CHAPTER 4 AND 5
4.1. What Is a Job Analysis and How
Does It Affect Human Resources
Management?
A job analysis is the systematic
process of collecting information
about all of the parameters of a job—
its basic responsibilities, along with
the behaviors, skills, and the physical
and mental requirements of the
people who do it.
A job analysis should also outline the
tools needed to do the job, the
environment and times at which it
needs to be done, with whom it needs
to be done, and the outcome or
performance level it should produce.
*Normally, a manager or an HR
manager such as a job analyst is
responsible for collecting the
information for a job analysis. These
people rely on the cooperation of
employees and their supervisors to
gather the information needed for the
analysis.
How does a job analysis help
facilitate a firm’s human resources
efforts?
Strategic HR planning. A job analysis is
used to examine a company’s
organizational
structure
and
strategically position it for the future.
Does the firm have the right numbers
and types of jobs and skills needed to
cover the scope of its activities both
now and in the future? Are the jobs
aligned with one another, or do their
purposes or duties conflict? Are there
tasks that need to be done in the
organization but are not clearly
assigned to a particular job?
Conducting a job analysis helps ensure
alignment.
Workflow analysis and job design.
The information generated by a job
analysis can be used to analyze a
company’s work processes—that is,
how work is done. Would rearranging
an organization’s workflow or jobs
help the company compete more
effectively? Can the nature of the jobs
be redesigned to improve the firm’s
performance?
Recruitment and selection. Some of
the information provided in a job
analysis is contained in job
advertisements. The information and
qualifications in such ads provide a
basis
for
attracting
qualified
applicants
and
discouraging
unqualified ones.
Training and development. Any
discrepancies between the abilities of
jobholders and the firm’s job
descriptions provide clues about the
training jobholders need to succeed
and advance into different jobs as well
as the training the firm needs to
provide.
Performance
appraisal
and
compensation. A job analysis provides
the criteria for evaluating what
constitutes good performance versus
poor performance by employees; the
firm can then take steps to improve
the latter.
Compensation management.
Conducting a job analysis helps HR
managers figure out the relative
worth
of
positions
so
the
compensation for them will be fair
and equitable, and employees will
want to remain with the firm rather
than search for other jobs.
Legal compliance. If the criteria used
to hire and evaluate employees are
not job related, employers may find
themselves being accused of
discrimination. In decades past,
before firms regularly analyzed jobs,
on-job-related criteria were quite
prevalent. For example, laborers were
often required to have high school
diplomas; plumbers, electricians, and
machinists were sometimes required
to be male.
4.1a. Major Parts of the Job Analysis
A Job Description is a written
document that describes the overall
purpose of the job; its tasks, duties,
and responsibilities (TDRs); and the
qualifications needed to do it.
Job Specification or qualifications, are
a part of the written job description
and outline the specific knowledge,
skills, abilities, and other attributes
(KSAOs) required of the person
performing the job. Knowledge refers
to what you know. Your education is
an example of knowledge. Skills are
things you have learned to do. If
you’re a firefighter, that experience
could include knowing how to make
minor repairs to fire equipment.
Abilities are your innate aptitudes;
you don’t have to be taught them or
learn them on a job. Examples for a
firefighter would include the ability to
lift firefighting equipment and stay
calm during an emergency. Other
attributes refer to your personality,
values, and so on. Helpfulness and a
predisposition toward teamwork are
examples of “other attributes”
firefighters need.
4.2. Sources
Information
of
Job
Analysis
Interviews. A job analyst or supervisor
interviews individual employees and
their managers about the parameters
of the job. Highlights in HRM 1 shows
the types of questions asked as part of
job analysis interviews. When a job is
particularly complex, firms sometimes
interview a panel of subject matter
experts (SMEs). SMEs are job experts
who actually do the job or train and
supervise others to do the job.
Questionnaires. The job analyst or
supervisor
circulates
standard
questionnaires for jobholders to fill
out individually. These forms contain
questions similar to those asked in an
interview.
should look for any responses that
contradict other facts or impressions
they have received about the job.
Sometimes employees exaggerate the
difficulty of their positions to inflate
their egos and their paychecks.
Observation. The job analyst or
supervisor learns about the job by
observing and recording the activities
associated with it on a standardized
form.
4.2b. Other Sources of Job Analysis
Information
Diaries. Jobholders are asked to keep
diaries of their work activities for an
entire work cycle. The diaries are
typically filled out at specific times of
the work shift (such as every half-hour
or hour) and maintained for a 2- to 4week period.
Five of the more popular methods are
the functional job analysis, the
position analysis system, the critical
incident method, the task inventory
analysis, and the competency-based
job analysis.
