WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF JOB ANALYSIS IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT?

What is a job analysis?

A job analysis is the systematic process of investigation, study and recording the role, position and skills that are necessary for a job. It also involves determining the relative importance of the duties, responsibilities and physical and emotional skills for a given job. All these factors identify what a job demands and what an employee must possess to perform a job productively.

Importance of Job Analysis 

Job analysis is an important step in ensuring that the right candidate is selected. Job analysis helps the employer in recruitment and selection, performance management, choosing compensation and benefits, etc. It helps the employees to have a clear picture of what is actually required of them.

No doubt Job analysis is a one of the basic and important function of HRM. The main purposes of conducting a job analysis process is to use this particular information to create a right fit between job and employee, to assess the performance of an employee, to determine the worth of a particular task and to analyze training and development needs of an employee delivering that specific job.

 

Importance of Job Analysis

The data collected by conducting job analysis plays an important role in controlling the output of a particular job. Job success depends on an impartial, accurate, and thorough job analysis. It helps in hiring the right people for a particular job. The main purpose of conducting this whole process is to create and establish a perfect fit between the job and the employee.

Job analysis helps HR managers determine compensation packages and additional benefits and incentives for a specific job position. It effectively contributes to the training needs and performance appraisal of existing staff. The process forms the basis for designing and establishing strategies and policies to meet organizational goals and objectives.

A thorough and impartial investigation or study of a particular job is good for both the director and the employee. Managers know who to hire and why. They can fill a place with the right person. On the other hand, the existing or potential employee can know what he is and how he is supposed to perform the job and what is the desired output. Job analysis creates a perfect fit between the job and the employee.

 

Steps in Job Analysis

The job analysis process has the following steps:

• Identify how the information will be used as it will determine which data will be collected and how it should be collected. Interview and location analysis questionnaires are some examples of data collection techniques.
• Review relevant background information, such as organization charts, process charts, and job descriptions.
• Select representative positions to analyze because there may be many similar tasks to analyze and they may not need to be analyzed.
• Analyze the work by collecting data on work activities, required employee behavior, job status and human characteristics and skills required to perform the job.
• Review and verify job analysis information with those in charge of the job to ensure it is actually accurate and complete.
• Create a job description and job specification from job analysis data.

 

Recruitment and Selection

Job analysis helps determine what type of person is needed to perform a particular task. It indicates the educational qualifications, level of experience and technical, physical, mental and personal skills required to be employed in the desired fashion. The goal is to get the right person in the right place.

 

Performance Analysis

Jobs are analyzed to see if the goals and objectives of a particular job have been met. It helps in determining performance standards, evaluation criteria and individual output. On this basis, the overall performance of an employee is measured and evaluated accordingly.

 

Training and Development

Job analysis can be used to assess training needs and staff development. The difference between expected and actual output determines the level of training that should be given to employees. It also helps to decide on the training content, tools and equipment used for training and training methods.

 

Compensation Management

Of course, job analysis plays a vital role in deciding on legal packages, additional benefits, and fixed and variable employee incentives. Furthermore, the pay package depends on the position, job title, and duties and responsibilities associated with a job. This process guides human resource managers in deciding on the value of an employee for a particular job.

 

Job Designing and Redesigning

The main purpose of job analysis is to simplify human endeavors and achieve the best possible output. It helps to design, redesign, enrich, evaluate as well as reduce and add additional responsibilities in a particular job. This is done to increase employee satisfaction while increasing human productivity.

Therefore, job analysis is one of the most important functions of an HR manager or department. This helps in fitting the right kind of talent at the right place and at the right time.

 

Job Analysis Methods

Job analysis traditionally has been conducted in a number of different ways. Also, organization differ in their needs and in the resources they have for conducting job analysis.

 

Methods of Collecting Job Analysis Information

Usually an HR specialist, job analyst or consultant, workers and supervisor of the organization work together in conducting the job analysis. Job analysis data is usually collected from several employees from different departments of organization using interviews and questionnaires. The data is then averaged, taking into account the departmental context of the employees, to determine how much time a typical employee spends on each of several specific tasks.

