Mindanao State University ALNIE D.

CASPILLO

Job Analysis

Organizations consist of positions that have to be staffed. Job analysis is the procedure
through which you determine the duties of these positions and the characteristics of the
people to hire for them. Job analysis produces information used for writing job
descriptions (a list of what the job entails) and job specifications (what kind of people
to hire for the job).

Uses of Job Analysis Information

As summarized in Figure 3-1, job analysis information is the basis for several
interrelated HR management activities.

Recruitment and Selection Job analysis provides information about what the job
entails and what human characteristics are required to perform these activities. This
information, in the form of job descriptions and specifications, helps management
decide what sort of people to recruit and hire.

Compensation Job analysis information is crucial for estimating the value of each job
and its appropriate compensation. Compensation (such as salary and bonus) usually
depends on the job’s required skill and education level, safety hazards, degree of
responsibility, and so on—all factors you can assess through job analysis. Furthermore,
many employers group jobs into classes (say, secretary III and IV). Job analysis
provides the information to determine the relative worth of each job—and thus its
appropriate class.

Performance Appraisal A performance appraisal compares each employee’s actual

performance with his or her performance standards. Managers use job analysis to
determine the job’s specific activities and performance standards.
Training The job description should show the activities and skills—and thereforethe
training—that the job requires.

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Steps in Job Analysis

There are six steps in doing a job analysis. Let’s look at each of them.

Step 1 Decide how you’ll use the information, since this will determine the data you
collect and how you collect them. Some data collection techniques—like interviewing
the employee and asking what the job entails—are good for writing job descriptions and
selecting employees for the job. Other techniques, like the position analysis
questionnaire described later, do not provide qualitative information for job
descriptions. Instead, they provide numerical ratings for each job; these can be used to
compare jobs for compensation purposes.

Step 2 Review relevant background information such as organization charts, process

charts, and job descriptions.

Step 3 Select representative positions. Why? Because there may be too many similar
jobs to analyze. For example, it is usually unnecessary to analyze the jobs of 200
assembly workers when a sample of 10 jobs will do.

Step 4 Actually analyse the job—by collecting data on job activities, required employee
behaviors, working conditions, and human traits and abilities needed to perform the

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job. For this step, use one or more of the job analysis methods explained later in this
chapter.

Step 5 Verify the job analysis information with the worker performing the job and with
his or her immediate supervisor. This will help confirm that the information is factually
correct and complete. This review can also help gain the employee’s acceptance of the
job analysis data and conclusions, by giving that person a chance to review and modify
your description of the job activities.

Step 6 Develop a job description and job specification. These are two tangible products
of the job analysis.

Job Analysis Methods

The basic methods by which HRM can determine job elements and the essential
knowledge, skills, and abilities for successful performance include the following:

Observation Method Using the observation method, a job analyst watches employees
directly or reviews films of workers on the job. Although the observation method
provides first hand information, workers rarely function most efficiently when they are
being watched, and thus distortions in the job analysis can occur. This method also
requires that the entire range of activities be observable, which is possible with some
jobs, but impossible for many others- for example, most managerial jobs.

Individual Interview Method The individual involves interviewing the employees

who are actually doing the job. Their input and cooperation results in detailed and
sometimes unexpected information about the position.

Group Interview Method The group interview is similar to the individual interview
except that several people who hold the position are interviewed simultaneously. This

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may result in a more accurate picture of the position, but it is possible that group
dynamics distort the information.

Structured Questionnaire Method The structured questionnaire method gives

workers a specifically designed questionnaire on which they check on rate items they
perform in their job from a long list of possible tasks items. This technique is excellent
for gathering information about jobs. However, exceptions to a job may be overlooked,
and opportunity may be lacking to ask follow-up questions or to clarify the information
received.

Technical Conference Method The technical conference method uses supervisors

with extensive knowledge of the job, frequently called subject matter experts. Here,
specific job characteristics are obtained from the experts. Although it is a good data-
gathering method, it often overlooks the workers’ perceptions about what they do on
the job.

Diary Method The diary method requires job incumbents to record their daily
activities. This is the most time consuming of the job analysis methods and may
extends over a period of time- all adding to its cost.

JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Description is a written statement of what the jobholder does, how the job is done,
under what conditions, the essential functions, how the work is to be completed, what
the purpose of the work is, and how it relates to the organizational mission. It should
accurately portray job content, environment, and conditions of employment. Although
there is no standard format for job descriptions, a common format for a job description
includes:
1. Job identification
2. Job summary
3. Responsibilities and duties

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4. Authority of incumbent
5. Standards of performance
6. Working conditions
7. Job specifications
Job identification section contains several types of information.
The job title specifies the name of the job, such as supervisor of data processing
operations, marketing manager, or inventory control clerk. The FLSA status section
permits quick identification of the job as exempt or nonexempt. (Under the Fair Labor
Standards Act, certain positions, primarily administrative and professional, are exempt
from the act’s overtime and minimum wage provisions.) Date is the date the job
description was actually written, and prepared by indicates who wrote it. There is also
space to indicate who approved the description and perhaps a space that shows the
location of the job in terms of its plant/division and department/section. This section
might also include the immediate supervisor’s title and information regarding salary
and/or pay scale. There might also be space for the grade/level of the job, if there is
such a category. For example, a firm may classify programmers as programmer II,
programmer III, and so on.

Job Summary
The job summary should describe the general nature of the job, and includes only its
major functions or activities. Include general statements like “performs other
assignments as required” with care. Such statements can give supervisors more
flexibility in assigning duties. Some experts, however, state unequivocally that “one
item frequently found that should never be included in a job description is a ‘cop-out
clause’ like ‘other duties, as assigned,’ ” since this leaves open the nature of the job—
and the people needed to staff it.

Relationships
There is occasionally a relationships statement (not in the example), which shows

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the jobholder’s relationships with others inside and outside the organization. For a
human resource manager, such a statement might look like this:
Reports to: Vice president of employee relations.
Supervises: Human resource clerk, test administrator, labor relations director, and one
secretary.
Works with: All department managers and executive management.
Outside the company: Employment agencies, executive recruiting firms, union
representatives,
state and federal employment offices, and various vendors.

Responsibilities and Duties

This section presents a list of the job’s major responsibilities and duties.

Standards of Performance and Working Conditions

Some job descriptions contain a standards of performance section. This lists the
standards the employee is expected to achieve under each of the job description’s main
duties and responsibilities. Setting standards is never an easy matter. However, most
managers soon learn that just telling subordinates to “do their best” doesn’t provide
enough guidance. One straightforward way of setting standards is to finish the
statement: “I will be completely satisfied with your work when . . .” This sentence, if
completed for each duty listed in the job description, should result in a usable
performance Standards. Here are some examples:

Duty: Accurately Posting Accounts Payable

1. Post all invoices received within the same working day.
2. Route all invoices to proper department managers for approval no later than the
day following receipt.
3. An average of no more than three posting errors per month.

Duty: Meeting Daily Production Schedule

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1. Work group produces no less than 426 units per working day.
2. Next work station rejects no more than an average of 2% of units.
3. Weekly overtime does not exceed an average of 5%.

JOB SPECIFICATION
Specifications for Trained Versus Untrained Personnel
Writing job specifications for trained employees is relatively straightforward. For
example, suppose you want to fill a position for a bookkeeper (or counselor or
programmer). In cases like these, your job specifications might focus mostly on traits
like length of previous service, quality of relevant training, and previous job
performance. Thus, it’s usually not too difficult to determine the human requirements
for placing already trained people on a job.

The problems are more complex when you’re filling jobs with untrained people (with
the intention of training them on the job). Here you must specify qualities such as
physical traits, personality, interests, or sensory skills that imply some potential for
performing or for being trained to do the job. For example, suppose the job requires
detailed manipulation in a circuit board assembly line. Here you might want to ensure
that the person scores high on a test of finger dexterity. Your goal, in other words, is to
identify those personal traits—those human requirements—that validly predict which
candidates would do well on the job and which would not. Employers identify these
human requirements through a subjective, judgmental approach or through statistical
analysis. Let’s examine both approaches in detail.

Specifications Based on Judgment

The point, says the researcher, is that “if people don’t recognize or value the attributes
that really determine success, how easy will it be for them to acquire those attributes?”
Employers should therefore “shift the focus of their recruitment and training programs
from flawed attribute checklists toward identifying and, if necessary, changing people’s
understanding of what jobs entail.” In other words, in developing the job description

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and job specification, make sure you really understand the reason for the job and
therefore the skills a person actually needs to be competent at it.

