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One way to see the significance of announce that, henceforth, that Source.'Based on Scott Gornall, "The work design and job analysis is to space was the ldea Lab, where SuperfluousPosition." EntrepreneulJuly learn from what happens at com- employees could go to reflect on 2009, http://www.entrepreneur.com. panies that fail to define jobs. An ideas. He drew up a flow chart to anonymous employee of a muhi- explain the ldea Lab. He called , Q'uestions media company told Entrepreneur monthly meetingsfor idea sharing. 1. Why might management be magazinek Scott Gornall about an His colleagues, unimpressed, felt reluctant to prepare a formal editor who was given a new job that he was disturbing their work job description for a position title, "creative manager of contentj' in order to justify his new respon- like ,,creative manager of Unfortunately, the scope of that job sibilities, whatever they were. content,'? What are the pitfalls was never specified or explained to Perhaps in principle, a creative of not doing so? others in the company. manager of content would have ,2. What advice about the

The new creative manager met a real need for this publisher, position would you give to this appointed himself to teach the but because the position and its company,s managers? others how to be more creative. fit with the organization's objec- He placed some magazines in a tives were never clearly spelled cubicle and called a meeting to out, the idea was wasted.

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work is done by a human resource professional. A large company may have d cotrl. pensarion managemenr department rhat includes job analysts (also called personnel analysts). Organizations may also conrracr with firms that provide this service.

Job Descriptions An essential part of job analysis is the creation of job descriptions. A job description Job Description is a iist of the tasks, duties, and responsibihties (TDRs) thar a job entails. TDRs are Alistof the observable actions. For example, a news photographer's job requires the jobholder to tasks, duties, and use a camera to take photographs. If you were to observe someone in that position responsibilities (TDRs) for a day, you would almost ieriainly see some pictures being taken. When a manager that a particular job

attempts io evaluate job performance, it is moit important io have derailed inforria- entails' tion about the work performed in the job (that is, the TDRs). This inforrnation makes it possible to determine how well an individual is meeting each iob requirement.

A job description typically has the format shown in Figure 4.2. It includes the job title, a brief description of the TDRs, and a list of the essential duties with detailed specifications of the tasks involved in carrying out each dury. Although organizations may modifi this format according to their patticular needs, all 1ob descriptions within an organization should follow the same format. This helps rhe organization make con- sistent decisions about such matters as pay and promotions. It also helps the organiza- tion show that it rnakes human resource decisions fairly.

'lfhenever the organization creates a new job, it needs to prepare a job descrip-

tion, using a process such as the one detailed in the "HR How To" box on page 101. Job descriptions should then be reviewed periodicaliy (say, once a year) and updated if necessary. Performance appraisals can provide a good opportuniry for updating job descriptions, as the employee and supervisor compare what rhe employee has been doing against the details of the job description.

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99

Figure 4. ?

Sample lob DescriPtion

100 PART 1 The Human Resource Environment

TRAIN CREW/SERVICE AT UNION PACIFIC

OVERVIEW When you work on a Union Pacific train crew, you're working at the very heart of our railroad' Moving trains. Driving trains. Making sure our customers'freight gets delivered safely and on time.

JOB DESCRIPTION

ln this entry-level position, you'll start as a Switchperson or Brakeperson, working as on-the-ground traffic control' You don't need any previous railroad experience; we provide all training. These jobs directly lead to becoming a Conductor and a Locomotive Engineer, where you will have a rare oPPortunity to work on board a moving locomotive. The Conductor is responsible for the train, the freight and the crew. The Locomotive Engineer actually oPerates the locomotive-

DUTIES

As a Switchperson or Brakeperson, you'll learn to move trains safely in the yards and over the road. You'll be climbing ladders, boarding freight cars, operating track switches, inspecting cars, and using radio communications to control train movement'

MAJOR TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

You won't work a standard 4O'hour work week. Train crews are always on-call, even on weekends and holidays. You'll travel

with our trains, sometimes spending a day or more away from your home terminal.

Job Specificalion A list of the knowledge,

skills, abilities. and other characteristics (KSAOs) that an individual must have

to perform a particular job.

SOURCE: Union paci{ic Web site, www-unionpacific.jobs/careers/explore/trainltrain-service.shtml, accessed March

B,2010.

Organizations should give each newiy hired e[rpioyee a copy of his or her job

descriirion. This helps th! employee to understand rvhat is expected, but it shouldn't be pres.nted as limiting the employee's commitment to quality and customer satisfac-

riol. Ideally, .,rrploy".i wili want to go above and beyond the listed dr-rties r'r'hen the sirr-ra[ion and their abilities cail for that. Many job descriptions include the phrase nrrd

other duties as requestedas a way to remind employees not to tell their supervisor, "But

that! nor part of my job."

Job Specifications $ilhereas the job description focuses on the activities involved iir carrying out a

job,

a job specifiiation look, at rlre quaiities or requirements rhe person performing the

lot *,-,it possess. It is a list of the knowledge, skills, abiliries, and other characteris- tics (KSAOs) that an indir,idual must have to per{orm the job. Knowledge refers to

i".t rnl or procedural information that is necessaty for successfulty performing a task' Fo, .*"*pi", this conrse is providing you rvith knowledge in horv to manage human ."rorr."r. A rkill is an in,liviiual's level of proficiency at perforrning a particular task- rhar is, the capability to perform it weii. !(/ith knorvledge and experience, you could

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Preparing a job description begins with gathering information from sources who can identifY the details of performing a task-for example, persons alreadY Per- forming the job, the suPervisor or team leader, or if the job is neq managers who are creating the new position. Other sources of information may include the company's human resource files, such as past job advertisements and job descriptions, as well as general sources of information about similar jobs, such as O-NET { http ://o n I ine. o netcenter. org }.

