Unec 1701176528

PART TWO Recruitment, Placement, and Talent Management
Monty Rakusen/Cultura/Getty Images
4
Job Analysis
and the Talent
Management Process
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Company’s
When you finish studying this chapter, you should Strategic Goals
be able to:
4-1 Define talent management, and explain what

talent management-oriented managers do.
4-2
Employee Competencies
Discuss the process of job analysis, including
and Behaviors Required
why it is important. for Company to Achieve
These Strategic Goals
4-3 Explain and use at least three methods of

collecting job analysis information.
4-4 Explain how you would write a job description,

and what sources you would use. ruitment an
Rec acemen d
Pl t
4-5 Explain how to write a job specification.
ent al
Environm Leg
Tra elopment
De
inin
v
Strategic and
g a nd
4-6 Give examples of competency-based job HR Policies and Practices
Required to Produce
analysis.
Employee Competencies
and Behaviors
Co
s
m
tio pe
e
Rela ploye
W
ns a
hen Daimler opened its Mercedes-Benz Em tion
assembly plant in Alabama, its managers had

a dilemma. Their strategy was to create a high-
performance plant that Daimler could then extend WHERE ARE WE NOW . . .
Managers should know what a job entails
to other plants in America, South Africa, Brazil, and
before deciding who to recruit and hire for it,
Germany. The dilemma was that while plant managers so human resource management really starts
couldn’t hire, train, or pay their employees without with determining what the job entails. The
main purpose of this chapter is to show you
knowing what each employee was expected to do,
how to analyze jobs and write job descrip-
in this plant self-managing teams assembled the tions. We discuss several techniques for
vehicles, and so workers’ tasks might change every analyzing jobs and explain how to write job
descriptions and job specifications. The
day. How do you hire people whose job duties are
main topics we address include The Talent
always changing?1 We’ll see what they did. Management Process, The Basics of Job
Analysis, Methods for Collecting Job Anal-
ysis Information, Writing Job Descriptions,
Writing Job Specifications, and Using
Competencies Models. Then, in Chapter 5
(Personnel Planning and Recruiting), we’ll see
how to actually find the employees you need.
98
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CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 99
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-1 Talent Management Process

Define talent management, For many people, Chapters 4–13 represent the heart of this book, specifically recruit-
and explain what talent ment, selection, training, appraisal, career planning, and compensation. Managers
management-oriented
managers do.
traditionally view these activities as a series of steps:
1. Decide what positions to fill, through job analysis, personnel planning, and
forecasting.
2. Build a pool of job applicants, by recruiting internal or external candidates.
3. Obtain application forms and perhaps have initial screening interviews.
4. Use selection tools like tests, interviews, background checks, and physical
exams to identify viable candidates.
5. Decide to whom to make an offer.
6. Orient, train, and develop employees so they have the competencies to do
their jobs.
7. Appraise employees to assess how they’re doing.
8. Compensate employees to maintain their motivation.
This stepwise view makes sense. For example, the employer needs job candidates before
selecting whom to hire.
The problem with the stepwise view is twofold. First, the process usually isn’t
really stepwise. For example, managers don’t just train employees (step 6 above) and
then appraise how they’re doing (step 7). Instead (to use our example), the appraisal
may well also loop back to shape the employee’s subsequent training. So, first, rather
than view these eight HR activities as stepwise, it is best to view them holistically—
because the steps interactively affect each other and work together. The second
problem is that focusing just on each step may cause the manager to miss the for-
est for the trees. It’s not just each step but the results you obtain by applying them
together that’s important. So, second, it’s important to remember that each and every
step should be focused on achieving, in unison, some specific result (such as, say,
improving customer service).
Recognizing all this, the trend today is to view these eight activities not stepwise but
talent management as part of a coordinated talent management effort.2 We will define talent management
The goal-oriented and integrated as the holistic, integrated and results- and goal-oriented process of planning, recruiting,
process of planning, recruiting, selecting, developing, managing, and compensating employees.3 What does this mean in
developing, managing, and compen- practice? The manager who takes a talent management approach tends to take actions
sating employees.
such as the following:
1. He or she starts with the results and asks, “What recruiting, testing, training,
or pay action should I take to produce the employee competencies we need to
achieve our company’s goals?”
2. He or she treats activities such as recruiting and training as interre-
lated. For example, the manager knows that having employees with the
right skills depends as much on recruiting and training as on applicant
testing.
3. Because talent management is holistic and integrated, he or she will probably
use the same “profile” of required human skills, knowledge, and behaviors
(“competencies”) for formulating a job’s recruitment plans as for making selec-
tion, training, appraisal, and compensation decisions for it.
4. And, to ensure the activities are all focused on the same ends, the manager will
take steps to coordinate the talent management functions (recruiting and training,
for example). Doing so often involves using talent management software.
Talent Management Software
Employers use talent management software to help ensure that their talent manage-
ment activities are aimed in a coordinated way to achieve the company’s HR aims.
For example, Oracle says its Talent Management suite helps the manager to hire the
best talent, provide real-time evaluations of workforce performance, and “[a]lign and
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100 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT
develop your workforce with your talent management goals.”4 SilkRoad Technology’s
Talent Management Solution includes applicant tracking, onboarding, performance
management, and compensation support. It helps the manager to “ . . . recruit, man-
age, and retain your best employees.”5
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The Basics of Job Analysis

E
BASE Talent management starts with understanding what jobs need to be filled, and the
human traits and competencies employees need to do those jobs effectively.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-2
Discuss the process of job What Is Job Analysis?
analysis, including why it is
important.
Organizations consist of positions that have to be staffed. The organization chart
(see Figure 4-1) shows the title of each supervisor’s position and, by means of
connecting lines, who is accountable to whom, who has authority for each area, and
job analysis who is expected to communicate with whom. Job analysis is the procedure through
The procedure for determining the which you determine the duties of the company’s positions and the characteris-
duties and skill requirements of a job tics of the people to hire for them.6 Job analysis produces information for writing
and the kind of person who should job descriptions (a list of what the job entails) and job (or “person”) specifications
be hired for it. (what kind of people to hire for the job). Virtually every personnel-related action—
interviewing applicants, and training and appraising employees, for instance—requires
job descriptions
knowing what the job entails and what human traits one needs to do the job well.7
A list of a job’s duties, responsibili-
ties, reporting relationships, work-
Just about every employer today—from Marriott to Airbnb—uses job analysis and the
ing conditions, and supervisory job descriptions that stem from it.8
responsibilities—one product of a The supervisor or human resources specialist normally collects one or more of the
job analysis. following types of information via the job analysis:
job specifications ● Work activities. Information about the job’s actual work activities, such as
A list of a job’s “human require- cleaning, selling, teaching, or painting. This list may also include how, why, and
ments,” that is, the requisite when the worker performs each activity.
education, skills, personality, and ● Human behaviors. Information about human behaviors the job requires, like
so on—another product of a job sensing, communicating, lifting weights, or walking long distances.
analysis. ● Machines, tools, equipment, and work aids. Information regarding tools used,
materials processed, knowledge dealt with or applied (such as finance or law),
and services rendered (such as counseling or repairing).
President
Vice President-Sales Vice President-Production Vice President-Finance
Sales Manager Sales Manager Plant Manager Manager Internal Audits

Eastern Division Western Division
Sales Team Supervisor Production Supervisor Accounting Supervisor

Auto Parts
Sales Team Supervisor

Electricals
FIGURE 4-1 Organization Chart
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● Performance standards. Information about the job’s performance standards

(in terms of quantity or quality levels for each job duty, for instance).
● Job context. Information about such matters as physical working conditions,
work schedule, incentives, and, for instance, the number of people with whom
the employee would normally interact.
● Human requirements. Information such as knowledge or skills (education,
training, work experience) and required personal attributes (aptitudes,
personality, interests).
Uses of Job Analysis Information

As Figure 4-2 summarizes, job analysis is important because it supports just about all
human resource management activities.
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION Information about what duties the job entails and what
human characteristics are required to perform these duties helps managers decide what
sort of people to recruit and hire.
EEO COMPLIANCE Knowing a job's duties is necessary for determining, for example,
whether a selection test is a valid predictor of success on the job. Furthermore, to com-
ply with the ADA, employers should know each job’s essential job functions—which
requires a job analysis.
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL A performance appraisal compares an employee’s actual per-

formance of his or her duties with the job's performance standards. Managers use job
analysis to learn what these duties and standards are.
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 assess through job analysis.
TRAINING The job description lists the job’s specific duties and requisite skills—thus
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Conducting a Job Analysis

E
BASE There are six steps in doing a job analysis of a job, as follows.
STEP 1: Identify the use to which the information will be put because this will determine
how you collect the information. Some data collection techniques—like interviewing
the employee—are good for writing job descriptions. Other techniques, like the position
Job analysis
Job description and

job specification
Recruiting and selection EEO compliance Performance appraisal Job evaluation—wage Training requirements
decisions and salary decisions
(compensation)
FIGURE 4-2 Uses of Job Analysis Information
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analysis questionnaire we describe later, provide numerical ratings for each job; these
can be used to compare jobs for compensation purposes.
STEP 2: Review Relevant Background Information About the Job, Such as Organization
Charts and Process Charts9 It is important to understand the job’s context. For exam-
organization chart ple, organization charts show the organizationwide division of work, and where the
A chart that shows the organization-
job fits in the overall organization. A process chart provides a detailed picture of the
wide distribution of work, with titles
workflow. Thus, in the process chart in Figure 4-3, the quality control clerk should
of each position and interconnecting
lines that show who reports to and
review components from suppliers, check components going to the plant managers,
communicates with whom. and give information regarding the components’ quality to these managers. Finally, an
existing job description may provide a starting point for revising the job description.
process chart
A workflow chart that shows the Workflow Analysis Reviewing the organization chart, process chart, and job descrip-
flow of inputs to and outputs from a tion helps the manager identify what a job’s duties and demands are now. However, it
particular job. does not answer questions like “Does how this job relates to other jobs make sense?”
or “Should this job even exist?” To answer such questions, the manager may conduct
workflow analysis a workflow analysis. Workflow analysis is a detailed study of the flow of work from
A detailed study of the flow of work job to job in one identifiable work process (such as processing a mortgage application).
from job to job in a work process. In turn, this analysis may lead to changing or “reengineering” the job. The following
HR as a Profit Center feature illustrates workflow analysis.
IMPROVING PEFORMANCE: HR AS A PROFIT CENTER

