JOB ANALYSIS

What is Job Analysis?

Job Analysis

Job Analysis
The procedure for determining the duties and skill requirements of a job and
the kind of person who should be hired for it.

Job analysis is the systematic study of jobs to identify the observable work
activities, tasks, and responsibilities associated with a particular job or group
of jobs. Job Analysis is a process where judgments are made about data
collected on a job.

a.

It is a systematic method for gathering information.

b.

It focuses on work behaviors, tasks, and outcomes.

c.

It identifies the personal qualifications necessary to perform the job and

the conditions under which work is performed.

d.

It reports the job as it exists at the time of analysis; not as it was in the
past nor as it exists in another organization.

Why Do Job Analysis?

Job data obtained by job analysis serves a variety of
organizational purposes and provides a basis for decision making.
Job analysis serves as a legal compliance tool for EEO .
Job analysis can be used to help organizations cope with change.
In today's rapidly changing world, organizations need a flow of
accurate and reliable information about the content and
requirements of their jobs.

INFORMATIONS OBTAINED FROM JOB ANALYSIS

Duties and Tasks :Firstly the Job analyst collects the information about the Job`s
actual work activities such as selling, writing reports, or data entry.

Environment: This may have a significant impact on the physical requirements to be

able to perform a job. The work environment may include unpleasant conditions such
as offensive odors and temperature extremes. There may also be definite risks to the
incumbent such as noxious fumes, radioactive substances, hostile and aggressive
people, and dangerous explosives.

Tools and Equipment :Some duties and tasks are performed using specific
equipment and tools. Equipment may include protective clothing. These items need to
be specified in a Job Analysis.

Relationships: Get the information about supervision given and received for a
position. Identify relationships with internal or external people.

Requirements: The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) required to perform the
job. While an incumbent may have higher KSA's than those required for the job, a Job
Analysis typically only states the minimum requirements to perform the job.

Uses of Job Analysis Information

Recruitment and Selection

Compensation
Performance Appraisal
Training
Discovering Unassigned Duties
EEO Compliance

Steps in Job Analysis

Step 1:

De ide ho youll use the

information.

Step 2:

Review relevant background

information.

Step 3:

Select representative positions.

Step 4:

Actually analyze the job.

Step 5:

Verify the job analysis information.

Step 6:

Develop a job description and job

specification.

Methods of Collecting Job Analysis

Information: The Interview
Information sources
Individual employees
Groups of employees
Supervisors with
knowledge of the job

Advantages
Quick, direct way to find
overlooked information.

Disadvantages
Distorted information

Interview formats
Structured (Checklist)
Unstructured

Interview Guidelines
The job analyst and supervisor should work together to
identify the workers who know the job best.
Quickly establish rapport with the interviewee.
Follow a structured guide or checklist, one that lists openended questions and provides space for answers.
Ask the worker to list his or her duties in order of importance
and frequency of occurrence.
After completing the interview, review and verify the data.

Methods of Collecting Job Analysis

Information: Questionnaires
Information source
Have employees fill out
questionnaires to
describe their job-related
duties and
responsibilities.

Questionnaire formats
Structured checklists
Opened-ended questions

Advantages
Quick and efficient way
to gather information
from large numbers of
employees

Disadvantages
Expense and time
consumed in preparing
and testing the
questionnaire

Methods of Collecting Job Analysis

Information: Observation
Information source
Observing and noting the
physical activities of
employees as they go
about their jobs.

Advantages
Provides first-hand
information
Reduces distortion of
information

Disadvantages
Time consuming
Difficulty in capturing
entire job cycle
Of little use if job
involves a high level of
mental activity.

Methods of Collecting Job Analysis

Information: Participant Diary/Logs
Information source
Workers keep a
chronological diary/ log
of what they do and the
time spent in each
activity.

Advantages
Produces a more
complete picture of the
job
Employee participation

Disadvantages
Distortion of information
Depends upon
employees to accurately
recall their activities

Quantitative Job Analysis Techniques

The position analysis questionnaire (PAQ)

A questionnaire used to collect quantifiable data

concerning the duties and responsibilities of various
jobs.

The Department of Labor (DOL) procedure

A standardized method by which different jobs can be

quantitatively rated, classified, and compared.

Functional job analysis

Takes into account the extent to which instructions,

reasoning, judgment, and mathematical and verbal
ability are necessary for performing job tasks.

Job Analysis Information

Job Analysis Information

JOB
DESCRIPTIONS

JOB DESCRIPTIONS
The output of the job analysis activity is job
description.
A written statement of what the worker
actually does, how he or she does it, and
hat the jo s orki g o ditio s are.
A job description is a list that a person might use
for general tasks, or functions, and responsibilities
of a position. It may often include to whom the
position reports ,specifications such as the
qualifications or skills needed by the person in
the job.

Source: www.bis.gov, accessed November 13, 2003.

Components Of Job Description

Job Details

Job title:
Grade:
Reporting to:
Department:
Preparation date: when the description was written
Prepared by: who wrote the description

Job Purpose

Describes the general nature of the job

Shows the core purpose of the job in one to three
lines.

The Jo Des riptio

o ti ued.

Working Relationships (chain of command)

Reports to: e ployees i

ediate super isor

Supervises: employees that the job incumbent directly

supervises
Works with: others with whom the job holder will be
expected to work and come into contact with
internally.
Outside the company: others with whom the job
holder is expected to work and come into contact with
externally.

The Jo Des riptio

o ti ued.

