6-1

Chapter 6

Job Analysis and Design

6-2

Introduction

 Organizations evolved because

 The mission and objectives of most institutions
are too large for any one person to accomplish
 There must be a systematic way to determine
which employees should perform which tasks
 The cornerstone of an organization is the set of
jobs performed by its employees
6-3

Introduction

Job analysis is vital to any HRM program

and answers such questions as…

How long does it take to complete important tasks?

Which tasks are grouped together as a job?

Can a job be designed so that performance is enhanced?

What behaviors are needed to perform the job?

What traits and experience suit a person to the job?

Can job analysis information help develop HRM programs?

6-4

The Vocabulary of Job Analysis

 Many use the terms of job analysis interchangeably
 Experts use them precisely, to avoid confusion and
misinterpretation
 Precision is required by federal and state legislation

 Definitions provided by the federal government:

 Job analysis: a purposeful, systematic process for
collecting information on the important work-related
aspects of a job
 Job description: the principal product of a job analysis.
It represents a written summary of the job as an
identifiable organizational unit
6-5

The Vocabulary of Job Analysis

 Job specification: a written explanation of the
knowledge, skills, abilities, traits, and other
characteristics (KSAOs) necessary for effective
performance on a given job
 Tasks:
Coordinated and aggregated series of work
elements used to produce an output
 Position: the responsibilities and duties performed by an
individual. There are as many positions in an organization
as there are employees
 Job:group of positions that are similar in their duties,
such as computer programmer
 Job family: group of jobs that have similar duties
6-6

The Steps in Job Analysis

6-7

The Steps in Job Analysis

Recruitment The data Job design/

collected is the redesign
foundation for
Selection other HRM Compensation
activities

Training Performance
evaluation
6-8

The Uses of Job Analysis

 There may no longer be a choice about whether job

analysis should be conducted
 Guidelines and judicial recommendations regarding
civil rights and EEO laws are clear
 The question is how to conduct a legally defensible
job analysis
 Jobanalysis plays an important role in the Uniform
Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978)
 A set of policies designed to minimize or prevent
workplace discrimination practices
6-9

The Uses of Job Analysis

Job
Jobanalysis
analysisisiscritical
criticalto
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assessmentsof
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mostemployment-
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must…
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Yieldaathorough,
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jobdescription
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Assess
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importanceof
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andKSAOs
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Determine
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6-10

The Uses of Job Analysis

To minimize
Job analysis uses
resistance…

1. Recruitment and 1. Communicate why

selection job analysis is
important
2. Training & career
development 2. Explain how the
information will be
3. Compensation
used
4. Strategic planning
6-11

Who Should Conduct the Job Analysis?

Decided during the planning process

Hire a temporary Use supervisors,

Employ a full-time
analyst from the job incumbents,
job analyst
outside or both

Strengths and weaknesses

Incumbents know Involvement may

Incumbents have
what work is increase
a hard time being
actually being acceptance of
objective
done work changes
6-12

Who Should Conduct the Job Analysis?

Location and Thoroughly

complexity of the jobs understand people,
How receptive jobs, and the total
incumbents are to organization system
an external analyst Understand how work
The ultimate purpose should flow within the
of the analysis organization

Affects choice of analyst Selected person should…

6-13

The Use of Charts

An overview of the organization

and its jobs is required
Before beginning job
analysis… Provides understanding of work flow

Line and staff functions

An organization chart
Number of vertical organizational levels
presents the
relationships among
departments and units Number of functional departments
of the firm, as well as
Formal reporting relationships
6-14

The Use of Charts

A process chart shows how a

specific set of jobs relate to
each other
 Does not show structural
relationships among jobs
 Shows the activities and
work necessary to produce
a desired product or service
6-15

Methods of Data Collection

Observation
Observation

Job
Job data
data Interview
Interview
collection
collection
data
data Questionnaires
Questionnaires
Incumbent
Incumbent diaries
diaries or
or logs
logs

Collected
Collected
In
In each
each
method, Studied
Studied in
in terms
terms of
of tasks
tasks completed
completed
method, jobjob (job-oriented
information
information (job-oriented analysis)
analysis)
is…
is…
Analyzed
Analyzed in
in terms
terms of
of behaviors
behaviors
(work-oriented)
(work-oriented)
6-16

Methods of Data Collection

The job analysis information format (JAIF) provides

core information for any job analysis method

Questionnaire answers are

Provides a thorough picture
used to structure the data
of the job, job duties, and
collection technique
requirements
selected

