Job analysis is the first step in designing and implementing a compensation system. The objective in completing a job analysis is to identify the content of the job, the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the job successfully and the conditions under which the job is performed.
Job analysis may be defined as systematic detailed study of jobs, consisting of identifying and examining what is required of the person assigned to the job and the elements and characteristics of the job.
Job analysis is a systematic process for collecting, documenting and analyzing information in order to describe jobs and sometimes the job duties, workers requirements, and the job context or working conditions. Job analysis is a systematic exposition of the activities within a job. It is scientific method to define the duties, responsibilities, and accountabilities of a job. It involves the identification and description of what is happening on the job and also the skills and qualifications of personnel needed for the job. Job analysis may also defined as an examination of the jobs in an organization with a view to documenting the knowledge, skills, and abilities ( KSAs) associated with successful performance of those jobs. Knowledge is the body of information, usually of a factual or procedural nature that allows individual to perform a task successfully. Skill is the individual’s levels of proficiency or competency in performing a specific task. Level of competency is typically expressed in numerical terms. Abilities are more general, enduring traits or capabilities an individual possesses at the time when he or she begins to perform task. Competencies are any knowledge, skills, traits, motive, attitudes, values, or other personal characteristics that is essential to perform the job and that differentiates superior from solid performance.
The Essay on Basic Theories To The Conceptualizations Of Job Analysis Accuracy
There are two basic theory to the conceptualizations of job analysis accuracy:- Classical Test Theory and Generalizability Theory. Classical test theory suggests that a “true score” esists for a given job and that true scores are stavle over time. Any measurement variation error are eliminated or aggragated across time or sources. Through this, researchers have commonly aggregated job ...
The analysis often is conducted by interviews, by direct observation, or by the use of questionnaire completed by person currently holding the job and their immediate supervisors. The analysis focused on the following questions: Who does the work?
What is done?
When is it done?
How is it done?
Why is it done?
Some major issues in job analysis:-
( Analysis for what purpose
( What in formation to collect.
( How to collect information
( Who should be involved
( Usefulness of remits.
Importance of Job analysis:
Job analysis provides a foundation for carrying out many HRM responsibility like:-
1. Work redesign.
2. Human resources planning.
3. Selection.
4. Training.
5. Performance appraisal.
6. Career planning.
7. Job evaluation.
8. Comply with rules & regulations.
9. Job analysis helps supervisors and other managers carryout their duties.
Job Content refers to the actual activities that employees must perform in the job. Job content descriptions may be broad, general statements of job activities or detailed descriptions of duties and tasks performed in the job. Workers Requirements represent the minimum qualifications and skills that people must have to perform a particular job. Such requirements usually include education, experience, licenses, permits, and specific abilities and skills such as typing, drafting, or editing. Working Condition are the social context or physical environment where work will be performed Physical Environment vary along several dimensions, based on the level of noise and possible exposure to hazardous factors, including hazardous chemicals, work equipments etc. Steps in Job Analysis Process
a) Determine the purposes of job analysis: The purpose of job analysis must be clearly specified. This help the analyst to conduct job analysis concentrating toward the objective of the program. b) Determine the job analysis program : A company must decide between using an established system or developing its own system tailored to specific requirements. Both established and custom job analysis programs vary in the method of gathering. The administrative costs represent a major consideration in selecting a job analysis method. c) Select and train analysts : A taskforce of representatives from through out the company conducts the job analysis, and HR staff members coordinate it. Although some companies rely on HR professional to coordinate and conduct job analysis, many use team to represent varying perspectives on work, because virtually all employees interact with coworkers and supervisors. Before the task force embarks on a job analysis, members need to be taught about the basic assumptions of the model and the procedures they must follow.
The Term Paper on Hrm Job Analysis And Design
I. Introduction. The University of Melbourne is a large and developing corporation consisting of a diverse workforce of approximately 5000. The University realises that in order to achieve competitive advantage the firm must seek to harness their human resources in innovatory ways.Facilitation of such has been sought through the analysis and subsequent redesign of jobs. The current design of Human ...
