CHAPTER 2 - Job Analysis and ➢ Job analysis information can be used to

Evaluation determine the optimal way in which a job

should be performed.
Job Analysis ➢ One legally acceptable way to directly
➢ also called work analysis determine job relatedness is by job
➢ foundation for almost all human analysis.
resources activities ➢ Job analysts often become aware of
➢ Job analysis is the process of certain problems within an organization.
determining the work activities and In a job analysis interview, the
requirements, and a job description is discovery of lapses in organizational
the written result of the job analysis communication can then be used to
➢ It is difficult to imagine how an employee correct problems and help an
can be selected unless there is a clear organization function better.
understanding of the tasks to be ■ Job analysis interview - Obtaining
performed and the competencies information about a job by talking to
needed to perform those tasks. a person performing it.
➢ Job analyses yield lists of job activities
that can be systematically used to Writing a Good Job Description
create training programs. Job descriptions are usually two to five
➢ One important but seldom employed use pages long. Some I/O psychologists believe
of job analysis is to determine worker that it is supposed to be detailed and
mobility within an organization. lengthy but many organizations do not.
■ Peter Principle - promoting They think that listing each activity will limit
employees until they eventually their ability to direct employees tasks not in
reach their highest level of the job description. This can be countered
incompetence; organizations tend to with 2 arguments: (1) duties can be added
promote good employees until they and job description should be updated
reach the level at which they are not regularly, (2) the phrase “and performs
competent other job-related duties assigned.”
➢ Another important use of job analysis is
the construction of a performance A job description should contain the
appraisal instrument following eight sections: job title, brief
➢ The evaluation of employee summary, work activities, tools and
performance must be job related. equipment used, work context, performance
➢ Employees are often evaluated with standards, compensation information, and
forms that use such vague categories as personal requirements (format by Hurtz and
“dependability,” “knowledge,” and Wright, 2012)
“initiative.”
➢ Job analysis enables job classification A. Job Title
to be useful for determining pay levels, ➢ An accurate title describes the
transfers, and promotions. nature of the job, its power and
➢ Job analysis information can also be status level, and the competencies
used to determine the worth of a job. needed to perform the job
 ➢ An accurate title also aids in F. Work Performance
employee selection and recruitment. ➢ brief description of how an
➢ Job titles can also affect perceptions employee’s performance is
of the status and worth of a job evaluated and what work standards
are expected of the employee
B. Brief Summary
➢ Only a paragraph but should G. Compensation Information
describe the nature and purpose of ➢ Contains salary grade, whether the
the job position is exempt, and the
➢ This summary can be used in compensable factors used to
help-wanted ads, internal job determine salary.
postings, and company brochures ■ Grade - cluster of jobs of similar
worth.
C. Work Activities ➢ The employee’s actual salary or
➢ The work activities section lists the salary range should not be listed on
tasks and activities in which the the job description
worker is involved.
➢ These tasks and activities should be H. Job Competencies
organized into meaningful categories ➢ contains what are commonly called
to make the job description easy to job specifications or
read and understand. competencies.
■ Job specifications - relatively
D. Tools and Equipment Used dated term that refers to the
➢ Information in this section is used knowledge, skills, and abilities
primarily for employee selection and needed to successfully perform a
training. job. “Competencies” is the more
➢ lists all the tools and equipment common term used today
used to perform the work activities ➢ Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and
Other characteristics (KSAOs)
E. Job Context ➢ Competencies are determined by
