Chapter 2

Learning Objectives
1. Understand the definition and uses of Job analysis
2. Know how to write a job description
3. Know how to conduct a job analysis
4. Learn when to use various job analysis methods
5. Understand the concept of job evaluation
6. Understand the concept of pay equity
What is Job analysis?
• Job analysis is defined as “a systematic process for collecting
and analyzing information about a job” (Goodstein and
Gamble Jr, 2009)
• The foundation for all human resource activities and the
process of describing the duties and responsibilities that go
with the jobs, and grouping similar positions into categories.
Aspects of analyzing jobs
1. Task or work activities – a task statement is the
indication of the action to be performed and the
result of the expected action.
2. Knowledge, Skills, Abilities (KSA) needed for the
job.
 KSAOs
• An organized • The present • Includes personal
body of
The proficiency in
capacity to execute factors as
information, the manual, a job action, to
usually a factual personality,
verbal or mental perform a job willingness,
or procedural
nature that when manipulation of function by
interest and
applying an
applied makes people, ideas or motivation and
the successful underlying
performance of things knowledge base and such tangible
the job action the necessary skills factors as license,
possible simultaneously degrees and years
of experience
Aspects of analyzing jobs
3. Levels of performance- refers to the expected range of performance
required for the job and;
4. Workplace characteristics – this pertains to the characteristics of
the work environment that may have a bearing on the job
performance
 Uses of Job analysis

&
• job analysis is used as a criteria for selecting the
most suitable applicant for a certain position.
• Also known as employee selection
 Uses of Job analysis

• It can be used to determine the

knowledge, skills and attitudes
required for the position and use as
basis for the training and
development of an employee
 Uses of Job analysis

Personpower planning

• Job analysis is used to

determine worker mobility
within the organization. A
policy of many
organizations to promote
the employee who
performs the best in the
job.
• The idea that the
organizations tend to
promote good
employers until they
reach the level at
which they are not
competent- in other
words, their highest
level of
incompetence
 Uses of Job analysis

• The construction of appraisal instrument (Roch & Williams, 2012). The

evaluation of the employee performance must be job related. It can also can
be used to help determine levels of performance as well as the basis for
determining pay levels.
 Uses of Job analysis

• Job analysis enables a human resources professional to

classify jobs into groups based on similarities in
requirements and duties. Job classification is useful for
determining pay levels, transfers, and promotions.
 Uses of Job analysis

• Job analysis
information can also be
used to determine the
worth of a job.
Uses of Job analysis

• The process of linking specific

tasks to specific jobs and
deciding what techniques,
equipment and procedures should
be used to perform those tasks.
• Early approaches:
 Scientific Management
 Job enlargement
 Job enrichment
Uses of Job analysis
Compliance with legal
Guidelines
• Any employment decision
must be based on job-
related information. Job
analysis is used to ensure all
HR decisions are free from
discrimination and are
based purely on job
specifications.
 Uses of Job analysis

Organizational Analysis
• Is the process of
evaluating systematically
an organization’s
capabilities which can
give it a competitive
advantage

• Evaluating
organizational
• A job description is one of the most useful results of a job
analysis.
• It is a relatively short summary of a job and should be about
two to five pages in length.
• It must describe a job in enough detail that decisions about
activities such as selection and training can be made.
Writing a job description
• The job description must have the
following details:

• Job Title – must describe the

nature of the job; an accurate title
also aids in employee selection
and recruitment.

