UNIT 2- PART 1

JOB ANALYSIS

1. Introduction

Job Analysis is a systematic exploration, study and recording the responsibilities,

duties, skills, accountabilities, work environment and ability requirements of a specific
job. It also involves determining the relative importance of the duties, responsibilities and
physical and emotional skills for a given job. All these factors identify what a job demands
and what an employee must possess to perform a job productively.

The process of job analysis involves in-depth investigation in order to control the output, i.e.,
get the job performed successfully. The process helps in finding out what a particular
department requires and what a prospective worker needs to deliver.

It also helps in determining particulars about a job including job title, job location, job
summary, duties involved, working conditions, possible hazards and machines, tools,
equipments and materials to be used by the existing or potential employee.

However, the process is not limited to determination of these factors only. It also extends to
finding out the necessary human qualifications to perform the job. These include establishing
the levels of education, experience, judgment, training, initiative, leadership skills, physical
skills, communication skills, responsibility, accountability, emotional characteristics and
unusual sensory demands. These factors change according to the type, seniority level,
industry and risk involved in a particular job.

2. Importance of Job Analysis

The details collected by conducting job analysis play an important role in controlling
the output of the particular job. Determining the success of job depends on the unbiased,
proper and thorough job analysis. It also helps in recruiting the right people for a particular
job. The main purpose of conducting this whole process is to create and establish a perfect
fit between the job and the employee.

Job analysis also helps HR managers in deciding the compensation package and additional
perks and incentives for a particular job position. It effectively contributes in assessing the
training needs and performance of the existing employees. The process forms the basis to
design and establish the strategies and policies to fulfill organizational goals and objectives.

However, analysis of a particular job does not guarantee that the managers or organization
would get the desired output. Actually collecting and recording information for a specific job
involves several complications.

Dr. Simran Kaur, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, MAIMS 1

If the job information is not accurate and checked from time to time, an employee will not be
able to perform his duty well. Until and unless he is not aware of what he is supposed to do
or what is expected of him, chances are that the time and energy spent on a particular job
analysis is a sheer wastage of human resources. Therefore, proper care should be taken while
conducting job analysis.

A thorough and unbiased investigation or study of a specific job is good for both the managers
and the employees. The managers get to know whom to hire and why. They can fill a place
with the right person. On the other hand, existing or potential employee gets to know what
and how he is supposed to perform the job and what is the desired output. Job analysis
creates a right fit between the job and the employee.

3. Purpose of Job Analysis

Job Analysis plays an important role in recruitment and selection, job evaluation, job
designing, deciding compensation and benefits packages, performance appraisal, analyzing
training and development needs, assessing the worth of a job and increasing personnel as
well as organizational productivity.

▪ Recruitment and Selection: Job Analysis helps in determining what kind of person
is required to perform a particular job. It points out the educational qualifications, level
of experience and technical, physical, emotional and personal skills required to carry
out a job in desired fashion. The objective is to fit a right person at a right place.
▪ Performance Analysis: Job analysis is done to check if goals and objectives of a
particular job are met or not. It helps in deciding the performance standards,

Dr. Simran Kaur, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, MAIMS 2

 evaluation criteria and individual’s output. On this basis, the overall performance of
an employee is measured and he or she is appraised accordingly.
▪ Training and Development: Job Analysis can be used to assess the training and
development needs of employees. The difference between the expected and actual
output determines the level of training that need to be imparted to employees. It also
helps in deciding the training content, tools and equipments to be used to conduct
training and methods of training.
▪ Compensation Management: Of course, job analysis plays a vital role in deciding the
pay packages and extra perks and benefits and fixed and variable incentives of
employees. After all, the pay package depends on the position, job title and duties and
responsibilities involved in a job. The process guides HR managers in deciding the
worth of an employee for a particular job opening.
▪ Job Designing and Redesigning: The main purpose of job analysis is to streamline
the human efforts and get the best possible output. It helps in designing, redesigning,
enriching, evaluating and also cutting back and adding the extra responsibilities in a
particular job. This is done to enhance the employee satisfaction while increasing the
human output.

