Dale J. Dwyer, Ph.D.

1. Job Analysis: How to Figure Out What the Job Actually Entails Despite What the 30-Year-Old Job Description Says Dale J. Dwyer, Ph.D.

2. First Things First • Tasks are the building blocks of jobs. • Jobs are the building blocks of the organization. • To understand the requirements to attract, develop and retain employees, we need to understand what the job entails. • We do this by looking at job descriptions. But where does this information come from in the first place?

3. Job Analysis • A job analysis is a systematic process to collect data about work activities; equipment; context; and the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) required of the job. • It examines a job’s mental and physical requirements; the KSAs necessary for job success; the environment where work is carried out; and the job’s primary and secondary functions. • It is a legal safeguard for many HR practices. • Job analyses are usually done through interviews and questionnaires.

4. What Jobs Should Be Analyzed? • Jobs whose content has changed. • Jobs where adverse impact in hiring has occurred. • Entry-level jobs. • Jobs in which incumbents have poor performance or high turnover.

5. What’s Wrong with this Job Description? Essential Duties and Responsibilities of a RECEPTIONIST: • Professionally administer all incoming calls. • Ensure phone calls are redirected accordingly. • Greet guests in a professional, friendly and hospitable manner. • Open and close visitor area (locking doors, closing blinds, turning off lights). • Type memos, correspondence, reports and other documents. • Perform a variety of clerical duties. Qualifications/Requirements: • Excellent phone etiquette. • Excellent verbal communication skills. • Punctual. • Able to work with minimum supervision. • Should be customer service-driven. • Knowledge of MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, Access). • Able to multi-task. • Professional appearance. • High school diploma or GED. • Minimum one year experience.

6. Job Components Identify job components by answering: • What does an incumbent actually do? • What are the duties, responsibilities and performance expectations? • What KSAs are needed for success? • What are the conditions--location, physical and social needs, supervision needs, etc.-- under which the job is performed?

7. Job Analysis Process • Decide on the job(s) to be analyzed. • Decide on the people who will provide job data. • Decide on the method to gather job data. • Meet with selected employees (manager and incumbents) to explain process and method. • Collect data. • Prepare final job analysis data form. • Send to manager and incumbents for feedback. • Revise if needed. Create the job description and send to manager for approval.

8. Job Analysis Interviews and Questionnaires Benefits and limitations

9. Job Analysis Interview • Most frequently used method. • Interviews with incumbents and supervisors. • Assumes a thorough familiarity with the job. • Best when conducted using a structured format. • Used to identify critical job tasks. • Task statements are written to describe what the worker does, to what or whom, to produce what outcome, using what tools, equipment, processes, etc.

10. Limitations to Job Analysis Interviews • Heavily dependent on interviewing ability. • Takes time and may not be cost-efficient if there are a number of jobs to analyze. • Incumbent may distort information to reflect a more complex job. It is important to verify information with other incumbents and supervisors. • Should not be relied upon as the only source of information.

11. Job Analysis Questionnaire • Task inventories are usually the most widely used. • Contains demographic data, listing of job tasks and rating scales, as well as working conditions, equipment used, etc. • Can help combat some of the shortcomings of the interview method. • Can be bought or designed. • Usually specific to one job or job family. HOWEVER -- • Still time-consuming and costly. • Literacy issues.

12. Uniform Guidelines for Employee Selection Procedures, 1978 • Not a law, but certainly a mandate to validate employment tests. • Contains extensive rules and statistical procedures about how an employer may determine if selection criteria are job-related. • Job analysis is virtually a requirement to validate employment tests.

13. Legal Issues For Job Analysis: Uniform Guidelines for Employee Selection Procedures • Must be for a specific job, not merely a generic job category. • Should be in writing. • Should detail the job analysis procedures used. • Data should be collected by a knowledgeable analyst. • Sample size should be large and representative. • Must include tasks, duties and activities. • KSAs must be listed. • Competency levels for entry-level jobs must be specified. • 80 percent of the required KSAs should be reflected in tests.

14. Job Analysis and the ADA • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990. The act was designed to aid citizens with disabilities to fully participate in society. • Job analysis plays a key role in compliance with this act. • Job analysis helps identify the essential functions of the job that the incumbent must be able to perform with or without accommodation.

15. Which Approach Should I Use? • Is it ready to use? • Can it be used for a variety of jobs? • Can it be compared across analysts? • Is it user-friendly? • How large a sample? • Will it provide reliable results? • Will it support UGESP* requirements for test validation? • Is it useful for developing selection tests? • How costly is it in terms of both time and money? * Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, 1978

16. How to Interpret a Job Analysis • Refer to the job analysis handout; note the different approaches to job analysis, with benefits and drawbacks. • First, look at the job analysis information (key activities) about “WHAT” is accomplished and “HOW” it is accomplished: • Knowledge • Skills • Abilities • Work environment • Extract the major points from each aspect and decide how to word the dimensions and use the weighting to scale the importance of each.

17. Once the Job Analysis is Done Job analysis data can be used to: • Create job descriptions. • Contribute to the content in recruitment advertising. • Determine appropriate selection tests. • Assess training needs. • Conduct wage and salary evaluation. • Determine performance criteria and standards. • Provide legal documentation for protection against discrimination lawsuits.