Chapter 4

Job Analysis
What is Job Analysis?
• Job Analysis is the systematic study of jobs to find
out what are the activities involved in the job and
what kind of person would be a best fit for the job.
• It is done because one of the duties of the HR Dept.
is: finding the right person for the job
What is Job Analysis? (Cont.)
• Two general types of information are obtained
from job analysis:-
• Information about the work (ex. Duties and
responsibilities, time required for completion,
sequence and order of task etc.)
• Information about the person who will do the work
(Patient, detail-oriented, friendly etc.)
More Specifically….
• Work activities- How, why and when the tasks are
performed
• Physical requirements: Sitting, standing or use of strength
• Machines, tools, equipment, and work aids- ex. special
knowledge of software or equipment etc.
• Performance standards- units to be produced per day, <5
mistakes an hour etc.
• Job context- Physical and Social context of the work ( i.e:
How many people have to interact with, or manage.
Working conditions (hot, cold, fast-paced etc.))
• Human requirements- Knowledge, Skills, Attitude
required for the job (Training, patience, friendliness etc.)
How do we use Job Analysis
Information?
• Making Job Description- a job description is a list of the
duties and responsibilities of a job
• Making Job Specification- a job (or person) specification is
a list of personal characteristics or emotional requirements

4–5
for a job
• Recruitment and Selection- Since job analysis gives us the
duties and responsibilities of a job as well as the person
who can best do them, we can use this information to
select and hire potential candidates
How do we use Job Analysis
Information? (Contd.)
• Compensation- When we are clear about the
duties and responsibilities of a job and the personal
qualities required, we can then establish a pay scale
for that job
• Performance Appraisal- Since performance
standards are discovered through job analysis, we
can use this to evaluate employees performance
• Training- Knowing about the duties and
responsibilities of a job also lets us know what kind
of training is required for the job
• Discovering unassigned tasks- When all
the duties of a job are known, there is no
confusion as to who will do what. So left-out tasks
can be clearly identified
• Legal Compliance- Sometimes it is
required by law to have a job description for
each job (EEO law in USA)- which in turn
requires a job analysis
STEPS OF JOB ANALYSIS
Step 1
• Decide How you will use the information?
(And select method accordingly)

Step 2
• Analyze existing information like Job
description, Organization chart.

Step 3
• Select representative positions

Step 4
• Analyze the job based on the primary and
secondary data collected

Step 5
• Verify the analysis with the immediate
supervisor of the job.

Step 6
•Conduct Job Description and Job Specification..
 Methods of Collecting Job
Analysis Information
There are different ways of collecting information required to do Job
Analysis:-
1. Interviews

2. Questionnaires

3. Observation

4. Participant Diary/Logs

5. Quantitative Techniques
1. Position Analysis Questionnaire
2. DOL Method
3. Functional Job Analysis

6. Internet Job Analysis

4–11
 Problems with Interview..
• Interviews are:-
✔ Straightforward, simple way of obtaining information
✔ Interviewer can use his or her skills to obtain in-depth information (use of
body language and movements)
✔ Employee reactions can be noted

However:-
Information can be distorted, because of

1) Employee Bias:
When employees are asked about their job duties and responsibilities,
they see it as some kind of performance evaluation (but actually it is
not), so they tend to exaggerate and say a lot more than they actually
do.
 Problems with Interview..
• 2. Supervisor Bias
When a supervisor is asked about the
duties and responsibilities of his
employee, if the supervisor is `pissed’
at him, then he or she will say that he
‘does nothing all day’, when in fact that
is not true (wrong picture of the job).
While if the supervisor knows the
employee or is related to him, then he
or she will likely give an exaggerated
picture of the job. (he does sooo much,
etc.)

▪ Either way, an accurate picture of the

▪ An interviewer has to be skilled at

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights

reserved.
• Quickly establish rapport with the
interviewee.

4–14
• Follow a structured guide or checklist,
one that lists open-ended questions and
provides space for answers.
• Ask the worker to list his or her duties in
order of importance and frequency of
occurrence. Ex- Doctor
• After completing the interview, review
and verify the data.
 2nd Method of Collecting Job Analysis
Information: Questionnaires
• Advantages
• Information source
• Quick and efficient way to
• Have employees fill out gather information from large
questionnaires to describe their numbers of employees
job-related duties and • Simple to administer, just hand

4–15
responsibilities. out forms, no special skills
• Questionnaire formats required
• Structured checklists • Employee can fill out at own
• Open-ended questions time/convenience
• Usually, a mix • Disadvantages
• No one present to explain
confusing questions
• Difficult to create (especially if
MCQ’s)
3rd Method of Collecting Job
Analysis Information:
Observation • Advantages
• Information source • Provides first-hand
• Observing and noting the information
physical activities of • No distortion of
employees as they do

4–16
information
their jobs.
• Disadvantages
• Time consuming
• Difficulty in capturing
entire job cycle
• Of little use if job involves
a high level of mental
activity.
 Observation (Contd.)
• Observation is useful because:-
• Since you see the worker yourself, there is no confusion about the job.
No effect such as bias or exaggeration. Everything that the worker does
can be seen
• If job consists of mainly physical activities, then observation is suitable
(Ex- assembly-line worker or construction worker)

• However:-
• Observation is not suitable if the work consists of a lot of mental activity
(ex- Designer or Lawyer)
• If activity is infrequent, but very important, then observation will not give
a proper idea about the job (Ex- Emergency Heart Doctor)
• Acting- if employees are aware they are being watched, they will act and
try to look good, so accurate picture of the job will not be obtained.

• Therefore, a combination of observation and interviews are usually used

4–
• Disadvantages
each activity.
• Time consuming, because
have to capture work
cycle
• Depends upon employees
to accurately recall their
activities
Quantitative Job Analysis Techniques
• The position analysis questionnaire (PAQ)
• A very structured questionnaire that assigns numerical scores
to five key job skills: Decision-making, skilled activity, physical
activity, machine handling, and information-processing
• The Department of Labor (DOL) procedure
• A standardized method by which different jobs can be
quantitatively rated, classified, and compared with respect to
proficiency in 3 areas: Data, people and things
• Functional job analysis
• Similar to the DOL procedure but adds more factors such as:
Mathematical ability, verbal and language ability, reasoning and
judgment, specific instructions etc.
 Multiple Data Sources are
always better…
• It is always wise to use a number of job analysis methods in
combination

• Because, each method has shortcomings that distort the data

• Using a lot of methods cancels out the variations and the true
picture of the job is obtained
Thank You!