Ch. 3 Job Analysis Flashcards
Define: Personnel Psychology
The specialty area of I/O/P focusing on an organization’s human resources
Goal of Personnel Psychology
Maintaining human resources
Define: Job Analysis
The systematic study of the 1) tasks, duties and responsibilities of a job, 2) the qualities to perform it
What does Job Analysis produce?
- Job Description
- Job Specifications
- Job Evaluation
- Performance Criteria
Define: Job Description
A detailed accounting of the tasks, procedures, and responsibilities; the tools and equipment used; and the end product or service
Define: Job Specifications
Provides information about the human characteristics required to perform the job, such as physical and personal traits, work experience, and education
Define: Job Evaluation
The assessment of the relative value or worth of a job to an organization to determine appropriate compensation.
Define: Performance Criteria
Are the means for appraising worker success in performing a job
Define: Observations as it relates to job analysis
trained job analysts gather information about a particular job by observing the job incumbent and taking detailed notes.
When is observations best used?
Manual operations, repetitive tasks or other easily seen activities
What concern is there in observing incumbents?
Whether the presence of the observer in some way influences workers performance. AKA: Hawthorne effect
Define: Participation as it relates to job analysis
Analyst may want to perform a particular job or job operation to get firsthand understanding of how the job is performed
Define: Existing Data as it relates to job analysis
Previous job analysis for the position or an analysis of a related job. Some data may be borrowed from another organization
Define: Interviews as it relates to job analysis
Interview several job incumbents, supervisors, subordinates to get a more reliable representation of the job
Define: Surveys as it relates to job analysis
Administration of a pencil-and-paper questionnaire that the respondent completes and returns to the job analyst
What are two advantages of surveys over the interview method?
- The survey allows the collection of information from a number of workers simultaneously making them cost effective when analyst needs to study several positions
- Because survey can be anonymous, there may be less distortion or withholding of information than in a face-to-face interview
What is a drawback of surveys?
Cannot probe for additional information or for clarification of a response
Define: Subject Matter Experts
Job incumbents or knowledgeable supervisors of job incumbents
What are Job Diaries?
Job incumbents record their daily activities in a diary
What is an advantage of job diaries?
Provides detailed, hour-by-hour, day-by-day account of the worker’s job
What is a disadvantage of job diaries?
Time consuming, both for the worker who is keeping the diary and the job analyst who has to analyze the large amount of info contained in the diary
Define: Job Element Method
Looks at the basic knowledge, skills, abilities, or other characteristics - KSAOs - that are required to perform a particular job. SMEs rank or rate the elements in terms of importance.
What are SMEs?
Subject Matter Experts
True or False: The job element method is person oriented.
True. It is person oriented as it focuses on characteristics of the individual who performs the job.
Define: Critical Incidents Technique (CIT)
Records the specific worker behaviors that have led to particularly successful or unsuccessful job performance
How is information obtained in the Critical Incidents Technique (CIT)?
Information is obtained by giving interviews or questionnaires to job incumbents, job supervisors, or other knowledgeable individuals
What does Critical Incidents Technique (CIT) determine after obtaining information?
Determines the particular skills, knowledge and ability needed for the position
Define: Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
A structured questionnaire that analyzes various jobs in terms of 187 job elements that are arranged into six categories
What are the 6 elements of Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)?
- Information input
- Mental Processes
- Work Output
- Relationships With Other Persons
- Job Context
- Other Job Characteristics
What is the most widely researched job analysis instrument?
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
Each element PAQ is rated using six categories. Name the categories?
- Extent of use
- Importance
- Amount of time
- Applicability,
- Possibility of occurrence
- Special code for miscellaneous job elements
What is the rating scale of PAQ?
Rated on a scale from 1-5, from minor to extreme applicability with additional rating for “do not apply”
Define: Information input as it relates to PAQ
Where and how the worker obtains the information needed to perform the job
Define: Mental Processes as it relates to PAQ
The kind of thinking, reasoning, and decision making required to perform the job
Define: Work Output as it relates to PAQ
The tasks the worker must perform and the tools or machines needed
Define: Relationships With Other Persons as it relates to PAQ
The kinds of relationships and contacts with others required to do the job
Define: Job Context as it relates to PAQ
The physical and/or social contexts in which the work is performed
Define: Other Job Characteristics as it relates to PAQ
Other relevant activities, conditions or characteristics necessary to do the job
What does PAQ produce?
A detailed profile
Define: Functional Job Analysis (FJA)
Structured job analysis technique that examines the sequence of tasks in a job and the processes by which they are completed
What are the three broad categories representing the job’s typical interaction?
- Data
- People
- Things
Define: Data as it relates to FJA
Information, knowledge, and conceptions
Define: People as it relates to FJA
The amount of contact with others a job requires
Define: Things as it relates to FJA
The workers interactions with inanimate objects such as tools, machines, equipment, and tangible work products
What is the scale used in FJA?
Hierarchy of work functions ranging from 0 - most involved and complex to the highest digit in the category which is the least involved.
What jobs use FJA?
Used extensively by organizations in public and private sectors
Why was FJA developed?
Developed to assist the U.S. Department of Labor
Define: Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)
Reference guide that classified and gave general descriptions for over 40,000 jobs
What replaced DOT?
O*NET - The Occupational Information Network
Define: O*NET - The Occupational Information Network
Contains information about job categories, job KSAOs, as well as information about wages and salaries, job training and licensing requirements for particular jobs, and more.
Define: Relative Importance (RI)
Should compare the importance between jobs and within jobs and evaluate the tasks “qualitatively” rather than solely on quantitative evaluation
What does Title 1 of the ADA state?
“In employment matters it is illegal to discriminate against a qualified person with a disability: such an individual is one who can perform the essential functions of a job with or without reasonable accommodations.”
What influences compensation?
Supply of potential workers, the perceived value of the job to the company and the job’s history
Define: Compensable Factors
The job elements that are used to determine appropriate compensation for a job
What are some examples of compensable factors?
Physical demands of the job, amount of training or experience needed, working conditions, and amount of responsibility
What does not influence compensation?
Market conditions
Define: The Equal Pay Act of 1963
Mandates that men and women performing equal work receive equal pay
What two issues bear directly on the gender gaps?
- Access to higher paying jobs
2. Women are paid far less for doing same work
Define: Comparable Worth
The notion that jobs that require equivalent KSAOs should be compensated equally.
Define: Exceptioning
The practice of ignoring pay discrepancies between particular jobs possessing equivalent duties and responsibilities
Define: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibits discrimination of employment practices based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.
Define: Glass Ceiling
Limitations placed on women and minorities preventing them from advancing into top-level positions in organizations.
Two major questions of job analysis
- What do people in a particular job do? (Task oriented)
2. What human characteristics are necessary for a job? (Person oriented)
Define: KSAO
Knowledge: Know to do a task
Skill: Can do a task
Ability: Capability to learn to do a task
Other personal characteristics: Other attributes needed
Purpose of Job Analysis
- Career development
- Human resource planning
- Project future needs
- Legal defense
- Performance appraisal
- Selection
- Training
- Research
Sources of Job Analysis Information
- Sources Of Job Analysis Data
- Analyst
- Subject Matter Expert: SME
a. Incumbent
b. Supervisor - Records
- Data base
a. Dictionary of Occupational Titles: DOT
b. Occupational Information Network: O*NET
Data Collection Approaches
- Surveys
- Existing data
- Interview
- Diary
- Observation
- Participation
Specific Methods of Job Analysis
- Critical incidents
- Functional job analysis: O*NET & its predecessor 3. DOT
- Positional Analysis Questionnaire, PAQ
- Job element method