Therefore, job analysis is one of the most important functions of an HR manager or

department. This helps in fitting the right kind of talent at the right place and at the right
time.

4. Job Analysis Process

▪ Identification of Job Analysis Purpose: Well any process is futile until its purpose is
not identified and defined. Therefore, the first step in the process is to determine its
need and desired output. Spending human efforts, energy as well as money is useless
until HR managers don’t know why data is to be collected and what is to be done with
it.
▪ Who Will Conduct Job Analysis: The second most important step in the process of
job analysis is to decide who will conduct it. Some companies prefer getting it done by
their own HR department while some hire job analysis consultants. Job analysis
consultants may prove to be extremely helpful as they offer unbiased advice, guidelines
and methods. They don’t have any personal likes and dislikes when it comes to analyze
a job.
▪ How to Conduct the Process: Deciding the way in which job analysis process needs
to be conducted is surely the next step. A planned approach about how to carry the
whole process is required in order to investigate a specific job.
▪ Strategic Decision Making: Now is the time to make strategic decision. It’s about
deciding the extent of employee involvement in the process, the level of details to be
collected and recorded, sources from where data is to be collected, data collection
methods, the processing of information and segregation of collected data.

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▪ Training of Job Analyst: Next is to train the job analyst about how to conduct the
process and use the selected methods for collection and recoding of job data.

▪ Preparation of Job Analysis Process: Communicating it within the organization is

the next step. HR managers need to communicate the whole thing properly so that

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 employees offer their full support to the job analyst. The stage also involves preparation
of documents, questionnaires, interviews and feedback forms.
▪ Data Collection: Next is to collect job-related data including educational qualifications
of employees, skills and abilities required to perform the job, working conditions, job
activities, reporting hierarchy, required human traits, job activities, duties and
responsibilities involved and employee behaviour.
▪ Documentation, Verification and Review: Proper documentation is done to verify the
authenticity of collected data and then review it. This is the final information that is
used to describe a specific job.
▪ Developing Job Description and Job Specification: Now is the time to segregate the
collected data in to useful information. Job Description describes the roles, activities,
duties and responsibilities of the job while job specification is a statement of
educational qualification, experience, personal traits and skills required to perform the
job.

Thus, the process of job analysis helps in identifying the worth of specific job, utilizing the
human talent in the best possible manner, eliminating unneeded jobs and setting realistic
performance measurement standards.

5. What to Collect during Job Analysis ?

Gathering job-related information involves lots of efforts and time. The process may become
cumbersome if the main objective of it is not known. Any information can be gathered and
recorded but may be hazardous for health and finances of an organization if it is not known
what is required and why.

Before starting to conduct a job analysis process, it is very necessary to decide what type of
content or information is to be collected and why. The purpose of this process may range
from uncovering hidden dangers to the organization or creating a right job-person fit,
establishing effective hiring practices, analyzing training needs, evaluating a job, analyzing
the performance of an employee, setting organizational standards and so on. Each one of
these objectives requires different type of information or content.

While gathering job-related content, a job analyst or the dedicated person should know the
purpose of the action and try to collect data as accurate as possible. Though the data
collected is later on divided in to two sets - job description and job specification but the
information falls in three different categories during the process of analyzing a specific job -
job content, job context and job requirements.

What to Collect ?