Boosting Productivity Through Work Redesign10
The Atlantic American insurance company conducted a workflow analysis to identify
inefficiencies in how it processes insurance claims. As the firm’s HR director said,
“We followed the life of a claim to where it arrived in the mail and where it eventually
ended up” in order to find ways to improve the process.11
The workflow analysis prompted several performance-boosting redesigns of the
insurance claim jobs. The firm reduced from four to one the number of people open-
ing mail, replacing three people with a machine that does it automatically. A new date
stamping machine lets staff stamp 20 pages at a time rather than one. A new software
program adds bar codes to each claim automatically, rather than manually. The new
system lowered costs. ■
MyLab Management Talk About It 1

If your professor has assigned this, go to the Assignments section of www.pearson.com/mylab/
management to complete these discussion questions. Based on your experience, what would the
workflow look like for the process a dry-cleaning store uses to accept and chronicle a new order of
clothes from a customer? How might this process be improved?
FIGURE 4-3 Process Chart

Information input Components input
for Analyzing a Job’s from plant manager from suppliers
Workflow
Source: Henderson, Richard I.,
Compensation Management
in a Knowledge Based World,
9th Ed., © 2003, p.137. Job under study—
Reprinted and Electronically Quality Control Clerk
reproduced by permission
of Pearson Education, Inc.,
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Information output to
plant manager Product quality output
regarding component to plant manager
quality
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In conducting a workflow analysis, the manager may use a flow process chart; this
lists in order each step of the process. The manager may convert this step-by-step flow
process chart into a diagrammatic process chart. This shows, with arrows and circles,
each step in the process.
Business Process Reengineering The workflow analysis at American Atlantic led to

business process a reengineering of its claims processing operation. Business process reengineering
reengineering means redesigning business processes, usually by combining steps so that small multi-
Redesigning business processes, function teams, often using information technology, do the jobs formerly done by a
usually by combining steps, so that sequence of departments. The basic reengineering approach is to:
small multifunction process teams
using information technology do the 1. Identify a business process to be redesigned (such as processing an insurance
jobs formerly done by a sequence of claim)
departments. 2. Measure the performance of the existing processes
3. Identify opportunities to improve these processes
4. Redesign and implement a new way of doing the work
5. Assign ownership of sets of formerly separate tasks to an individual or
a team who use new computerized systems to support the new arrangement
As at Atlantic American, reengineering usually requires redesigning individual
jobs. For example, workers doing date stamping must now know how to use the new
date-stamping machine.
Job Redesign Early economists enthusiastically described why specialized jobs were
more efficient (as in, “practice makes perfect”). Today, most agree that specialized
jobs can backfire, for instance by sapping morale. Experts typically suggest three
job enlargement ways to redesign specialized jobs to make them more challenging. Job enlargement
Assigning workers additional means assigning workers additional same-level activities. Thus, the worker who previ-
same-level activities. ously only bolted the seat to the legs might attach the back too. Job rotation means
systematically moving workers from one job to another.
job rotation
Systematically moving workers from
Psychologist Frederick Herzberg argued that the best way to motivate workers
one job to another. is through what he called job enrichment. Job enrichment means redesigning jobs
in a way that increases the opportunities for the worker to experience feelings of
job enrichment responsibility, achievement, growth, and recognition—and therefore more motivation.
Redesigning jobs in a way that It does this by empowering the worker—for instance, by giving the worker the skills
increases the opportunities for the and authority to inspect the work, instead of having supervisors do that. Herzberg said
worker to experience feelings of empowered employees would do their jobs well because they wanted to, and quality and
responsibility, achievement, growth,
productivity would rise. That philosophy, in one form or another, is the theoretical basis
and recognition.
for the team-based self-managing jobs in many companies around the world today.
STEP 3: Select Representative Positions Next, with a job to analyze, the manager gen-
erally selects a sample of positions to focus on. For example, it is usually unnecessary
to analyze the jobs of all the firm’s 200 assembly workers; instead a sample of 10 jobs
will do.
STEP 4: Actually Analyze the Job The actual job analysis involves greeting each job
holder; briefly explaining the job analysis process and the participants’ roles in this
process; spending about 15 minutes interviewing the employee to get agreement on a
basic summary of the job; identifying the job’s broad areas of responsibility, such as
“calling on potential clients”; and then interactively identifying specific duties/tasks
within each area using one of the methods we describe just below.12
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 (for
instance, on the job’s duties) is correct and complete and help to gain their acceptance.
STEP 6: Develop a Job Description and Job Specification The job description lists the duties,
activities, and responsibilities of the job, as well as its important features, such as working
conditions. The job specification summarizes the personal qualities, traits, skills, and back-
ground required for getting the job done.
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LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-3 Methods for Collecting Job Analysis Information

Explain and use at least three There are many ways (interviews or questionnaires, for instance) to collect job
methods of collecting job information.13 The basic rule is to use those that best fit your purpose. Thus an inter-
analysis information.
view might be best for creating a list of job duties. The more quantitative “position
analysis questionnaire” may be best for quantifying each job’s value for pay purposes.
Before actually analyzing the job, keep several things in mind.
● Make the job analysis a joint effort by a human resources manager, the worker,
and the supervisor. The human resource manager might observe the worker
doing the job, and have the supervisor and worker complete job questionnaires.
The supervisor and worker then verify the HR manager’s list of job duties.
● Make sure the questions and the process are clear to the employees.
● Use several job analysis methods. For example, a questionnaire might miss a task
the worker performs just occasionally. Therefore it’s prudent to follow up the
questionnaire with a short interview.
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The Interview
E
BASE Job analysis interviews range from unstructured (“Tell me about your job”) to highly
structured ones with hundreds of specific items to check off.
Managers may conduct individual interviews with each employee, group interviews
with groups of employees who have the same job, and/or supervisor interviews with
one or more knowledgeable supervisors. Use group interviews when a large number
of employees are performing similar or identical work, since this can be a quick and
inexpensive way to gather information. As a rule, the workers’ immediate supervisor
attends the group session; if not, you can interview the supervisor separately.
The interviewee should understand the reason for the interview. There’s a tendency
for workers to view such interviews, rightly or wrongly, as “efficiency evaluations.”
If so, interviewees may hesitate to describe their jobs accurately.
TYPICAL QUESTIONS Typical interview questions include the following:

What is the job being performed?
What exactly are the major duties of your position?
It is helpful to spend
several minutes prior to
collecting job analysis
information explaining the
process that you will be
following.
Hero Images/Getty Images
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What physical locations do you work in?

What are the education, experience, skill, [and any certification and licensing]
requirements?
In what activities do you participate?
What are the job’s responsibilities and duties?
What are the basic accountabilities or performance standards that typify
your work?
What are your responsibilities? What are the environmental and working
conditions involved?
What are the job’s physical, emotional, and mental demands?
What are the health and safety conditions?
Are you exposed to any hazards or unusual working conditions?
STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS Many managers use questionnaires to guide the inter-

view. Figure 4-4 presents one example. It includes questions regarding matters like
the general purpose of the job, supervisory responsibilities, job duties, and skills
required.
PROS AND CONS The interview’s wide use reflects its advantages. It’s a simple and
quick way to collect information. Skilled interviewers can also unearth important
activities that occur occasionally, or informal contacts not on the organization chart.
The employee can also vent frustrations that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Distortion of information is the main problem.14 Job analysis often precedes
changing a job’s pay rate. Employees therefore often view it as pay-related, and exag-
gerate some responsibilities while minimizing others. In one study, researchers listed
possible job duties either as simple task statements (“record phone messages and
other routine information”) or as ability statements (“ability to record phone messages
and other routine information”). Respondents were more likely to report performing
the ability-based versions of the statements. There may be a tendency for people to
inflate their job’s importance when abilities are involved, to impress the perceptions
of others.15
INTERVIEWING GUIDELINES To get the best information possible:

● Establish rapport with the interviewee. Know the person’s name, speak under-
standably, briefly review the interview’s purpose, and explain how the person was
chosen for the interview.
● Use a structured guide that lists questions. This ensures you’ll identify crucial
questions ahead of time and that all interviewers (if more than one) cover all
the required questions. (However, also ask, “Was there anything we didn’t cover
with our questions?”)
● Make sure you don’t overlook crucial but infrequently performed activities—like
a nurse’s occasional emergency room duties. Ask the worker to list his or her
duties in order of importance and frequency of occurrence.
● After completing the interview, review the information with the worker’s
supervisor and the worker.
Questionnaires
Having employees fill out questionnaires to describe their job duties and responsibili-
ties is another popular job analysis approach.
Some questionnaires are structured checklists. Here each employee gets an inven-
tory of perhaps hundreds of specific duties or tasks (such as “change and splice wire”).
He or she must indicate if he or she performs each task and, if so, how much time
is normally spent on each. At the other extreme, the questionnaire may simply ask,
“describe the major duties of your job.”
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FIGURE 4-4 Job

