Job Analysis and Job Design

1. Job Analysis and Job Design

2. Basic Job Analysis Terminology • Micro-motion • Element • Task • Duty • Responsibility • Position • Job • Occupations 4-2

3. 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. 4-3

4. Job Analysis • Job and its requirements (notcharacteristics of person currently holding the job) are studied. • Job Analysis is the beginning point of many HR functions. 4-4

5. 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. 4-5

6. Job Analysis: Influencing HR Activities • Recruitment • Selection and Placement • Orientation • Career Counseling • Training 4-6

7. Job Analysis: Influencing HR Activities • Employee Safety • Performance Appraisal • Compensation 4-7

8. Products of Job Analysis 1. Job Description– Written summary of nature and requirements of a job. 4-8

9. Job Description Contents • Date written • Job Status • Position Title • Job Summary • List of Duties and Responsibilities 4-9

10. Job Description Contents (continued) • Supervision – Received & Exercised • Principles Contacts • Required Meetings and Reports • Career Mobility • Competency Requirements** • Education and Experience Required** 4-10

11. 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 4-11

12. Job Analysis Methods – Observation • Simple JA method; used independently or combined with other JA methods. • Motion Study(Methods Study) • Time Study • Work Sampling 4-12

13. Drawbacks of Observation Method • Observer must be carefully trained • Application is limited to jobs involving short and repetitive cycles: 4-13

14. Job Analysis Methods – Interviews • Analyst interviews Jobholder(s): • Unstructured interviews • Structured interview – Predesigned format 4-14

15. Drawback of Interviews • Time-Consuming! 4-15

16. Job Analysis Methods – Questionnaires • Both objective and open-ended questions: • Existing jobs – Incumbent completes questionnaire, checked by manager. • New jobs – Completed by manager. 4-16

17. Disadvantages of Questionnaires • Misinterpretation of information (by respondent and/or analyst). • Time-consuming and expensive to develop. 4-17

18. Variation of Questionnaires Method • Incumbentwrites actual job description, subject to approval of supervisor. 4-18

19. 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. 4-19

20. 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. 4-20

21. Job Analysis Methods – Questionnaires • Management Position Description Questionnaire (MPDQ) – specifically for analyzing managerial jobs. • 208 items grouped into 13 categories. 4-21

22. 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. 4-22

23. 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. 4-23

24. 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. 4-24

25. 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 4-25

26. O*NET • Content Model – Encapsulates key features of an occupation into a standardized, measurable set of variables called “Descriptors”. • http://online.onetcenter.org 4-26

27. The ADA and Job Analysis • “Qualified Individual with Disabilities” • Must ID: “Essential Job Functions” • Reasonable Accommodation 4-27

28. The ADA and Job Analysis • What is an “Essential Job Function” ? • What is “Undue Hardship’? 4-28

29. Job Design • Structuring work and designating work activities of an individual --- or group of individuals --- to achieve organization objectives. 4-29

30. 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. 4-30

31. 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? 4-31

32. Job Scope • Job Scope – Number and variety of tasks performed by jobholder. 4-32

33. 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. 4-33

34. 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, 4-34

35. 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. 4-35

36. Sociotechnical Guidelines for Job Design • Employees need degree of socialsupport 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. 4-36

37. 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. 4-37

38. Flextime • Allows employees to choose, within limits, when they start and end their workday. • Organization defines a Core Period. • Disadvantages? • Advantages? 4-38

39. Telecommuting • Working at home or while traveling and being able to interact with the office: • Advantages? • Disadvantages? 4-39

40. Job Sharing • Two or more part-time employees perform a job normally held by one full-time person. • Advantages? • How are benefits handled? 4-40

41. Condensed Workweek • # of hours worked per day is increased; # of days in the workweek is decreased. • Typical Arrangement? • Advantages? • Disadvantage? 4-41

42. Contingent Workers • 2 Categories: • Independent contractors and on-call workers • Temporary or short-term workers. • Reasons for using contingent workers? • Advantages? • Challenges for managers? 4-42