▪ Job Content
▪ Job Context
▪ Job Requirements

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a) Job Content: It contains information about various job activities included in a specific
job. It is a detailed account of actions which an employee needs to perform during his
tenure. The following information needs to be collected by a job analyst:

▪ Duties of an employee
▪ What actually an employee does
▪ Machines, tools and equipments to be used while performing a specific job
▪ Additional tasks involved in a job
▪ Desired output level (What is expected of an employee?)
▪ Type of training required

Fig 1.1 Categorization of Job Analysis Information

The content depends upon the type of job in a particular division or department. For
example, job content of a factory-line worker would be entirely different from that of a
marketing executive or HR personnel.

b) Job Context: Job context refers to the situation or condition under which an employee
performs a particular job. The information collection will include:

▪ Working Conditions
▪ Risks involved
▪ Whom to report
▪ Who all will report to him or her
▪ Hazards
▪ Physical and mental demands

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 ▪ Judgment

Well like job content, data collected under this category are also subject to change
according to the type of job in a specific division or department.

c) Job Requirements: These include basic but specific requirements which make a
candidate eligible for a particular job. The collected data includes:

▪ Knowledge or basic information required to perform a job successfully

▪ Specific skills such as communication skills, IT skills, operational skills, motor
skills, processing skills and so on
▪ Personal ability including aptitude, reasoning, manipulative abilities, handling
sudden and unexpected situations, problem-solving ability, mathematical
abilities and so on
▪ Educational Qualifications including degree, diploma, certification or license
▪ Personal Characteristics such as ability to adapt to different environment,
endurance, willingness, work ethic, eagerness to learn and understand things,
behaviour towards colleagues, subordinates and seniors, sense of belongingness
to the organization, etc

For different jobs, the parameters would be different. They depend upon the type of job,
designation, compensation grade and responsibilities and risks involved in a job.

6. Job Analysis Methods

Though there are several methods of collecting job analysis information yet choosing the one
or a combination of more than one method depends upon the needs and requirements of
organization and the objectives of the job analysis process.

Typically, all the methods focus on collecting the basic job-related information but when
used in combination may bring out the hidden or overlooked information and prove to be
great tools for creating a perfect job-candidate fit.

Selecting an appropriate job analysis method depends on the structure of the organization,
hierarchical levels, nature of job and responsibilities and duties involved in it.

So, before executing any method, all advantages and disadvantages should be analyzed
because the data collected through this process serves a great deal and helps organizations
cope with current market trends, organizational changes, high attrition rate and many other
day-to-day problems.

Most Common Methods of Job Analysis

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▪ Observation Method: A job analyst observes an employee and records all his
performed and non-performed task, fulfilled and un-fulfilled responsibilities and
duties, methods, ways and skills used by him or her to perform various duties and his
or her mental or emotional ability to handle challenges and risks. However, it seems
one of the easiest methods to analyze a specific job but truth is that it is the most
difficult one. Why? Let’s Discover.

It is due to the fact that every person has his own way of observing things. Different
people think different and interpret the findings in different ways.

Therefore, the process may involve personal biasness or likes and dislikes and may not
produce genuine results. This error can be avoided by proper training of job analyst or
whoever will be conducting the job analysis process.

This particular method includes three techniques: direct observation, Work Methods
Analysis and Critical Incident Technique.

The first method includes direct observation and recording of behaviour of an employee
in different situations.

The second involves the study of time and motion and is specially used for assembly-
line or factory workers. The third one is about identifying the work behaviours that
result in performance.

▪ Interview Method: In this method, an employee is interviewed so that he or she comes

up with their own working styles, problems faced by them, use of particular skills and
techniques while performing their job and insecurities and fears about their careers.

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 This method helps interviewer know what exactly an employee thinks about his or her
own job and responsibilities involved in it.

It involves analysis of job by employee himself. In order to generate honest and true
feedback or collect genuine data, questions asked during the interview should be
carefully decided. And to avoid errors, it is always good to interview more than one
individual to get a pool of responses. Then it can be generalized and used for the whole
group.

▪ Questionnaire Method: Another commonly used job analysis method is getting the
questionnaires filled from employees, their superiors and managers. However, this
method also suffers from personal biasness.

A great care should be takes while framing questions for different grades of employees.

In order to get the true job-related info, management should effectively communicate
it to the staff that data collected will be used for their own good. It is very important to
ensure them that it won’t be used against them in anyway. If it is not done properly, it
will be a sheer wastage of time, money and human resources.

