE method is the point method
(Treiman, 1979)

 There are four steps involved in conducting a point

method job evaluation.
 First, a panel, often managers or other organization
members, determines the compensable factors for the job.
 Compensable factors are characteristics that will serve as
the basis for the evaluation. They include:
 Consequences of error on the job
 Responsibility
 Education required
 Skill required
 Second, a panel (comprised of new people or the same
people) judges the degree to which each job gets points
for each factor.
 This is done on a quantitative scale so that each job gets
points for each factor.
 eg. A particular job might get 2 points out of a possible
20 for consequences of errors made and 20 points out
of a possible 20 for education.
 This would mean that the job would be low on
consequences for error and high education level
required.
 Third, the points for the factors are summed for each job to
provide a total score.
 e.g the job would get a total of 22 points (2+20) for the two
factors.
 These numbers are not in dollar units, and so they do not
indicate the actual salary level.
 Rather, the number are relative, so that the higher the
number, the higher the salary the job should have.
 The fourth and final step is to plot the actual salaries for each
job in an organization against the point totals for each job.
 If the salary system is fair according to the compensable
factors, the plot should be straight line.
 This means that the more points a job has, the higher the salary
for that job.
 If the point for a particular job is not on the straight line, the
job is either overpaid (point is above the line) or underpaid
(point is below the line).
 Steps can then be taken to bring the job into line with the other
jobs with similar totals.
 Jobs that are paid too much according to the system can have
salaried frozen.
 Jobs that are paid too little can be given salary increases.
 other factors enter into salary levels.

 One of the biggest influences is the market wage for a job,

 Eg. A hospital might find that physicians are overpaid in
relation to nurses.
 However, it would be feasible for a hospital to set salaries
completely according to compensable factors.
 The cost of paying nurses much higher salaries would be
prohibitive .
 Paying physicians much lower salaries would result in not
being able to hire or retain them.
 Thus, the wages paid throughout the are or country must be
considered.
 A salary survey can be conducted to find out what other organizations pay each position.

 To conduct such a survey, all hospitals in the area could

be contacted to determine their salary levels for nurses
and physicians.
 The point system is one of many different job evaluation
methods.
 There are also several varieties of point systems.
 They are all used to determine the pay levels of jobs by
estimating their comparative worth.
 Studies have shown that the results of different methods
are often quite similar (Gomez-Mejia, Page. & Tormow
1982)
 Comparable worth
 It is well known that in US and other countries
women’s salaries are lower on average than men’s.
 Differences are attributed to the job held primarily by
women, such as secretaries, are paid less than jobs
held primarily by men, such as electricians (Allen &
Sanders, 2002).
 Although the Equal Pay Act of 1963 made it illegal in
the United States to pay women less than men for
same job.
 The concept of comparable worth means that different
but comparable jobs should be paid the same.
 If jobs that are held predominantly by women
contribute as much to the org. as jobs held primarily by
men, the jobs should be paid the same.
 The difficulty is finding a common measures by which
to gauge the comparable worth of jobs.
 Job evaluation provides a means of doing so.
 To do a comparable worth study with job evaluation, one
would apply the job evaluation methods of the jobs of an
org.
 Those jobs that are held primarily by men would be
compared to those held primarily by women.
 It is likely that at least some of the jobs held mainly by
women would be underpaid according to the compensable
factors.
 Using mathematical procedures, it would be possible to
calculate how much adjustment could accomplish
comparable worth between the predominantly female and
predominantly male jobs.
 Critics of JE (e.g., Eyde, 1983
 Part of the difficulty is that the judgments used in a job
evaluations can be biased in ways that perpetuate the lower
salaries of women.
 e.g. Schwab and Grams (1985) found that people who
assign points to jobs in org. are influenced by knowledge of
current salaries.
 As a result, lower-paid jobs are given fewer points than
they deserve, and higher-paid jobs are given more points
than they deserve.
 Job evaluations might undervalue the lower-paid
predominantly female jobs and overvalue the higher-paid
predominantly male jobs.
 the cost involved in substantially raising salaries in
predominantly female occupation, such as clerks and
elementary school teachers.
 The adjustments of the these salaries would be extremely
expensive unless they were accompanied by reductions
in the salaries of other jobs.
 In addition, there is the issue of market wages, which is a
major influence on the salary levels set by organizations.
 Although some progress has been made in the United
States, it seems unlikely that comparable worth will be
achieved in the near future.
 Learning by doing
 Conduct a job analysis by interviewing employee who hold the job.
 Choose a person you know (acquaintance, family member, or friend)
who is currently employed in a job you have never held yourself.
 Interview that person about the job, taking careful notes of what he or
she tells you.
 You should ask about the following:
1. Job title
2. Brief description of the job
3. The most important tasks involved in the job
4. The most important KSAOs needed for the job

Write a brief report that provides an overview of what you learned about
the job.