Job Analysis
Job Analysis
The future…no jobs?
Some people believe that jobs are an outdated idea
People should be self-employed contract workers who work on specific projects or teams
Companies should organize work into projects rather than specific jobs
Some companies are sort of moving in this direction (e.g., Microsoft)
Work IS changing
Example: librarians used to recommend books, sort them in shelves, and provide research guidance; now they basically show how to run computer searches (internet or digital call catalogs)
But at least for now, jobs are still the basic foundation for organizations
As such, job analysis is still essential in developing I-O interventions
Job analysis
The process of defining a job, specifying the behaviors necessary to perform on it, and then developing hypotheses about the personal characteristics necessary to perform those behaviors
Determine the characteristics required for success in a specific work setting, or the degree to which the work requirements are similar to requirements for work performed elsewhere
Although some courts insist on extensive job analysis (as a basis for providing content-related evidence of validity), certain purposes, such as validity generalization, may not require such detail
If you recall the lecture on criteria, job analysis is the first step in identifying criteria and choosing the individual differences that can predict those criteria
Uses of job analysis
Organizing, workforce planning, role definition
Clarify the roles of each job; avoid duplication of responsibility and confusion between departments
Job evaluation, recruitment, selection, placement, orientation, training and development, performance appraisal, promotions and transfers, career planning
Determine the characteristics of a job or organization and determine the skills, knowledge, or abilities necessary to work in them
Engineering design, job design, safety
Determine the appropriate amount of work for a job and how to avoid accidents in them
Job analysis terminology
Element – The smallest unit into which work can be divided without analyzing the separate motions, movements, and mental processes involved
Example: Removing a saw from a tool chest prior to sawing wood for a project
Task – A distinct work activity carried out for a specific purpose
Example: Running a computer program, typing a letter, and unloading a truckload of freight
Duty – A large segment of the work performed by an individual; may include a number of tasks
Example: Conducting interviews, counseling employees, providing information to the public
Position – A set of tasks performed by a single employee
Job analysis terminology
Job – A group of positions that are similar in their significant duties
Example: Secretary
Job family – A group of two or more jobs that either call for similar worker characteristics or contain parallel work tasks as determined by job analysis
Example: Clerical
Occupation/vocation – A group of similar jobs found in different organizations at different times
Example: electricians and machinists
Career – A sequence of positions, jobs, or occupations that one person engages in during his or her working life
Job analysis choices
There are a number of options in conducting a job analysis; the final purpose of the analysis is an essential consideration in making these decisions
1. Activities or attributes?
Some techniques focus solely on activities (tasks) – work oriented
Some focus on how the work gets done (worker attributes) – worker oriented
Others offer a combination of the two, linking tasks and attributes – linkage analysis
2. General or specific?
How much detail is needed in the analysis?
A brief description of a job to make pay comparisons includes much less detail than what is needed to develop selection procedures based on critical KSAOs
Job analysis choices
3. Qualitative or quantitative?
The same job can be described in narrative form or by ratings on a fixed set of scales (e.g., time, frequency, importance, or criticality)
Qualitative methods are fine for applications like career planning, but cross-job comparisons require some type of quantitative method
4. Taxonomy-based or blank slate?
Some general job analysis tools involve taxonomy-based approaches in which statements of general work activities are applied to a broad range of jobs
Alternatively, trained observers or job incumbents may develop lists of job activities or attributes that apply to specific jobs or job families
The “blank-slate” approaches have the potential for a greater detail than do taxonomy approaches
Job analysis choices
5. Observers or incumbents or supervisors?
Trained job analysts sometimes observe work directly and then distill their observations into qualitative descriptions or quantitative evaluations of work activities or attributes
Alternatively, information may come from job incumbents or their direct supervisors, who may be asked to identify activities or attributes and then rate them on numeric scales
6. KSAs or KSAOs?
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities are useful in conducting attribute-oriented job analysis
Adding other personal characteristics (Os) allows a broader range of attributes to be included in the analysis; these might include personality traits, values, and attitudes
Job analysis choices
7. Single job or multiple-job comparison?
Sometimes the focus is on a specific job, as when developing an entry-level test for a bank teller job
In other cases, the focus is on documenting similarities and differences across jobs (e.g., to justify using the same selection system with different jobs)
8. Descriptive or prescriptive?
Job analysis typically describes a job as it currently exists
However, if a job does not yet exist, it is necessary to prescribe activities or attributes for the soon-to-be-created job; this is called strategic job analysis
Job description
A written statement of what a worker actually does, how he or she does it, and why
This information can then be used to determine what KSAOs are required to perform the job
1. Job title – For bookkeeping purposes within the firm, as well as to facilitate reporting to government agencies
2. Job activities and procedures – Descriptions of tasks, materials used, machinery operated, formal interactions with other workers, and the extent of supervision given or received
Job description
3. Working conditions and physical environment – Heat, lighting, noise level, indoor/outdoor setting, physical location, hazardous conditions, etc.
4. Social environment – Information on the number of individuals in the work group and the amount of interpersonal interaction required in order to perform the job
5. Conditions of employment – A description of the hours of work, wage structure, method of payment, benefits, place of the job in the formal organization, and opportunities for promotion
Minimum qualifications
In order to avoid screening out potential employees who would be able to adequately perform a job, the basic personal characteristics required in a job should be specified
1. Working independently, groups of subject matter experts (SMEs) rate tasks and KSAs on a set of scales
2. After completing their ratings, the SMEs provide suggested types or amounts of education, work experience, and other data they view as appropriate for MQs
Minimum qualifications
3. From the task and KSA domains and SME opinions, job analysts prepare a draft set of MQ profiles; each profile is a statement of education, training, or work experience presumably needed to perform a target job at a satisfactory level
4. Finally, a new set of SMEs is convened to do three things:
1. Establish a description of a barely acceptable employee
2. Decide if the list of MQ profiles is complete or if it needs editing
3. Rate the finalized profiles on two scales, appropriateness and clarity
Obtaining job information
Direct observation
An analyst can observe an incumbent and record what he or she does
Observations should include a representative sample of job behaviors
Job analyst should try to be unobtrusive
Inappropriate for jobs that require a lot of mental activity and concentration
Functional job analysis (FJA)
Identifies what a worker does on the job and how a task is performed
Tasks are rated on their involvement with People, Data, or Things
Obtaining job information
Actual performance
Analysts can do the job themselves and record what they do
Interview
Analysts can interview the incumbent or supervisor; this may allow infrequent behaviors to be covered
Worker acts as his or her own observer in the interview
Should follow a structured interview format
Should interview several incumbents and immediate supervisors who know the job well
Obtaining job information
SME panel
Panels of 6 to 10 SMEs convened
To develop information on tasks or KSAOs to be used in constructing job analysis questionnaires
In test development to establish linkages between tasks and KSAOs, KSAOs and test items, and tasks and test items
SMEs should be 10-20% of the total job incumbents or supervisors
SMEs should be representative of the race, gender, location, shift, and assignment composition of all incumbents
Important to have a wide range of work experience in SME panels
Obtaining job information
Questionnaires
Respondents either check items that apply to a job or to rate items in terms of their relevance to the job; greatly facilitates comparisons across jobs
Cheap and quick to administer
Time consuming and expensive to develop
Standardization allows for comparisons across jobs and organizations
The PAQ
Position analysis questionnaire (work-oriented)
Consists of 194 items that asks respondents to rate the importance or difficulty of each job element
More suited for blue-collar manufacturing jobs than it is for professional, managerial, and some technical jobs
No specific work activities are described, so element similarities in jobs may mask genuine differences between them
Need a college-graduate reading level to…