Analysis Questionnaire JOB ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE*
for Developing Job
Descriptions PURPOSE AND INSTRUCTIONS
Source: Adapted from
www.tsu.edu/PDFFiles/ Because no one knows the job as well as the person doing it, we are asking you to complete this
Human%20Resources/ form. The purpose is to obtain current information on your job based on a review of job duties and
HR%20Forms/JAQ%20 responsibilities. We are not asking you about your job performance; only what your job requires
FORM_rev%20 you to do.
100809%20a.pdf; www
.delawarepersonnel.com/ EMPLOYEE DATA (PLEASE PRINT):
class/forms/jaq/jaq.shtml;
www.uh.edu/human-
resources/forms/JAQ. Your Name: Today’s date
doc; www.tnstate.edu/
hr/documents/.../Job%20 Employee ID:
Analysis%20Questionnaire
.doc (all accessed Location/Department:
July 24, 2013).
Your Job Title: Job Code:
How long have you been in your current position:
Work Telephone Number:
Supervisor’s Name: Supervisor’s Title:
SUMMARY OF DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES
Give a brief description of the main function/purpose of your job. This statement should be a brief
summary of the responsibilities listed in the next section.
Listing of Job Duties
What do you do on your job? Please list your job’s specific duties responsibilities in the space
below. In doing so:
Please list the most important duties/responsibilities first. Write a separate statement for each
duty/responsibility.
At the end of each statement please indicate the approximate percent of your workday (25%,
7%, etc.) you spend on that duty.
Please place an asterisk (*) next to the duties that you consider to be absolutely essential to this
job.
(Add additional duties as necessary)
Are there duties you are now performing that are not now in your job description? If so
please list them on back of this page. (Continued)
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FIGURE 4-4 Continued

Minimum Level of Education (or Equivalent Experience) This Job Requires
What is the minimum level of education necessary to perform your job? Select only one please:
1. Elementary education.
2. Some high school.
3. A high school diploma or equivalent (G.E.D.).
4. A formal vocational training program (approximately one year), an apprenticeship, or some
formal college education.
5. An associate’s degree (AA, AS).
6. A bachelor’s degree (BA, BS).
7. A master’s degree (MA, MS, MBA, MPA).
8. A doctorate degree (Ph.D., MD, JD, EED).
. Are you required to be licensed or certified to perform your work?
[ ] Yes [ ] No List type
Required Training on Job
What is the level of on-the-job or classroom training someone requires to do your job? Please
select one choice below
1. No additional training required.
2. A day or two.
3. A week.
4. A month.
5. Several months.
6. One year.
. Two years or more.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
o you supervise others as part of your job? f so please briefly describe the nature of your
supervisory responsibilities.
PHYSICAL JOB DEMANDS
Please briefly describe this job’s main physical demands. For example, does it involve Sitting?
Walking? Standing? Lifting? etailed repetitive motions? Climbing? tc.
Working Conditions: Environmental and Safety Job Demands
Please list this job’s working conditions, such as air-conditioned office work; outdoor or indoor
extreme heat or cold; wet; noise; job hazards; working in elevated conditions; etc.
EMPLOYEE COMMENTS
s there any other information that would be important in understanding your job? f so, please
give us your comments below.
SUPERVISOR’S REVIEW
ased on your understanding of the job as it currently exists, please review the employee’s response
and provide your own comments in the space below. Please do not change the employee’s
responses.
* Copyright Gary Dessler, PhD
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In practice, the questionnaire often falls between these two extremes. As illus-
trated in Figure 4-4, a typical job analysis questionnaire might include several open-
ended questions (such as “Give a brief description of the main function/purpose
of your job.”) as well as structured questions (concerning, for instance, education
required).
Questionnaires have pros and cons. This is a quick and efficient way to obtain
information from a large number of employees; it’s less costly than interviewing dozens
of workers, for instance. However, developing and testing it (perhaps by making sure
the workers understand the questions) can be time-consuming. And as with interviews,
employees may distort their answers.
Observation
Direct observation is especially useful when jobs consist of observable physical
activities—assembly-line worker and accounting clerk are examples. However, it’s
usually not appropriate when the job entails a lot of mental activity (lawyer, design
engineer). Nor is it useful if the employee only occasionally engages in impor-
tant activities, such as a nurse who handles emergencies. Reactivity—the worker’s
changing what he or she normally does because you are watching—is another
problem.
Managers often use direct observation and interviewing together. One approach is
to observe the worker on the job during a complete work cycle. (The cycle is the time
it takes to complete the job; it could be a minute for an assembly-line worker or an
hour, a day, or longer for complex jobs.) Here you take notes of all the job activities.
Then, ask the person to clarify open points and to explain what other activities he or
she performs that you didn’t observe.
Participant Diary/Logs
diary/log Another method is to ask workers to keep a diary/log; here for every activity engaged
Daily listings made by workers of in, the employee records the activity (along with the time) in a log.
every activity in which they engage Some firms give employees pocket dictating machines and pagers. Then randomly
along with the time each activity during the day, they page the workers, who dictate what they are doing at that time.
takes.
Quantitative Job Analysis Techniques

Qualitative methods like interviews and questionnaires are not always suitable. For
example, if your aim is to compare jobs for pay purposes, a mere listing of duties may
not suffice. You may need to say that, in effect, “Job A is twice as challenging as Job B,
and so is worth twice the pay.” To do this, it helps to have quantitative ratings for each
job. The position analysis questionnaire and the Department of Labor approach are
quantitative methods for doing this.
position analysis POSITION ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE The position analysis questionnaire (PAQ) is
questionnaire (PAQ) a very popular quantitative job analysis tool, consisting of a questionnaire contain-
A questionnaire used to collect ing 194 items.16 The 194 items (such as “written materials”) each represent a basic
quantifiable data concerning the element that may play a role in the job.17 The items each belong to one of five PAQ
duties and responsibilities of
basic activities: (1) Having Decision-Making/Communication/Social Responsibilities,
various jobs.
(2) Performing Skilled Activities, (3) Being Physically Active, (4) Operating Vehicles/
Equipment, and (5) Processing Information. The final PAQ “score” reflects the job’s
rating on each of these five activities. To get those scores, the job analyst decides if
each of the 194 items (such as one on using “written materials”) applies to the job
and, if so, to what extent. For example, within the “Processing Information” activ-
ity section, an item on the extent to which the job requires using “written materials”
such as books and reports might get a rating of 4. Since the PAQ scale ranges from
1 to 5, a 4 suggests that written materials do play a significant role in this job. The
analyst can use an online version of the PAQ (see www.paq.com) for each job he or
she is analyzing.
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One of the PAQ’s strengths is in assigning jobs to job classes for pay pur-
poses. With ratings for each job’s decision-making, skilled activity, physical activity,
vehicle/equipment operation, and information-processing characteristics, you can
quantitatively compare jobs relative to one another,18 and then classify jobs for pay
purposes.19
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (DOL) PROCEDURE Experts at the U.S. Department of Labor

did much of the early work developing job analysis.20 They used their results to com-
pile what was for many years the bible of job descriptions, the Dictionary of Occu-
pational Titles. This mammoth book contained detailed information on virtually
every job in America. Internet-based tools have largely replaced the Dictionary.21
However, the U.S. Department of Labor job analysis procedure remains a good
example of how to quantitatively rate, classify, and compare jobs. As Table 4-1
shows, the DOL method uses a set of standard activities called worker functions
to describe what a worker must do with respect to data, people, and things. With
respect to data, for instance, the functions include synthesizing and copying. For
people, they include mentoring and supervising. For things, basic functions include
manipulating and handling.
Each worker function has an importance rating. Thus, “coordinating” is
1, whereas “copying” is 5. If you were analyzing the job of a receptionist/clerk,
for example, you might label the job 5, 6, 7 to represent copying data, speaking/
signaling people, and handling things. You might code a psychiatric aide in a hospital
1, 7, 5 in relation to data, people, and things. In practice, you would score each task
that the worker performed as part of his or her job in terms of data, people, and
things. Then you would use the highest combination (say 4, 6, 5) to rate the overall
job, since this is the highest level that you would expect a successful job incumbent to
attain. If you were selecting a worker for that 4, 6, 5 job, you’d expect him or her to
be able to at least compute (4), speak/signal (6), and tend (5). If you were comparing
jobs for pay purposes, a 4, 6, 5 job should rank higher (see Table 4-1) than a 6, 8, 6
job. The manager can then present a summary of the job along with its 3-digit rating
on a form such as in Figure 4-5.22
Online Job Analysis Methods23

Employers also use online job analysis methods. Here the human resource depart-
ment generally distributes standardized job analysis questionnaires to geographi-
cally disbursed employees online, with instructions to complete the forms and return
them by a particular date. The job analyst may then convene, online, job experts to
TABLE 4-1 Basic Department of Labor Worker Functions

data People Things
Basic Activities 0 Synthesizing 0 Mentoring 0 Setting up
1 Coordinating 1 Negotiating 1 Precision working
2 Analyzing 2 Instructing 2 Operating/controlling
3 Compiling 3 Supervising 3 Driving/operating
4 Computing 4 Diverting 4 Manipulating
5 Copying 5 Persuading 5 Tending
6 Comparing 6 Speaking/signaling 6 Feeding/offbearing
7 Serving 7 Handling
8 Taking instructions/helping
Note: Determine employee’s job “score” on data, people, and things by observing his or her job
and determining, for each of the three categories, which of the basic functions illustrates the per-
son’s job. “0” is high; “6,” “8,” and “7” are lows in each column.
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FIGURE 4-5 Sample Report

Based on Department
of Labor Job Analysis Job Analysis Schedule
Technique DOUGH MIXER
1. Established Job Title
(bake prod.)
2. Ind. Assign
3. SIC Code(s) and Title(s) 2051 Bread and other bakery products
4. JOB SUMMARY:
Operates mixing machine to mix ingredients for
straight and sponge (yeast) doughs according to
established formulas, directs other workers in
fermentation of dough, and curls dough into
pieces with hand cutter.
5. WORK PERFORMED RATINGS:
D P (T)
Worker Functions Data People Things
5 6 2
Work Field Cooking, Food Preparing
6. WORKER TRAITS RATING (to be filled in by analyst):

Training time required
Aptitudes
Temperaments
Interests
Physical demands
Environment conditions
discuss and finalize the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics doing the
job requires.24
Without a job analyst actually sitting there with the employee or supervisor, there’s
a chance they won’t cover important points or that misunderstandings arise. Therefore,
all instructions should be clear, and test the process first.
The U.S. Navy used Internet-based job analysis.25 To keep ambiguities to a mini-
mum, it had the employees complete structured online job analysis forms step by step
and duty by duty, as follows:
● First, the online form lists a set of work activities (such as “Getting Information”
and “Monitor Processes”) from the Department of Labor O*NET work activities
list (see Figure 4-6).26
● Next, the form directs employees to select those work activities that are impor-
tant to their job.
● Then, the form asks them to list actual duties of their jobs that fit each of those
selected work activities. For example, suppose an employee chose “Getting
Information” as an important work activity. Now he or she would list next to
“Getting Information” specific job duties, such as “bring new orders from our
vendors to the boss’s attention.”
Again, the main caveat with online job analysis is to strip the process of ambiguities.
The Navy’s online method proved effective.27
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FIGURE 4-6 O*NET

Generalized Work
Activities Categories
Note: The U.S. Navy employees
were asked to indicate if their
jobs required them to engage in
work activities such as: Getting
Information; Monitoring
Processes; Identifying Objects;
Inspecting Equipment; and
Estimating Quantifiable
Characteristics.
Source: From O*NET Web site,
www.onetonline.org.
MyLab Management Apply It!

