Job Analysis

Job
A job is an organizational unit which consists of a group of defined tasks or activities to be carried out or
duties to be performed.
Role
A role has been defined by Ivancevich et al as an organized set of behaviors. It is the part people play in their
work. The emphasis is on the patterns of behavior expected of them in order to achieve agreed outcomes.
“Jobs are about tasks and duties. Roles are about people.”
Job Analysis
The procedure for determining the duties and skill requirements of a job and the kind of person who should
be hired for it.
Job Analysis determine the duties of the company’s positions and the characteristics of the people to hire for
them.
“Job Analysis is a process of obtaining all pertinent job facts”
Job Analysis Importance in HR Management
Job analysis is an important step in ensuring that the right candidate is selected. Job analysis helps the
employer in recruitment and selection, performance management, choosing compensation and benefits, etc.
It helps the employees to have a clear picture of what is actually required of them.
Job analysis is often confused with job evaluation, but the two activities are quite different. Job evaluation is
the process of comparing a job to other jobs within the organization to determine the appropriate pay
rate.
HR Management can use Job analysis to:
1- Update important processes and information, for example, the salary information based on the
responsibilities.
2- Help management understand the duties of each position reporting to them. As roles and technologies
develop, additional duties might have been added to a position that might not have existed in the
company previously.
3- Fairly distribute duties among departments or adjust salaries if needed.
The information gathered from the job analysis is used to develop both the job description and the job
specifications.
A job description is a list of tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job in addition to job specifications,
which discuss the skills and abilities the person must have to perform the job.
Henc, there is many job analysis for one job (Many to one), but one job description for one job (one to one)
Benefits & Purpose of Job Analysis
 Human Resource Planning: It helps to determine the no. of employees to be hired.
 Recruitment and Selection: It directs the hiring process by suggesting employee specification.
 Training and Development: It helps to determine the training need of employees.
 Placement and Orientation: It supports the orientation program.
 Job Evaluation: Job analysis is often linked to compensation.
 Performance Appraisal: It helps to design job standards and rewards linked with it.
 Personnel Information: It provides all the information related to employees.
 Health and Safety: It is suggesting the ideal work conditions for the employees.
Steps in Job Analysis
1- Decide how we will use the information.
since this will determine the data and how we
collect them.
2- Review relevant background information.
such as organization charts, process charts,
and job descriptions.
3- Select representative positions.
there may be too many similar jobs to analyze
them all. For example, it is usually
unnecessary to analyze the jobs of 200
assembly workers when a sample of 10 jobs
will do.
4- Analyze the job.
by collecting data on job activities, required
employee behaviors, working conditions, and
human traits and abilities needed to perform
the job.
5- Verify the job analysis information.
Verify the job analysis information with the worker performing the job and with his immediate
supervisor. This will help confirm that the information is factually correct and complete.
6- Develop a job description and job specification.

Methods for Collecting Job Analysis Information:

1- Interviews:
Job analyst interviews the job holder and his supervisor. Based on the interview, they determine the
patterns and challenges faced during the Job. It involves open-ended discussion in an interview setup or
over a call. Also, analysts use a structured form to support the process. After that, the interviewer or the
analyst passes judgement and records his analysis.
Pros Cons
 Receives direct information (accurate).  Time-consuming method.
 Employee’s personal job analysis.  High-cost method.
 Detailed information about the Job and  A biased analyst can interpret misleading
environment. results.

2- Questionnaires:
Having employees fill out questionnaires to describe their job duties and responsibilities is another good
way to obtain job analysis information. The structure of the questionnaire depends on the type of
information to be collected. It is to be filled by the workers themselves. This job analysis method is
suitable for collecting data from many workers simultaneously.
It must cover areas like:
 Job title of the job holder and supervisor.
 Reporting relationships of the job holder.
 A detailed description of the Job.
 Details about Tasks and Duties.
 Resolution of Issues (if any).
 Pros Cons
 Involvement of less staff for data collection.  Employees may not express themselves
 Saves lots of time for the Job holder and the clearly.
analyst.  Some workers may fill wrong information.
 Low-cost method.  Wrong or complex questions can make it a
wasteful activity.
3- Observations:
Direct observation is especially useful when jobs consist mainly of observable physical activities
assembly-line worker and accounting clerk are examples. The analyst observes the job holder while at
work. By doing so, they get first-hand and authentic information directly from the source. Also, they can
make a note of the complete process and activities undertaken thereof.
Take in considerations:
 It will be a helpful activity if the objective of observation is clear.
 It is advantageous only for those jobs which involve some kind of movement.
 Reactivity the worker’s changing what he or she normally does because you are watching.
 Only adequate for tasks that take less time.
 The Job must have scope to retrieve some useful information out of it.
Pros Cons
 Very accurate method.  Very time-consuming method.
 It helps in quantifying the data.  Very high-cost method.
 It serves as a base for deciding compensation.  Only suitable for some kinds of jobs.
 Demands trained and expert analyst.
 It only works well when used in combination.
4- Diary/Logs:
This method requires job holders to observe themselves. They need to record their daily activities in a
Log Book or Diary. It is the instant source of information gathered by the holder himself. It has
weightage over other methods as it rules out memory loss errors.
Pros Cons
 Get the complete day-to-day data.  Employees may fill incorrect data.
 Covers even the minute details.  The analyst takes time to process a massive
 Eliminates the error of memory lapse. bunch of records.
 Suitable only for small-sized organizations.

Job Analysis Outcomes:

A job analysis provides the following information:
1- Job Purpose:
What is the job meant to do - and how does this related to other parts of the business?
2- Job Content:
Duties and responsibilities
3- Accountabilities:
What results I outputs is the job holder responsible for?
4- Performance criteria:
How will the job holder's performance be measured?
5- Resource requirements:
Such as Equipment, Location
6- Person specification:
Skills and/or qualifications needed for the job (including Personal skills)