Job Analysis

and Job Design

Chapter 4
 Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Define job analysis and job design.
2. Distinguish among a position, a job, and an
occupation.
3. Describe several common uses of a job analysis.
4. Define job description and job specification.
5. Identify four frequently used methods of job
analysis.

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 Learning Objectives (cont.)
7. Identify several problems frequently associated with
job analysis.
8. Define job scope and job depth and explain their
relationship to job design.
9. Explain the sociotechnical approach to job design.
10.Distinguish among the following types of alternative
work schedules: flextime, telecommuting, job
sharing, and condensed workweek.
11.Define the term contingent worker

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 Job Analysis and Job Design
 The first step of acquiring the organization’s human
resources is to specify precisely the kind of work
that needs to be done and just how that work
should be done. Job analysis and job design are the
process used to determine this.
 Job analysis
└ Process of determining and reporting pertinent
information relating to the nature of a specific
job.

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 Job Analysis is the systematic process of
collecting, analyzing, documenting the
information related of the job
 Job analysis is the procedure through which you
determine the duties , nature of the jobs and the
kinds of people who should be hired for them.

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 Job analysis is the process of getting detailed
information about jobs
 Job analysis serves as the beginning point of
many human resource functions. Jobs must be
analyzed before many of other human resource
functions can be performed. For example effective
recruitment is not possible unless the recruiter
knows and communicates the requirement of the
job.

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 Similarly, it is impossible to design basic wage system
without having clearly defined jobs.
 Job design is the process of structuring work and
designating the specific work activities of an
individual or group of individuals to achieve certain
organizational objectives.
 Job design addresses the basic question of how the
job is to be performed, who perform, and where is to
be performed.

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 Job design is the allocation of specific work
tasks to individuals and groups

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 Basic Terminology
 Micromotions  Elements
└ Simplest unit of work; └ An aggregation of two
involves very or more micromotions;
elementary usually thought of as a
movement, such as complete entity, such
reaching, grasping, as picking up or
positioning, or transporting an object
releasing an object

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 Basic Terminology
└ Tasks Consists of one or more elements; one of
the distinct activities that constitute logical and
necessary steps in the performance of work by an
employee
└ A task is performed whenever human effort,
physical or mental, is exerted for a specific
purpose

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 Distinguishing between tasks and duties is not
always easy. It is sometimes helpful to view
task as subset of duties. For example suppose
one duty of receptionist is to handle all
incoming correspondence. One task, as part of
this duty, would be to respond to all routine
inquiries.

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 Basic Terminology
 Duties
└ One or more tasks performed in carrying out a job
responsibility
 Responsibilities
└ Obligations to perform certain tasks and assume
certain duties
 Positions
└ Collection of tasks and responsibilities constituting
the total work assignment of a single employee
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 Basic Terminology
 Jobs
 Group of positions that are identical with respect to their
major or significant tasks and responsibilities.
 The difference between a position and a job is that a job may
be held by more than one person, whereas a position cannot.
For example, an organization may have two receptionists
performing the same job; however, they occupy two separate
positions.
 Occupations
└ A grouping of similar jobs or job classes

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Relationship among Different Job
Components

Figure 4.1

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 Job analysis is the beginning point of many
human resource functions. Specifically, data
obtained from job analysis form the basis for a
variety human resource activities. These
activities include the following:

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Job Analysis Activities

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 Job definition. A job analysis results in a description of the duties and
responsibilities of the job Such a description is useful to the current jobholders and
their supervisors prospective employees.
 Job redesign. A job analysis often indicates when a job needs to be redesigned.
 Recruitment. A job analysis not only identifies the job requirements but also
outlines the skills needed to perform the job. This information helps to identify the
type of people to be recruited.
 Selection. A job analysis determines the importance of different skills and abilities.
Once this has been done, comparisons of various candidates can be made
 Orientation. The duties and responsibilities of a job must be clearly defined before
a new employee can be taught how to perform the job.
 Training. Whether or not a current or potential jobholder needs additional training
can be decided only after the specific requirements of the job have been
determined through a job analysis.

