Chapter
4
Job Analysis
and
Job Design
Chapter 4 Overview

Basic Terminology

Job Analysis

Job Design
This symbol “” indicates a table or figure appears at this point in the presentation.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4-2

Basic Terminology 

Job Analysis 

Products of Job Analysis 

Job Analysis Methods





1. Observation
2. Interviews
3. Questionnaires   
4. Functional Job Analysis
Occupational Information Network (O*NET) 

The ADA and Job Analysis 

Potential Problems with Job Analysis
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4-3
Figure 4.1
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Relationship among Different Job Components
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4-4

Basic Terminology 

Job Analysis 

Products of Job Analysis 

Job Analysis Methods





1. Observation
2. Interviews
3. Questionnaires   
4. Functional Job Analysis
Occupational Information Network (O*NET) 

The ADA and Job Analysis 

Potential Problems with Job Analysis
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4-5
Table 4.1
Information Provided by a Job Analysis
Area of Information
Contents
Job title and location
Name of job and where it is located.
Organizational relationship
A brief explanation of the number of persons
supervised (if applicable) and the job title(s) of the
position(s) supervised. A statement concerning
supervision received.
Relation to other jobs
Describes and outlines the coordination required by
the job.
Job summary
Condensed explanation of the content of the job.
Information concerning
job requirements
The content of this area varies greatly from job
to job and from organization to organization.
Typically it includes information on such topics as
machines, tools, and materials; mental complexity
and attention required; physical demands and
working conditions.
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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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
Basic Terminology 

Job Analysis 

Products of Job Analysis 

Job Analysis Methods





1. Observation
2. Interviews
3. Questionnaires   
4. Functional Job Analysis
Occupational Information Network (O*NET) 

The ADA and Job Analysis 

Potential Problems with Job Analysis
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4-7
Table 4.2
Contents of a Job Description
A job description should be a formal, written document, usually from one to
three pages long. It should include the following:
 Date written.
 Job Status (full-time or part-time; salary or wage).
 Position title.
 Job summary (a synopsis of the job responsibilities).
 Detailed list of duties and responsibilities.
 Supervision received (to whom the jobholder reports).
 Supervision exercised, if any (who reports to this employee).
 Principal contacts (in and outside the organization).
 Related meetings to be attended and reports to be filed.
 Competency or position requirements.
 Required education and experience.
 Career mobility (position[s] for which job holder may qualify next).
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4-8

Basic Terminology 

Job Analysis 

Products of Job Analysis 

Job Analysis Methods





1. Observation
2. Interviews
3. Questionnaires   
4. Functional Job Analysis
Occupational Information Network (O*NET) 

The ADA and Job Analysis 

Potential Problems with Job Analysis
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4-9
Table 4.3
Employee Activity Categories Used in the PAQ
Category
Information input
Description
Where and how does the
employee get the information used
in performing the job?
Examples
Use of written materials.
Near-visual differentiation.
Mental processes
What reasoning, decision-making,
planning, and informationprocessing activities are involved
in performing the job?
Level of reasoning in problem
solving.
Coding/decoding.
Physical activities
What physical activities does the
employee perform, and what tools
or devices are used?
Use of keyboard devices.
Assembling/disassembling.
Relationships with
other people
What relationships with other
people are required in performing
the job?
Instructing.
Contacts with public, and/or
customers.
Job context
In what physical or social contest
is the work performed?
High temperature.
Interpersonal conflict situations.
Other job
characteristics
What activities, conditions, or
characteristics other than those
described above are relevant to
the job?
Specified work pace.
Amount of job structure.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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4 - 10
Table 4.4
Sample page from the
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
Information input
1.1 Sources of Job Information
Rate each of the following items in terms of
the extent to which it is used by the worker as
a source of information in performing the job.
Code
N
1
2
3
4
5
Extent of Use
Does not apply
Nominal/very infrequent
Occasional
Moderate
Considerable
Very substantial
1.1.1 Visual Sources of Job Information
1
Written materials (books, reports, office notes, articles, job instructions, signs, etc.)
2
Quantitative materials (materials which deal with quantities or amounts, such as
graphs, accounts, specifications, tables of numbers, etc.)
3
Pictorial material (pictures or picturelike materials used as sources of information, for
example, drawings, blueprints, diagrams, maps, tracings, photographic films, x-ray
films, TV pictures, etc.)
(Continued)
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Source: E. J. McCormick, P. R. Jeanneret, and R. C. Mecham, Position Analysis Questionnaire.
© 2006
The McGraw-Hill
Companies,
Inc. AllInd.
rights
reserved.
Copyright 1969
by Purdue
Research Foundation,
West Lafayette,
Reprinted
with permission.
4 - 11
Table 4.4
Sample page from the
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
4
Patterns/related devices (templates, stencils, patterns, etc., used as sources of
information when observed during use; do not include here materials described in
item 3 above)
5
Visual displays (dials, gauges, signal lights, radarscopes, speedometers, clocks, etc.)
6
Measuring devices (rules, calipers, tire pressure gauges, scales, thickness gauges,
pipettes, thermometers, protractors, etc., used to obtain visual information about
physical measurements; do not include here devices described in item 5 above)
7
Mechanical devices (tools, equipment, machinery, and other mechanical devices
which are sources of information when observed during use or operation)
8
Materials in process (parts, materials, etc., which are sources of information when
being modified, worked on, or otherwise processed, such as bread dough being
mixed, workpiece be turned in a lathe, fabric being cut, shoe being resoled, etc.)
(Continued)
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Source: E. J. McCormick, P. R. Jeanneret, and R. C. Mecham, Position Analysis Questionnaire.
© 2006
The McGraw-Hill
Companies,
Inc. AllInd.
rights
reserved.
Copyright 1969
by Purdue
Research Foundation,
West Lafayette,
Reprinted
with permission.
4 - 12
Table 4.4
9
Sample page from the
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
(concluded)
Materials not in process (parts, materials, objects, etc., not in the process of being
changed or modified, which are sources of information when being inspected,
handled, packaged, distributed, or selected, etc., such as items or materials in
inventory, storage, or distribution channels, items being inspected, etc.)
10
Features of nature (landscapes, fields, geological samples, vegetation, cloud
formations, and other features of nature which are observed or inspected to provide
information)
11
“Man-made” features of environment (structures, buildings, dams, highways, bridges,
docks, railroads, and other “man-made” or altered aspects of the indoor or outdoor
environment which are observed or inspected to provide job information; do no
consider equipment, machines, etc., that individuals use in their work, as covered by
item 7)
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Source: E. J. McCormick, P. R. Jeanneret, and R. C. Mecham, Position Analysis Questionnaire.
© 2006
The McGraw-Hill
Companies,
Inc. AllInd.
rights
reserved.
Copyright 1969
by Purdue
Research Foundation,
West Lafayette,
Reprinted
with permission.
4 - 13
Table 4.5
Management Position Description Questionnaire Categories
1. Product, marketing, and financial strategy planning.
2. Coordination of other organizational units and personnel.
3. Internal business control.
4. Products and services responsibility.
5. Public and customer relations.
6. Advanced consulting.
7. Autonomy of actions.
8. Approval of financial commitments.
9. Staff service.
10. Supervision.
11. Complexity and stress.
12. Advanced financial responsibility.
13. Broad personnel responsibility.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Source: W. B. Tornov and P. R. Pinto, “The Development of a Managerial Job Taxonomy: A System for Describing,
2006 TheExecutive
McGraw-Hill
Companies,
Inc. All
rights reserved.
Classifying, and©Evaluating
Positions,”
Journal of Applied
Psychology
61, no. 4 (1976), p. 414.
4 - 14

