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Job Analysis and Job Design

Learning Outcomes

Explain what a job analysis is

Explain how the information for a job analysis typically is collected

Identify and explain the outcome of job analysis

Provide examples illustrating the various factors that must be taken into account when designing a job

Describe work schedules

Job Analysis

Job: A job is a grouping of tasks, duties, and responsibilities that constitutes the total work assignment for an employee.

Job analysis: Process of obtaining information about jobs

Job is the tasks that one will perform within an authorized designation/post /rollof a company/organization.

Position is a form of power being held by some one in a particular area or department of a company or a government.

Job Description is the details of tasks designated by a company authority that should be performed under specific position or department in which also lay emphasize on the knowledge, skills, and experience which are required according to the accomplishment of the specified job

Activity

Why do we need to conduct a job analysis?

What do we need to know about a job?

What sources (from whom) can be used to collect data to analyze a job?

How to collect data to analyze a job?

What info needs to be included in the job description?

What info needs to be included in the job specification?

Steps involved in conducting a job analysis?

Why Do We Need Job Analysis

Foundation of all HR practices

EEO laws requirement

Selection

Training

Performance appraisal

Job evaluation

Determine whether transfer is feasible or not

Provide realistic information about what jobs will be like for applicants

Provide information needed to develop training programs and performance appraisal systems

Can be used to determine the similarity of jobs

Provide information that is helpful for developing compensation

JOB ANALYSIS

HR Planning

Staffing

Training

Performance

Management

Safety

Health

Rewards

Employee

Relations

Legal

Compliance

Job related Information

Data, people, things.

Tasks or job functions:

What gets done on the job.

Essential functions.

Scope of responsibility:

Supervision received.

Supervision provided.

Tools and equipment used on the job:

Computer software.

Hand tools.

Job-related equipment.

In the 1940s, Sidney Fine and his colleagues developed the Functional Job Analysis, a task-based technique in which job elements are evaluated in terms of their relatedness to data, people and things. This classification scheme served as the foundation for the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.

Fine’s functional job analysis process resulted in the now classic taxonomy of “Things-Data-People” as the three critical domains to analyze jobs. While Fine’s original work dates to the 1950s, the contemporary Dictionary of Occupational Titles and its successor, O*Net, rely heavily on this data classification to be collected in job analysis.

The Dictionary of Occupational Titles is now an online resource called O*Net. The federal government maintains this extensive database of job information. Detailed job descriptions, including job requirements, work context, and pay rate information are readily available for a wide range of occupations. Employers, job seekers, job analysts and others can freely access this web site. We will retrieve job descriptions from the O*Net web site later in this module so you will have a chance to see its usefulness in studying jobs.

Job analysis requires collecting information regarding actual job tasks and duties. What does the job incumbent actually do? How many people does this job supervise? How closely is this job supervised? What tools and equipment are used on the job?

Sources:

Fine, S. A. (1955). A structure of worker functions. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 34, 66-73.

Harvey, R. J. (2004). Empirical foundations for the Things-Data-People taxonomy of work. Symposium presented at the Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago.

Information Collected (Cont.)

Work context and environment:

Physical environment (discomfort, hazards).

Work schedule (hours, days).

Travel required.

Social/relationship factors:

Nature of social contacts.

Level of social contact.

Decision-making authority:

Judgment and discretion.

Where the work takes place also affects the job. Are there physical hazards or comfort conditions (noise, heat, odors) to contend with? Is the job incumbent required to work a nontraditional work schedule (rotating shifts, weekend duty, on call)? Is travel required to fulfill the job duties?

Does the job incumbent interact with people at various levels of the organization? Does the job incumbent work in teams? Is there contact with external parties?

How much authority does the job incumbent have? Is there a monetary limit on decision-making authority? What are the consequences of making bad decisions? How can errors by the job incumbent affect organizational outcomes?

Information Collected (Cont.)

Personal and physical demands of the job:

Stand, sit, reach, lift, walk.

Knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform job tasks:

Education.

Experience.

Certification (desired) and licensure (required):

Certification (HR).

Board licensure (physician, engineer).

Especially for ADA purposes, the job’s physical demands must be assessed to facilitate a reasonable accommodation request. Are there particular physical demands needed to perform the job? Does the job incumbent need physical strength, visual or auditory acuity and/or mobility?

What educational background is needed to effectively perform tasks and duties? Do job incumbents need education beyond high school? Are there specific fields of study needed? Is this an entry-level job? Does the job require prior experience?