Functional Job Analysis System
Developed by the U.S. Training and
Employment Service, the approach
utilizes an inventory of the various
types of work activities that can
constitute any job. Basic activities,
called worker functions, are used to
describe what workers do with regard
to “information, people, and things”
as part of this system.
Position
System
4.2a. Controlling the Accuracy of the
Job Data Collected
When interviewing employees or
reviewing their questionnaires, job
analysts
Analysis
Questionnaire
The, which identifies approximately
300 different worker tasks, has been
widely used for decades to collect and
analyze job information. The PAQ
seeks to determine the degree to
which the different tasks are involved
in doing a particular job. The results
obtained with the PAQ are
quantitative and can be statistically
analyzed.
them well and to adapt to new job
challenges.
Critical Incident Method
4.2c. Parts of a Job Description
The objective of the is to identify both
desirable and undesirable behaviors
that resulted in either a very good
outcome or a very bad outcome on
the job. For example, a job analyst
might ask a company’s customer
service employees to describe
incidents that led to either good or
bad outcomes with customers.
Most job descriptions contain at least
three parts:
Task Inventory Analysis
3. a job duties section.
The method was pioneered by the U.S.
Air Force. Unlike the PAQ, which uses
a standardized form to analyze jobs in
different organizations, a task
inventory questionnaire can be
tailored to a specific organization. The
goal is to produce a comprehensive
list of task statements applicable to all
jobs. These task statements are then
listed on a task inventory survey form
to be completed by the person
analyzing the job under review.
The other important outcome of the
job analysis is the job specification, or
the description of KSAOs. If the job
specification is not prepared as a
separate document, it is usually stated
in the concluding section of the job
description.
Competency-Based Approach
The approaches to job analysis we
have discussed so far focus on the
tasks employees do, but not what they
are capable of doing. This method
relies on building job profiles that look
at not only the responsibilities and
activities of the job a worker does
currently but also the competencies
or capabilities the worker needs to do
1. the job’s title and location;
2. a job identification section, which
contains administration information
such a numerical code for the job, to
whom the jobholder reports, and
wage information; and
Purpose
Performs
professional
human
resources work in the areas of
employee recruitment and selection,
testing, orientation, transfers, and
maintenance of employee human
resources files. May handle special
assignments and projects related to
EEO/affirmative action, employee
grievances, training, or classification
and compensation.
Job Title
Selecting a job’s title serves several
purposes. First, the job title is
psychologically important because it
provides status to the employee.
1. If they are poorly written, using
vague rather than specific terms, they
provide little guidance to the
jobholder.
Job Identification Section
2. They are sometimes not updated as
job duties or specifications change.
The job identification section usually
follows the job title. It includes such
items as the department and location
of the job, the person to whom the
jobholder reports, and the date the
job description was last revised.
Job Specifications Section
Typically, a job specifications section
covers two areas of qualifications:
1. the skills required to perform the
job and
2. the job’s physical demands.
The job specifications section should
include interpersonal skills if a
competency-based
job
analysis
approach is used. For example,
behavioral
competencies
might
include the ability to make decisions
based on incomplete information,
handle multiple tasks, and resolve
conflicts.
4.2d. Writing Clear and Specific Job
Descriptions
Several problems are frequently
associated with job descriptions,
including the following:
3. They may violate the law or union
agreements and lead to employee
grievances.
4. They can limit the scope of activities
of the jobholder, reducing an
organization’s flexibility.
4.3. Job Design
Job Design which is an outgrowth of
job analysis, focuses on reconfiguring
jobs to capture the talents of
employees, improve their work
satisfaction,
and
enhance
an
organization’s performance. Many
organizations routinely review the
design of work and adjust it to meet
technological and organizational
requirements as well as the social and
personal requirements of work.
CHAPTER 5
PLANNING AND RECRUITING HUMAN
RESOURCE
HR Planning – helps organizations
meet business objectives and gain a
competitive
advantage
over
competitors
- Comparison
of
present
organization with goals of
future
- Identifies what changes must
be made to meet goals
Forecasting – attempts to determine
supply and demand for various types
of HR to predict areas within the
organization where there will be labor
shortages or surpluses
Determine Labor Surplus or Shortage
- Planners can compare forecasts
for labor demand and supply
- Will show projected shortages
and surpluses in each category
- Allows organization to plan how
to address challenges
Goal Setting
Planning
and
Strategic
- Numerical goals provide basis
for measuring process
- Goals should come from
analysis of supply and demand
- HR strategies must be used to
achieve goals
Downsizing