Ch. 4: Job Analysis

Question 1

Define job analysis (introduced on p.106 & then discussed again starting on p.109).

Answer 1

• Job analysis is a systematic method to discover and describe the differences and similarities among jobs. Or put another way it’s the systematic process of collecting information that identifies similarities and differences in the work.
• Major decisions in designing a job analysis: why are we performing the job analysis? What information do we need? How should we collect it? Who should be involved? How useful are the results?

Question 2

List and define the two products that result from a job analysis (pp.106-107)

Answer 2

• Description focuses on the job whereas specification focuses on the person:
• Job description - list of tasks, duties, and responsibilities (observable actions).
• Job specification - list of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics needed for an individual to have to do the job.

Question 3

Study Exhibit 4.1, Many Ways to Create Internal Structure (p.107)

Answer 3

• When building you look at either what people are doing and the expected outcome or the skill and competency-based structure looking at the person. The purpose of the process remains the same no matter which direction you go:
  1. collect and summarize work content information that identifies similarities and differences.
  2. determine what to value
  3. assess the relative value
  4. translate the relative value into an internal structure
• job based vs. person based:
• job based: job analysis and job descriptions
• person based: skills and competencies

Question 4

Recognize the four components included in a job description (Exhibit 4.2) (p.108)

Answer 4

• 4 components are job summary, relationships, qualifications, and essential responsibilities:
  1. Job summary: overview of job
  2. Relationships: where the job fits in the organizational structure, which jobs are supervised by this job holder, which job supervises this job holder, and the nature of any internal and external relationships.
  3. Qualifications -
  4. The essential responsibilities elaborate on the summary

Question 5

Recognize the four steps associated with determining the internal job structure (Exhibit 4.3) (p.109).

Answer 5

• Job analysis: the systematic process of collecting information that identifies similarities and differences in the workplace
• Job descriptions: summary reports that identify, define, and describe the job as it is actually performed
• Job evaluation: comparison of jobs within an organization
• Job structure: and ordering of jobs based on their content and relative value

Question 6

List (and discuss) the five major decisions associated with designing a job analysis (the questions are introduced on p.109 & then discussed individually throughout the rest of the chapter).

Answer 6

1. Why perform job analysis? In compensation job analysis has two critical uses: 1)it establishes similarities and differences in the work contents of the job and 2) it helps establish an internally fair and aligned job structure
2. What information is needed? Good job analysis collects sufficient information to adequately identify, define, and describe a job
3. How to collect information? Conventional (ask people) or quantitative methods.
4. Who to involve?
5. How useful are the results?

Question 7

Define the following three terms associated with job analysis (Exhibit 4.4): job family, job & task (p.110)

Answer 7

• Job family is a group of related jobs with broadly similar content for example marketing and engineering office support technical human resources.
• A job is a group of tasks performed by one person that make up the total work assignment of that person for example customer support representative
• task is the smallest unit of analysis, a specific statement of what a person does for example answers to the telephone. Similar tasks can be grouped into a task dimension example responsible for ensuring that accurate information is provided to the customer.

Question 8

What are “essential elements” of a job, and why are these relevant to a job analysis (p.116)?

Answer 8

• Essential elements of the job are those that cannot be reassigned to another worker
• Americans with Disabilities acts (ADA) - this act requires that essential elements of a job must be specified for jobs covered by the legislation. If an applicant can perform these essential elements, it is assumed the applicant can perform the job. After that reasonable accommodation must be made to enable an otherwise qualified handicapped person to perform those elements. The law does not make allowances for special pay rates or special benefits for people with disabilities.
  o ADA regulations state that essential function is refer to the fundamental job duties of the employment position the individual with a disability holds or desires. The difficulty of specifying essential elements varies with the discretion in the job and the stability of the job.
• Relevant to job analysis because a company should comply with the Americans with Disabilities act. While the law does not require any particular kind of analysis many employers modify the format of their job descriptions to specifically call out the essential elements. A lack of compliance places an organization at risk and ignores one of the objectives of the pay model.

Question 9

List (and describe) five metrics for judging job analysis (pp.128-129).

Answer 9

• Reliability is a measure of the consistency of results among various analysts, various methods, various sources of data, or over time. Reliability is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for validity.
• Validity - this examines the convergence of results among sources of data and methods. If several job incumbents, supervisors, and peers respond in similar ways to questionnaires, that it is more likely that the information is valid.
• Currency - job information must be up to date. It is useful to develop a systematic protocol for evaluating when job information needs to be updated.
• Usefulness - refers to the practicality of the information collected. For pay purposes, job analysis provides work related information to help determine how much to pay for a job it helps determine whether the job is similar to or different from other jobs. I if job analysis does this in a reliable, valid, and acceptable way and can be used to make paid decisions, then it is useful.