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 Job Analysis
 Recruitment  Selection
└ Process of seeking and └ Process of choosing
attracting a pool of from those available
people from which the individuals who
qualified candidates are most likely to
for job vacancies can perform successfully in
be chosen. a job.

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 Job Analysis
 Orientation  Training
└ Introduction of new └ Learning process that
employees to the involves the
organization, work acquisition of skills,
unit, and job. concepts, rules, or
attitudes to increase
employee
performance.

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Information Provided by a
Job Analysis

Table 4.1

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 Products of Job Analysis
 Job description
└ Written synopsis of the nature and requirements
of a job
└ explains, in written form, what the job is called,
what it requires to be done, where it is to be
done, and how it is to be done.
└ Job description contains sections that include the
following: the job name, a brief summary
description of the job, a listing of job duties and
responsibilities
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 Products of Job Analysis
 Job specification
└ Description of the competency, educational, and
experience qualifications the incumbent must
possess to perform the job.

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Contents of a Job Description

Table 4.2
Job Analysis Methods

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 Job Analysis Methods
 Observation
└ person making the analysis observes the
individual or individuals performing the job and
takes pertinent notes describing the work.
└ includes such things as what was done, how it
was done, how long it took, what the job
environment was like, and what equipment was
used.

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 Job Analysis Methods
 Motion study  Time study
└ involves determining └ determines the
the motions and elements of work
movements necessary required to perform
for performing a task the job, the order in
or job and then which those elements
designing the most occur, and the times
efficient methods for required to perform
putting those motions them effectively.
and movements
together.
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 Job Analysis Methods
 Work sampling
└ method based on taking statistical samples of job
actions throughout the workday and then drawing
inferences about the requirements and demands
of the job.

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 Drawbacks of the Observation
Method
 Observer must be carefully trained to know
what to look for and what to record
 Its application is somewhat limited to jobs
involving short and repetitive cycles

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Job Analysis Methods – Interviews
└ Requires that person conducting job analysis meet with
and interview jobholder
└ Can be structured or unstructured
└ Unstructured interviews – Have no definite checklist or
preplanned format; format develops as interview unfold
└ Structured interview – Follows a predesigned format
└ Advantage
└ Assures that all pertinent aspects of the job are covered
└ They make it easier to compare information obtained
from different people.
 Major drawback
└ Can be extremely time-consuming; compounded when 4-29
 Job Analysis Methods –
Questionnaires
 Typically three to five pages long and contain
both objective and open-ended questions
 Information can be obtained from large
number of employees in a relatively short
time period

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 Job Analysis Methods –
Questionnaires
 Major Disadvantages of Questionnaire
Method
└ Misinterpretation of information by respondent or
analyst
└ Time-consuming and expensive to develop

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 Job Analysis Methods –
Questionnaires
 Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
└ Highly specialized instrument for analyzing any
job in terms of employee activities
 Primary advantage
└ Can be used to analyze almost any type of job
└ It is relatively easy to use
 Major disadvantage
└ The sheer length of questionnaire

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Employee Activity Categories Used
in the PAQ

Table 4.3 4-33

 Job Analysis Methods –
Questionnaires
 Management Position Description
Questionnaire (MPDQ)
└ Highly structured questionnaire designed
specifically for analyzing managerial jobs
└ Requires analyst to check whether each item is
appropriate to job being analyzed

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Job Analysis Methods – Functional
Job Analysis
 Functional job analysis
└ Uses standardized statements and terminology to
describe content of jobs
└ Collects detailed task statements and rates them
according to function level or function orientation
└ function level
Describes how an employee interacts with data, people
and things.
└ function orientation
describes the amount of time the employee spends on the
task of each functional level
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 Potential Problems with Job
Analysis
 In analyzing jobs certain problems can occur. Some
these problems results from natural human behavior,
others stem from the nature of job analysis process.
Some of the most encountered problems associated
with job analysis are the following.
 Top management support is missing
 Only a single means and source are used for
gathering data
 Supervisor and jobholder do not participate in design
of job analysis procedure
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 Potential Problems with Job
Analysis (cont.)
 No training or motivation exists for jobholders
 Employees are not allowed sufficient time to
complete the analysis
 Activities may be distorted
 Participants fail to critique the job

