HR Job Analysis Guide

Human Resource
Management:
An Asian Perspective
(Second Edition)

Chapter 4

Job Analysis

Gary Dessler and Chwee Huat Tan
© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd.
All rights reserved.

After studying this chapter,
you should be able to:
1. Discuss the nature of job analysis (what it is and how
it is used)
2. Know how to collect job analysis information,
including interview, questionnaire, observation and
participant’s diary
3. Write job descriptions, job summaries and job
specifications
4. Explain what job analysis is, what it means and how it
is done in practice
5. Explain what competence-based job analysis is
© 2009 Pearson Education South
Asia. All rights reserved. 4–2

The Nature of Job Analysis

 Job analysis
– The procedure for determining the duties and skill
requirements of a job and the kind of person who should be
hired for it.
 Job description
– A list of a job’s duties, responsibilities, reporting relationships,
working conditions, and supervisory responsibilities—one
product of a job analysis.
 Job specifications
– A list of a job’s “human requirements,” that is, the requisite
education, skills, personality, and so on—another product of a
job analysis.


 Type of information collected:
– Work activities
– Human behaviors
– Machines, tools, equipment, and work aids
– Performance standards
– Job context
– Human requirements



Figure 4.1
Information Collected by HR Specialists

Uses of Job Analysis
Information

Figure 4.2
Uses of Job Analysis Information

Information
 Recruitment and selection
– Selection of people to recruit based on job
requirements and human characteristics needed to
perform these jobs
 Performance appraisal
– Compares employees’ performance with standards
which are derived from job analysis


Information
 Job evaluation / compensation
– Estimate value of each job and its appropriate
compensation based on job’s required skill,
education level, safety hazard, level of responsibility
etc.
– Relative worth of job determined to group jobs into
different classes
 Training requirements
– Training requirements based on job and required
skills which are listed in the job description

Steps in Job Analysis

 Step 1: Decide how you’ll use the
information.
 Step 2: Review relevant background
information – organization chart/job
description
 Step 3: Select representative positions.
 Step 4: Actually analyze the job.
 Step 5: Verify the job analysis information.
 Step 6: Develop a job description and job
specification.

Steps in Job Analysis

 Organization chart
– A chart that shows the organization-wide distribution
of work, with titles of each position and
interconnecting lines that show who reports to and
communicates to whom.
 Job specification
– A list of a job’s “human requirements” i.e. the
requisite education, skills, personality etc.

© 2009 Pearson Education South 4–
Asia. All rights reserved. 10

Methods of Collecting Job
Analysis Information

Figure 4.3
4–
Methods of Collecting Information

Methods of Collecting Job Analysis
Information: The Interview
 Information sources  Interview formats
– Individual employees – Structured
– Groups of (Checklist)
employees with – Unstructured
same job  Advantages
– Supervisors with – Quick, direct way to
knowledge of the job find overlooked
information.
 Disadvantages
– Distorted information

Information: The Interview
 Interview Guidelines
– The job analyst and supervisor should work together to
identify the workers who know the job best.
– Quickly establish rapport with the interviewee.
– 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.
– After completing the interview, review and verify the data.


Information: Questionnaires
 Information source  Advantages
– Have employees fill – Quick and efficient
out questionnaires to way to gather
describe their job- information from
related duties and large numbers of
responsibilities. employees
 Questionnaire formats  Disadvantages
– Structured checklists – Expense and time
– Opened-ended consumed in
questions preparing and testing
the questionnaire

Information: Observation
– Observing and – Provides first-hand
noting the physical information
activities of – Reduces distortion of
employees as they information
go about their jobs  Disadvantages
– Time consuming
– Difficulty in capturing
entire job cycle
– Of little use if job
© 2009 Pearson Education South involves a high level 4–
Asia. All rights reserved. of mental activity 15

Information: Participant Diary
– Workers keep a – Produces a more
chronological diary/ complete picture of the
log of what they do job
and the time spent in – Employee participation
each activity  Disadvantages
– Distortion of
information
– Depends upon
employees to
accurately recall their
© 2009 Pearson Education South activities 4–

Writing Job Descriptions

 A job description
– A written statement of what the
worker actually does, how he or she
does it, and what the job’s working
conditions are.


Writing Job Descriptions

 Sections of a typical job description
– Job identification
– Job summary
– Responsibilities and duties
– Authority of incumbent
– Standards of performance
– Working conditions
– Job specifications


Sample Job
Description,
Pearson
Education

Source: Courtesy of HR Department,

© 2009 Pearson Education South Pearson Education.
4–

Sample Job
Description,
Pearson
Education
(cont’d)

Source: Courtesy of HR
Department, Pearson
Education.


The Job Description

 Job identification
– Job title: name of job
– Date: when the description was written
– Prepared by: who wrote the description

 Job summary
– Describes the general nature of the job
– Lists the major functions or activities


The Job Description

 Relationships (chain of command)
– Reports to: employee’s immediate supervisor
– Supervises: employees that the job incumbent
directly supervises
– Works with: others with whom the job holder will
be expected to work and come into contact with
internally.
– Outside the company: others with whom the job
holder is expected to work and come into contact
with externally.