If your professor has assigned this activity, go to the Assignments section of www.pearson.com/
mylab/management to complete the video exercise.
WLE
Writing Job Descriptions
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The most important product of job analysis is the job description. A job descrip-
E
BASE tion is a written statement of what the worker actually does, how he or she does it,
and what the job’s working conditions are. You use this information to write a job
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-4 specification; this lists the knowledge, abilities, and skills required to perform the job
satisfactorily.28
Explain how you would write
a job description, and what
sources you would use. HR in Action at the Hotel Paris In reviewing the Hotel Paris’s employment systems, the HR
manager was concerned that virtually all the company’s job descriptions were out of date, and
that many jobs had no descriptions at all. She knew that without accurate job descriptions, all her
improvement efforts would be in vain. To see how this was handled, see the case on page 127 of
this chapter.
Diversity Counts
You might assume that job descriptions are only of use in business settings, but that’s
not the case. For example, for parents who want the best care for their kids, writing up
a job description before hiring a child-care worker could be quite useful. For instance,
because what children learn when they’re very young predicts their future academic
and career success, facilitating early-childhood learning is a crucial task for many care-
givers.29 And yet because few parents think through and write a job description before
recruiting their child-care workers, many hire this important person not clearly crystal-
lizing what they want this person to do—including, for instance, facilitating learning.
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A well-thought-out job description might benefit everyone involved. The parent—

knowing that supporting early-childhood learning is so important—might put more
effort into finding and training the child’s caregiver (95% of whom are women). The
child might benefit from a more nurturing learning environment. And the caregiver
would gain if, after recognizing how many challenging tasks she is responsible for, the
parent would raise her salary from the current national average of about $19,000 per
year—just about the poverty level for a family of three. ■
There is no standard format for writing a job description. However, most descrip-
tions contain sections that cover:
1. Job identification
2. Job summary
3. Responsibilities and duties
4. Authority of incumbent
5. Standards of performance
6. Working conditions
7. Job specification
Figures 4-7 and 4-8 present two sample forms of job descriptions.
Job Identification
As in Figure 4-7, the job identification section (on top) contains several types of
information.30 The job title specifies the name of the job, such as inventory control
clerk. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) status section identifies the job as exempt
or nonexempt. (Under the FLSA, certain positions, primarily administrative and pro-
fessional, are exempt from the act’s overtime and minimum wage provisions.) Date is
the date the job description was approved.
There may also be a space to indicate who approved the description and perhaps
one showing the job’s location in terms of facility/division and department. This sec-
tion might also include the supervisor’s title and information regarding salary and/or
pay scale. There might also be space for the pay grade/level of the job, if there is one.
For example, a firm may classify programmers as programmer II, programmer III,
and so on.
WHAT’S IN A NAME (OR IN A JOB TITLE)? Some job titles are quite creative. For example,
Pinterest calls its designers Pixel Pushers, and its interns Pinterns.31 One study con-
cluded that employees who participate in retitling their jobs and who have more
descriptive job titles tend to be more satisfied and to feel more recognized.32
The U.S. Navy discovered that the hard way. From the Navy’s earliest days, sailors
traditionally had descriptive job titles such as “electrician’s mate first class.” In part
to strip its job titles of gender-specific labels containing “man” or “men,” the Navy
decided to group all sailors with the same pay rate together, with the same (bland) job
title such as “petty officer first class.”33 An uproar ensued. A petition with over 100,000
signatures got to the White House. The Navy returned to its traditional job titles.
Job Summary
The job summary should summarize the essence of the job, and should include
only its major functions or activities. Thus (in Figure 4-7), the telesales rep “ . . . is
responsible for selling college textbooks. . . .” For the job of mailroom supervisor,
“the mailroom supervisor receives, sorts, and delivers all incoming mail properly,
and he or she handles all outgoing mail including the accurate and timely posting
of such mail.”34
Some experts 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,’”35 since this leaves open the nature of the job. Finally, state in the summary
that the employee is expected to carry out his or her duties efficiently, attentively, and
conscientiously.
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JOB TITLE: Telesales Respresentative JOB CODE: 100001

RECOMMENDED SALARY GRADE: EXEMPT/NONEXEMPT STATUS: Nonexempt
JOB FAMILY: Sales EEOC: Sales Workers
DIVISION: Higher Education REPORTS TO: District Sales Manager
DEPARTMENT: In-House Sales LOCATION: Boston
DATE: April 2013
SUMMARY (Write a brief summary of job.)
The person in this position is responsible for selling college textbooks, software, and multimedia products to professors,
via incoming and outgoing telephone calls, and to carry out selling strategies to meet sales goals in assigned territories of
smaller colleges and universities. In addition, the individual in this position will be responsible for generating a designated
amount of editorial leads and communicating to the publishing groups product feedback and market trends observed in
the assigned territory.
SCOPE AND IMPACT OF JOB
Dollar responsibilities (budget and/or revenue)
The person in this position is responsible for generating approximately $2 million in revenue, for meeting operating expense
budget of approximately $4000, and a sampling budget of approximately 10,000 units.
Supervisory responsibilities (direct and indirect)
None
Other
REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE (Knowledge and experience necessary to do job)

Related work experience
Prior sales or publishing experience preferred. One year of company experience in a customer service or marketing
function with broad knowledge of company products and services is desirable.
Formal education or equivalent
Bachelor’s degree with strong academic performance or work equivalent experience.
Skills
Must have strong organizational and persuasive skills. Must have excellent verbal and written communications skills
and must be PC proficient.
Other
Limited travel required (approx 5%)
(Continued)
FIGURE 4-7 Sample Job Description, Pearson Education

Source: Reprinted and electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Relationships
There may be a “relationships” statement (not in Figure 4-7) that shows the jobholder’s
relationships with others inside and outside the organization. The following presents
some illustrative relationships for a human resource manager.36
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PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES (List in order of importance and list amount of time spent on task.)
Driving Sales (60%)

Achieve quantitative sales goal for assigned territory of smaller colleges and universities.
Determine sales priorities and strategies for territory and develop a plan for implementing those strategies.
Conduct 15–20 professor interviews per day during the academic sales year that accomplishes those priorities.
Conduct product presentations (including texts, software, and Web site); effectively articulate author’s central
vision of key titles; conduct sales interviews using the PSS model; conduct walk-through of books and
technology.
Employ telephone selling techniques and strategies.
Sample products to appropriate faculty, making strategic use of assigned sampling budgets.
C ose c ass test adoptions or first edition products.
Negotiate custom publishing and special packaging agreements within company guidelines.
Initiate and conduct in-person faculty presentations and selling trips as appropriate to maximize sales with the
strategic use of travel budget. Also use internal resources to support the territory sales goals.
Plan and execute in-territory special selling events and book-fairs.
Develop and implement in-territory promotional campaigns and targeted email campaigns.
Publishing (editorial/marketing) 25%

Report, track, and sign editorial projects.
at er and communicate si nificant mar et eedbac and in ormation to pub is in roups.
Territory Management 15%

Track and report all pending and closed business in assigned database.
Maintain records of customer sales interviews and adoption situations in assigned database.
Manage operating budget strategically.
Submit territory itineraries, sales plans, and sales forecasts as assigned.
Provide superior customer service and maintain professional bookstore relations in assigned territory.
Decision-Making Responsibilities for This Position:

Determine the strategic use of assigned sampling budget to most effectively generate sales revenue to exceed sales goals.
Determine the priority of customer and account contacts to achieve maximum sales potential.
Determine where in-person presentations and special selling events would be most effective to generate the most sales.
Submitted By: Jim Smith, District Sales Manager Date: April 10, 2013
Approval: Date:
Human Resources: Date:
Corporate Compensation: Date:
FIGURE 4-7 Continued
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.37
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FIGURE 4-8 Marketing

Manager Description
from Standard
Occupational Classification
Source: U.S. Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
Responsibilities and Duties

