What are the Steps in Job Analysis
The seven steps of job analysis are:
The seven steps of job analysis |
1.
Determine
the Use of the Job Analysis Information: Start by identifying the use to
which the information will be put since this will determine the type of data
you collect and the technique you use to collect them.
2.
Collection
of Background Information: According
to Terry, “The make-up of a job, its relation to other jobs, and its
requirements for competent performance are essential information needed for a
job evaluation. This information can be had by reviewing available background
information such as organization charts (which show how the job in question
relates to other jobs and where they fit into the overall organization); class
specifications (which describe the general requirements of the class of job to
which the job under analysis belongs); and the existing job descriptions which
provide a starting point from which to build the revised job description”.
3.
Selection
of Jobs for Analysis: To do job analysis is a costly and time-consuming
process. It is hence, necessary to select a representative sample of jobs for
purposes of analysis. Priorities for various jobs can also be determined. A job
may be selected because it has undergone undocumented changes in job content.
The request for analysis of a job may originate with the employee, supervisor,
or manager.
When the employee requests an analysis it is usually because
new job demands have not been reflected in changes in wages. Employee’s
salaries are, in part, based on the nature of the work that they perform.
Some organizations establish a time cycle
for the analysis of each job. For example, A job analysis may be required
for all jobs every three years. New jobs must also be subjected to analysis.
4.
Collection
of Job Analysis Data: Job data on features of the job, requited employee
qualifications and requirements, should be collected either from the employees
who actually perform a job; or from other employees (such as foremen or
supervisors) who watch the workers doing a job and thereby acquiring knowledge
about it; or from the outside persons, known as the trade job analysis who are
appointed to watch employees performing a job. The duties of such a trade job
analyst are (i) to outline the complete scope of a job and to consider all the
physical and mental activities involved in determining what the worker does.;
(ii) find out why a worker does a job; and for this purpose, he studies why each
task is essential for the overall result; and (iii) the skill factor which may
be needed in the worker to differentiate between jobs and establish the extent
of the difficulty of any job.
5.
Processing
the Information: Once job analysis information has been collected, the
next step is to place it in a form that will make it useful to those charged
with the various personnel functions. Several issues arise from
this. First, how much detail is needed? Second, can the job analysis
information be expressed in quantitative terms? These must be considered
properly.
6.
Preparing
Job Descriptions and Job Classifications: Job information that has
been collected must be processed to prepare the job description form. It is a
statement showing full details of the activities of the job. Separate job
description forms may be used for various activities in the job and maybe
compiled later on. The job analysis is made with the help of these description
forms. These forms may be used as references for the future.
7.
Developing
Job Specifications: Job specifications
are also prepared based on information collected. It is a statement of
minimum acceptable qualities of the person to be placed on the job. It
specifies the standard by which the qualities of the person are measured. A job analyst prepares such statement by taking into consideration the skills required
in performing the job properly. Such a statement is used in selecting a person
matching the job.
Methods for Collecting Job Analysis Data
As discussed earlier, information is to be collected for job
analysis. Such information may be collected by the trained job analysis,
superiors concerned, and job holders themselves. Job information is collected
through the following methods:
1.
Participant
Diary/Logs: Workers can be to keep participant diary/long lists of
things they do during the day. For every activity he or she engages in, the
employee records the activity (along with the time) in a log. This can provide you
with a very comprehensive picture of the job, especially when it’s supplemented
with subsequent interviews with the worker and his or her supervisor. This
method provides more accurate information if done faithfully. However, it is
quite time-consuming. Further, each job holder may maintain records according
to his own way which presents problems in analysis at a later stage. Therefore,
it has limited application.
2.
Interview: There are
three types of interviews you can use to collect job analysis data: individual
interviews with each employee; group interviews with groups of employees having
the same job; and supervisor interviews with one or more supervisors who are
thoroughly knowledgeable about the job being analyzed. The group interview is
used when a large number of employees are performing similar or identical work since this can be a quick and inexpensive way of learning about the job. As a
rule, the worker’s immediate supervisor would attend the group session; if not,
you should interview the supervisor separately to get that person’s perspective
on the duties and responsibilities of the job.
3.
Critical Incidents: In this
method, job holders are asked to describe incidents concerning the job based on their past experience. The incidents so collected are analyzed and
classified according to the job areas they describe, A fair picture of actual
job requirements can be obtained by distinguishing between effective and
ineffective behaviors of workers on the job. However, this method is time-consuming.
The analyst requires a high degree of skill to analyze the
contents of descriptions given by workers.
4.
Technical
Conference Method: This method utilizes supervisors with extensive
knowledge of the job. Here, specific characteristics of a job are obtained from
the “experts.” Although it is a good data gathering method, it often overlooks
the incumbent worker’s perception about what they do on their job.
5.
Job
Performance: Under this method,
the job analyst actually performs the job understudy to get first-hand
experience of the actual tasks, and physical and social demands of the job.
This method can be used only for jobs where skill requirements are low and can
be learned quickly and easily. This is a time-consuming method and is not
appropriate for jobs requiring extensive training.