• It can also affect the perceptions of

the status and worth of the job
Writing a job description
 Writing a job description

• The job description must have the following

details:
• Brief Summary - need be only a paragraph
in length but should briefly describe the
nature and purpose of the job. This summary
can be used in help-wanted advertisements,
internal job postings, and company
brochures.
Writing a job description
 Writing a job description

• Work Activities - Lists the

tasks and activities in which
the worker is involved ;
should be organized into
meaningful categories to
make the job description
easy to read and understand.
Writing a job description
 Writing a job description

• Tools and
Equipment Used
- information in this
section is used
primarily for
employee selection
and training
Writing a job description
 Writing a job description

• Job Context - describes the

environment in which the
employee works (stress level,
work schedule, physical demands,
level of responsibility,
temperature, number of co-
workers, degree of danger, and
any other relevant information)
Writing a job description
 Writing a job description
• Work Performance - This section contains a relatively brief
description of how an employee’s performance is evaluated
and what work standards are expected of the employee
 Writing a job description

• Compensation Information - This section of the job

description should contain information on the salary grade,
but the actual salary should not be written in the job
description.
 Writing a job description
• Job Competencies - These are the knowledge, skills, abilities,
and other characteristics (KSAOs) such as interest, personality,
and training that are necessary to be successful on the job.
How Often Should a Job Description Be Updated?
• A job description should be updated if a job changes
significantly.

Job Crafting – the informal changes that employees make

in their jobs (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). That is, it is
common for employees to quietly expand the scope of
their jobs to add tasks they want to perform and to remove
tasks that they don’t want to perform.
 Considerations in selecting participants

• Job Competence – high performing employees

generated different job analysis outcomes than did
low-performing employees.

• Race – researchers reported small but significant

differences in a way in which African American
incumbents viewed their jobs.
 Considerations in selecting participants

• Gender – Landy and Vasey (1991) found

possible differences in the ways men and
women viewed their jobs, because gender
was confounded by experience.

• Education level – found that police

officers with only a high school diploma
were less involved in court activities than
were their more educated counterparts.
 Considerations in selecting participants

• Personality – researchers found that the personality

of the incumbent was related to the personality traits
rated by the incumbent to be important to the job.

• Viewpoint – it should be no surprise that people

with different perspectives on the job produce
different job analysis.
 Conducting a Job Analysis

Step 1: Identify Tasks Performed

• Identify the major job dimensions and the tasks performed for each dimension, the
tools and equipment used to perform the tasks, and the conditions under which the
tasks are performed.

I. Gathering Existing Information - job descriptions, task inventories, and training manuals

II. Interviewing Subject Matter Experts (SME)- SMEs are people who are knowledgeable
about the job and include job incumbents, supervisors, customers, and upper-level
management; can be individual or group
 Conducting a Job Analysis

• Guidelines in Interviewing SMEs

1. Prepare for the interview by announcing the job analysis to the employees
well advance by selecting a quiet and private interview location
2. Open by establishing rapport, putting the workers at ease, and explaining
the purpose of the interview
3. Conduct the interview by asking open ended questions that is easy to
understand and allowing sufficient time for the employee to answer.
 Conducting a Job Analysis
• Ammerman technique A job analysis method in which a group of job
experts identifies the objectives and standards to be met by the ideal
worker
The basic steps for the Ammerman technique are as follows:
1. Convene a panel of experts that includes representatives from all levels
of the organization.
2. Have the panel identify the objectives and standards that are to be met
by the ideal incumbent.
3. Have the panel list the specific behaviors necessary for each objective or
standard to be attained.
4. Have the panel identify which of the behaviors from step 3 are “critical”
to reaching the objective.
5. Have the panel rank-order the objectives on the basis of importance
 Observing Incumbents –
This method lets the job
analyst to actually see the
worker do her job and thus
obtain information that the
worker may have forgotten to
mention during the interview.

Job Participation –
analyzing job by actually
performing it.
 Step 2: Write Task Statements

• A properly written task statement must contain

an action (what is done) and an object (to
which the action is done). Often, task
statements will also include such components
as where the task is done, how it is done, why it
is done, and when it is done.

• Statements should be written at a level that can

be read and understood by a person with the
same reading ability as the typical job
incumbent.
 Step 2: Write Task Statements

• Should be written in the same tense.