These are some of the most common methods of job analysis. However, there are several
other specialized methods including task inventory, job element method, competency
profiling, technical conference, threshold traits analysis system and a combination of these
methods.

While choosing a method, HR managers need to consider time, cost and human efforts
included in conducting the process.

7. Problems with Job Analysis

▪ Lack of Management Support: The biggest problem arises when a job analyst does
not get proper support from the management. The top management needs to
communicate it to the middle level managers and employees to enhance the output or
productivity of the process. In case of improper communication, employees may take
it in a wrong sense and start looking out for other available options. They may have a
notion that this is being carried out to fire them or take any action against them. In
order to avoid such circumstances, top management must effectively communicate the
right message to their incumbents.
▪ Lack of Co-operation from Employees: If we talk about collecting authentic and
accurate job-data, it is almost impossible to get real and genuine data without the
support of employees. If they are not ready to co-operate, it is a sheer wastage of time,
money and human effort to conduct job analysis process. The need is to take the
workers in confidence and communicating that it is being done to solve their problems
only.

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 ▪ Inability to Identify the Need of Job Analysis: If the objectives and needs of job
analysis process are not properly identified, the whole exercise of investigation and
carrying out research is futile. Managers must decide in advance why this process is
being carried out, what its objectives are and what is to be done with the collected and
recorded data.

▪ Biasness of Job Analyst: A balanced and unbiased approach is a necessity while

carrying out the process of job analysis. To get real and genuine data, a job analyst
must be impartial in his or her approach. If it can’t be avoided, it is better to outsource
the process or hire a professional job analyst.
▪ Using Single Data Source: A job analyst needs to consider more than one sources of
data in order to collect true information. Collecting data from a single source may result
in inaccuracy and it therefore, defeats the whole purpose of conducting the job analysis
process.

However, this is not the end. There may be many other problems involved in a job analysis
process such as insufficient time and resources, distortion from incumbent, lack of proper
communication, improper questionnaires and other forms, absence of verification and review
of job analysis process and lack of reward or recognition for providing genuine and quality
information.

8. Advantages and Disadvantages of Job Analysis

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Advantages of Job Analysis

▪ Provides First Hand Job-Related Information: The job analysis process provides
with valuable job-related data that helps managers and job analyst the duties and
responsibilities of a particular job, risks and hazards involved in it, skills and abilities
required to perform the job and other related info.
▪ Helps in Creating Right Job-Employee Fit: This is one of the most crucial
management activities. Filling the right person in a right job vacancy is a test of skills,
understanding and competencies of HR managers. Job Analysis helps them
understand what type of employee will be suitable to deliver a specific job successfully.
▪ Helps in Establishing Effective Hiring Practices: Who is to be filled where and
when? Whom and how to target for a specific job opening? Job analysis process gives
answers to all these questions and helps managers in creating, establishing and
maintaining effective hiring practices.
▪ Guides through Performance Evaluation and Appraisal Processes: Job Analysis
helps managers evaluating the performance of employees by comparing the standard
or desired output with delivered or actual output. On these bases, they appraise their
performances. The process helps in deciding whom to promote and when. It also guides
managers in understanding the skill gaps so that right person can be fit at that
particular place in order to get desired output.
▪ Helps in Analyzing Training & Development Needs: The process of job analysis gives
answer to following questions:
▪ Who to impart training?
▪ When to impart training?
▪ What should be the content of training?
▪ What should be the type of training: behavioral or technical?
▪ Who will conduct training?
▪ Helps in Deciding Compensation Package for a Specific Job: A genuine and
unbiased process of job analysis helps managers in determining the appropriate
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 compensation package and benefits and allowances for a particular job. This is done
on the basis of responsibilities and hazards involved in a job.