Basic Terminology 

Job Analysis 

Products of Job Analysis 

Job Analysis Methods





1. Observation
2. Interviews
3. Questionnaires   
4. Functional Job Analysis
Occupational Information Network (O*NET) 

The ADA and Job Analysis 

Potential Problems with Job Analysis
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4 - 15
Figure 4.2
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
The Content Model Forming the Foundation of O*NET
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4 - 16

Basic Terminology 

Job Analysis 

Products of Job Analysis 

Job Analysis Methods





1. Observation
2. Interviews
3. Questionnaires   
4. Functional Job Analysis
Occupational Information Network (O*NET) 

The ADA and Job Analysis 

Potential Problems with Job Analysis
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4 - 17
Table 4.6
Questions to Be Addressed to Determine Essential Functions
1. Does the position exist to perform these functions? If the performance of a
particular function is the principal purpose for hiring a person, it would be an
essential function.
2. Would the removal of the function fundamentally alter the position? If the purpose
of the position can be fulfilled without performing the function, it isn’t essential.
3. What’s the degree of expertise or skill required to perform the function? The fact
that an employee is hired for his or her specialized expertise to perform a
particular function is evidence that the function is essential.
4. How much of the employee’s time is spent performing the function? The fact that
an employee spends a substantial amount of time performing a particular function
is evidence that the function is essential.
5. What are the consequences of failure to perform the function? The fact that the
consequences of failure are severe is evidence that the function is essential.
6. How many other employees are available among whom the function can be
distributed? The smaller the number of employees available for performing a
group of functions, the greater the likelihood that any one of them will have to
perform a particular function.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Source: Wayne E. Barlow and Edward Z. Hare, “A Practical Guide to the Americans with Disabilities Act,”
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill
Companies,
Inc.p.All
Personnel Journal,
June 1992,
54. rights reserved.
4 - 18

Basic Terminology 

Job Analysis 

Products of Job Analysis 

Job Analysis Methods





1. Observation
2. Interviews
3. Questionnaires   
4. Functional Job Analysis
Occupational Information Network (O*NET) 

The ADA and Job Analysis 

Potential Problems with Job Analysis
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4 - 19

Job Design 

Job Scope and Job Depth

Sociotechnical Approach to Job Design

The Physical Work Environment

Alternative Work Schedules




McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Flextime
Telecommuting
Job Sharing
Condensed Workweek
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4 - 20
Table 4.7
Advantages of Job Specialization
1. Fewer skills required per person, which makes it easier to recruit and train
employees.
2. Increased proficiency through repetition and practice of the same tasks.
3. More efficient use of skills by primarily utilizing each employee’s best
skills.
4. Low wages due to the ease with which labor can be substituted.
5. More conformity in the final product or service.
6. Different tasks performed concurrently.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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
Job Design 

Job Scope and Job Depth

Sociotechnical Approach to Job Design

The Physical Work Environment

Alternative Work Schedules




McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Flextime
Telecommuting
Job Sharing
Condensed Workweek
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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
Job Design 

Job Scope and Job Depth

Sociotechnical Approach to Job Design

The Physical Work Environment

Alternative Work Schedules




McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Flextime
Telecommuting
Job Sharing
Condensed Workweek
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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
Job Design 

Job Scope and Job Depth

Sociotechnical Approach to Job Design

The Physical Work Environment

Alternative Work Schedules




McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Flextime
Telecommuting
Job Sharing
Condensed Workweek
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4 - 24

Job Design 

Job Scope and Job Depth

Sociotechnical Approach to Job Design

The Physical Work Environment

Alternative Work Schedules




McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Flextime
Telecommuting
Job Sharing
Condensed Workweek
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4 - 25
Questions
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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