Based on the information gath- ered, the next step is to identifY which activities are essential duties of the iob, These include mental and physical tasks, as well as any particular methods and equipment to be used in carrYing out those tasks. When Possible, these should be stated in terms that are broad and goal oriented enough for the Person in the

position to innovate and irnprove. For example, "Developing and implementing a system for order- ing supplies efficiently" implies a goal (efficiency) as well as a task.

From these sources, the writer of the job description obtains the important elements of the description:

. Title of the iob-The title should be descriptive and, if appropriate, indicate the iob's level in the organization.

. Administrative informa' tion about the iob-The iob description may identifY a division, department, suPervi- sor's title, date of the analYsis, name of the analyst, and other information for administer- ing the company's human resource activities.

. Statement of the job's purpose-lhis should be brief and describe the position in broad terms.

e Essential duties of the job- These should be listed in order of irnportance to success- ful performance and should include details such as Physical requirements (for examPle, the amount of weight to be lifted)' the persons with whom an employee in this job interacts' and the results to be accom- plished.This section should include every dutY that the job analysis identified as essential.

. Additional responsibilities- The job descriPtion may state that the position requires additional resPonsibilities as requested bY the suPervisor.

Sourees: Small Business Administration, "Writing Effective Job Descriptions," Small Business Planner, www.sba.gov/ smallbusinessplannerl, accessed March

10, 20'10; and "How to Write a Job Analysis and Description," Entrepreneur, www.entrepreneur.com, accessed March

10,2010.

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acquire skill ln the task of preparing job specification s. Ability , in contrast to skili, refers

to u *or" general enduring capability that an individual possesses. A person might have the

"bility ro cooperate with others or to rvrite ciearly and precisely. Finally, other

chmactenstlcs might be personality traits such as someone's persistence or moti\/ation to achieve. Some jobs also have legal requirements, such as licensing or certificatioll. Figure 4.3 is a set of sarnple job specifications for the job description in Figure 4.2.

In deveioping job specifications, it is important to consider all of tl-re elernents of KSAOs. As with writing a job description, the information can come ftom a combination of people performing the job, people superyising or planning for the job, and trained lob an^iysts. Most of the jobs in a grocery rvarehouse are physically iaxing, so to describe positions at a Roanoke County, Virginia, distribution center' Atlas Logistics ernphasizes KSAOs related to that challenge. Atlas needs ernployees rvho are ,tror-rg enough to lift B0 pounds and who are rvilling to spend part of the day rvorking in the freeze, a.e".5

In contrast to nsks, duties, and responsibilities, KSAOs are characteristics of peo-

p1e and are not directly observabie. They are observable only when individuals are ca.rying out the TDRs of the job-and afterrvard, if they can show the product of

141

102 PART 'l The Human Resource Environment

['igure 4"3

Sample Job SPecifi catrons

tS4 Tell how to obtatn information for a job

analYSis.

TRAIN CREW/SERVICE AT UNION PACIFIC

REOUIREMENTS

You must be at least 18 years old' You must speak and read

fngtbh t"*rse you'll be asked to follow posted bulletins' r.ollutionr, rule tooks' timetables, switch lists' etc' You must

pu"t "

t..aing comprehension test (see sample) to be

considered {or an interview'

JOB REOUIREMENTS You must be able to use a computer keyboard' and you must

O. "Uf"

to count and compare numbers' (You might' for

"*".p1., be asked to count the cars on a train during

t*it.iri"g.f You must be able to solve problems quickly and

react to-changing conditions on the job'

You must have strong vision and hearing, including the ability

to: see and read hand signals from near and {ar; distinguish

;;;;"" colors; visually]udge the speed and distance of movlng objects; see at nighq and recognize changes

in sounds'

You must also be physically strong: able to push' pull' lift.and,,

."rru uo to 25 pounis frequently; up to 50 pounds occasionally;

""a'"ot o ag pounds infrequentiy' You'll need good.ba.lance

to

r."*iJtfu ti"o on and off equipment and work {rom ladders to ;.";#;il* turkr. And you must be able to walk' sit' stand and stooP comfortablY.

You'll be working outdoors in all weather conditions-including

,no* i.., rain, clld, and heat-and {requently at elevations more than 12 {eet above the ground'

s0uRCE: Union Pacific web site, www.unionpacific jobs/careers/explore/train/train-seruice shtml' accessed

March

8,2010.

their labor. Thus, if someone applied for a job as a news photographer, you could-not

simpiy look at rl,. i.a*6""i Jl"r"r*i'r" whether he oishe can spot and take effec-

tive photogruphr. Hor"",r"., y"" .""fa draw conclusions later about the person's skills

Uv i*f.i"g "t

examples of his or her photographs' .- Accurate information about KSAOs is especially

important for making decj'sions

abotrtwhowillfillajob.Alnanagerattemptingtofillapositionneedsinformation about the .h"r"cr..isJi;;ili;J "nd

about tf,e characi"ristics of each applicant'

Interr,iervsandselectiond".i,io,.,,shouldther.eforefocusonKSAos.

Sources of Job lnformation Information for analyzing an existing job often

comes from inctrmbents, that is, peo.

ple who currenrly h"li;fi;p;;iiit" i" the organization- Thev are a logical source of

informarion because ,t'r"y u." most acquaintedl"ith the details of the job' Incumbents

shoulcl be able to provide very accurate information'

A drar,r,back of ."iyil"g *l"rt ." t"cumbents' information is thar they may have

an incentive ,o .*"gi"'i'" -"f-'"t

they do in order to appear more vaiuable to the

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