JOB:
“Job
is a ‘group of tasks to be performed everyday.”
JOB ANALYSIS
Definition 1: (Process of
Collecting Information)
“Job
Analysis is a process of studying and collecting information relating to
operations and responsibilities of a specific job. The immediate products of
this analysis are ‘Job Description’ and ‘Job Specifications’.”
Definition 2: (Systematic
Exploration of Activities)
“Job
Analysis is a systematic exploration of activities within a job. It is a basic
technical procedure that is used to define duties and responsibilities and
accountabilities of the job.”
Definition 3: (Identifying Job
Requirements)
“Job
is a collection of tasks that can be performed by a single employee to
contribute to the production of some product or service, provided by the
organization. Each job has certain ability requirements (as well as certain
rewards) associated with it. Job Analysis is a process used to identify these
requirements.”
MEANING OF JOB ANALYSIS
Job
Analysis is a process of collecting information about a job. The process of job
analysis results into two sets of data.
·
Job
Description
·
Job
Specification
As
a result Job analysis involves the following steps in a logical order.
Steps of Job Analysis
1. Collecting and
recording job information
2. Checking the job
information for accuracy
3. Writing job
description based on information collected to determine the skills, knowledge,
abilities and activities required
4.
Updating and upgrading this information
PURPOSE OF JOB ANALYSIS: -
·
Human Resource Planning (HRP): - The numbers
and types of personnel are determined by the jobs, which need to be staffed.
Job related information in the form of Job Analysis serves this purpose or use.
·
Recruitment & Selection: - Recruitment
precedes job analysis. It helps HR to locate places to obtain employees. It
also helps in better continuity and planning in staffing in the organization.
Also selecting a good candidate also requires detailed job information. Because
the objective of hiring is to match the right candidate for right job
·
Training & Development: Training and
development programs can be designed depending upon job requirement and
analysis. Selection of trainees is also facilitated by job analysis.
·
Job Evaluation: Job evaluation
means determination of relative worth of each job for the purpose of
establishing wage and salary credentials. This is possible with the help of job
description and specifications; i.e. Job Analysis.
·
Remuneration: Job analysis
also helps in determining wage and salary for all jobs.
·
Performance Appraisal: Performance
appraisal, assessments, rewards, promotions, is facilitated by job analysis by
way of fixing standards of job performance.
·
Personnel Information: Job analysis is
vital for building personnel information systems and processes for improving
administrative efficiency and providing decision support.
·
Safety & Health: Job Analysis
helps to uncover hazardous conditions and unhealthy environmental factors so
that corrective measures can be taken to minimize and avoid possibility of
human injury.
PROCESS OF JOB ANALYSIS
Process
1: Strategic
Choices
Process
2:
Collecting Information
Process
3:
Processing Information
Process
4:
Job Description
Process
5:
Job Specification
Strategic Choices: -
Extent of involvement of employees: Extent of
employee involvement is a debatable point. Too much involvement may result in
bias in favor of a job in terms of inflating duties and responsibilities. Too
less involvement leads to suspicion about the motives behind the job. Besides
it may also lead to inaccurate information. Hence extent of involvement depends
on the needs of the organization and employee.
Level of details of job analysis: The nature of
jobs being analyzed determines the level of details in job analysis. If the
purpose were for training programs or assessing the worth of job, levels of
details required would be great. If the purpose is just clarification the
details required would be less.
Timing and frequency of Job Analysis: When do you do
Job Analysis?
·
Initial
stage, for new organization
·
New
Job is created
·
Changes
in Job, Technology and Processes
·
Deficiencies
and Disparities in Job
·
New
compensation plan is introduced
·
Updating
and upgrading is required.
Past-oriented and future-oriented Job Analysis: For rapidly changing organization more future oriented approach would
be desired. For traditional organizations past oriented analysis would be
required. However more future oriented analysis may be derived based on past
data.
Sources of Job Data: For job
analysis number of human and non-human sources is available besides jobholder
himself. Following can be sources of data available for job analysis.