Specifications Based on Statistical Analysis

Basing job specifications on statistical analysis is the more defensible approach, but it’s
also more difficult. The aim here is to determine statistically the relationship between
(1) some predictor or human trait, such as height, intelligence, or finger dexterity, and
(2) some indicator or criterion of job effectiveness, such as performance as rated by the
supervisor. The procedure has five steps: (1) analyze the job and decide how to
measure job performance; (2) select personal traits like finger dexterity that you believe
should predict successful performance; (3) test candidates for these traits; (4) measure
these candidates’ subsequent job performance; and (5) statistically analyze the
relationship between the human trait (finger dexterity) and job performance. Your
objective is to determine whether the former predicts the latter. This method is more
defensible than the judgmental approach because equal rights legislation forbids using
traits that you can’t prove distinguish between high and low job performers. Hiring
standards that discriminate based on sex, race, religion, national origin, or age may
have to be shown to predict job performance.Ideally, this is done with a statistical
validation study.

Job Design
The process of defining how work will be performed and what tasks will be required in a
given job. Good job design incorporates tasks that relate to organizational goal and
values into every job description.

Job Enrichment
Expanding job content to create more opportunities for job satisfaction.(Frederick
Herzberg )
Motivation based on five core job characteristics:
1.Skill variety

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2.Task identity
3.Task significance
4. Autonomy
5. Feedback from the job itself

Job Evaluation
A job evaluation is a systematic way of determining the value/worth of a job in relation
to other jobs in an organization. It tries to make a systematic comparison between jobs
to assess their relative worth for the purpose of establishing a rational pay structure.

Job evaluation begins with job analysis and ends at that point where the worth of a job
is ascertained for achieving pay equity between jobs.

Features of Job evaluation

It tries to assess jobs, not people.
The basic information on which job evaluations are made is obtained from job analysis.
Job evaluations are carried out by groups, not by individuals.
Some degree of subjectivity is always present in job evaluation.
Job evaluation does not fix pay scales, but merely provides a basis for evaluating a
rational wage structure.

The process of job evaluation involves the following steps:

Gaining acceptance.
Creating job evaluation committee.
Finding the jobs to be evaluated.
Analyzing and preparing job description.
Selecting the method of evaluation.
Classifying jobs.

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Classification Method
The job classification method is less subjective when compared to the earlier ranking
method. The system is very easy to understand and acceptable to almost all employees
without hesitation. One strong point in favour of the method is that it takes into
account all the factors that a job comprises. This system can be effectively used for a
variety of jobs.

The weaknesses of the job classification method are:

Even when the requirements of different jobs differ, they may be combined into a
single category, depending on the status a job carries. It is difficult to write all-inclusive
descriptions of a grade. The method oversimplifies sharp differences between different
jobs and different grades.

Factor comparison method

It is the most complex method of all, it is consistent and appreciable. Under this
method, instead of ranking complete jobs, each job is ranked according to a series of
factors. These factors include mental effort, physical effort, skill needed, responsibility,
supervisory responsibility, working conditions and other such factors (for instance,

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know-how, problem solving abilities, accountability, etc.). Pay will be assigned in this
method by comparing the weights of the factors required for each job, i.e., the present
wages paid for key jobs may be divided among the factors weighted by importance

Point method
The point method is widely used. It requires identifying several compensable factors
(like skills and responsibility) each with several degrees and also the degree to which
each of these factors is present in the job. So once you determine the degree to which
each factor is present in the job, you need only add up the corresponding number of
points for each factor and arrive at an overall point value for the job.

Limitation of Job Evaluation

Job evaluation is not exactly scientific. The modus operandi of most of the techniques is
difficult to understand, even for the supervisors. The factors taken by the programme
are not exhaustive. There may be wide fluctuations in compensable factors in view of
changes in technology, values and aspirations of employers, etc. Employees, trade
union leaders, management and the programme operators may assign different weight
to different factors, thus creating grounds for dispute.

BA 223 Staffing, Training and Career Development Narrative Report

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BA 223 Staffing, Training and Career Development Narrative Report

Mindanao State University ALNIE D. CASPILLO

BA 223 Staffing, Training and Career Development Narrative Report

Mindanao State University ALNIE D. CASPILLO

BA 223 Staffing, Training and Career Development Narrative Report

Mindanao State University ALNIE D. CASPILLO

BA 223 Staffing, Training and Career Development Narrative Report