➢ describes the environment in which deciding what types of KSAOs are
the employee works and mentions needed to perform the tasks
stress level, work schedule, physical identified in the job analysis.
demands, level of responsibility, ■ Competencies - The
temperature, number of coworkers, knowledge, skills, abilities, and
degree of danger, and any other other characteristics needed to
relevant information perform a job.
➢ important in providing applicants ➢ The first set of KSAOs identified is
with disabilities with information they used for employee selection and the
can use to determine their ability to second for training purposes
perform a job under a particular set
of circumstances Preparing for a Job Analysis
Who Will Conduct the Analysis?
➢ Trained individuals in the Human ➢ Formal versus informal requirements.
Resources department, job incumbents, E.g. Formal requirements for a secretary
supervisors, or outside consultants. might include typing letters or filing
➢ The Uniform Guidelines state that a memos. Informal requirements might
job analysis must be “professionally involve making coffee or picking up the
conducted,” and a job analyst certainly boss’s children from school.
cannot be called a professional unless
she has been trained. Conducting a Job Analysis
➢ Consultants are a good choice for I. Identify Tasks Performed
conducting a job analysis because they - The first step in conducting a job
are well trained and have extensive analysis is to identify the major job
experience. dimensions. Information is gathered by
obtaining previous information on the
How Often Should a Job Description Be job, interviewing job incumbents,
Updated? observing performance, or actually
➢ It should be updated if a job changes performing the job itself.
significantly
➢ Job descriptions change across time ➢ The most common method of
because of Job Crafting-the informal conducting a job analysis is to interview
changes that employees make in their subject-matter experts (SMEs).
job ➢ Job analysis interviews come in two
■ Job crafting - process in which main forms: individual and group.
employees unofficially change their ■ Subject-matter experts (SMEs) -
job duties to better fit their interests Sources such as supervisors and
and skills. incumbents who are knowledgeable
about a job.
Which Employees Should Participate? ■ Ammerman technique - job
➢ it is advisable to have all employees analysis method in which a group of
participate in the job analysis job experts identifies the objectives
➢ a committee-based job analysis, a and standards to be met by the ideal
group of subject-matter experts meet worker.
to generate the tasks performed, the ➢ Observations are useful job analysis
conditions under which they are methods, especially when used in
performed, and the KSAOs needed to conjunction with other methods such as
perform them. interviews.
➢ field-based job analysis, the job ■ Observations - job analysis method
analyst individually interviews/observes in which the job analyst watches job
a number of incumbents out in the field incumbents perform their jobs
➢ Job participation is especially effective
What Types of Information Should Be because it is easier to understand every
Obtained? aspect of a job once you have done it
➢ An important decision concerns the yourself.
level of specificity. ■ Job participation - job analysis
method in which the job analyst
 actually performs the job being and such tangible factors as
analyzed. licenses, degrees, and years of
experience
II. Write Task Statements ➢ When competencies are tied to an
➢ 2nd step is to write the task statements organization’s strategic initiatives and
that will be used in the task inventory plans rather than to specific tasks, the
and included in the job description process is called competency
■ Task inventory - questionnaire modeling.
containing a list of tasks each of
which the job incumbent rates on a ❖ KSAOs can be identified through:
series of scales such as importance ● Job Components Inventory (JCI)
and time spent. ● Threshold Traits Analysis (TTA)
➢ a properly written task statement must ● Fleishman Job Analysis Survey
contain an action (what is done) and an (F-JAS)
object (to which the action is done). It ● Critical Incident Technique (CIT)
will also include where, how, why, and ● Personality-Related Position
when the task is done. Requirements Form (PPRF)