Non-Human Sources
|
Human Sources
|
Existing
job descriptions and specifications
Equipment
maintenance records
Equipment
design blueprints
Architectural
blueprints of work area
Films
of employee working
Training
manuals and materials
Magazines,
newspapers, literatures
|
Job
Analysis
Job
Incumbents
Supervisors
Job
Experts
|
Collecting Information: -
Information
collection is done on the basis of following 3 parameters
Types
of Data for Job Analysis:
·
Work
Activities (Tasks details)
·
Interface
with other jobs and equipments (Procedures, Behaviors, Movements)
·
Machines,
Tools, Equipments and Work Aids (List,
Materials, Products, Services)
·
Job
Context (Physical, Social, Organizational, Work schedule)
·
Personal
Requirement (Skills, Education, Training, Experience)
Methods
of Data Collection:
·
Observation
·
Interview
·
Questionnaires
·
Checklists
·
Technical
Conference
·
Diary
Methods
Who
to Collect Data?
·
Trained
Job Analysts
·
Supervisors
·
Job
Incumbents
Processing Information: -
Once
the job information is collected it needs to be processed, so that it would be
useful in various personnel functions. Specifically job related data would be
useful to prepare job description and specifications, which form the next two
processes of job analysis.
METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION:
Observation: Job Analyst
carefully observes the jobholder and records the information in terms of what,
how the job is done and how much time is taken. It is a simple and accurate
method, but is also time consuming and inapplicable to jobs involving mental
activities and unobservable job cycles. The analysts must be fully trained
observers.
Interview: In this analyst
interviews the jobholders, his supervisors to elicit information. It can be
Structured or Unstructured Interview. Again this is also a time consuming
method in case of large organizations. Plus there is also a problem of bias.
Questionnaires: A standard
questionnaire is given to jobholder about his job, which can be filled and
given back to supervisors or job analysts. The questionnaire may contain job
title, jobholder’s name, managers name, reporting staff, description of job,
list of main duties and responsibilities etc. It is useful in large number of
staffs and less time consuming. However the accuracy of information leaves much
to be desired.
Checklists: It is more
similar to questionnaire but the response sheet contains fewer subjective
judgments and tends to be either yes or no variety. Preparation of checklist is
a challenging job itself.
Technical Conference: Here a
conference of supervisors is used. The analysts initiate the discussions
providing job details. However this method lacks accuracy.
Diary Methods: In this method
jobholder is required to note down their activities day by day in their diary.
If done faithfully this technique is accurate and eliminates errors caused by
memory lapses etc.
Quantitative Methods of Job Data Collection: -
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ): -
PAQ
is a highly specialized instrument for analyzing any job in terms of employee
activities. The PAQ contains 194 job elements on which job is created depending
on the degree to which an element is present. These elements are grouped
together into 6 categories.
1.
U
– Usability / Use of Job
2.
I
– Importance of Job
3.
T
– Time
4.
P
– Possibility of Occurrence of Job
5.
A
– Applicability of Job
6.
S
– Specialty Tasks of Job
The
primary advantage of PAQ is that it can be used to analyze almost every job.
This analysis provides a comparison of a specific job with other job
classifications, particularly for selection and remuneration purposes. However
PAQ needs to be completed by trained job analysts only rather than incumbents.
Management Position Description Questionnaire (MPDQ): -
Highly
structured questionnaire, containing 208 elements relating to managerial
responsibilities, demand, restrictions and other position characteristics These
208 elements are grouped under 13 categories.
PAQ and MPDQ yield standardized information about the
worker and the job.
Functional Job Analysis: -
It is a worker oriented job analytical approach, which
attempts to describe the whole person on the job.
BARRIERS OF JOB ANALYSIS
·
Support
from Top Management
·
Single
means and source, reliance on single method rather than combination
·
No
Training or Motivation to Jobholders
·
Activities
and Data may be Distorted