This is the heart of the job description. It should present a list of the job’s respon-
sibilities and duties. As in Figure 4-7, list each of the job’s major duties separately,
and describe it in a few sentences. In the figure, for instance, the job’s duties include
“achieve quantitative sales goal . . . ” and “determine sales priorities. . . .” Typical duties
for other jobs might include making accurate postings to accounts payable, maintain-
ing favorable purchase price variances, and repairing production-line tools and equip-
ment. This section may also define the jobholder’s authority limits. For example, the
jobholder might have authority to approve purchase requests up to $5,000, grant time
off or leaves of absence, discipline department personnel, recommend salary increases,
and interview and hire new employees.
Usually, the manager’s basic question here is, “How do I determine what the job’s
duties are and should be?” The answer first is, from the job analysis; this should reveal
what the employees on each job are doing now.
Second, you can review various sources of standardized job description infor-
Standard Occupational mation. For example, the U.S. government’s Standard Occupational Classification
Classification (SOC) (SOC) (www.bls.gov/soc/socguide.htm) classifies all workers into one of 23 major
Classifies all workers into one of groups of jobs, such as “Management Occupations” and “Healthcare Occupations.”
23 major groups of jobs that are sub- These in turn contain 96 minor groups of jobs, which in turn include 821 detailed
divided into minor groups of jobs and
occupations, such as the marketing manager description in Figure 4-8. The employer
detailed occupations.
can use standard descriptions like these to identify a job’s duties and responsibilities,
such as “Determine the demand for products.”
The employer may also use other popular sources of job description information,
such as www.jobdescription.com. Another simple solution is just to Google the job
description you want, by seeing online what others are doing. Thus, someone writing
job descriptions for marketing manager would readily find relevant online descriptions
using methods like these:
● Go to http://hiring.monster.com. Then click Resource Center, then Recruiting
and Hiring Advice, then Job Descriptions. Then find the Marketing and Sales
Manager Sample Job Description.38
● Go to www.careerplanner.com. Then click Job Descriptions, then scroll down to
the job description you’re interested in.39
● O*NET online, as noted, is another option for finding job duties. We present an
example in the HR Tools for Line Managers and Small Businesses feature at the
end of this section.
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TRENDS SHAPING HR: DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Thanks to social media such as LinkedIn, line managers today can do things for which
they formerly required HR managers. For example, (to paraphrase what someone
posted on LinkedIn): I hope some of you IT recruiters out there can help me to better
understand what I need to put into the job descriptions that I’m writing for the O*NET
developers and development managers I’m recruiting for. The first of many replies listed
12 tasks including: (1) Do technical skills match the desired job?, (2) What technical
problems were solved by the job seeker?, and (3) Did job seeker know about Cloud
Deployment?40 ■
Writing clear job duties is an art. For a teacher, for example, one duty might be:41
Incorrect: Ensures that students learn fifth-grade English with the aim of passing
the required common exam.
Comment: What the teacher does is ambiguous, and the expected process and
results of the teacher’s actions aren’t clear.
Correct: Studies past common English exams to understand what they typically
involve; prepares yearly, weekly, and daily lesson plans; presents each day’s
lesson clearly with follow-up questions to ensure learning; administers weekly
tests to confirm learning; and counsel students one-on-one in class lessons
as necessary.
KNOW YOUR EMPLOYMENT LAW

Writing Job Descriptions That Comply with the ADA
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The list of job duties is crucial to employers’ efforts to comply with the Americans
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with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the ADA, the individual must have the requisite
E
BASE skills, educational background, and experience to perform the job’s essential func-
tions. The EEOC says, “Essential functions are the basic job duties that an employee
must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.”42 Factors to
consider include:
● Whether the position exists to perform that function
● The number of other employees available to perform the function
● The degree of expertise or skill required to perform the function
● Whether employees in the position are actually required to perform the
function43
● What the degree of expertise or skill required to perform the function is44
As an example, answering calls and directing visitors to the proper offices might
be essential functions for a receptionist. The EEOC says it will consider both the
employer’s judgment about which functions are essential, and a written job description
prepared before advertising or interviewing for a job as evidence of essential functions.
Other evidence includes the actual work experience of present or past employees in
the job, the time spent performing a function, and the consequences of not requiring
that function.
If the disabled individual can’t perform the job as currently structured, the employer
is required to make a “reasonable accommodation,” unless doing so would present an
“undue hardship.” The EEOC says reasonable accommodation may include:
● acquiring or modifying equipment or devices,
● part-time or modified work schedules,
● adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials, or policies,
● providing readers and interpreters, and
● making the workplace readily accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. ■
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Standards of Performance and Working Conditions

A “standards of performance” section lists the standards the company expects the
employee to achieve for each of the job description’s main duties and responsibilities.
One way to set standards is to finish the statement, “I will be completely satisfied with
your work when . . . .” This sentence, completed for each duty, should produce a usable
set of performance standards. For example:
Duty: Accurately Posting Accounts Payable
1. Post all invoices received within the same working day.
2. Route all invoices to the proper department managers for approval no later than
the day following receipt.
3. Commit an average of no more than three posting errors per month.
Finally, the job description may list the job’s working conditions, such as noise level
or hazardous conditions.
IMPROVING PERFORMANCE: HR TOOLS FOR LINE MANAGERS

AND SMALL BUSINESSES
Using O*NET
Without their own job analysts or even HR managers, many small business owners face
two hurdles when doing job analyses. First, most need a more streamlined approach
than those provided by questionnaires like Figure 4-4. Second is the concern that, in
writing their job descriptions, they’ll overlook duties that should be assigned. What
they need is an encyclopedia listing all the possible positions they might encounter,
including a list of the duties normally assigned to these positions.
The small business owner has at least three options. The Standard Occupational
Classification, mentioned earlier, provides detailed descriptions of thousands of
jobs and their human requirements. Web sites like www.jobdescription.com provide
customizable descriptions by title and industry. And the Department of Labor’s
O*NET is a third alternative. We’ll focus here on how to write a job description using
O*NET (http://online.onetcenter.org).45 It is free to use.
O*NET
The U.S. Department of Labor’s online occupational information network, called
O*NET, enables anyone to see the most important characteristics of various occupations,
as well as the experience, education, and knowledge required to do each job well. Both the
Standard Occupational Classification and O*NET list the specific duties associated with
numerous occupations. O*NET also lists skills, including basic skills such as reading and
writing, process skills such as critical thinking, and transferable skills such as persuasion
and negotiation.46 An O*NET job listing also includes information on worker require-
ments (required knowledge, for instance), occupation requirements (such as compiling,
coding, and categorizing data, for instance), and experience requirements (including edu-
cation and job training). Employers and career planners also use O*NET to check the
job’s labor market characteristics, such as employment projections and earnings data.47
The steps in using O*NET to facilitate writing a job description follow.
STEP 1. Review Your Plan. Ideally, the jobs you need should flow from your depart-
mental or company plans. Do you plan to enter or exit businesses? What do you expect
your sales to be in the next few years? What departments will have to be expanded or
reduced? What kinds of new positions will you need?
STEP 2.Develop an Organization Chart. Start with the organization as it is now. Then
produce a chart showing how you want it to look in a year or two. Microsoft Office
and others offer free tools.48
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STEP 3. Use a Job Analysis Questionnaire. Next, gather information about each
job’s duties. (You can use job analysis questionnaires, such as those shown in
Figures 4-4 and 4-9.)
STEP 4. Obtain Job Duties from O*NET. The list of job duties you uncovered through
the job analysis in step 3 may or may not be complete. We’ll therefore use O*NET to
compile a more complete list. (Refer to the A, B, and C examples pictured.)
Source: Reprinted by permission of

O*NET OnLine.
A (above)
B (above)
C (above)
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Start by going to www.onetonline.org/49 (A). Here, click on Find Occupations.

Assume you want to create job descriptions for a retail salesperson. Key Retail Sales
in the Industry Keyword drop-down box. This brings you to the Occupations match-
ing “retail sales” page (B).50
Clicking on the Retail Salespersons summary produces the job summary and spe-
cific occupational duties for retail salespersons (C).51 For a small store, you might want
to combine the duties of the “retail salesperson” with those of “first-line supervisors/
managers of retail sales workers.”
STEP 5. List the Job’s Human Requirements from O*NET. Next, return to the summary
for Retail salespersons (C). Here, click, for example, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.
Use this information to help develop a job specification for your job. Use this informa-
tion for recruiting, selecting, and training your employees.
STEP 6. Finalize the Job Description. Finally, perhaps using Figure 4-9 as a guide, write
an appropriate job summary for the job. Then use the information obtained previously
in steps 4 and 5 to create a complete listing of the tasks, duties, and human require-
ments of each of the jobs you will need to fill. ■
FIGURE 4-9 Simple Job

Description Questionnaire Background Data
Source: Copyright Gary for Job Description
Dessler, PhD.
Job Title Department
Job Number Written by
Today’s Date Applicable DOT Codes
I. Applicable DOT Definition(s):
II. Job Summary:

(List the more important or regularly performed tasks.)
III. Reports To:
IV. Supervises:
V. Job Duties:
(Briefly describe, for each duty, what employee does and, if possible, how
employee does it. Show in parentheses at end of each duty the approximate
percentage of time devoted to duty.)
A. Daily Duties:
B. Periodic Duties:
(Indicate whether weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.)
C. Duties Performed at Irregular Intervals:
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If your professor has assigned this, go to the Assignments section of www.pearson.com/mylab/
management to complete these discussion questions. Pick a job that someone with whom you are
familiar is doing, such as a bus driver, mechanic, and so on. Review the O*NET information for that job.
To what extent does the person seem to have what it takes to do that job, based on the O*NET informa-
tion? How does that correspond to how he or she is actually doing?
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Writing Job Specifications

E
BASE
The job specification takes the job description and answers the question, “What human
traits and experience are required to do this job effectively?” It shows what kind of person
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-5 to recruit and for what qualities you should test that person. It may be a section of the job
Explain how to write a job description, or a separate document. Often—as in Figure 4-7 (“REQUIRED KNOWL-
specification. EDGE AND EXPERIENCE”) on pages 113–114—it is part of the job description.52
Specifications for Trained versus Untrained Personnel

Writing job specifications for trained and experienced employees is relatively straight-
forward. Here job specifications tend to focus on factors such as length of previous
service, quality of relevant training, and previous job performance.
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
Filling jobs with untrained performing the job or for trainability. Thus, for a job that requires detailed manipula-
employees requires iden- tion, you might want someone who scores high on a test of finger dexterity. Employers
tifying the personal traits identify the job’s human requirements either through a subjective, judgmental approach
that predict performance. or through statistical analysis (or both).
Specifications Based on Judgment

Most job specifications simply reflect the educated guesses of
people like supervisors and human resource managers. The
basic procedure here is to ask, “What does it take in terms
of education, intelligence, training, and the like to do this
job well?”
How does one make such “educated guesses”? You could
simply review the job’s duties, and deduce from those what
human traits and skills the job requires. You can also choose
human traits and skills from those listed in Web-based job
descriptions like those at www.jobdescription.com. (For exam-
Blend Images - Hill Street Studios/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
ple, one job description there lists “Generates creative solutions”

and “Manages difficult or emotional customer situations.”)
O*NET online is another option. Job listings there include lists
of required education, experience, and skills.
In any case, use common sense. Don’t ignore behaviors
that may apply to almost any job but that might not nor-
mally surface through a job analysis. Industriousness is an
example. Who wants an employee who doesn’t work hard?
One researcher collected information from 18,000 employees
in 42 different hourly entry-level jobs.53 Generic work behav-
iors that he found to be important to all jobs included thor-
oughness, attendance, unruliness [lack of], and scheduling
flexibility (for instance, offers to stay late when store is busy).
Another study, of over 7,000 executives, found that crucial
top-leader behaviors included: takes initiative, practices self-
development, displays high integrity, drives for results, and
develops others.54
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■ HR AND THE GIG ECONOMY DO GIG WORKERS NEED JOB SPECIFICATIONS?