The Job Description

 Responsibilities and duties
– A listing of the job’s major responsibilities and
duties (essential functions)
– Defines limits of jobholder’s decision-making
authority, direct supervision, and budgetary
limitations.


The Job Description

 Standards of Performance and Working
Conditions
– Lists standards the employee is expected to
achieve under each of the job description’s main
duties
– Standards must be specific
– Examples:


Writing Job Specifications

 To show what kind of person to recruit and for
what qualities that person should be tested on
 Either listed in a section of job description or
in a separate document



 Specifications Based on Judgment
– Self-created judgments (common sense)
– Basic question: What does it take in terms of
education, intelligence and training to do this job
well?
 Specifications Based on Statistical Analysis
– Attempts to determine statistically the relationship
between a predictor or human trait and an
indicator or criterion of job effectiveness.
– Five-step procedure:


Analyze the job and decide how to measure job
Analyze the job and decide how to measure job
performance
performance

Select personal traits (like finger dexterity) that you
Select personal traits (like finger dexterity) that you
believe should predict successful performance
believe should predict successful performance

Test candidates for these traits
Test candidates for these traits

Measure these candidates’ subsequent job
Measure these candidates’ subsequent job
performance
performance

Statistically analyze relationship between the
Statistically analyze relationship between the
human trait (finger dexterity) and job performance
human trait (finger dexterity) and job performance
Figure 4.8
4–
Determining Job Specifications Through Statistical Analysis

Job Analysis in a “Jobless”
World
 Job
– Generally defined as “a set of closely related
activities carried out for pay.”


World
 From Specialized to Enlarged Jobs
– Job enlargement
• Assigning workers additional same level
activities, thus increasing the number of activities
they perform.
– Job enrichment
• Redesigning jobs in a way that increases the
opportunities for the worker to experience
feelings of responsibility, achievement, growth,
and recognition.

World
– Job rotation
• Moving a trainee from department to department
to broaden his or her experience and identify
strong and weak points to prepare the person for
an enhanced role with the company
• Systematically moving workers from one job to
another to enhance work team performance.


World
Why Managers Are Dejobbing Their Companies
 Dejobbing  External factors leading
– Broadening the to dejobbing.
responsibilities of the – Rapid product and
company’s jobs technological change
– Encouraging employee – Global competition
initiative. – Deregulation,
 Internal factors leading – Political instability,
to dejobbing – Demographic changes
– Flatter organizations – Rise of a service economy
– Work teams
– Re-engineering

World
 Competencies
– Demonstrable characteristics of a person that
enable performance of a job.
 Competency-based job analysis
– Describing a job in terms of the measurable,
observable, behavioral competencies (knowledge,
skills, and/or behaviors) an employee must exhibit
to do a job well.


World
 Why Use Competency Analysis?
– Support HPWS
• Traditional job descriptions (with their lists of
specific duties) may actually backfire if a high-
performance work system is the goal.
• HPWS encourages employees to work in a self-
motivated manner.

Figure 4.9
4–
Encouraging Employees to Work in a Self-Motivated Way

World
 Why Use Competency Analysis? (cont’d)
– Maintain a strategic focus
• Describing the job in terms of the skills,
knowledge, and competencies the worker needs
is more strategic.
– Measure performance
• Measurable skills, knowledge, and competencies
are the heart of any company’s performance
management process.


Self-Managed Teams (SMT)
in Asia
 A small group of workers with authority to
manage their own work
 Set their own targets and schedule
 Inspect their own work
 Review performance as a group
 Allows workers to control their work
arrangements and job conditions
 Requires technical and decision-making skills


The Skills Matrix for a Job at BP

Note: The light blue boxes indicate the minimum level of skill required for the job.


SMTs at Texas Instruments
(Malaysia & Philippines) – 3 levels
 1. Quality steering team
– MD & managers

 2. Process management team
– Heads of department

 3. Self-managed team
– Operators and technicians


SMT at Ritz Carlton
(Singapore)
 Employees are authorized to spend up to a
specific amount to please a dissatisfied guest.
 Credo:
– Do everything you can to never lose a guest.
 SMTs recruit their co-workers, decide on work
procedures, and handle their own budget.


SMT at Becton Dickinson Medical
(Singapore) – 3 levels

 1. Steering team
– Senior management to provide direction

 2. Resource team
– Professionals to support process teams

 3. Process team
– Employees to manufacture products or
provide services


 The process team leader should:
– Coordinate activities
– Encourage participation
– Facilitate team decision-making
– Communicate performance targets



 Role of team members
– Understand team goals
– Participate to solve problems, make
decisions
– Perform tasks to achieve standards
– Monitor results



 Process teams are authorized to:
– Change methods & procedures
– Ensure customer satisfaction & safety
– Work overtime (within budget)
– Schedule activities
– Allocate resources
– Prioritize tasks


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