The training should include discussions of the study’s objectives, how the information will be used, methodology overviews, discussions and demonstrations of the information gathering techniques. Analysts also should be trained to minimize chance that they will conduct ineffective job analyses. The job analysts must be familiar with structure of pertinent job data. d) Direct job analyst orientation: Before analysts start specific job analysis techniques, they must analyze the context in which employees perform their work to better understand influencing factors. In addition, analysts should obtain and review such internal information as organizational charts, listings of job titles, classification of each position to be analyzed, job incumbent names and pay rates, and any instructional booklets or handbooks for operating equipments. Job analysts may also find pertinent job information from external sources. e) Conduct the study: Data collection methods and Sources of data : Once analysts have gathered and made sense of these preliminary data, they can begin gathering and recording information for each job in the company. Analysts should carefully choose the method of data collection and sources of data. The most common methods are questionnaires, interviews, participations and observation.
The Essay on Job Analysis and Job Design
Job analysis—The procedure for determining the tasks and responsibilities of each a job, and the human attributes (in terms of knowledge, skills, and abilities) required to perform the job. The outcomes of job analysis will be: Job description (what the job entails), Job specifications (what the human requirements are needed for the job). Job analysis is something called the cornerstone of HRM, ...
Questionnaires direct job incumbents’ and supervisors’ descriptions of the incumbents’ work through a series of questions and statements. Observation requires job analyst to record perceptions they formed while watching employees perform their jobs. The most common source of job analysis data are job incumbents, supervisors and the job analysts. Experienced job incumbents will provide the most extensive, detailed and insights about how they performed job duties. Supervisors also should provide extensive and detailed information with different focus. Due to the most familiar with the interrelationships among jobs within their departments, supervisors are probably in the best position to describe how employees performing different jobs interact. Job analysts should involved as many job incumbents and supervisors as possible because employees with the same job titles may have different experiences. Companies strives to conduct job analyses that lead to reliable and valid job evaluations results.
f) Summarize the results: Writing job descriptions. : The job analysts has to prepare job description and job specifications at this stage. Job descriptions summarize a job’s purposes and list its tasks, duties, and responsibilities , and job context in which the job holder has to discharge his tasks. Job specifications summarize the skills, knowledge, abilities, educational qualification, competencies, special training and professional qualification required for effective discharge of job responsibilities. Job specifications indicate the minimum acceptable qualification required by the individual to perform the task efficiently. Based on the information obtained from the job analysis procedures, job specifications identify the qualifications, appropriate skills, knowledge, abilities, and experience required to perform the job. It also specifies not only educational qualifications but also certain personality characteristics that may be required specifically for a job.
Typical data collected for Job analysis :
The Term Paper on The Importance of Job Analysis
... organization. A job analysis is explained as methods used to describe specific jobs and the characteristics of a person necessary to perform the tasks on the job ... and was developed to address the need to match job requirements to worker characteristics (Spector, 2012) In other words this method is ...
Selection criteria for job analysis methods:
i) costs
ii) Time
iii) Flexibility
iv) Validity and reliability
v) Acceptance
Data collection methods :
a) Observation methods
b) Questionnaire methods: (i) Structured (ii) Unstructured c) Interview methods: (i) Interviewing the incumbent (II) Interviewing a group of employees , and (iii) Interviewing the supervisor. d) Dairy
e) Survey of records.
Various aspects of job to be analyzed: Job analysis should collect information on the following areas a) Duties and tasks
b) Environment
c) Tools and equipments
d) Relationships
e) Requirements.
Structured Job Analysis is the use of a standard format for job descriptions so that all organizations can use the same job categories. The most common approaches for structural job analysis are : a) Functional Job Analysis (FJA):
b) Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
c) Management Position Description Questionnaire ( MPDQ)
d) The Hay Plan.
a) Functional Job Analysis (FJA): The United States Training and Employment Services (USTES) developed functional job analysis to describe the nature of jobs and to develop job summaries, job descriptions, and employee specifications. FJA, originally meant to improve job placement and counseling for workers registering for employment at local employment offices, was a part of an intensive research program directed toward producing the 1965 edition of the Directory of Occupational titles ( DOT).