Disadvantages of Job Analysis

▪ Time Consuming: The biggest disadvantage of Job Analysis process is that it is very
time consuming. It is a major limitation especially when jobs change frequently.
▪ Involves Personal Biasness: If the observer or job analyst is an employee of the same
organization, the process may involve his or her personal likes and dislikes. This is a
major hindrance in collecting genuine and accurate data.
▪ Source of Data is Extremely Small: Because of small sample size, the source of
collecting data is extremely small. Therefore, information collected from few individuals
needs to be standardized.
▪ Involves Lots of Human Efforts: The process involves lots of human efforts. As every
job carries different information and there is no set pattern, customized information is
to be collected for different jobs. The process needs to be conducted separately for
collecting and recording job-related data.
▪ Job Analyst May Not Possess Appropriate Skills: If job analyst is not aware of the
objective of job analysis process or does not possess appropriate skills to conduct the
process, it is a sheer wastage of company’s resources. He or she needs to be trained in
order to get authentic data.
▪ Mental Abilities Can not be Directly Observed: Last but not the least, mental
abilities such as intellect, emotional characteristics, knowledge, aptitude, psychic
and endurance are intangible things that can not be observed or measured
directly. People act differently in different situations. Therefore, general standards can
not be set for mental abilities.

9. Role of Job Analysis in Establishing Effective Hiring Practices

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A major change has been observed in the world of work since 1980s. The era of structured
jobs, packed or fixed work schedules, male-dominated working culture and no family
intruding started diminishing gradually.

Companies and employees around the world faced dramatic effects of modernization,
flexibility in work schedules, job sharing, work from home options and employee-supportive
policies, etc. All thanks to the then managers who analyzed the importance of fitting an
individual at a job he or she excelled at to increase the company turnover, employee
satisfaction and achieve a professional-personal life balance. And all this was possible by
analyzing the worth of a specific job and collecting genuine job-related data.

A proper job analysis, hence, may prove to be a turning point for an organization. It not
only creates the right job-candidate fit but also enhance the success of management
practices, which in turn, lays the foundation for a strong organization.

A step-by-step process of discovering the different aspects of a job results in a proper

regulation of incoming and outgoing of the talent or human resource. Job Analysis thus,
started gaining popularity in early 1990s in order to create competitive advantage and has
been considered as the basis for other HRM practices since then.

The data collected during the process helps managers in identifying the risks and challenges
involved in a specific job and kind of person suitable for delivering the desired duties
perfectly. An employer’s recruitment and selection process purely depends on job analysis.
Until the recruiting managers do not know about job to be performed, expectations from
prospective candidate and the right individual profile required for performing a specific job,
it is almost impossible to source or target talent or human resource in order to fill the
vacancy.

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Job analysis process helps in establishing effective hiring practices and guides
managers in identifying the selection criteria required to deliver the expected output.
Let’s discuss how.

10. How to Establish Effective Hiring Strategies?

▪ Identifying KRAs: Job Analysis process helps in identifying Key Result Areas/Key
Responsibilities Areas (KRAs) such as knowledge, technical, communication and
personal skills, mental, aptitude, physical and emotional abilities to perform a
particular task.

Different jobs have different requirements. Therefore, the process needs to be

performed every time when there is a requirement to fill the job opening. This is a basis
for developing questionnaires, devising interview questions and setting selection test
papers. The information in the form of scores or grades can then be used for hiring
process.

▪ Setting Selection Standards: Job Analysis also helps managers in setting certain
standards for selection process in terms of educational qualifications, work experience,
expertise, special skill sets, unusual sensory abilities, specific career track,
certifications and licenses and other legal requirements. This helps in identifying the
basic requirements that make a candidate eligible for a particular post.
▪ Identifying KSAs: The process also helps managers in determining Key Success Areas
or Key Performance Areas. These are performance measurement tools that are used by
companies around the world to measure those aspects that determine success of a job
such as organizational goals, individual goals and the actions required to achieve these
goals. This is about comparing the actual results delivered by an individual with pre-
set success factors and analyzing the performance. Once through, the whole process
may require few changes if achieved results are around the set standards. They may
require a complete change if there is a huge gap between the expected and delivered
results.