Hiring nonemployee gig workers doesn’t mean the employer doesn’t need job descriptions and job
specifications. The employer must still ensure that the workers at least fit certain minimum requirements.
Therefore both Lyft and Uber list “driver requirements,” which are essentially job specifications.55
Driver requirements vary somewhat by location, but both Uber and Lyft require drivers to be at least
21, have a Social Security number and in-state driver’s license (at least one year old), have in-state
insurance, and undergo both DMV and national and county-wide background checks. For Uber the
background check also requires no recent DUI or drug-related offenses, or incidents of driving without
insurance or license, or fatal accidents, or history of reckless driving, and no criminal history. And your
car must pass muster. For example, it must be a four-door sedan, seat four or more (excluding driver),
be 2001 or newer, have in-state plates and be currently registered, and pass Uber’s vehicle inspection.

If your professor has chosen to assign this, go to the Assignments section of www.pearson.com/
mylab/management to complete these discussion questions. Based on your experience, what
other human requirements would you say there are to be a good Uber or Lyft driver? Should the
companies add these as requirements? Why?
Job Specifications Based on Statistical Analysis

Basing job specifications on statistical analysis (rather than only judgment) is more
defensible, but it’s also more difficult. The aim is to determine statistically the relation-
ship between (1) some predictor (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 basic procedure is predictive validation.
This 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 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 aim is to determine whether
the trait predicts performance.
Why is this more defensible than the judgmental approach? First, if the trait
doesn’t predict performance, why use it? Second, equal rights laws prohibit using traits
that you can’t prove distinguish between high and low job performers. But, in practice,
most employers rely on judgmental approaches.
The Job-Requirements Matrix

Although most employers use job descriptions and specifications to summarize their
job-requirements matrix jobs’ duties and responsibilities, the job-requirements matrix is also popular.56
A more complete description of A typical matrix lists the following information, in five columns:
what the worker does and how and
why he or she does it; it clarifies Column 1: Each of the job’s four or five main job duties (such as post accounts
each task’s purpose and each duty’s payable)
required knowledge, skills, abilities, Column 2: The task statements for the main tasks associated with each main
and other characteristics. job duty
Column 3: The relative importance of each main job duty
task statement Column 4: The time spent on each main job duty
Written item that shows what the Column 5: The knowledge, skills, ability, and other human characteristics
worker does on one particular job (KSAO) related to each main job duty57
task; how the worker does it; the
knowledge, skills, and aptitudes The main step in creating a job-requirements matrix involves writing the task
required to do it; and the purpose of statements. Each task statement describes what the worker does on each of a main
the task. job duty’s separate job tasks and how the worker does it.
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Employee Engagement Guide for Managers

As noted earlier, the manager should not ignore, while writing the job specification,
desirable on-the-job behaviors that apply to almost any job but that might not nor-
mally surface through a job analysis. Employee engagement is an example.
The human resource consulting company Development Dimensions International
conducted a study of 3,800 employees, and identified several personal characteris-
tics that seemed to predict the likelihood someone would be engaged.58 These traits
included adaptability, passion for work, emotional maturity, positive disposition, self-
advocacy, and achievement orientation.
A sensible suggestion is to seek out people who already have records of being
engaged employees. Because past behavior is often the best predictor of future behav-
ior, one suggestion is that if you want to hire people who are more likely to become
engaged employees, “ . . . look for examples of engagement in other areas of life.”59
For example, seek out candidates with a demonstrated commitment to serve others,
such as nurses, veterans, and voluntary first responders.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-6 Using Competencies Models

Give examples of competency- Many people still think of a “job” as a set of specific duties someone carries out for
based job analysis. pay, but the concept of job is changing. Companies today continue to flatten their
hierarchies, squeezing out managers, and leaving the remaining workers with more
jobs to do. Changes like these tend to blur where one job starts and another ends. In
situations like these, relying on a list of job duties that itemizes specific things you
expect the worker to do is often impractical.60
Many employers are therefore using a different job analysis approach. Instead of
listing the job’s duties, they list, in competency models (or profiles), the knowledge, skills,
and experience someone needs to do the job. Such models or profiles (see Figure 4-10)
list the competencies employees must be able to exhibit to get their jobs done.61 In
FIGURE 4-10 HR Manager SHRM Body of Competency & KnowledgeTM

Competency Model
Source: The SHRM Body of
Competency and Knowledge. Behavioral Competencies
©2014, Society for Human Technical Competency Leadership &
Navigation
Resource Management,
Alexandria, VA. Used with
permission. All rights reserved.
Business Ethical Relationship
Acumen Practice Management
Effective
Individual
Performance
Global
Consultation Critical & Cultural Communication
Evaluation
Effectiveness
HR Expertise (HR Knowledge Domains)
Successful
Business
People Organization Workplace Strategy Outcomes
Talent Acquisition Structure of the HR in the Business

& Retention HR Function Global Context & HR Strategy HR
Employee Org. Effectiveness Diversity & Functional
Engagement & Development Inclusion Areas
Learning Workforce Risk Management
& Development Management Corporate Social
Total Rewards Employee Responsibility
Relations Employment Law
Technology & Regulations*
& Data
*Application only to examinees testing within the U.S.
M04_DESS2780_16_SE_C04.indd 122 19/10/2018 14:54

creating a competency model for HR managers, the Society for Human Resource Man-
agement describes a competency as a “cluster of highly interrelated attributes” (such
as research design knowledge, critical thinking skills, and deductive reasoning abili-
ties) that give rise to the behaviors (such as critical evaluation) someone would need
to perform a given job (in this case, HR manager) effectively. 62
The competency model or profile then becomes the guidepost for recruiting,
selecting, training, evaluating, and developing employees for each job.63 In other
words, the manager hires new employees using tests that measure the profile’s list of
competencies, trains employees with courses that develop these competencies, and
appraises performance by assessing the worker’s competencies. The accompanying
Strategic Context feature illustrates.
■ IMPROVING PERFORMANCE: THE STRATEGIC CONTEXT

Daimler Alabama
By 2020, Daimler intends to use its expanded Tuscaloosa, Alabama factory complex to start building
hybrid and (eventually) electric SUVs.64 That’s a step it could take because its original factory there,
which came on line about 20 years before, has been so successful.
In planning its original Alabama Mercedes-Benz factory, Germany-based Daimler’s strategy was
to design a high-tech factory.65 The plant emphasizes just-in-time inventory methods, so inventories
stay negligible due to the arrival “just in time” of parts. It also organizes employees into work teams,
and emphasizes that all employees must dedicate themselves to continuous improvement (seeking
continuously to find better ways to do things).
Such a production strategy requires certain employee competencies (skills and behaviors). For
example, it requires multiskilled and flexible employees who are eager to work cooperatively in teams.
Competency-based job analysis played an important role in this factory. Guidelines here regarding
whom to hire and how to train them are based more on the competencies someone needs to do the job
(such as “ability to work cooperatively on a team”) than on lists of job duties. Because employees don’t
have to follow detailed job descriptions showing what “my job” is, it’s easier for employees to move
from job to job within their teams. Not being pigeonholed also encourages workers to look beyond
their own jobs to find ways to improve things. For instance, one team found a $0.23 plastic prong that
worked better than the one for $2.50 the plant was using to keep car doors open during painting.
Building its modern “continuous improvement” plant meant Daimler needed employees who thought
competency-based job for themselves. Organizing its jobs around worker competencies and using competency-based job
analysis analysis helped Daimler achieve its strategic aims here.
Describing the job in terms of
measurable, observable, behavioral MyLab Management Talk About It 4
competencies (knowledge, skills,
If your professor has assigned this, go to the Assignments section of www.pearson.com/
and/or behaviors) that an employee
mylab/management to complete these discussion questions. Specifically, what competencies
doing that job must exhibit to do
would you look for in a prospective Alabama plant employee? Why?
the job well.
How to Write Competencies Statements

The process for identifying a job’s required competencies (competency-based job
analysis—describing the job in terms of measurable, observable, behavioral competen-
cies) is similar to a traditional job analysis. Thus, you might interview job incumbents
and ask about job responsibilities and activities, and required skills and knowledge.
But instead of compiling lists of job duties, your aim is to finish the statement,
“In order to perform this job competently, the employee should be able to. . . .” Use your
knowledge of the job to answer this, or the worker’s or supervisor’s insights, or use
information from a source such as O*NET, or from the Department of Labor’s Office
of Personnel Management (see www.opm.gov). Then, for each competency write a
competency statement.
A good competency statement includes three elements.66 One is the name and a
brief description of the competency, such as “Project Management—creating accurate
and effective project schedules.” The second is a description of the observable behaviors
that represent proficiency in the competency, such as “continuously manage project
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FIGURE 4-11 Skills Matrix Level 6 6 6 6 6 6

