Job Analysis

Question 1

what is an element?

Answer 1

The smallest unit into which work can be divided without analyzing the separate motions, movements, and mental processes involved.

Cascio & Aguinis, 2018

Question 2

What is a task?

Answer 2

A distinct work activity carried out for a distinct purpose.

Cascio & Aguinis, 2018

Question 3

What is a duty?

Answer 3

A large segment of the work performed by an individual and may include any number of tasks.

Cascio & Aguinis, 2018

Question 4

What is a position?

Answer 4

One or more duties performed by a given individual in a given firm at a given time. There as many positions as there are workers. e.g. Clerk typist-level three.

Cascio & Aguinis, 2018

Question 5

What is a job?

Answer 5

A group of positions that are similar in their significant duties. A job may only involve one position, depending on the size of the organization. e.g., Mechanic-level two.

Cascio & Aguinis, 2018

Question 6

What is a job family?

Answer 6

A group of two or more jobs that either call for similar worker characteristics or contain parallel work tasks as determined by job analysis. e.g., all mechanic levels

Cascio & Aguinis, 2018

Question 7

What is an occupation?

Answer 7

A group of similar jobs found in different organizations at different times. e.g., Electricians

Cascio & Aguinis, 2018

Question 8

What is a career?

Answer 8

A sequence of positions, jobs, or occupations that one person engages in during their working life.

Cascio & Aguinis, 2018

Question 9

What are some types of uses for job analysis?

Answer 9

Job Analysis is used for: 
Org design (i.e., workforce planning)

HR mgmt (recruitment, selection, perf appraisal, promotions)

Work and equipment design (job design, safety)

Others: vocational guidance, HR research

Cascio & Aguinis, 2018

Question 10

How are job analysis and competency models different?

Answer 10

Competency models focus on identifying broader characteristics of individs & using these characteristics to inform HR practices.

CM’s are more prescriptive than descriptive.

Rigor and documentation of JA is more likely to withstand legal challenge, but that can be overcome with more rigorous CM methods.

Cascio & Aguinis, 2018

Question 11

What is job analysis?

Answer 11

Job analysis is a purposeful, systematic process for collecting information on the important work-related aspects of a job.
Gatewood et al. 2019

Question 12

What types of work related aspects are important to capture in a job analysis?

Answer 12

1. Work activities; what a worker does, how, why, and when
2. Tools and equipment used
3. Context of the work environment, such as work schedule or physical working conditions
4. Requirements of personnel performing the job, such as KSAOs and personality (referred to as WRCs)

Question 13

Why is there interest in conducting job analysis for selection?

Answer 13

• Job analysis should be performed as part of the development, application, and validation of selection procedures according to federal guidelines.
• Court rulings have held that job analysis must play an integral role in research that attempts to show the correlation between performance and a selection measure.

Gatewood et al., 2019

Question 14

What are the legal precedence /issues for job analysis?

Answer 14

Title VII of 1964 - prohibits discrimination.

Methods of job analysis have been called into question in courts. Many job analysis processes use human judgment (i.e., inferential leaps), which can be fraught with biases against protected classes

Two U.S. court cases established precedence/add pressure for job analysis: Griggs vs Duke Power Co. (1971) - established legal impetus for JA. Then Abermarle Paper Co vs Moody (1975) criticized a JA for being invalid and added pressure to conduct JA.

Gatewood et al 2019

Question 15

What are some legal standards of job analysis?

Answer 15

1. Job analysis must be performed and must be for the job for which the selection instrument is to be utilized.
2. should be in writing.
3. should describe in detail the procedures used.
4. data should be collected from a variety of current sources and by a knowledgeable analyst.
5. The sample size of individuals serving as SMEs should be large and representative of the jobs for which the device will be used.
6. Tasks, duties, and activities should be included in the job analysis.
7. The most important tasks should be represented by the selection device.
8. Competency levels of job performance for entry-level jobs should be specified.
9. KSAs should be specified, particularly if a content validation model is followed.

Gatewood et al. 2019

Question 16

What are the Uniform Guidelines?

Answer 16

The Uniform Guidelines apply to all selection procedures used to make employment decisions, including written tests, interviews, review of experience or education from application forms, résumés, work samples, physical requirements, and evaluations of performance.

Courts defer to Uniform Guidelines Guidelines from the EEOC, Department of Justice, and Civil Service Commission.

Question 17

What are points of inference in the process of collecting information for selection purposes?

Answer 17

There are two points of inference in the process of developing job-related selection procedures that assess employee specifications. These are inferential leaps, so human judgement is involved and this could be fraught with biases against protected classes.

1) From job analysis to the creation of employee specifications - translating what we know the tasks are and duties to the KSAs and traits, physical requirements etc that are required (specs).
2) From employee specs (KSAOS) to selection procedures. i.e., choosing cog ability as a test to measure certain KSAOs is a leap.

Gatewood et al., 2019

Question 18

What is a possible future shift in job analysis?

Answer 18

Shift from organizing work around jobs to organizing work around processes.

Gatewood et al., 2019

Question 19

What is competency modeling?

Answer 19

Competency modeling refers to the collection of KSAOs that are needed for effective performance in the jobs in question. (The KSAOs are the comptencies, and the set of competencies refer to a competency model).

Campion et al. 2011

Question 20

What are some best practices for competency modeling?

Answer 20

• Linking CM to org goals
• Start with top execs (but also interview incumbents and others) - to make sure aligned with biz goals
• Using rigorous JA methods to develop competencies
• Using both cross-job and job-specific competencies,
• using competency libraries
• Using CM for legal defensability (test validation).

Campion et al. 2011