Incumbents and supervisors may not

view a job in the same way

Don’t assume that all

Collect information from a
have the same amount
variety of incumbents
of job knowledge
6-17

Direct Observation

 Used for jobs that require manual, standardized,

and short-job-cycle activities
 Not used if job involves significant mental activity

 Job analysts must be trained to:

 Observe relevant job behaviors
 Be as unobtrusive as possible
6-18

Interviews
 Interviewing job incumbents is often done in
combination with observation
 The most widely used technique
 Allows the job analyst to talk with job incumbent

 Interviews can be conducted with a:

 Single incumbent
 Group of incumbents
 Supervisor who is familiar with the job

A structured set of questions is used so answers

can be compared
6-19

Interviews

Interviews are difficult to standardize

Different interviewers may ask different questions

The same interviewer might ask

different questions of different respondents
Information may be unintentionally
distorted by the interviewer
Costs can be high, especially if group
interviews aren’t practical
6-20

Questionnaires
 Questionnaires are the least costly data
collection method
 They collect large amounts of data in a short
time
 A structured questionnaire includes specific
questions about the job, working conditions,
and equipment
 An open-ended format permits job incumbents
to use their own words and ideas to describe
the job
 Theformat and structure of a questionnaire are
debatable issues
6-21

Questionnaires

Keep it
short Keep it simple
To
Tomake
makeaa
questionnaire
questionnaire
easier
easier to
touse
use
Explain what it Test it before
is being used for using it
6-22

Job Incumbent Diary or Log

 The diary or log is a recording by incumbents of
 Job duties
 Frequency of the duties
 When the duties are accomplished

 Most people are not disciplined enough to

keep a log
 Kept properly, the log permits an examination of
routine duties and exceptions
 The diary or log is useful when analyzing jobs that
are difficult to observe
6-23

Which Method to Use?

There
Thereisisno
noagreement
agreement Interviews should not be the sole
about
aboutwhich
whichmethod
methodof of data collection method
job
jobanalysis
analysisyields
yieldsthe
the
best Certain methods may be better
bestinformation
information
for a given situation

The purpose of the analysis

Most
Mostorganizations
organizations
base
basetheir
theirchoice
choiceon…
on…
Time and budget constraints
6-24

Which Method to Use?

 Many organizations use multimethod job analysis
 The analyst interviews incumbents and supervisors
in conjunction with on-site observation
 A task survey based on expert judgments is
constructed and administered
 A statistical analysis of the responses is conducted

A comprehensive process is relatively expensive

and time-consuming
 The quality of information derived from a compre-
hensive approach is strongly endorsed by courts
6-25

Popular Quantitative Techniques

Functional
Functional
job
job analysis
analysis

Position
Position analysis
analysis
questionnaire
questionnaire

Management
Management
position
position description
description
questionnaire
questionnaire
6-26

Job Descriptions and Specifications

 The job description is one of the primary outputs of a
systematic job analysis
 It is a written description of what the job entails
 It is hard to over-emphasize how important thorough,
accurate, and current job descriptions are
 Changes in recent years have increased the need for job
descriptions
 Massive organizational restructurings
 Need for new, creative ways to motivate and reward workers
 Accelerated rate at which technology is changing work
environments
 New, more stringent regulation of employment practices
6-27

Job Descriptions and Specifications

There is no standard format for a job description,

but most include…

Job title

Summary

Equipment

Environment

Activities

A job specification evolves from the job description

6-28

Job Descriptions and Specifications

R. J. Harvey’s guidelines for choosing the characteristics

included on a job specification

Job tasks must be Experts, incumbents, or

identified and rated in supervisors should specify
terms of importance, using the skills needed to
sound analysis techniques perform job tasks

The Any other characteristics Each skill

importance necessary for performing the job identified
of each skill should be identified must be
must be (physical requirements, linked to a
rated professional certification) job task
6-29

Job Descriptions and Specifications

 Any trait or skill stated on the job specification
should be required for performance of the job
 The Americans with Disabilities Act makes the
job analyst’s responsibilities even greater in this
area
 Differentiate between essential and nonessential
skills
 Essential skills are those for which alternative
ways of accomplishing the job are not possible
 Nonessential skills can be accommodated by
changing the work methods of the job
6-30