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 Job Design – Three Phases
 Designing a job involves making decisions as to who,
what, where, when why and how the job will be
performed.
 The specification of individual tasks: What different
tasks must be performed?
 The specification of the method of performing each
task: Specifically, how will each task be performed?
 The combination of individual tasks into specific jobs
to be assigned to individuals: How will the different
tasks be grouped to form jobs?
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 Socio-technical approach to job
design
 The thrust of socio-technical approach is that both
the technical system and the accompanying social
system should be considered when designing jobs.
According to this concept, employers should design
jobs by taking holistic, or systems, view of the entire
situation, including its physical and social
environment.
 The socio technical approach merges the technical
need of the organization with social needs of the
employees involved in decision making

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 Job Scope and Job Depth
 Job scope  Job depth
└ Number and variety of └ Freedom of jobholders
tasks performed by the to plan and organize
jobholder their own work, work
at their own pace, and
move around and
communicate.

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 The Physical Work Environment
 The physical work environment should allow for normal
lighting, temperature, ventilation, and humidity
 Baffles acoustical wall materials, sound absorbers, should be
used to reduce unpleasant noises. soothing colors should be
used when ever possible.
 When designing jobs thoughts should also be given to the
mental and psychological impacts of physical environment

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 Alternative work schedule and
arrangement
 Other factors and arrangements that affect job
design are the Alternative work schedule
and arrangement.
 The most common Alternative work
schedules are flex time telecommuting, job
sharing and condensed workweek.
 The Alternative work arrangement is
contingent workers

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Flexible Work Arrangements

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 Flextime
 Flextime
└ Allows employees to choose, within certain limits,
when they start and end their workday
└ Allows employees to accommodate different
lifestyles and schedules, avoid rush hours
└ Can create communication and coordination
problems

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 Telecommuting
 Telecommuting
└ The practice of working at home or while traveling
and being able to interact with the office
└ Less travel time and travel expenses, avoiding
rush hour
└ Lack of professional and social environment of
workplace

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 Job Sharing
 Job sharing
└ Two or more part-time individuals perform a job
that would normally be held by one full-time
person
└ Can be in the form of equally shared
responsibilities, split duties, or a combination of
both

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 Condensed Workweek
 Condensed work week
└ Number of hours worked per day is increased and
number of days in the workweek is decreased
└ Typically done by having employees work 10
hours per day for four days per week
└ Fatigue that often accompanies longer hours

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Contingent Workers
 Contingent workers
└ Employees who are
independent
contractors and on-call
workers or temporary
short-term workers.

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 Contingent Workers
 Reasons that organizations use contingent
workers include
└ Seasonal fluctuations, and project-based work
└ Desire to acquire skill sets not available in the
normal employee Population, hiring freeze, and
rapid growth

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 Contingent Workers
 Advantages
└ Flexibility for dealing with fluctuating product or
service demand
└ Increasing workplace diversity
└ Determining potential as a future full-time
employee
└ Providing skills organization doesn’t have in-house

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 Contingent Workers – Challenges
 Management Issue: Who manages different
contingent workers and what role does HR
play?
 Tracking and Reporting: How do contingents fit
into different HR system such as payroll?
 Compensation: How are contingents
compensated compared to other employees?
 Retention: most contingents don’t receive
benefits they can be hard to retain
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 Contingent Workers – Challenges
 Attitude and quality: Most contingents do not
share same degree of commitment as other
employees
 Orientation and training can be difficult to
schedule because of scheduling conflicts with
other jobs
 Legal Issue: Contingent workers must meet
legal definition of “independent contractor”
under IRS rules
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 Contingent Workers – Challenges
 Use of company resources: this can include
everything from company discount to
participation in company educational programs
 Physical Security: Do contingent workers have
same access to company facilities as other
employees?

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 Advantages
└ Flexibility for dealing with fluctuating product or
service demand
└ Increasing workplace diversity
└ Determining potential as a future full-time
employee
└ Providing skills organization doesn’t have in-house

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