FJA is both a conceptual system for defining the dimensions of worker activity and a method of measuring levels of worker activity. The FJA employs a series of written task statements, each containing four essential elements: (1) a verb related to the task action being performed by the workers (2) an object that refers to what is being acted on, (3) a description of tools, equipments, aids, and processes required for successful completion of the tasks, and (4) the outputs or results of task completion. Today, many aspects of it are used by a number of private and public organizations.
The completed task statements are used to describe any job and FJA analyzes any job using three essential elements: (i) People ( important interpersonal relationships on the job), (ii) data( obtaining, using, and transforming data in aid of job performance), and (iii) things ( physical machinery, resources, and the environment).
The Essay on Job Description Analysis Documentation Position Responsibilities
Group Project Job Description Analysis July 18, 2005 Introduction With the changing responsibilities of today's human resource Personnel, one of the main functions that need to readdress is the accuracy of the documentation pertaining to Job Descriptions, Performance Standards, and performance Evaluations or appraisals. In many organizations these documents are either outdated or non-existent. ...
Each of these three dimensions is then rated by level of complexity and importance. The fundamental premises of FJA are: i) A fundamental distinction must be made between what gets done and what workers do to get things done. ii) Jobs are concerned with data, people, and things. iii) In relation to things, workers draw on physical resources; in relation to data, on mental resources; and in relation to people, on interpersonal resources. iv) All jobs require the workers to relate to data, people, and things to some degree. v) Although the behavior of workers or the tasks they perform can apparently be described in an infinite number of ways, there are only a few definitive functions involved. vi) The functions appropriate to dealing with data, people, or things are hierarchical and ordinal, proceeding from simple to the complex.
b) McCormick’s Position Analysis Questionnaire ( PAQ): is a structure job analysis checklist that includes 194 questions or jobs items or job elements about work behaviors, work conditions, and job characteristics that apply to a wide variety of jobs and that are used to rate a job. It describes jobs in term of worker activities. The different job elements are incorporated into the following six dimensions: i) Information input:- Where and how a worker gets information needed to perform the job. ii) Mental processes:- The reasoning decision making, planning, and information processing activities involved in performing the job. iii) Work output:- The physical activities, tools, and devices used by the worker to perform the job. iv) Relations with other person:- The relationship with other people required to performing the job v) Job content:- The physical and social contexts where the work is performed. vi) Other characteristics:- The activities conditions, and characteristics other than those previously described that are relevant to the job.
In the PAQ the nature of jobs is essentially determined in terms of Communication / decision making/ social responsibilities; performance of skilled activities; physical activities and related environmental conditions; operations of vehicles and equipments; and processing of information. Using these five dimensions, jobs can be compared and clustered. The job clusters can then be used for, among other things, staffing decisions, and the development of job descriptions and specifications.
The Essay on Types of Job Description
External The external job description is the one you post for potential applicants. It lists the title and essential functions of the job, outlines duties and responsibilities and may include administrative information such as the responsibilities of the overall department and the position of the job’s supervisor. It should also list necessary qualifications, including skills, education and ...
The PAQ’s reliance on person oriented traits allows it to be applied across a variety of jobs and organizations without modification. This, of course, allows organization to more easily compare their job analyses with those of other organizations. The major drawback in adopting the PAQ is its sheer length, even though its checklist format help up the analysis process.
