Chapter 4

Job Analysis and Design

After reading this chapter, you

should be able to:

Understand the features and

purpose of a job analysis process.
List the techniques of data
collection.
Differentiate between job
description and job specification.

After reading this chapter, you

should be able to (contd.):

List the role of the environment in

influencing job design.
Enumerate the critical
components of a job design.
List the recent trends in a job
design.

What is job analysis ?

Job analysis is a process of gathering
relevant information about various
aspects of a job, including its content,
context and the job performers skill
requirements.

Features of job analysis

Identification of tasks required to be

performed.
Defining the role, context, conditions,
human behaviour, performance standards
and responsibilities.
Establishing the jobs worth to an
organization.
Establishes job-relatedness.

Features of job analysis (contd.)

Assists in the resource management
and strategy formulation.
Developing a job profile for each job
and acts.
Identifying the appropriate job for each
employee.
Better understanding of the impact of
environmental changes on individual
jobs.

Features of job analysis (contd.)

Identifying and removing unnecessary skills

and other requirements for a job.
Job improvements through job
reengineering and job enlargement.
Job improvements through job
reengineering and job enlargement.

Goals of job analysis

Goals of job analysis (contd.)

Job evaluation
Job design and redesign
Job classification
Job description and job specification
HR planning

Goals of job analysis (contd.)

Recruitment and selection
Training and development
Performance evaluation
Wages and salary administration
Safety and health
Industrial relations
Legal requirements

Job analysis process

Job analysis process (contd.)

Determining the purpose of job
analysis.
Gathering background information
about the job.
Choosing representative jobs for
analysis.
Collecting relevant job information.

Job analysis process (contd.)

Reviewing the information gathered.
Developing of job description and job
specification.

Techniques of data collection

Techniques of data collection

(contd.)
Questionnaire method
Job performance method
Observation method
Critical incident method (CIT)
Interview method
Diary maintenance method
Technical conference method

Types of questionnaires

Types of questionnaires (contd.)

Position Analysis Questionnaire

(PAQ) model.
Functional Job Analysis (FJA)
model.
Management Position Description
Questionnaire (MPDQ) model.
Work Profiling System (WPS) model.

Types of questionnaires
(contd.)
Multipurpose Occupational Systems
Analysis Inventory-closed Ended
Questionnaire (MOSAIC) model.
Common Metric Questionnaire (CMQ)
model.
Fleishman Job Analysis System
(FJAS) model.

Job description
Job description is a document that
specifies the tasks, duties, and
responsibilities of the job and should
certainly be relevant and accurate
Clyde E. Witt

Components of a job
description statement
Job title
Alternate title (if any)
Job purpose (general purpose of the
job)
Code number (job identification
number)
Job holder title (title of the holder of
this job.)

Components of a job description

statement (contd.)
Job location
Job type (full-time/part-time)
Department/office (where this job is
located.)
Reporting authority (job title to which
this job should report)
No. of staff under this post (number
and name of the job titles to be
controlled by this job)

Components of a job description

statement (contd.)

Job summary (a brief description about the

job)
Job duties (day-to-day tasks to be
performed)
Authority limits

Working conditions required

Components of a job description

statement (contd.)
Technical requirements
Skills required for the job (minimum
skills and competencies required for
performing the job)
Experience required for the job
(minimum experience required for the
performance of the job)

Components of a job description

statement (contd.)
Special circumstances (information
about night shifts, overtime, extensive
travelling, etc.)
Special requirements (special tools
and equipment requirements for the
job)

Job specification
Job specification is the process of
inferring the human trait requirements
presumed to be necessary for
successful job performance.

R. Harvey and M. Wilson

Broad titles in job specification

Education and training
Work experience
Skills and competencies
Physical strength and stamina
Stress-coping ability
Special needs

Pro forma job specification

statement
Position title (title and designation of the
job holder in the job).
Department/office (where the job holder
would be posted).
Educational qualifications and training
requirements.
Experience (minimum number of years of
experience the candidate must possess).

Pro forma job specification

statement (contd.)

Work-based skills and competencies

required.
Behavioural skills and talents
required (skills necessary for team
work, effective leadership,
diagnosing the problems, motivating
oneself and others, effective
communication, etc.).

Pro forma job specification

statement (contd.)

Other attributes required (special

qualities required for the performance
of this job).

Challenges affecting the

effectiveness of job analysis
Employees anxiety
Management attitude towards job
analysis
Undue importance to job holders
Environmental influence
Absence of follow-up action

Job design
Job design is the process of
determining the specific tasks to be
performed, the methods used in
performing these tasks, and how the
job relates to other work in the
organization.
R. Wayne Mondy

Environmental influence on job

design
Ergonomics
Characteristics of task structure
Task assortment
Level of autonomy and responsibility
Practices

Environmental influence on job

design (contd.)
Recognition and support
Technological developments
Strength of the union
Corporate culture
Working conditions

Recent trends in job design

E-commuting- E-commuting is a kind
of work system in which the distance
barrier is overcome by means of
telecommunication.
It allows the employees to perform
their jobs without being present in
office.

Recent trends in job design

(contd.)
Flexi-time work- In this method,
employees enjoy the freedom to
choose their flexible starting and
ending time of work within the
scheduled working hours of the firm.
The individual working hours are
determined as per the convenience of
each employee.

Job enrichment
Job enrichment refers to the
development of work practices which
challenge and motivate the
employees to perform better.

Strategies for job enrichment

Self-managing teams

Self-managing teams have the overall

responsibility for the accomplishment
of work or goal preparatory
requirements for self-managing teams
Work mapping
Determining the size of the team
Leadership development
Fixing the team norms

Job rotation
Job rotation refers to moving
employees from one job to another in
a predetermined way.
It enables an employee to perform
diverse roles and gain exposure to the
techniques and challenges of doing
several jobs.

Job reengineering
Job reengineering is the process of
streamlining jobs in the form of
combining a few jobs into one,
redistributing the tasks among various
jobs and reallocation of resources.

Job reengineering process

Job reengineering process involves

Pattern breaking
Realigning with corporate goals

Abolition of power structure

Job reengineering process

(contd.)
Work flow redesigning
Enhancing IT applications
Redefining titles and positions
Establishing a learning organization
Performance-based incentives and
rewards

Job enlargement
Job enlargement aims at making the
job more attractive by increasing the
operations performed by a person in
the job.
It transforms the jobs to include more
and/or different tasks.
Enlargement is of two types and these
are
Horizontal enlargement
Vertical enlargement

Participative management
Participative management means
allowing employees to play a greater
part in the decision-making process.
It helps in improving the quality of
work life, job enrichment, quality
circles, total quality management and
empowerment.

Peer performance review

In this method, team members

evaluate one anothers performance.
Thus, performance appraisal for
employees becomes more
personalized and is conducted on a
regular basis.

High performance work design

Characteristics of high performance work
system are
Presence of highly skilled, dynamic and
loyal employees.
Existence of flat, flexible and modern
management.
Capability to preserve the experienced and
skilled employees for a long time.
Existence of harmonious industrial
relations.

High performance work design

(contd.)
Presence of full-fledged self-managed
teams.
Existence of supportive rather than
autocratic style of leadership and
management.
Payments system count on both team
performance and individual skills.