Note: This is an example of
a skills matrix for technical/ Level 5 5 5 5 5 5
engineering product development
employees. The blue numbered Level 4 4 4 4 4 4
boxes show the level required for
each skill for these product devel- Level 3 3 3 3 3 3
opment employees. An accompa-
nying key would provide specific Level 2 2 2 2 2 2
examples for each level of each
skill, with difficulty increasing for Level 1 1 1 1 1 1
each skill level starting at Level 1.
For example, Level 1 for Technical Technical Decision- Interpersonal Leadership Commercial
Expertise/Skills might say “has or Expertise/Skills Making Skills Skills Awareness
is in process of acquiring the basic and Problem Skills
knowledge necessary to do this Solving Skills
type of job,” while Level 6 might
say, “Capable of conducting and
supervising highly complex ana-
lytical tasks requiring advanced
technical know-how and skills.” risks and dependencies by making timely decisions.” Third are proficiency levels. For
Source: Copyright Gary example (for project management from low to high):67
Dessler, PhD.
● Proficiency Level 1. Identify project risks and dependencies and communicate
routinely to stakeholders
● Proficiency Level 2. Develop systems to monitor risks and dependencies and
report changes
● Proficiency Level 3. Anticipate changing conditions and impact to risks and
dependencies and take preventive action
BP EXAMPLE British Petroleum’s (BP’s) exploration division executives wanted to shift

employees from a job duties–oriented “that’s-not-my-job” attitude to one that moti-
vated employees to obtain the skills required to accomplish broader responsibilities.68
Their solution was a skills matrix like that in Figure 4-11. They had skills matrices
for each job or job family (such as drilling managers). As in Figure 4-11, each matrix
CHAPTER 4
listed (1) the types of skills required to do that job, such as technical expertise, and
(2) the minimum skill required for proficiency at each level. The figure’s note shows
how to actually use the matrix.
BP’s talent management efforts in this unit could now focus on recruiting, hiring,
training, appraising, and rewarding employees based on the set of skills employees
need to perform the job in question.
Chapter Review
Chapter Section Summaries
4-1. Employers today often view all the staffing and pay are goal-directed; use the same
staff–train–reward activities as part of a single “profile” for formulating recruitment plans for
integrated talent management process. Talent a job as you do for making selection, training,
management is the holistic, integrated, and appraisal, and payment decisions for it; and
results and goal-oriented process of planning, integrate all the talent management functions.
recruiting, selecting, developing, managing, and 4-2. Job analysis is the procedure through which
compensating employees. Taking a talent man- you determine the duties of the department’s
agement perspective means: keep in mind that positions and the characteristics of the people
the talent management tasks are parts of a to hire for them. Job descriptions are a list of
single interrelated talent management process; what the job entails, while job specifications
make sure talent management decisions such as identify what kind of people to hire for the
M04_DESS2780_16_SE_C04.indd 124 19/10/2018 14:54

job. The job analysis itself involves collecting personnel. For trained employees, you’re looking
information on matters such as work activi- primarily for traits like experience. For untrained
ties; required human behaviors; and machines, personnel, you should identify traits that might
tools, and equipment used. The basic steps in job predict success on the job. Most job specifications
analysis include deciding on the use of the job come from the educated guesses of people like
analysis information, reviewing relevant back- supervisors, and are based mostly on judgment.
ground information, analyzing the job, verifying Some employers use statistical analyses to identify
the information, and developing job descriptions predictors or human traits that relate to success
and job specifications. on the job. Human traits that may predict the job
4-3. There are various methods for collecting job analysis candidates’ likelihood to be engaged and that the
information. These include interviews, question- manager might therefore want to include in the
naires, observation, participant diary/logs, and job specification include adaptability, passion for
quantitative techniques such as position analysis work, emotional maturity, positive disposition,
questionnaires. Employers increasingly collect self-advocacy, achievement orientation, and a
information from employees via the Internet. work history that includes a demonstrated com-
4-4. Managers should know how to write job mitment to serve others.
descriptions. While there is no standard format, 4-6. With competencies models and profiles, the aim
most descriptions contain sections that cover job is to create descriptions of what is required for
identification, a job summary, a listing of respon- exceptional performance in a given role or job, in
sibilities and duties, the job incumbent’s authority, terms of required competencies, knowledge, and
and performance standards. It may also contain experience. Each job’s profile then becomes the
information regarding the job’s working condi- benchmark for creating recruitment, selection,
tions and the job specifications. Many employers training, and evaluation and development plans
use Internet sources such as www.jobdescription for each job. Competency-based job analysis
.com to facilitate writing job descriptions. means describing the job in terms of measurable,
4-5. In writing job specifications, distinguish between observable, behavioral competencies (such as
specifications for trained versus untrained skills).
Discussion Questions
CHAPTER 4
4-1. Why, in summary, should managers think 4-4. Describe the types of information typically
of staffing, training, appraising, and paying found in a job specification.
employees as a talent management process? 4-5. Explain how you would conduct a job analysis.
4-2. What items are typically included in the job 4-6. Do you think all companies can really do
description? without detailed job descriptions? Why or
4-3. We discussed several methods for collecting why not?
job analysis data—questionnaires, the position 4-7. Explain how you would create a job-
analysis questionnaire, and so on. Compare and requirements matrix for a job.
contrast these methods, explaining what each is 4-8. In a company with only 25 employees, is there
useful for and listing the pros and cons of each. less need for job descriptions? Why or why not?
Individual and Group Activities

4-9. Working individually or in groups, obtain cop- in this class. Based on that, use your judgment to
ies of job descriptions for clerical positions at develop a job specification. Compare your con-
the college or university where you study, or the clusions with those of other students or groups.
firm where you work. What types of informa- Were there any significant differences? What do
tion do they contain? Do they give you enough you think accounted for the differences?
information to explain what the job involves and 4-11. Appendices A and B at the end of this book
how to do it? How would you improve on the (pages 614–634) list the knowledge someone
description? studying for the HRCI (Appendix A) or SHRM
4-10. Working individually or in groups, use O*NET (Appendix B) certification exam needs to have
to develop a job description for your professor in each area of human resource management
M04_DESS2780_16_SE_C04.indd 125 19/10/2018 14:54

WLE (such as in Strategic Management that you believe would be suitable for inclusion
K NO
DG
and Workforce Planning). In groups in the HRCI exam and/or the SHRM exam;
E
BASE of several students, do four things: and (4) if time permits, have someone from
(1) review Appendix A and/or B; your team post your team’s questions in front
(2) identify the material in this chapter that of the class, so that students in all teams can
relates to the Appendix A and/or Appendix answer the exam questions created by the other
B required knowledge lists; (3) write four teams.
multiple-choice exam questions on this material
Experiential Exercise
The Instructor’s Job Description Figure 4-4 job analysis questionnaire for this
Written and copyrighted by Gary Dessler, PhD. purpose, and half will use the Figure 4-9 job
description questionnaire.
Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to give you expe- 4-13. Based on this information, each group will
rience in developing a job description, by developing one develop its own job description and job specifi-
for your instructor. cation for the instructor.
4-14. Next, each group should choose a partner
Required Understanding: You should understand the
mechanics of job analysis and be thoroughly familiar with group, one that developed the job description
the job analysis questionnaires. (See Figures 4-4 and 4-9.) and job specification using the alternate method.
(A group that used the job analysis question-
How to Set Up the Exercise/Instructions: Set up groups of naire should be paired with a group that used
several students for this exercise. As in all exercises in this the job description questionnaire.)
book, the groups should be separated and should not con- 4-15. Finally, within each of these new com-
verse with each other. Half of the groups in the class will bined groups, compare and critique each
develop the job description using the job analysis ques- of the two sets of job descriptions and
tionnaire (Figure 4-4), and the other half of the groups job specifications. Did each job analysis
will develop it using the job description questionnaire method provide different types of informa-
(Figure 4-9). Each student should review his or her question? Which seems superior? Does one seem
CHAPTER 4
tionnaire (as appropriate) before joining his or her group. more advantageous for some types of jobs
than others?
4-12. Each group should do a job analysis of the
instructor’s job: Half of the groups will use the
Application Case
The Flood 10 old-timers, and his original factory supervisor, Maybelline. He
decided to meet with Linda Lowe, a consultant from the local university’s
Written and copyrighted by Gary Dessler, PhD. business school. She immediately had the old-timers fill out a job
In August 2017, hurricane Maria hit Miami, Florida, and the Optima questionnaire that listed all their duties. Arguments ensued almost at
Air Filter Company. Many employees’ homes were devastated. Optima once: Both Phil and Maybelline thought the old-timers were exagger-
found that it had to hire almost three completely new crews, one for ating to make themselves look more important, and the old-timers
each shift. The problem was that the “old-timers” had known their insisted that the lists faithfully reflected their duties. Meanwhile, the
jobs so well that no one had ever bothered to draw up job descriptions customers clamored for their filters.
for them. When about 30 new employees began taking their places, Questions
there was general confusion about what they should do and how they 4-16. Should Phil and Linda ignore the old-timers’ protests and
should do it. write the job descriptions as they see fit? Why? Why not?
The flood quickly became old news to the firm’s out-of-state How would you go about resolving the differences?
customers, who wanted filters, not excuses. Phil Mann, the firm’s 4-17. How would you have conducted the job analysis? What
president, was at his wits’ end. He had about 30 new employees, should Phil do now?
M04_DESS2780_16_SE_C04.indd 126 19/10/2018 14:54

Continuing Case
Carter Cleaning Company relations and sales are maximized, and profitability is maintained
through effective control of labor, supply, and energy costs. In
Written and copyrighted by Gary Dessler, PhD. accomplishing that general aim, a specific store manager’s duties
and responsibilities include quality control, store appearance and
The Job Description cleanliness, customer relations, bookkeeping and cash management,
Based on her review of the stores, Jennifer concluded that one of the cost control and productivity, damage control, pricing, inventory
first matters she had to attend to involved developing job descriptions control, spotting and cleaning, machine maintenance, purchasing,
for her store managers. employee safety, hazardous waste removal, human resource admin-
As Jennifer tells it, her lessons regarding job descriptions in her istration, and pest control.
basic management and HR management courses were insufficient The questions that Jennifer had to address follow.
to convince her of the pivotal role job descriptions actually play in
the smooth functioning of an enterprise. Many times during her first Questions
few weeks on the job, Jennifer found herself asking one of her store 4-18. What should be the format and final form of the store
managers why he was violating what she knew to be recommended manager’s job description?
company policies and procedures. Repeatedly, the answers were either 4-19. Is it practical to specify standards and procedures in the
“Because I didn’t know it was my job” or “Because I didn’t know that body of the job description, or should these be kept
was the way we were supposed to do it.” Jennifer knew that a job separate?
description, along with a set of standards and procedures that specified 4-20. How should Jennifer go about collecting the information
what was to be done and how to do it would go a long way toward required for the standards, procedures, and job description?
alleviating this problem. 4-21. What, in your opinion, should the store manager’s job
In general, the store manager is responsible for directing all store description look like and contain?
activities in such a way that quality work is produced, customer
Translating Strategy into HR Policies and Practices Case*,§