III. Rate Task Statements V. Selecting Tests to Tap KSAOs

➢ The 3rd step is to conduct a task ➢ The 5th step is to determine the best
analysis-using a group of SMEs to rate methods to tap KSAOs needed at the
each task statement on the frequency time of hire.
and the importance or criticality of the
task being performed. Using Other Job Analysis Methods
■ Task analysis - process of These methods tend to provide information
identifying the tasks for which on one of four specific factors that are
employees need to be trained. commonly included in a job description:
worker activities, tools and equipment used,
IV. Determine Essential KSAOs work environment, and competencies.
➢ 4th step is to identify KSAOs
➢ Currently, KSAOs are commonly Methods Providing General Information
referred to as competencies About Worker Activities
➢ In the old days, KSAOs were called job 1. Position Analysis Questionnaire
specifications (job specs). (PAQ)
■ Knowledge - A body of information - A structured job analysis method
needed to perform a task. developed by McCormick.
■ Skill - The proficiency to perform a - 194 items organized into six main
learned task. dimensions: information input,
■ Ability - The basic capacity for mental processes, work output,
performing a wide range of tasks, relationships with other persons, job
acquiring knowledge, or developing context, and other job-related
a skill. variables such as work schedule,
■ Other characteristics - personality, pay, and responsibility.
willingness, interest, and degrees
2. Job Structure Profile (JSP) Methods Providing Information About
- Patrick and Moore (1985) the Work Environment
- A revised version of the Position 6. AET (Arbeitswissenschaftliches
Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) Erhebungsverfahren zur
designed to be used more by the job Tätigkeitsanalyse)
analyst than by the job incumbent - An ergonomic job analysis method
- new items to increase the developed in Germany
discriminatory power of the - 216-item questionnaire primarily
intellectual and decision-making concerned with the relationship
dimensions between the worker and work
objects
3. Job Elements Inventory (JEI)
- developed by Cornelius and Hakel Methods Providing Information About
(1978) Competencies
- similar to the Position Analysis 7. Occupational Information Network
Questionnaire (PAQ) but easier to (O*NET)
read. - The job analysis system used by the
federal government that has
4. Functional Job Analysis (FJA) replaced the Dictionary of
- initially designed by Sidney Fine Occupational Titles (DOT)
(1955) - its developers understood that jobs
- rates the extent to which a job can be viewed at four levels:
incumbent is involved with functions economic, organizational,
in the categories of data, people, occupational, and individual.
and things.
- method that could be used by the 8. Critical Incident Technique (CIT)
federal government to analyze and - developed and first used by John
compare thousands of jobs Flanagan and his students at the
University of Pittsburgh in the late
Methods Providing Information About 1940s and early 1950s
Tools and Equipment - uses written reports of good and bad
5. Job Components Inventory (JCI) employee behavior.
- Banks, Jackson, Stafford, and Warr - The CIT’s greatest drawback is that
(1983) its emphasis on the difference
- A structured job analysis technique between excellent and poor
that concentrates on worker performance ignores routine duties.
requirements for performing a job Thus, the CIT cannot be used as the
rather than on specific tasks sole method of job analysis.
- affected by the amount of
information available to the analyst 9. Threshold Traits Analysis
- Lopez, Kesselman, and Lopez
(1981)
- The TTA questionnaire’s 33 items
identify the traits that are necessary
 for the successful performance of a A. Determining Internal Pay Equity
job. ➢ involves comparing jobs within an
- The TTA’s greatest advantages are organization to ensure that the
that it is short and reliable and can people in jobs worth the most money
correctly identify important traits are paid accordingly.
- The TTA’s greatest disadvantage is
that it is not available commercially. Step 1: Determining Compensable Job
Factors
10. Fleishman Job Analysis Survey ➢ The first step in evaluating a job is to
(F-JAS) decide what factors differentiate the
- A job analysis method in which jobs relative worth of jobs.
are rated on the basis of the level of ■ Compensable job factors -
abilities needed to perform them responsibility and education
requirements, that differentiate the
11. Job Adaptability Inventory (JAI) relative worth of jobs.
- A job analysis method that taps the
extent to which a job involves eight Step 2: Determining the Levels for Each
types of adaptability. Compensable Factor
- a job incumbent needs to adapt to ➢ Once the compensable factors have
situations on the job been selected, the next step is to
determine the levels for each factor.
12. Personality-Related Position ➢ For a factor such as education, the
Requirements Form (PPRF) levels are easy to determine (e.g., high
- A job analysis instrument that helps school diploma, associate’s degree,
determine the personality bachelor’s degree).
requirements for a job.
- Big 5 Step 3: Determining the Factor Weights
➢ Because some factors are more
13. Performance Improvements important than others, weights must be
Characteristics (PIC) assigned to each factor and to each
- help determine which of the seven level within a factor.
main personality traits are needed to ■ Wage trend line - A line that
perform a given job represents the ideal relationship
between the number of points that a
job has been assigned (using the
Job Evaluation point method of evaluation) and the
- The process of determining the salary range for that job
monetary worth of a job.
➢ typically done in two stages: B. Determining External Pay Equity
determining internal pay equity and ➢ the worth of a job is determined by
determining external pay equity comparing the job to the external
market (other organizations)
➢ To determine external equity,
organizations use salary surveys.
 ■ Salary surveys - questionnaire sent ➢ Although no job analysis method is
to other organizations to see how always better than others, each is better
much they are paying their for certain purposes. For example, the
employees in positions similar to Position Analysis Questionnaire
those in the organization sending the (PAQ) is an excellent method for
survey. compensation uses, and the Critical
■ Direct compensation - amount of Incident Technique (CIT) is an
money paid to an employee (does excellent method for performance
not count benefits, time off, and so appraisal
forth). ➢ Job evaluation is the process of
■ Comparable worth - idea that jobs assigning a monetary value to a job
requiring the same level of skill and ➢ Internal equity, external equity, and
responsibility should be paid the comparable worth are important pay
same regardless of supply and issues that must be addressed during
demand. any job evaluation

Chapter Summary
➢ Job analysis provides the foundation for
such areas as performance appraisal,
employee selection, training, and job
design.
➢ A properly written job description
contains a job title, a brief summary, an
extensive list of work activities, a list of
tools and equipment, information about
the work context, compensation
information, performance standards, and
personal requirements.
➢ Before a job analysis is begun,
decisions must be made about the type
of information that will be obtained, who
will conduct the job analysis, and who
will participate in it.
➢ The typical job analysis involves
interviewing and observing
subject-matter experts (SMEs) to
determine tasks that are performed, the
conditions under which they are
performed, the tools and equipment
needed to perform them, and the
knowledge, skills, abilities, and other
characteristics (KSAOs) needed to
perform them.