• Should include the tools and
equipment used to complete the
task
• should not be competencies (e.g.,
“Be a good writer”) nor a policy
(e.g., “Treats people nicely”).
• For those activities that involve
decision making, the level of
authority should be indicated.
Task Inventory
A questionnaire containing a list of tasks each which the job incumbent
rates on a series of scales such as importance and time spent
 Step 3: Rate Task Statements
• - using a group of SMEs to rate each task statement
on the frequency and the importance or criticality of
the task being performed.
• Task analysis- the process of identifying the task for
which employees need to be trained
 Step 4: Determine Essential KSAOs.

• A knowledge is a body of
information needed to perform a task.
• A skill is the proficiency to perform a
learned task.
• An ability is a basic capacity for
performing a wide range of different
tasks, acquiring a knowledge, or
developing a skill.
• Other characteristics include such
personal factors as personality,
willingness, interest, and motivation
and such tangible factors as licenses,
degrees, and years of experience.
 Step 5: Selecting Tests to Tap KSAOs

• Determining the best methods to tap the KSAOs needed at

the time of hire. These methods will be used to select new
employees and include such methods as interviews, work
samples, ability tests, personality tests, reference checks,
integrity tests, biodata, and assessment centers.
 Using Other Job Analysis Methods
I. Methods Providing General Information About
Worker Activities
A. Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
• a structured instrument developed at Purdue
University by McCormick, Jeanneret, and Mecham
(1972)
• contains 194 items organized into six main
dimensions: information input, mental processes,
work output, relationships with other persons, job
context, and other job-related variables such as work
schedule, pay, and responsibility.
• the level of analysis is fairly general
B. Job Structure Profile (JSP)
• A revised version of the PAQ that was developed
by Patrick and Moore (1985)
• includes item content and style, new items to
increase the discriminatory power of the
intellectual and decision-making dimensions, and
an emphasis on having a job analyst, rather than
the incumbent, use the JSP.
C. Job Elements Inventory (JEI)
• developed by Cornelius and Hakel (1978)
• contains 153 items and has a readability level
appropriate for an employee with only a tenth-
grade education
FJA
D. Functional Job Analysis (FJA)
• designed by Fine (1955) as a quick method that could be used by the
federal government to analyze and compare thousands of jobs.
• Rates the extent to which a job incumbent is involved with functions
in the categories of data, people and things
Methods Providing Information About
Tools and Equipment
A. Job Components Inventory (JCI)
• Consists of more than 400 questions covering
five major categories: tools and equipment,
perceptual and physical requirements,
mathematical requirements, communication
requirements, and decision making and
responsibility.
• It is the only job analysis method containing a
detailed section on tools and equipment.
 Methods Providing Information About the Work Environment

• AET or “Arbeitswissenschaftliches Erhebungsverfahren zur

Tatigkeitsanalyse” which means “ergonomic job analysis procedure.”
• Developed in Germany by Rohmert and Landau (1983),
• Ergonomic – the instrument is primarily concerned with the
relationship between the worker and work objects.
• Has 216 items
 Methods Providing Information About Competencies

A. Occupational Information Network (O*NET)

• a major advancement in understanding the nature of work, in large part
because its developers understood that jobs can be viewed at four
levels:
A. Economic
B. organizational
C. occupational,
D. and individual.
 Methods Providing Information About Competencies

• Occupational Information Network (O*NET) O*NET

includes information about the occupation (generalized work
activities, work context, organizational context) and the
worker characteristics (ability, work style, occupational
values and interests, knowledge, skills, education) needed for
success in the occupation.
 Methods Providing Information About Competencies

• Occupational Information Network (O*NET)

• It also includes information about such economic factors as labor demand, labor
supply, salaries, and occupational trends.
• These are useful for employers to select new employees and by applicants who are
searching for careers that match their skills, interests, and economic needs.
 B. Critical Incident Technique (CIT)