Do job incumbents need to be licensed? Is certification desirable? Do job incumbents need special training and licensure to drive over-the-road trucks or to work as physicians, nurses, real estate agents, social workers, insurance brokers? Is certification a desirable attribute for jobs such as a certified public accountant, a certified HR professional (PHR, SPHR) or a certified financial planner?

Data Sources

Job incumbent

Supervisor or manager

Former jobholders

Job analyst

Subject matter experts (SMEs)

Industry resources

Professional organizations like SHRM

There are many sources to tap when conducting a job analysis. Remember that it is not necessary to have a job incumbent to conduct a job analysis. The choice of sources to use depends on a number of factors:

1. How many job incumbents there are.

2. The purpose for the job analysis.

3. The cost and time constraints for the process.

Job incumbents are typically relied on because of their familiarity with the job tasks. However, they should not be taken at their word without verification. Incumbents may not be objective, and they may have a bias toward their own particular credentials and background.

Supervisors or managers are an excellent data source. They supervise job incumbents and likely had a key role in defining the job to begin with. Their buy-in is important to determine reasonable standards of performance and job descriptions.

Former jobholders can be informative as well because they have performed the job tasks. They are less likely to bias the information in their own favor. However, if they performed the job some time ago or before methods/tools changed, the accuracy of their information must be verified.

The job analyst is an outside expert more skilled at assessing jobs than in the specific job being analyzed. However, the job analyst is likely to be more objective than anyone closely tied to the job.

Subject matter experts can be used for complex jobs, especially if the jobs are not currently performed in the organization. Individuals that perform the job duties at another organization, department or work site can be helpful in explaining how the work gets done.

Industry resources such as associations (American Welding Society, National Automobile Dealers Association) often have job descriptions available to their members.

Professional associations like SHRM, the state bar association and Municipal Firefighters Association can provide generic, benchmark job descriptions for jobs within the occupational family.

Data Collection Methods (Cont.)

Observation

Advantages: relevant data, minimizes interruption of work

Disadvantages: requires skill in observation, employee behavior may be affected by being observed

Work sampling Method

The process of taking instantons samples of the work activities of individual

Data Collection Methods (Cont.)

Interview

Advantages: good at uncovering detail, can explore unexpected issues

Disadvantages: time consuming, socially desirable responses, difficult to analyze

Focus Groups

Advantages: useful for complex or controversial issues, can explore unexpected issues

Disadvantages: time consuming, potentially socially desirable responses, difficult to analyze

Data Collection Methods (Cont.)

Survey

Advantages: inexpensive, can collect data from a large number of individuals, data easily summarized

Disadvantages: potentially low response rates, may lack detail

Existing Documentation(technical manuals, records)

Advantages: good source of information, objective

Disadvantages: may be difficult to understand, potentially obsolete

Multiple Methods

For best result, use multiple methods.

Balance time and cost constraints.

Balance the strengths and weaknesses of each method.

Ideally, obtain both quantitative and qualitative data.

For best results, combine several data collection methods to balance the strengths and weaknesses of each method. Rarely is a single method adequate to capture all of the relevant data. The best combination provides both quantitative and qualitative data to explain in detail all of the elements involved in the job and the qualifications needed to perform the duties.

No magic formula to determine how many methods are ideal or which methods to combine for a given job.

Dictionary of Occupational Titles

U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) resources helps employers with job analysis

Comprehensive searchable database is now online on O*Net

Provided by the federal government, the former Dictionary of Occupational Titles is now offered online as O*Net. This is an extensive, easily searchable federal government resource that is comprehensive and detailed. It is an excellent starting point when conducting a job analysis.

O*Net is the nation's primary source of occupational information. Central to the project is the O*Net database, containing information on hundreds of standardized and occupation-specific descriptors. The database is continually updated by surveying a broad range of workers from each occupation. Information from this free database forms the heart of O*Net Online, the interactive application to search occupations. The database also provides the basis for Career Exploration Tools, a set of valuable assessment instruments for workers and students looking to find or change careers (Source: O*net.Online).

Every occupation requires a different mix of knowledge, skills and abilities, and is performed using a variety of activities and tasks. These distinguishing occupational characteristics are described by the O*Net Content Model, which encapsulates the key features of an occupation into a standardized, measurable set of variables called descriptors. The hierarchical model starts with six domains, describing the day-to-day aspects of the job and the qualifications and interests of the typical worker. The model expands to 277 descriptors collected by the O*Net program, with more collected by other federal agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

O*Net database contains data on 800+ occupations, classified by industry, and includes:

Task statements of importance, relevance, and frequency

Abilities, training, work experiences, and education

Interests, work values, work styles, and job zones

*Outcomes of Job Analysis

Job description:

Systematic, detailed summary of job tasks, duties and responsibilities.