6.
Functional
Job Analysis: Functional job analysis (JFA) is an employee- an oriented
analytical approach to job analysis. This approach attempts to describe the
whole person on the job. The main features of JFA include the following:
•
The extent to which specific instruction is necessary
to perform the task
•
The extent to which reasoning and judgment are
required to perform the task
•
The mathematical ability required to perform the task
and
•
The verbal and language facilities required to perform
the task.
7.
Observation
Method: Using this method, a job analyst watches employees directly
on the job. Observations are made on various tasks, activities, the pace at
which tasks are carried out, and the way different activities are performed.
This method is suitable for jobs that involve manual, standardized, and short
job cycle activities. This method also requires that the entire range of
activities be observable; possible with some jobs.
8.
Questionnaires:
The method is usually employed by engineering consultants. Properly
drafted questionnaires are sent out to job-holders for completion and are
returned to supervisors. However, the information received is often unorganized
and incoherent. The idea of issuing a questionnaire is to elicit the necessary
information from job –holders so that any error may first be discussed with the
employee and, after corrections, may be submitted to the job analyst.
|
Questionnaire
for Job Analysis |
1. |
Your Name ………..………..………..………..………..………..……….. |
2. |
Title or Designation of your job ………………………………………… |
3. |
Regular or Extra ………………………………………………………… |
4. |
Your Department ………………………………………………………. |
5. |
To whom do you report directly (Name and Title):
……………………… |
6. |
Description of work:
(a) Daily
Duties: (b) Periodical
Duties: (c) Occasional
Duties: |
7. |
Your knowledge Requirements: (A)
Store Procedure and Methods: (B)
Merchandise: |
8. |
What Equipment do you use? |
9. |
What Materials do you work with or sell? |
10. |
If you supervise the work of others, state how many
and what their jobs are. |
11. |
To what job would you normally expect to be
promoted? |
12. |
From what job were you transferred to your present
job? |
This technique is time-consuming and generally does not yield
satisfactory results because many employees do not complete the questionnaire
or furnish incorrect information because of their own limitations. The use of a questionnaire is recommended only in the case of those technical jobs where the job
contents are not completely known to the supervisor or the operation is too
complex to observe.
There are certain standardized questionnaires developed by a
few agencies which are used by various organizations for job analysis. Most of
these questionnaires are of two types: position analysis questionnaire and
management position description questionnaire they are described as follows:
a. Position
Analysis Questionnaire. The position analysis questionnaire (PAQ) is a highly specialized instrument for
analyzing a job in terms of employee activities. The PAQ developed by Purdue
University is a comprehensive questionnaire for collecting information for job
analysis.
In this questionnaire, various job elements have been grouped
into six categories with each category containing relevant job elements
resulting in 195 elements as shown in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1: Position
Analysis Questionnaire
Job
Aspects |
No. of
elements |
Information
input - Where and how do employees get information to do their job? |
35 |
Mental
processes- what reasoning, planning, organizing, and decision making is done?
|
14 |
Work output – what physical activities, tools, and
machines are used? |
49 |
Relationships
– what contact with other people, both in the company and outside is
maintained or developed? |
36 |
Job context- what is the physical and social context
in which the job is maintained? |
19 |
Other job
characteristics – what other activities, conditions, or Characteristics not
covered by the categories are relevant?
|
42 |
The advantage of PAQ is that it provides a quantitative score
or profile of any job in terms of how that job rates on the basic activities.
The PAQ’s real strength is, thus, in classifying jobs. PAQ’s results can be
used to compare the jobs relative to one another and pay levels can be assigned
for each job.
The major problem with PAQ is the time it takes for a job
analyst to fill out the ratings. However, PAQ has been widely researched and
tested and appears to be both reliable and valid.
b.
Management Position Description Questionnaire: Management
position description is a highly structured questionnaire containing 208 items
relating to managerial responsibilities, restrictions, demands, and other
miscellaneous position characteristics. W.W. Tomov and P.R. Pinto have
developed the following Management position Description factors:
• Product,
marketing, and financial strategic planning.
• Coordination
of other organization units and personnel
• Internal
business Control
• Products
and services responsibility
• Public and
customer relations
• Advanced
consulting Autonomy of actions
• Approval of
financial commitments
• Staff
Service
• Supervision
• Complexity
and stress
• Advanced
financial responsibility
• Broad
personnel responsibility
The above methods are the most popular ones for gathering job
analysis data. They all provide realistic information about what job incumbents
actually do. They can thus be used for developing job descriptions and job
specifications. Caroll L. Shartle, Otis, and Lenhert have provided the following
suggestions for making the job analyst’s task simple.
• Introduce
yourself so that the worker knows who you are and why you are there.
• Show a sincere
interest in the worker and the job that is analyzed; Do not try
to tell the employee how to do his job.
• Try to talk
to the employee and supervisors in their own language;
• Do a
complete job study within the objectives of the programmer: and Verify the job information
obtained.
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