Job Analysis and Strategic HRM

The fundamental nature of work may be changing

Functional areas are not as important as

they once were for defining a job
After reengineering of processes, new job
responsibilities may be poorly defined
Organizations must continually adapt to changing
business environments
Reengineering is likely in most organizations
Job analysts create descriptions of jobs as they currently
exist; they must also describe future jobs
6-31

Job Analysis and Strategic HRM

There is a growing need to match human resource

activities to an organization’s strategic planning

Job specifications must accurately detail the knowledge and

skills that will complement future strategic initiatives

Job descriptions will no longer be snapshots of a static job

Strategic job analysis will have to capture

both the present and the future
6-32

Job Analysis and Strategic HRM

Compounding the problems of

reengineering, many companies offer
employees:
 Compressed work schedules
 Telecommuting
 Job sharing
 Flexible hours
6-33

Job Analysis & Employee Competencies

 Competencies are general attributes

employees need across multiple jobs or
within the organization
 Includes anything from “teamwork” to
“leadership potential”
 Many organizations identify, communicate,
and reward competencies they believe
employees should have
6-34

Job Analysis & Employee Competencies

Competency
Competency modeling
modeling reflects
reflects an
an organization’s
organization’s
desire
desire to…
to…

Describe and Design and

Communicate job measure the implement staffing
requirements in organization’s programs around
ways that extend workforce in competencies,
beyond the job general, rather than jobs,
itself competency- to increase
based terms staffing flexibility
6-35

Job Design

Job descriptions and specifications can be

used for designing or redesigning jobs

There is no one best way to design a job

Different situations call for different arrangements

of job characteristics
Different emphasis may be placed on performance
and satisfaction as desired outcomes
A single approach is unlikely to satisfy
all a manager’s goals

The choice of job design involves trade-offs based on the

critical needs of the organization
6-36

Job Design

Perceptual-motor
Perceptual-motor Biological
Biological

Approaches to Work Design

Mechanistic
Mechanistic Motivational
Motivational
6-37

Job Enrichment: A Motivational Approach

 Jobenrichment tries to design jobs in ways that

help incumbents satisfy their need for:
 Growth
 Recognition
 Responsibility

 The job is expanded vertically

 Employees are given responsibility that might
previously have been part of a supervisor’s job
 According to Herzberg, employees are motivated
by jobs that enhance their feelings of self-worth
6-38

Job Enrichment: A Motivational Approach

Skill
Skill variety
variety Feedback
Feedback

A
A job
job must
must possess
possess
“core
“core dimensions”
dimensions” toto
lead
lead to
to desired
desired
outcomes
outcomes

Task
Task Autonomy
Autonomy
identity
identity
Task
Task
significance
significance
6-39

Job Enrichment: A Motivational Approach

6-40

Work-Family Balance and Job Design

Work-family
Work-family tension
tension is
is Some
Some organizations
organizations
driven
driven by
by changing
changing meet
meet employees’
employees’
workforce
workforce needs
needs through
through flexible
flexible
demographics
demographics work
work arrangements
arrangements

1.
1. Women
Women and
and single
single 1.
1. Job
Job sharing
sharing
parents
parents entering
entering the
the 2.
2. Flextime
Flextime
workforce
workforce
2. 3.
3. Telecommuting
Telecommuting
2. Dual-career
Dual-career couples
couples
3.
3. The
The aging
aging population
population
6-41

Work-Family Balance and Job Design

 Benefits of family-friendly
arrangements:
 Higher recruitment
and retention rates
 Improved morale
 Lower absenteeism
and tardiness
 Higher employee
productivity
6-42

Work-Family Balance and Job Design

 The success of job sharing depends on:

 Identifying jobs that can be shared
 Understanding employees’ individual sharing style
 Matching “partners” who have complementary
scheduling needs and skills
 With flextime, employees can choose when to be
at the office
 5 days/8 hours
 4 days/10 hours
 Arrive later on Monday, leave earlier on Friday
6-43

Work-Family Balance and Job Design

 Telecommuting allows employees to work

at home part- or full-time
 Communication is through phone, fax, computer
 Often resisted by managers who fear loss of control
and subordinate accessibility
6-44

Work-Family Balance and Job Design

Issues
Issuesto
toconsider
considerwhen
when developing
developing and
and
implementing
implementingflexible
flexiblework
workoptions
options

Open the program to all employees

Train/reward managers for encouraging

subordinates to use flextime

Be mindful of laws that impact flexible

work arrangement policies