Job specification:

Detailed summary of qualifications needed to perform required job tasks.

Performance standards:

Establishes the level of satisfactory performance.

Job Description

The job description should include at least the following elements:

Job title.

Job code.

FLSA status.

Job summary.

Essential job duty task statements.

Job context or any unusual elements.

Date created.

Revision number and date.

The job description is a key document used by employees and managers to assure an understanding of what the job incumbent is expected to do to perform the job. This document is used in all aspects of managing human resources in the organization.

Job descriptions are not required by law, however, it is difficult (and legally risky) to perform many HR functions without written job descriptions. The suggested elements of a job description provide good detail for HR and line managers in carrying out many HR-related activities. The list on this slide is typical of the contents of a job description.

1. Job title: Use typical convention to title a job. Creative and novel job titles make the position difficult to compare on wage surveys, industry databases and other benchmarks. This is not the time to be cute or unusual.

2. Job code: Most organizations have some type of coding scheme (business unit, job family, department, etc.)

3. FLSA status: Is this job exempt or nonexempt for overtime purposes? It is important to identify that on the job description to avoid wage and hour problems or misunderstanding by employees regarding entitlement to overtime pay.

4. Job summary: This is a brief paragraph that explains the basic purpose for the job. The summary should be just a few sentences.

5. Essential job duty task statements: Provide action-oriented statements to describe essential job duties. Maintain consistency in terms of person and tense.

6. Job context or unusual elements: Nonstandard work hours or job conditions should be noted. Note if travel is required, hazards are present or on-call duty is expected.

7. Date created: State when then job description was originally created.

Revision number and date: For tracking purposes, it is important to know what revision the present document represents and when it was revised.

Source:

Mathis and Jackson. (2008). Human resource management (12th edition), pp. 186-189.

Job Specification

The job specification should include at least the following elements:

Job title.

Job code.

Job summary.

Knowledge required to perform job.

Skills required to perform job.

Abilities required to perform job.

Education required.

Experience required.

Licensure required or certification desired to perform the job.

Date created.

Revision number and date.

The job specification describes the qualifications needed for successful performance of the essential job duties. The specification is used in particular for staffing the job and for complying with non-discrimination statutes.

The job specification should include the following elements:

1. Job title: See slide on job description.

2. Job code: See slide on job description.

3. Job summary: See slide on job description.

4. Knowledge required to perform the job: Knowledge is a body of information that can be applied to the performance of job tasks. Examples include business and management, engineering and technology, arts and humanities, and communications.

5. Skills required to perform the job: A skill is an observable competence used to apply knowledge to perform a particular task. Examples include reading comprehension, writing, speaking, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making.

6. Abilities required to perform the job: An ability is an underlying, enduring trait that is useful in performing tasks. Examples include cognitive, psychomotor, physical and sensory ability.

7. Education required: An appropriate level of education required to successfully perform the job is determined based on the essential job duties identified. It is important to set the level of required education at the level that most current successful employees possess.

8. Experience required: An appropriate level of experience required to successfully perform the job is determined based on the essential job duties identified. It is important to set the level of required experience at the level that most current successful employees possess.

9. Required licensure or desired certification to perform the job: Based on the essential job duties identified and applicable regulations, required licensures or desired certifications are determined. Health care professionals, commercial vehicle operators, accountants, attorneys, and many other occupations require licensure or certification.

10. Date created: State when the job specification was originally created.

Revision number and date: For tracking purposes, it is important to know what revision the present document represents and when it was revised.

Source:

Mathis and Jackson. (2008). Human resource management (12th edition), pp. 186-189.

Performance Standards

Performance standards define the level of expected quality and quantity of work produced on the job.

Performance standards define the level of expected quality and quantity of work output produced on the job. Line managers’ input is absolutely essential. Establishing performance standards is not the HR professional’s responsibility. The line manager understands exactly what output is reasonable for a particular job. Performance standards are used in the performance management process, and therefore line managers must develop them. (The line manager is the person to whom the job incumbent reports. This is the manager that oversees the employee and should have intimate knowledge of performance expectations for the person holding the job.)

Performance standards address the questions like how much, how fast, how accurately, how many and so on. Performance standards provide the bar for employees to understand what they are expected to produce on the job.

Source:

Mathis and Jackson. (2008). Human resource management (12th edition), pp. 186-189.