• Developed and first used by John Flanagan

and his students at the University of
Pittsburgh in the late 1940s and early
1950s.
• used to discover actual incidents of job
behavior that make the difference between a
job’s successful or unsuccessful
performance
• is an excellent addition to a job analysis but
cannot be used as the sole method of job
analysis.
C. Job Components Inventory (JCI)

• provides information about the perceptual, physical,

mathematical, communication, decision making, and
responsibility skills needed to perform the job.
 D. Threshold Traits Analysis (TTA)

• developed by Lopez, Kesselman, and Lopez (1981)

• This method is available only by hiring a particular consulting firm
• The questionnaire has 33 items that identify the traits that are
necessary for the successful performance of a job. It covers the five
trait categories: physical, mental, learned, motivational, and social
• short and reliable and can correctly identify important traits but not
available commercially.
• its main uses are in the development of an employee selection
system or a career plan
 E. Fleishman Job Analysis Survey (F-JAS)

• requires incumbents or job analysts to view a series of abilities and to

rate the level of ability needed to perform the job.
• easy to use by incumbents or trained analysts, and is supported by
years of research.
• more detailed and is commercially available than TTA
 F. Job Adaptability Inventory (JAI)
• is a 132-item inventory
• developed by Pulakos, Arad, Donovan, and Plamondon (2000) that taps
the extent to which a job incumbent needs to adapt to situations on the
job.
• Eight dimensions:
1) Handling emergencies or crisis situations
2) Handling work stress
3) Solving problems creatively
4) Dealing with uncertain and unpredictable work situations
5) Learning work tasks, technologies, and procedures
6) Demonstrating interpersonal adaptability
7) Demonstrating cultural adaptability
8) Demonstrating physically oriented adaptability
 G. Personality-Related Position Requirements Form (PPRF)

• was developed by Raymark, Schmit, and

Guion (1997) to identify the personality
types needed to perform job-related tasks.
• consists of 107 items tapping 12 personality
dimensions that fall under the “Big 5”
personality dimensions (openness to
experience, conscientiousness, extroversion,
agreeableness, and emotional stability).
• PPRF is reliable and shows promise as a
useful job analysis instrument for
identifying the personality traits necessary
to perform a job.
 Job Evaluation

• The process of determining a job’s

worth – How much employees in a
position should be paid.
• 2 Stages:
A.Determining Internal Pay Equity
B.Determining External Pay Equity
 Determining Internal Pay Equity

- involves comparing jobs within an

organization to ensure that the people
in jobs worth the most money are
paid accordingly
Step 1: Determining Compensable Job
Factors
• Level of responsibility
• Physical demands
• Mental demands
• Education requirements
• Training and experience requirements
• Working conditions
Step 2: Determining the Levels for Each Compensable Factor:

- Factors such as education are easy to determine.

-For factors such as responsibility need a considerable time of discussion
to determine the levels for compensation
Step 3: Determining the Factor Weights
• Because some factors are more important than others, weights must be
assigned to each factor and to each level within a factor.
a. A job evaluation committee determines the total number of points that will be
distributed among the factors. Usually, the number is some multiple of 100
(for example, 100, 500, 1,000)
b. Each factor is weighted by assigning a number of points.
B. Determining External Pay Equity - the worth of a job is determined
by comparing the job to the external market or other organizations.;
Important to attract and retain employees.
 Salary survey - a questionnaire
sent to other organizations to
see how much they are paying
their employees in positions
similar to those in the
organization sending the survey

Direct Compensation – the

amount of money paid to an
employee (does not count
benefits, time off, and so forth)
Determining a Sex and Race Equity - pay audits should also be
conducted to ensure that employees are not paid differently on
the basis of gender or race
2 Types of Audits that has to be conducted:
1. identical duties (equal pay for equal work)
2. similar worth and responsibility (comparable worth)
Comparable worth – the idea
that jobs requiring the same level
of skill and responsibility should
be paid the same regardless of
supply and demand