Therefore, a thorough and unbiased job analysis process can help organizations source right
candidates, hire the most suitable individual and set appropriate selection standards.

11. Job Analysis and Strategic HRM

Human Resource Management is the most critical function of any organization as it deals
with the most complicated problems - the people problems, especially when the organizations
are operating in highly competitive and uncertain environments.

Strategic HRM lays emphasis on developing and implementing policies and strategies in order
to get the desired output. Therefore, job analysis and strategic HRM are inter-related. In
fact, we can say, establishing a person-job-environment fit is the basic function of SHRM.

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Person-Job-Environment Fit

Job analysis demonstrates who can fit at a particular place and why. The process promotes
the alignment of other HR processes and functions. Additionally, it supports the
organizational strategy to deal with talent crisis and market competition.

The process of job analysis involves collecting job-related information and assembling it
together to design a corporate strategy that helps HR managers in determining whom to
target and how to fill a particular job vacancy.

It also creates linkages between other HR verticals including recruitment and selection,
training needs analysis, performance evaluation and appraisal, entry and exit of talent and
many more.

Strategic Human Resource Management endeavors to connect all these HR functions with
organizational goals, work quality, organizational culture, annual turnover and profit and
tapping resources for future organizational needs.

SHRM is basically concerned with the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of an
organization.

The identification of organization’s competencies and flaws is extremely crucial for its
success. It provides a clear vision to managers to source, recruit and retain people, develop
their skills and competency, address their issues and concerns, motivate people to produce
desired output and ensure future planning.

Inter-relationship between Job Analysis and SHRM

Job Analysis, being an integral part of strategic planning, provides a detailed analysis of tasks
and responsibilities, risks and hazards, functions and duties, tools and equipments to be
used and the expected output.

The main objective of conducting the process is to understand who to fit at a particular place
to get the work done. Whereas, the fundamental aim of Strategic Human Resource
Management is to determine how to exploit human capital to achieve organizational goals.

Job Analysis deals in determining the training needs analysis of employees to get the
desired output whereas SHRM decides upon the training content, when and how to train the
employees to increase the output to achieve higher business profits.

To successfully plan the future strategies of a company, the process of job analysis serves as
the basis. If information collected during the process is genuine, managers can make effective
strategies and policies in advance and can remain pro-active to deal with unforeseen
situations.

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The main aim of conducting job analysis process is to determine the things affecting human
behaviour in an organization. The idea is to find out if they are competent enough to perform
the assigned job successfully or they need to be placed somewhere else.

Strategic Human Resource Management is all about making strategies and policies to place
right person at the right place and at the right time to get the maximum out of an employee. In
other way, it is concerned about optimal utilization of human resources.

12. Job Description and Job Specification

Job Analysis is a primary tool to collect job-related data. The process results in collecting
and recording two data sets including job description and job specification.

Any job vacancy can not be filled until and unless HR manager has these two sets of data. It
is necessary to define them accurately in order to fit the right person at the right place and
at the right time. This helps both employer and employee understand what exactly needs to
be delivered and how.

Both job description and job specification are essential parts of job analysis information.
Writing them clearly and accurately helps organization and workers cope with many
challenges while onboard.

Though preparing job description and job specification are not legal requirements yet play a
vital role in getting the desired outcome. These data sets help in determining the necessity,
worth and scope of a specific job.

13. Job Description

Job description includes basic job-related data that is useful to advertise a specific job and
attract a pool of talent.

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It includes information such as job title, job location, reporting to and of employees, job
summary, nature and objectives of a job, tasks and duties to be performed, working
conditions, machines, tools and equipments to be used by a prospective worker and hazards
involved in it.

