Job Analysis

Job Analysis

1. the process that determines the important tasks of a job and the human attributes necessary to successfully perform those tasks

   • performance expectations, required abilities, knowledge, experience, skill and personal characteristics

2. the use of job analysis information

   • job description
   • recruiting - what requirements are needed for the job and what specific groups to look at
   • selection - able to select assessment tools for finding the right person for the job
   • training - helps identify the areas the the most difficult when training and adjusting them
   • compensation - analysis identifies major components and expectations for a job which can be used to acurrately determine the monetary value
   • promotion/job assignment - allows identification of a similiar cluster of positions (for determining career paths)
     • job ladder - cluster of positions that are similiar in terms of the human attributes needed to be successful in those positions or in terms of the tasks that are carried out
   • job design - assist in eliminating or automating tasks in a job to decrease strenuous/time consuming activities
   • workforce reduction - identifying redundant positions and centralising functions to decrease costs
   • criterion development
   • performance evaluation - development of performance systems based on standards met from the analysis
   • litigation - can be used to demonstrate knowledge base for defending job hiring/business practices in court

3. Types of job analysis

   • task-oriented job analysis
     • beings with a statement of the actual tasks as well as what is accomplished by those tasks
       • ex. statement - operates snowcat usually at night to smooth out. snow from skiers
       • tasks the worker performs, the toools and machines used and the work context
   • worker - oriented job analysis
     • focuses on the attributes of the worker necessary to accomplish the task
       • ex. statement - evaluates snow depth and conditions and chooses the correct setting for the depth of the snow cut, as well as number of passes necessary
     • provides more generalise descriptions of human behaviour patterns
       • produce data more useful for structuring training programs
         • more likely to be used
   • identify attributes the KSAOs
     • Ability - the stable capacity to engage in a specific behaviour
     • Knowledge - a collection of discrete but related facts and information about a particular domain, acquired through formal education or trianing or specific experiences
     • Skill - a practiced act or the capacity to perform a specific task or job duty
     • Other - personality variables, interests, training and experience
     • once identified correctly other assessment tehcnqiues can be chosen to measure them

4. How it is done

   • subject matter expert (SME) - employee who provides information about a job in a job analysis interview or survery
   • common methods
     • observation
     • interviews
     • critical incidents and work diaries
       • critical incident technique - approach in which subject matter experts are asked to identify critical aspects of behaviour or performance in a particular job that led to success or failure
     • questionnaire/surveys -

5. New Developments

   • electronic performance monitoring - work processes with electronic devices can be very cost effective and has the potential for providing detailed and accurate work logs
     • does not require the input of SMEs
     • can be seen as breaching employee rights by tracking them
       • identifies violations or rules and errors rather than outstanding performances
   • cognitive task analysis - a process that ocnsists of methods for decomposing job and task performance into discrete, measurable units with special emphasis on eliciting mental processes and knowldge content
     • precursor -> think-aloud protocol - investigates the thought processes of experts who achieve hgih levels of performance
       • i.e. an expert performer describes in words the though process behind a task they do
     • not directly observable
       • no focus on KSAOs - focused on how behaviour occurs over what is accomplished
         • critical for high powered/executive positions where mistakes are detrimental
     • worthwhile if - there are persistent performance problems, there are costly errors and accidents, training is difficult to transfer to job, acheiving hihg levels of performance takes a long time
   • Personality based job analysis
     • personality related position requirements form - job analysis instrument devoted to identifying personality predictors of job performance
   • computer based job analysis - good for time and convenience
     • SME's do not need to in the same spot, work from deks at thier own pace
     • goof efficiency for creating reports
     • job similarities and career paths are easier to understand for planning
     • if the data collected is poor the results will also be flawed
     • O*NET - collection of electronic databases, based on well-developed taxonomies that has update and replaced the DOT
       • experience requirements, occupational requirements, worker requirements, worker characteristics, occupation characteristics, occupation-specific requirements
   • compotency modeling - identifies the desired characteristics across jobs in an organisation that should predict behavior across a wide variety of tasks
     • lack of agreement between the results of traditional job analysis and those of competency
       • combination is the best

6. Job analysis and the law

   • job evaluation - method for making internal pay decisions by comparing. job titles to one another and determining their relative merit by way of thse comparisons
   • compensable factors - that are linked to compensation for various jobs within the organisation - include skills and responsibilities
   • comparable worth - people who are performing jobs of comparable worth to the organisation should recieve comparable pay
     • through use of external (pay rate compares to market rate) and internal (comparing job titles to one another and relative merit) controls to ensure this
     • concerned with the social value of fairness as well as the mechanics of job evaluation