Job Analysis and

Job Design

Basic Job Analysis Terminology

Micro-motion Element

Task
Duty

Responsibility
Position Job Occupations
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Job Analysis

Determining and reporting information

on the nature of a job:

Tasks comprising the job; and knowledge,

skills, and abilities (KSAs), and

responsibilities required of jobholder.

End Product: a written Job Description.

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Job Analysis

Job and its requirements

(not characteristics of person currently holding the job) are studied.

Job Analysis is the beginning point

of many HR functions.

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Job Analysis: Influencing HR Activities

Job Definition JA results in description

of duties and responsibilities of job.

Job Redesign JA often indicates when

a job needs to be redesigned.

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Job Analysis: Influencing HR Activities

Recruitment Selection and Placement Orientation Career Counseling Training

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Job Analysis: Influencing HR Activities

Employee Safety

Performance Appraisal
Compensation

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Products of Job Analysis

1. Job Description Written summary

of nature and requirements of a job.

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Job Description Contents

Date written

Job Status
Position Title Job Summary

List of Duties and Responsibilities

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Job Description Contents (continued)

Supervision Received & Exercised

Principles Contacts
Required Meetings and Reports

Career Mobility
Competency Requirements** Education and Experience Required**
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Products of Job Analysis

2. Job Specification Competency, educational, and experience requirements; also known as KSAs
Knowledge Skills Abilities

+ Other key qualifications not in KSAs

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Job Analysis Methods Observation

Simple JA method; used independently or

combined with other JA methods.

Motion Study (Methods Study) Time Study Work Sampling

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Drawbacks of Observation Method

Observer must be carefully trained Application is limited to jobs involving short

and repetitive cycles:

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Job Analysis Methods Interviews

Analyst interviews Jobholder(s): Unstructured interviews Structured interview Predesigned format

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Drawback of Interviews

Time-Consuming!

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Job Analysis Methods Questionnaires

Both objective and open-ended questions: Existing jobs Incumbent completes

questionnaire, checked by manager.

New jobs Completed by manager.

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Disadvantages of Questionnaires

Misinterpretation of information

(by respondent and/or analyst).

Time-consuming and expensive to

develop.

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Variation of Questionnaires Method

Incumbent writes actual job description,

subject to approval of supervisor.

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Job Analysis Methods Questionnaires

Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)

Analyzes job in terms of employee activities.

6 major categories 194 descriptors, called job elements, Uses 5-point scale to analyze each

descriptor for degree to which it applies to the job.

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Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)

Primary Advantages: Can be used to analyze almost any

type of job.
Relatively easy to use.
Major Disadvantage:

Length of questionnaire.

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Job Analysis Methods Questionnaires

Management Position Description

Questionnaire (MPDQ) specifically for analyzing managerial jobs.

208 items grouped into 13 categories.

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Functional Job Analysis (FJA)

Developed by DOL -- Uses standardized

statements and terms to describe job content.

Collects task statements and rates them

according to function level or orientation.

Function Level how employee interacts

with data, people, and things.

Function Orientation amount of time

(percentages) employee spends on tasks of each functional level.

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DOT
Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT),

described over 12,000 jobs

Often provided very job specific, outdated

information.
Did not provide cross-job comparisons

for job similarities and differences.

Did not directly identify characteristics

employees needed or under what conditions job was performed.

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Occupational Information Network (O*NET)

To overcome DOT problems, Department of

Labor developed new system: Occupational Information Network (O*NET)

U.S. primary source of occupational info.

Identifies existing work occupations:

949 occupational titles; Data collected from

job incumbents or occupation experts.

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O*NET
O*NET online database: Describes employee attributes and

workplace requirements.
Describes KSAs.

Updated every 5 years, surveying a broad

range of employees from each occupation

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O*NET
Content Model Encapsulates key

features of an occupation into a

standardized, measurable set of variables called Descriptors.

http://online.onetcenter.org

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The ADA and Job Analysis

Qualified Individual with Disabilities Must ID: Essential Job Functions Reasonable Accommodation

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The ADA and Job Analysis

What is an Essential Job Function ?

What is Undue Hardship?

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Job Design

Structuring work and designating

work activities of an individual --- or group of individuals --- to achieve organization objectives.

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Job Design: 3 Phases

1) Specify Individual Tasks. 2) Specify Method to perform each task.

3) Combine tasks into specific Jobs.

Phases 1 and 3: determine Job Content.

Phase 2 indicates How job is to be

performed.

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Job Design

Goal? Prevailing practice in Job Design was to focus

almost entirely on simplifying tasks:

Making jobs as specialized as possible. Why was this a problem?

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Job Scope

Job Scope Number and variety of tasks

performed by jobholder.

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Job Depth
Job Depth Freedom of jobholders to

plan and organize their own work, work at their own pace, and move around and communicate.
Job Depth Low vs. High A job can be high in job scope and low in

job depth, or vice versa.

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Sociotechnical Approach to Job Design

Both technical system and social system

considered when designing jobs:

Job Design should take a holistic, or

systems, view of entire job situation,

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Sociotechnical Guidelines for Job Design

Job needs to be reasonably demanding

(in terms other than physical endurance), and provide some variety.
Employees need to be able to learn on the

job.
Employees need area of decision making.

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Sociotechnical Guidelines for Job Design

Employees need degree of social support

and recognition in the workplace.

Employees need to be able to relate what

they do to their social lives.

Employees need to believe that the job leads

to a desirable future.

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Physical Work Environment

Should provide adequate lighting,

temperature, ventilation, and humidity.

Mental and psychological impacts of work

environment should be considered when designing jobs.

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)

magnified safety concerns.

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Flextime
Allows employees to choose, within limits,

when they start and end their workday.

Organization defines a Core Period.
Disadvantages?

Advantages?

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Telecommuting
Working at home or while traveling and

being able to interact with the office:

Advantages? Disadvantages?

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Job Sharing

Two or more part-time employees perform

a job normally held by one full-time person.

Advantages? How are benefits handled?

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Condensed Workweek
# of hours worked per day is increased;

# of days in the workweek is decreased.

Typical Arrangement? Advantages? Disadvantage?

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Contingent Workers
2 Categories: Independent contractors and on-call

workers Temporary or short-term workers.

Reasons for using contingent workers? Advantages? Challenges for managers?

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