 

THE INTERVIEW

1. The three types of interviews managers use to collect job analysis data are: individual (to get the employee’s perspective on the job’s duties and responsibilities, group (when large numbers of employees perform the same job), and supervisor (to get his/her perspective on the job’s duties and responsibilities).
2. The pros of using an interview are that it is: simple, quick, and more comprehensive because the interviewer can unearth activities that may never appear in written form.
3. The following questions are some examples of typical questions. “What is the job being performed?” “In what activities do you participate?” “What are the health and safety conditions?”
4. The following are interview guidelines

• The job analyst and supervisor should identify the workers who know the job best and would be objective
• Establish a rapport with the interviewee
• Follow a structured guide or checklist
• Ask worker to list duties in order of importance and frequency of occurrence
• Review and verify the data.

 

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Structured or unstructured questionnaires may be used to obtain job analysis information.
2. Questionnaires can be a quick, efficient way of gathering information from a large number of employees. But, developing and testing a questionnaire can be expensive and time consuming.

OBSERVATION

1. Direct observations are useful when jobs consist of mainly observable physical activity as opposed to mental activity.
2. Reactivity can be a problem with direct observations, which is where the worker changes what he/she normally does because he/she is being watched.
3. Managers often use direct observation and interviewing together.

PARTICIPANT DIARY / LOGS

1. The employee records every activity he/she engages in, in a diary or log along with the amount of time to perform each activity to produce a complete picture of the job.
2. Employees may try to exaggerate some activities and underplay others.

 

QUANTITATIVE JOB ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES

1. Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) is a questionnaire used to collect quantifiable data concerning the duties and responsibilities of various jobs, having decision-making/communication/social responsibilities, performing skilled activities, being physically active, operating vehicles/equipment, and processing information.
2. Department of Labor Procedure (DOL) is a standardized method for rating, classifying, and comparing virtually every kind of job based on data, people, and things.
3. Functional job analysis: rates a job on data; people; things; the extent to which specific instructions are necessary to perform the task; the extent to which reasoning and judgment are required to perform the task; and mathematical ability required to perform the task; and identifies performance standards and training requirements.

 

USING MULTIPLE SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Likely, no one job analysis method will be used exclusively. A combination is often more appropriate.

1. Where possible, collect job analysis data using several types of collection techniques and respondents.
2. Potential inaccuracies in peoples’ judgments could lead to inaccurate conclusions

 

SOURCE OF DATA

Main sources of collection of data for job analysis are as following:

• Employees
• Supervisor
• Manager
• Job Analyst
• Job Analyst (HR)
• Outside consultant
• Supervisor/Manager

 

PROBLEMS WITH JOB ANALYSIS

Too lengthy

• Time consuming and requires much patience
• Might be a reflection of stereotypes

 

JOB ANALYSIS OUTCOMES

Job description

The job description is a document that provides information regarding the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of the job. Job description takes on an even greater importance under the Americans with Disabilities Act because the description of essential job functions may be critical to a defense regarding reasonable accommodation.

• Job Identification contains the job title, the FLSA status, date, and possible space to indicate who approved the description, the location of the job, the immediate supervisor’s title, salary and/or pay scale.
• Job Summary should describe the general nature of the job, and includes only its major functions or activities.
• Relationships occasionally a relationships statement is included. It shows the jobholders’ relationships with others inside and outside the organization.
• Responsibilities and Duties the Department of Labor’s Dictionary of Occupational Titles can be used for itemizing the job’s duties and responsibilities.
• Standards of Performance states the standards the employee is expected to achieve under each of the job description’s main duties and responsibilities.

 

Job specification

Minimum acceptable qualifications that a person should possess to perform the job are included in the job specification. Some of the items often included are requirements for education, experience, personality, and physical abilities.

Job evaluation

In Job Evaluation process the worth of job is identified based upon job comparability and according to worth, importance of job and relative value Compensation is designed and selected.