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CHAPTER 4

JOB ANALYSIS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Explain the importance of job analysis and its relationship to internal consistency.

2. Discuss the difference between job-based, knowledge-based and competency-basedpay structures.

3. Describe the job analysis process.

4. Discuss the difference between quantitative and conventional job analysis

approaches.

OUTLINE

I. SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES FORM THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE

information about the work performed in the firm thats essential to developa pay structure based on similarities & differences in work & relative value ofthose differences to the firm

each level/grade represents a major difference in task complexity

different combination of KSAs

II. STRUCTURES BASED ON JOBS OR PEOPLE

Job-based structures look at job content (task & accountability)

Knowledge, skills & competency based structures look at the person

The underlying process is the same: design the work based on technology and customers served collect & analyze information summarize the information

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III. JOB BASED APPROACH: MOST COMMON

Job analysis is the process of collecting information about jobs

helps establish similarities & differences

used for hiring, set promotion/training standards, perf. evaluation criteria essential in developing job descriptions/job evaluations ongoing need as the nature of work changes over time

A. Why Perform Job Analysis

Job analysis has two critical uses:

1. establishes similarities & differences in the content of the jobs2. helps establish an internally fair & aligned job structure

Key issue for managers is to ensure that the data collectedserve the purpose of making decisions that are acceptableto the employee involved

IV. JOB ANALYSIS PROCEDURES

Systematic collection of job related data to be used for HRM activities

developing preliminary information

conducting the interviews

using the information to create & verify:

job description (list of duties)job specification (list of KSAs)

V. WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD BE COLLECTED?

Review of what information is already collected plus must be:

sufficient to adequately identify, define and describe the job

two categories of data:

(job content) task units with emphasis on purpose of each task(worker characteristics) behaviors that are expected on the job

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A. Job Data: Identification

Job titles, departments, status (exempt, non-exempt), # of jobholders

B. Job Data: Content

Elemental tasks with emphasis on purpose & objective of each task, activities,critical incidents, work conditions

C. Employee Data

Employee characteristics (quantitative skills), internal (boss, peers) &external relationships (suppliers, customers)

D. Essential Elements and the American with Disabilities Act

Essential elements (those that cannot be reassigned to other workers) of thejob must be identified

reasonable accommodations must be made difficulty of specifying

E Level of Analysis

element (behavior): gather worksheetsinput data into spreadsheet

task: compute wagesverify entries/legal compliance

position: one person per position computingthe same set of tasks

job: similar positions across differentorganizations (ex. ER nurse)

occupation: jobs that are similar (ex. Nursing)

job family: occupations grouped together (ex. Health Care Professional)

sufficient to determine whether jobs are similar or different for payreasons

VI. HOW CAN THE INFORMATION BE COLLECTED

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A. Conventional Methods: Interviews

Questionnaire + interviews (most commons)ChecklistObservation/Sampling

Diary/Log

B. Quantitative Methods: Questionnaires

i. Functional Job Analysis

work performed

- worker functions (data, people, things)- work fields (99 categories, methods verbs/tools)- materials, products, subject materials, services

worker traits/characteristics

- training time- aptitudes- temperament- interests- physical demands

- extensive work done by DOL (Handbook for Analyzing Jobs)

ii. Task (Work) Data

- describes work/job in terms of actual tasks

iii. Behavioral Data

- describes jobs in behavioral terms (ex. PAQ)- advising, persuading (ex. power words in resume)

iv. Abilities Data

- describes work in terms of skills and knowledge required- psychomotor, physical, cognitive abilities

v. MPDQ

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vi. Computerized Analysis

C. Who Collects the Information?

Advantage Disadvantage

Analyst - highly trained - costly- consistent/accurate - time consuming- unbiased - limited org. knowledge

- may miss subtleties

Incumbent - does the job/ has insights - biased- least expensive - least trained/experienced

-acceptability

- may neglectsome

aspects- poor data standardn.

Supervisor - knowledgeable - has some bias- overall view of org. - time constraints

- less data standardization

D. Who Provides the Information?

supervisor & incumbent are involved top management support is critical for gaining cooperation of

employees

E. How To Resolve Discrepancies?

collect enough data to ensure consistent, accurate and acceptableresults

the more unique the job, the more sources of data will be required

VII. JOB DESCRIPTIONS SUMMARIZE THE DATA

The information collected is generally summarized into a standard format that shouldbe brief yet accurate job description

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Job description:

identifies the job by job title & number of incumbents defines the job thru a statement of purpose describes the job thru a summary of duties & responsibilities

A. Describing Managerial/Professional Jobs

job description of managerial jobs also include further explanations to thedimensions, scope & nature and accountabilities of the job

list the supervision required by the job how it fits into the firm results expected from the job

B. Verify the Description

verify the accuracy of the resulting job descriptions (final step) determine if the proposed job description is accurate & complete bycomparing interviewees as well as supervisors information

VIII. JOB ANALYSIS: BEDROCK OR BUREAUCRACY?

many firms are trying to be become more competitive by reducing their costs,using fewer employees to do a wider variety of tasks

streamlining job analysis and reducing the number of different jobs canreduce costs by making work assignments more fluid

IX. JUDGING JOB ANALYSIS

A. Reliability consistency of results/application of data analysts appear to be more reliable than employee-supervisors

B. Validity

difficult to establish convergence of different sources of data

C. Acceptability important for believability and internal equity

D. Practicality cost vs. usefulness of information

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X. A JUDGEMENT CALL

while job analysis can be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, there is no

satisfactory substitute for the job-related information to ensure that the resultingpay structure is work related and will provide reliable, accurate information forpay decisions.

judgement needed to determine how much detail is enough

XI. YOUR TURN: 3 Ms Dual Ladders

XII. YOUR TURN: Job Analysis