*The accompanying strategy map for this chapter is in MyLab Management; the overall map on the inside back cover of this text outlines the relationships involved.
Improving Performance at the Hotel Paris chain that did and did not have updated job descriptions. While
they understood that many other factors might be influencing the
The New Job Descriptions results, they believed that the statistical relationships they observed
The Hotel Paris’s competitive strategy is “To use superior guest ser- did suggest that having job descriptions had a positive influence on
vice to differentiate the Hotel Paris properties, and to thereby increase various employee behaviors and competencies. Perhaps having the
CHAPTER 4
the length of stay and return rate of guests, and thus boost revenues descriptions facilitated the employee selection process, or perhaps
and profitability.” HR manager Lisa Cruz must now formulate func- the departments with the descriptions just had better managers. In
tional policies and activities that support this competitive strategy and any case, Lisa received the go-ahead to design new job descriptions
boost performance by eliciting the required employee behaviors and for the chain.
competencies. While the resulting job descriptions included numerous traditional
As an experienced human resource director, the Hotel Paris’s Lisa duties and responsibilities, most also included several competencies
Cruz knew that recruitment and selection processes invariably influ- unique to each job. For example, job descriptions for the front-desk
enced employee competencies and behavior and, through them, the clerks included competencies such as “able to check a guest in or out in
company’s bottom line. Everything about the workforce—its collective five minutes or less.” Most service employees’ descriptions included the
skills, morale, experience, and motivation—depended on attracting competency, “able to exhibit patience and guest supportiveness even
and then selecting the right employees. when busy with other activities.” Lisa knew that including these com-
In reviewing the Hotel Paris’s employment systems, she was there- petencies would make it easier for her team to devise useful employee
fore concerned that virtually all the company’s job descriptions were selection, training, and evaluation processes.
out of date, and that many jobs had no descriptions at all. She knew
that without accurate job descriptions, all her improvement efforts Questions
would be in vain. After all, if you don’t know a job’s duties, responsi- In teams or individually:
bilities, and human requirements, how can you decide whom to hire 4-22. Based on the hotel’s stated strategy and on what you learned
or how to train them? To create human resource policies and practices here in Chapter 4 of Dessler Human Resource Management,
that would produce employee competencies and behaviors needed to list at least four more important employee behaviors impor-
achieve the hotel’s strategic aims, Lisa’s team first had to produce a set tant for the Hotel Paris’s staff to exhibit.
of usable job descriptions. 4-23. If time permits, spend some time prior to class observing
A brief analysis, conducted with her company’s CFO, rein- the front-desk clerk at a local hotel. In any case, create a job
forced that observation. They chose departments across the hotel description for a Hotel Paris front-desk clerk.
§
Written and copyrighted by Gary Dessler, PhD.
M04_DESS2780_16_SE_C04.indd 127 19/10/2018 14:54

128 PART 2 • RECRUITMENT, PLACEMENT, AND TALENT MANAGEMENT
MyLab Management
Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management for Auto-graded writing questions
as we as e fo ow n ss s e ra e wr n ues ons
4-24. What is job analysis? How can you make use of the information it provides?
4-25. Explain what a competencies model is and what the model would look like
for the job of university professor.
4-26. MyLab Management only—comprehensive writing assignment for this
chapter.
MyLab Management Try It!

How would you apply the concepts and skills you learned in this chapter? If your professor has
assigned this activity, go to the Assignments section of www.pearson.com/mylab/management to
complete the simulation.
PERSONAL
PERSONAL INVENTORY ASSESSMENTS P I A INVENTORY

ASSESSMENT
How good are you at sizing up one’s skills? Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to

complete the Personal Inventory Assessment related to this chapter.
Key Terms
talent management, 99 workflow analysis, 102 diary/log, 108 task statement, 121
job analysis, 100 business process position analysis questionnaire competency-based job
job description, 100 reengineering, 103 (PAQ), 108 analysis, 123
job specifications, 100 job enlargement, 103 Standard Occupational
organization chart, 102 job rotation, 103 Classification (SOC), 115
process chart, 102 job enrichment, 103 job-requirements matrix, 121
CHAPTER 4
Endnotes
1. Daimler is expanding this Theory: Introduction to the See Parbudyal Singh, “Job 13. For a recent example, see,
plant; see Gail Kalinoski, Special Issue,” Human Resource Analysis for a Changing for example, Frederick P.
“Daimler AG to Invest $1B in Management Review, 23 (2013), Workplace,” Human Resource Morgeson, Edited by Steven G.
AL Mercedes-Benz Facility,” pp. 267–271. Management Review 18 (2008), Rogelberg The SAGE Encyclo-
October 20, 2017, Commercial 4. https://go.oracle.com/LP=36875 p. 87. pedia of Industrial and Organi-
Property Executive, https://www ?elqCampaignId=48547&src1= 8. https://www.ere.net/how-to- zational Psychology, 2nd ed.,
.cpexecutive.com/post/daimler- ad:pas:bi:dg:hcm&src2=wwmk write-a-rocking-job-description- https://msu.edu/~morgeson/
ag-to-invest-1b-in-al-mercedes- 160606p00037c0002&SC=sckw for-recruitment/ accessed morgeson_2017b.pdf, accessed
benz-facilities/, February 2, 2018. =WWMK160606P00037C0002, February 2, 2018. February 2, 2018.
2. See, for example, Toni Hodges accessed February 2, 2017. 9. Richard Henderson, Compensa- 14. Wayne Cascio, Applied Psychol-
DeTuncq and Lynn Schmidt, 5. www.silkRoadTech.com, tion Management: Rewarding ogy in Human Resource Man-
“Examining Integrated accessed December 10, 2007; Performance (Upper Saddle agement (Upper Saddle River,
Talent Management,” TD, http://www.silkroad.com/, River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1994), NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998), p. 142.
September 2013, pp. 31–35; accessed February 2, 2017. pp. 139–150. See also T. A. Distortion of information is a
and T. N. Krishnan and Hugh 6. For a good discussion of job Stetz et al., “New Tricks for an potential problem with all self-
Scullion, “Talent Management analysis, see James Clifford, Old Dog: Visualizing Job report methods of gathering
and Dynamic View of Talent “Job Analysis: Why Do It, Analysis Results,” Public information. See, for example,
in Small and Medium Enter- and How Should It Be Done?” Personnel Management 38, http://apps.opm.gov/ADT/
prises,” Human Resource Public Personnel Management no. 1 (Spring 2009), pp. 91–100. ContentFiles/Assessment
Management Review, 27 (2017), 23, no. 2 (Summer 1994), 10. Based on Ron Miller, “Streamlin- DecisionGuide071807.pdf,
pp. 431–441. pp. 321–340; and “Job Analy- ing Claims Processing,” eWeek accessed October 1, 2011.
3. www.talent_management101 sis,” www.paq.com/index 23, no. 25 (June 19, 2006), 15. Frederick Morgeson et al.,
.com, accessed December 10, 2007; .cfm?FuseAction=bulletins pp. 33, 35. “Self Presentation Processes in
and www.astd.org/ .job-analysis, accessed 11. Ron Miller, “Streamlining Job Analysis: A Field Experiment
Publications/Blogs/ASTD- February 3, 2009. Claims Processing,” eWeek Investigating Inflation in Abili-
Blog/2009/05/How-DoYou- 7. One writer calls job analysis 23, no. 25 (June 19, 2006), ties, Tasks, and Competencies,”
Define-Talent-Management, “the hub of virtually all human pp. 33, 35. Journal of Applied Psychology
accessed June 16, 2014. See also resource management activities 12. Darin Hartley, “Job Analysis 89, no. 4 (November 4, 2004),
Nikki Dries, “Talent Manage- necessary for the successful at the Speed of Reality,” TD, pp. 674–686; and Frederick
ment, from Phenomenon to functioning organizations.” September 2004, pp. 20–22. Morgeson and Stephen
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PART TWO Recruitment, Placement, and Talent Management

Monty Rakusen/Cultura/Getty Images

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4-1 Define talent management, and explain what

4-3 Explain and use at least three methods of

4-4 Explain how you would write a job description,

4-5 Explain how to write a job specification.

assembly plant in Alabama, its managers had

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LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-1 Talent Management Process

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The Basics of Job Analysis

Vice President-Sales Vice President-Production Vice President-Finance

Sales Manager Sales Manager Plant Manager Manager Internal Audits

Sales Team Supervisor Production Supervisor Accounting Supervisor

Sales Team Supervisor

FIGURE 4-1 Organization Chart

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● Performance standards. Information about the job’s performance standards

Uses of Job Analysis Information

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL A performance appraisal compares an employee’s actual per-

Conducting a Job Analysis

Job description and

FIGURE 4-2 Uses of Job Analysis Information

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IMPROVING PEFORMANCE: HR AS A PROFIT CENTER

MyLab Management Talk About It 1

FIGURE 4-3 Process Chart

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Business Process Reengineering The workflow analysis at American Atlantic led to

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LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-3 Methods for Collecting Job Analysis Information

TYPICAL QUESTIONS Typical interview questions include the following:

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What physical locations do you work in?

STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS Many managers use questionnaires to guide the inter-

INTERVIEWING GUIDELINES To get the best information possible:

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FIGURE 4-4 Job

How long have you been in your current position:

Work Telephone Number:

Supervisor’s Name: Supervisor’s Title:

Listing of Job Duties

(Add additional duties as necessary)

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FIGURE 4-4 Continued

[ ] Yes [ ] No List type

Required Training on Job

PHYSICAL JOB DEMANDS

Working Conditions: Environmental and Safety Job Demands

* Copyright Gary Dessler, PhD

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Quantitative Job Analysis Techniques

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (DOL) PROCEDURE Experts at the U.S. Department of Labor

Online Job Analysis Methods23

TABLE 4-1 Basic Department of Labor Worker Functions

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FIGURE 4-5 Sample Report