Responsibilities and duties

A listi g of the jo s ajor respo si ilities a d
duties (essential functions)

Defi es li its of jo holders de isio -making

authority, direct supervision, and budgetary
limitations.

Working Conditions:
Job location, working atmosphere, travel
requirement.

The Jo Des riptio

o ti ued.

Competencies:
Covers the core strengths that
are required to perform the job
efficiently and effectively.

Writing Job Descriptions

There are six practical steps to write a job description:
1.Review organizational chart which shows all the jobs with their titles and also shows, who reports to
whom and with whom the job incumbent communicates, if chart is not available then develop it first for
your better understanding regarding current organizational structure and jobs.
2.Obtain other documentary information such as procedure manuals, work flow charts and previous job
descriptions if any.
3.Do face to face interviews with each job holder of organization and ask questions about their jobs.
Select representative positions. There may be too many similar jobs to analyze them all. For example it
is usually unnecessary to analyze the jobs of 100 sales men when a sample of 10 can work.
4.Write, discuss and verify the collected job information with line managers or immediate supervisors
who can add or minus tasks and other components if required. This activity will confirm that the
information is factually correct and complete.
5.After including the edits of supervisor, send this edited version to job incumbent and his supervisor
for their fi al re ie . This re ie a help to gai e ployees a epta e of the jo des riptio y
giving that person a chance to review and modify it.

6. Include the final reviews edits and develop a final version of job descriptions and forward it to all
the approving authorities for their approvals.

Job Specifications

Job Specifications
Job Specification specifies information about the skills or qualities
required for doing the job.
Job Specification is also called as Man or Employee Specification.

Job Specification is prepared on the basis of Job Description.

Job Specification is a statement which tells us minimum acceptable human
qualities which helps to perform a job.

Job specification translates the job description into human qualifications

so that a job can be performed in a better manner.
Job specification helps in hiring an appropriate person for an appropriate
position.

Job Specifications
Job Specification also known as employee
specifications.
A job specification is a written statement of
educational qualifications, specific qualities, level of
experience, physical, emotional, technical and
communication skills required to perform a job,
responsibilities involved in a job and other unusual
sensory demands.
It also includes general health, mental health,
intelligence, aptitude, memory, judgment, leadership
skills, emotional ability, adaptability, flexibility, values
and ethics, manners and creativity, etc.

Contents of Job Specifications

Job title and designation.

Educational qualifications for that title.
Physical and other related attributes.
Physique and mental health.
Special attributes and abilities.
Maturity and dependability.
Relationship of that job with other jobs in a
concern.

Purpose of Job Specifications

Job specification helps candidates analyze whether are
eligible to apply for a particular job vacancy or not.
It helps recruiting team of an organization understand
what level of qualifications, qualities and set of
characteristics should be present in a candidate to
make him or her eligible for the job opening.
Job Specification gives detailed information about any
job including job responsibilities, desired technical and
physical skills, conversational ability and much more.

Sample-Job specification

432

P ERS ON S P ECIFICATION
JOB TITLE
LO CATIO N

:
:

We b Pr oduction Manager
Ne wpor t bas e d. Region al Role
Es s ential

Qualific ation / Educ ation /

Trai ning

Communic ation

S k ills

Knowle dge

Des ign or web/re lated

qualification
Skilled in the us e of
photo-s hop
Good working
knowledge of M icros oft
Office
Sound knowledge of
HTM L
Internal
External
Phone
Face to face
Ema il
In writ ing
Team player
Good lis tener
Ability to talk to people
of differing technical
e xpertis e
Attention to detail
Fantas tic organis ation
s kills
Ability to wo rk under
press ure and to
deadlines
Interpret data
Pos itive outlook
Man manage ment s kills
A great balance of
technical, co mme rcia l
and people s kills
Awarenes s of the lates t
web technologies
including video,
podcas ting etc.

Des irable

Awarenes s of dynamic
languages s uch as PHP
A manage ment
qualification

Negotiation s kills

News paper knowledge

Jo A alysis i a Jo less World

Job
Ge erally defi ed as a set of losely related
a ti ities arried out for pay.

From Specialized to Enlarged Jobs

Job enlargement
Assigning workers additional same level activities,
thus increasing the number of activities they
perform.

Job enrichment
Redesigning jobs in a way that increases the
opportunities for the worker to experience
feelings of responsibility, achievement, growth,
and recognition.
435

From Specialized to Enlarged Jobs

o td

Job rotation

Moving a trainee from department to

department to broaden his or her experience
and identify strong and weak points to prepare
the person for an enhanced role with the
company
Systematically moving workers from one job to
another to enhance work team performance.

436

Competency-Based Job Analysis

Competencies
Demonstrable characteristics of a person that
enable performance of a job.

Competency-based job analysis

Describing a job in terms of the measurable,
observable, behavioral competencies (knowledge,
skills, and/or behaviors) an employee must exhibit
to do a job well.

Why Use Competency Analysis?

To support HPWS

Traditional job descriptions (with their lists of specific

duties) may actually backfire if a high-performance
work system is the goal.

Maintain a strategic focus

Describing the job in terms of the skills, knowledge,

and competencies the worker needs is more strategic.

Measuring performance

Measurable skills, knowledge, and competencies are

the heart of a y o pa ys perfor a e
management process.

Performance Management
Performance management

Managing all elements of the organizational process

that affect how well employees perform.

Types of competencies
General competencies

reading, writing, and mathematical reasoning.

Leadership competencies

leadership, strategic thinking, and teaching others.

Technical competencies

specific technical competencies required for specific types of

jobs and/or occupations.