Purpose of Job Description

▪ The main purpose of job description is to collect job-related data in order to advertise
for a particular job. It helps in attracting, targeting, recruiting and selecting the right
candidate for the right job.
▪ It is done to determine what needs to be delivered in a particular job. It clarifies what
employees are supposed to do if selected for that particular job opening.
▪ It gives recruiting staff a clear view what kind of candidate is required by a particular
department or division to perform a specific task or job.
▪ It also clarifies who will report to whom.

14. Job Specification

Also known as employee specifications, a job specification is a written statement of

educational qualifications, specific qualities, level of experience, physical, emotional,
technical and communication skills required to perform a job, responsibilities involved in a
job and other unusual sensory demands. It also includes general health, mental health,
intelligence, aptitude, memory, judgment, leadership skills, emotional ability, adaptability,
flexibility, values and ethics, manners and creativity, etc.

Purpose of Job Specification

▪ Described on the basis of job description, job specification helps candidates analyze
whether are eligible to apply for a particular job vacancy or not.
▪ It helps recruiting team of an organization understand what level of qualifications,
qualities and set of characteristics should be present in a candidate to make him or
her eligible for the job opening.
▪ Job Specification gives detailed information about any job including job
responsibilities, desired technical and physical skills, conversational ability and much
more.
▪ It helps in selecting the most appropriate candidate for a particular job.

Job description and job specification are two integral parts of job analysis. They define a job
fully and guide both employer and employee on how to go about the whole process of
recruitment and selection. Both data sets are extremely relevant for creating a right fit
between job and talent, evaluate performance and analyze training needs and measuring
the worth of a particular job.

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General and Specific Purpose of Job Description

Job description is all about collecting and recording basic job-related data that includes job
title, job location, job summary, job duties, reporting information, working conditions, tools,
machines and equipments to be used and hazards and risks involved in it. A job description
may or may not have specific purpose. It depends on what HR managers want to determine
and what is the objective of conducting the process of job analysis.

Job Description is a summary of job analysis findings that helps managers determine what
an employee is supposed to do when onboard. The purpose of job description depends on
the level of details the job findings include. Job description carried for general purpose
typically involves job identification (title, designation, location) and a statement of duties and
functions of a prospective or existing employee. A specifically carried job description includes
detailed information about the kind of job, how it is supposed to be performed and what is
expected to be delivered. Let’s discuss the general and specific purpose of conducting a job
description process.

General Purpose of Job Description

General purpose job descriptions are used by organizations to find the very basic information
about a particular job opening. Though data includes worker’s duties but does not contain
sub tasks, performance standards and basis for evaluating jobs and establishing right
compensation packages.

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Advantages

The main benefit of general purpose job description is that it does not consume much time
and quickly provides basic information to managers. It does not require much human efforts
and is very easy and convenient to carry out. Additionally, a job analyst does not have to
conduct deep research to gather the required details.

Disadvantages

The main disadvantage of general purpose job description is that it does not provide
managers with full-fledged information about job context and sub tasks. Sometimes, a
manager may fail to extract correct information from such small amount of data.

Specific Purpose of Job Description

Specific purpose job description includes detailed information about job responsibilities of
an employee. It also covers sub tasks, essential functions and detailed job duties. It involves
huge amount of details such as what an employee needs to do, how it is to be done and what
are the performance standards, etc.

Advantages

The main benefit of specific purpose job description is that it offers ample information to
evaluate job performance and determine training needs of employees. It serves as a basis for
all other HR processes including recruitment and selection, performance appraisal,
compensation decision and many more.

Disadvantages

Though it assists managers in decision making process but it has its own limitations. The
process, however, may take very long and consume lots of human efforts. Since, it involves
collecting detailed information; the biased nature of job analyst can cause severe problems.
The data collected may not be 100 percent genuine.

Therefore, it can be said that information collected during job analysis defines the purpose
of job description. If data collected is extremely basic, it will serve only the general purpose
and therefore, can not be used for making management decisions. On the other hand,
detailed data serves the specific purpose and can be easily used while making important
decisions.

Dr. Simran Kaur, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, MAIMS 19