Computerized Program are available for scoring PAQ ratings on the basis of seven dimensions:
i) Decision-making
ii) Communication
iii) Social responsibilities
iv) Performing skilled activities
v) Being physically active
vi) Operating vehicles or equipments
vii) Processing information.
c) Management Position Description Questionnaire( MPDQ): This method of job analysis relies upon the check list method to analyze jobs. It contains 208 items related to the concern and responsibilities of managers, their demands and restrictions, and miscellaneous characteristics. These 208 items have been condensed into thirteen job factors:
• Product, Market, and financial planning
• Coordination of other organizational units and personnel
• Internal business control
• Products and services responsibilities
• Public and customer relations
• Advanced consulting
• Autonomy of action
• Approval of financial commitments
• Staff service
• Supervision
• Complexity and stress
* Advanced financial responsibilities
• Broad personnel responsibilities
The MPDQ is designed for managerial positions, but responses to the items vary by managerial level in any organization and also in different organizations. The MPDQ is appropriate for determining the training needs of employees moving into managerial jobs; evaluating managerial jobs; creating job families and placing new managerial jobs into the right job family; and compensating managerial jobs.
d) The Hay Plan : Another method of analyzing managerial jobs is the Hay plan. Edward Hay and Associates( Hay Group) developed this system of job analysis which is used in a large number organizations for its consulting work in compensation and organizational analysis. Although much less structured than the PAQ and MPDQ ,it is systematically tied to job evaluation and compensation system. Thus the use of Hay plan allows an organization to maintain consistency not only in how it describe managerial jobs but also in how it rewards them. The purposes of the Hay plan are management development, placement, and recruitment; job evaluation; measurement of the execution of a job against specific standards of accountability; and organization analysis.
The Hay system uses three key factors to analyze each job: (i) know-how( the specific knowledge and skills required to perform the job)’ (ii) problem-solving ( the decisions and problems that must be successfully handled on the job) , and (iii)accountability( the jobholders responsibilities for critical task completion and for organizational resources, budgets, supervision of people, etc.).
Points are assigned to each factor for (1) levels of knowledge( job depth) and ( 2) breadth of knowledge required to perform the job ( job scope).
The sum of the points assigned to the job locates it in an overall compensation scheme that provides higher remuneration to those job holders whose jobs were rated higher by the job analysis. The Hay plan is based on an interview between the job analyst and the job incumbent. The information that is gathered relates to four aspects of the incumbent’s job: the objectives, the dimensions, the nature and scope of the position, and the accountability objectives. Because the Hay plan is based on information gathered in an interview, the success of the plan depends upon the skills of the interviewer. The interviewers can be trained, however, and the Hay plan grows in popularity.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job description plays a very important role in the field of human resource management. It is a ‘factual statement of the duties and responsibilities of a specific job’. In other words, it describes the work performed, the responsibilities involved, the skill or training required, the conditions under which the work is done and the type of person required for the job. A job description is a written statement of what the job holder does, how it is done, under what conditions, and why. It should accurately portray job content, environment, and conditions of employment. The job description clearly identifies and spells out the responsibilities of a specific job. It also includes information about working conditions, tools, equipment used, knowledge, and skills needed and relationships with other positions.
Uses of Job description:
a) It is most widely used in connection with wage and salary administration. b) It gives information to the member of the selection board about the knowledge, skills, training, education and aptitude required for each job c) It gives clarification to the newly recruited employees what they need to know about his job. d) It provides an excellence check list to follow-up the work and making performance review. e) It is helpful to design an effective training program for human resources. f) It help to ensure fairness in compensation system, which in turn improve of the employee. g) Job description is essential in planning changes in organizational design and structure. h) Job description aid in improving quality of administration and supervision by their objective description of responsibilities for supervision and job-to-job relations. i) Job description may also be helpful in safety program, indicating hazardous acts and suggesting changes in operations.
FEATURES OF A GOOD JOB DESCRIPTION
1. A job description must be up-to-date in order to make it more effective. 2. The title should clearly indicate the principle demands made by the jobholder. 3. The summary of primary duties gives an overview of what the job essentially is? It also indicates what the job is, also who and to what extent this particular job differs from other jobs? 4. A job description should be sufficiently complete.
5. The job description should provide a clear picture of significant working conditions such as noise, heat, temperature etc. 6. All information must be written in terms that can be readily understood. The language should be simple, clear, and concise.