Stages in the Job Analysis Process

Job Analysis in Perspective

Job Analysis and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Essential job functions: Fundamental duties of the job

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

Percentage of time spent on task:

Significant percentage of time. Often 20 percent or more.

Frequency of task:

Task performed regularly?

Daily, weekly, monthly.

Importance of task:

Does the task affect other parts of the job?

Does the task affect other jobs?

Job Analysis Activity

Working in group of three, select a job that is familiar to you (e.g., secretary, server, cashier) and conduct a task analysis for this job.

Reviewing the materials in the chapter, which method or methods make the most sense for analyzing this job? Why?

What are the major tasks or responsibilities that you identified for this job?

What knowledge, skill, ability, or other characteristics are needed to perform each of these major tasks?

Write out your findings in the form of a job description (including a job specification).

Job Design

Job design refers to organizing tasks, duties, responsibilities, and other elements into a productive unit of work.

Focuses on restructuring jobs to

Capture talents of employees

Improve their work satisfaction

Enhance an organization’s performance

Some Characteristics of Jobs and People

Person–Job Fit

Person–job fit: Matching the characteristics of people with the characteristics of jobs

Based on the match between individual characteristics and the unchangeable components of a job, people will differ on what they consider a good or bad job

Job Design – Job Enlargement

Factory work

Job Enlargement

Broadening the scope of a job by expanding the number of different tasks that are performed

Job enlargement VS job enrichment

Job Design – Job Enrichment

Job Enrichment

Designed to increase the autonomy, authority, and control over the way the job is accomplished.

Characteristics of Jobs to Consider in Design

Skill Variety

Work requires several activities for successful completion

Task Identity

Job includes a whole identifiable unit of work that is carried out from start to finish

Task Significance

Impact the job has on other people

Characteristics of Jobs to Consider in Design

Autonomy

Individual freedom and discretion in the work and its scheduling

Feedback

Amount of information employees receive about how well or how poorly they have performed

Job Characteristics Model

Psychological states of a jobholder

Experience meaningfulness of the work performed

Experience responsibility for work outcomes

Has knowledge of the results of the work performed

These psychological states of a jobholder improve work performance, internal motivation, and lower absenteeism and turnover

Five core job dimensions produce the three psychological states

Skill variety

Task significance

Task identity

Autonomy

Feedback

Job Design – Job Rotation

Job Rotation

Process whereby employees rotate in and out of different jobs

Benefits

Potential barriers to job rotation

Job Design – Job Crafting

Job Crafting: Employees mold their tasks to fit their individual strengths, passions, and motives better

Watch and Discuss: Job Crafting - Amy Wrzesniewski on creating meaning in your own work

Discussion questions:

Why the two groups of cleaner being interviewed responded differently to their job?

What are the three forms of job crafting?

Flexible Work Schedules

Forms

Compressed Workweek

Flextime

Job Sharing

Telework/Telecommuting

Study shows flexible work schedule could improve health

Flexible Work Schedules- Compressed Workweek

Process of shortening days in the workweek by lengthening the hours of work per day

Advantages

Recruitment and retention of employees

Coordinates employee work schedules with production schedules

Accommodates employees personal appointments

Improves employee job satisfaction and morale

Disadvantages

Involving federal laws regarding overtime

Increases stress experienced due to exhausting long workdays

Flexible Work Schedules- Flextime

Gives the option of employees choosing daily start and quit times

Advantages

Reduces causes of tardiness and absenteeism

Accommodates individuals lifestyles

Disadvantages

Not suited to some jobs

Communication issue

Flexible Work Schedules- Job Sharing

Arrangement where two part-time employees perform a job which otherwise is held by one full-time employee

Advantages

Suits to families where one or both spouses desire to work only part-time, suits older workers willing to phase into retirement

Limits layoffs in hard economic times

Disadvantages

Time required to orient and train a second employee

Difficulty in supervising job sharers

Flexible Work Schedules- Telework/Telecommuting

Use of smart phones, tablets, personal computers, and other communications technology to do work traditionally done in the workplace

Advantages

Increased flexibility for employees

Reduced absenteeism

Reduced carbon footprints through minimizing daily commuting

Lower overhead costs and reduced office space

Disadvantages

Employees lack the self-discipline to work at home

Employees lack of face to face interaction with one another

Employers must comply with all federal EEO regulations

Debate: Are you for flexible work schedules or against it

Does a flexible work schedule help maximize employee contribution? Why or why not?

Will broadening job functions help increase/decrease employee productivity? Explain.