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How to Conduct a Job Analysis
Aug 27, 2020 8:00:00 AM
Job analysis is a process by which the employer gathers, analyzes and synthesizes information about the work performed by its people. The process is helpful to employers on a number of different levels, such as hiring employees; assigning pay grades to achieve internal pay equity and external market competitiveness; organizing and managing workflow; managing performance; providing appropriate training and development; and complying with the law, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires essential job functions to be identified in written job descriptions.
All job analysis entails three basic processes: information gathering, analysis and compilation, and documentation, which can be broken down into the following steps:
Step 1: Become Familiar With the Job(s) to Be Analyzed
Job analysts should research the job(s) to be evaluated by reviewing all of the company's current documentation, such as previous job descriptions and evaluations, standard operating procedures, job aids, checklists and even advertisements used to recruit for the position. The analyst would also benefit from researching job descriptions of the same type of position in other companies, O*Net (the federal government's online job-information resource), and books depicting standard duties and responsibilities for specific positions, such as administrative assistant, accountant or data entry clerk, for example. (These books, which provide generic job descriptions, are available through booksellers, such as Amazon. To search, enter "job description book.")
Step 2: Decide How to Conduct the Job Analysis
Job analysis should be done by gathering information through questionnaires, observation and/or interviews with incumbent(s), subject-matter experts (SMEs), supervisors and customers (internal or external, who have their own perspective on how products or services should be delivered). The analysis should include as many of these sources as is feasible. (SMEs are individuals who have considerable knowledge about the job, often incumbents or individuals who previously have held the position. Internal customers are those employees who are next in line to receive the work done by the incumbent. External customers are those who receive the finished product.)
To ensure accuracy of the information, the job analyst should use more than one method to gather information, and one of those methods should be to involve incumbents who perform the actual work, by asking them to complete a written questionnaire concerning the job, by interviewing them, by observing them perform the work, or by employing all three methods.
Step 3: Prepare a Written Questionnaire
To gather information systematically and to ensure that no critical information is omitted, the job analyst should prepare a questionnaire. The questionnaire should include the following items:
- Job title.
- Department.
- Name of incumbent.
- Name of supervisor.
- Date.
- How long have you have you been doing this job?
- What is the purpose of this job?
- What are the responsibilities and duties your job normally requires you to do?
- Approximately how much time each day do you spend on each of these responsibilities and duties? (Use a percentage.)
- Which of these are critical for getting the job done? (That is, what are you accountable for?)
- How important is each of these responsibilities and duties to the overall successful function of the department? (Rate on a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being highly important.)
- How much physical and/or mental effort is needed to do this job?
- What are your working conditions? (For example, how much sitting, lifting or walking do you do? Do you work inside or outside? In extreme heat or cold? Are you exposed to hazards? If so, what kind?)
- What kinds of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are needed to do the job? (Knowledge includes the information and facts you must know and understand to do the job. Skills are proficiencies needed to apply knowledge. Abilities are talents or aptitudes not easily acquired through typical experience or training.)
- Is specific experience necessary to do the job successfully? If so, what kind?
Step 4: Gather Information
The job analyst next should gather information about the job by asking incumbents to complete the questionnaire, and/or by interviewing incumbents (individually or in small groups), using the questionnaire as the basis for the interview. Additionally, the job analyst would benefit from interviewing, at a minimum, the immediate supervisor and subject-matter expert, who would answer the same questions.
Step 5: Analyze the Information
Incumbents often list all of the various tasks or task elements they perform instead of functions or responsibilities. (Functions are fundamental work that may transcend several job duties. A duty or responsibility is a collection of tasks. A task is a discrete work activity with a beginning and an end. A task element is a subset of tasks.). The job analyst should combine these tasks and/or task elements under the appropriate duty or responsibility.
Critical to the compilation of information is the identification of essential job functions, which incumbents would have listed as "critical for getting the job done" or "accountabilities." These essential job functions should be listed first in the compilation and identified as essential responsibilities or functions.
In the analysis, the job analyst also should examine duties and responsibilities to identify commonly recurring competencies (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities) that are required to perform the job successfully.
Step 6: Review the Documentation With Employees, Supervisors and SMEs
To assure accuracy, the job analyst should provide a draft of the job description to incumbents, supervisors and subject-matter experts for review and validation, asking for comments, corrections and changes, if necessary. The analyst should continue this process until consensus is achieved on the essential job functions, as well as KSAs (competencies) to do the job.
Step 7: Write the Job Description
Documentation of the final job description usually includes:
- A summary that specifies the nature and purpose of the job;
- The essential job functions or responsibilities (that is, critical responsibilities) - typically, most jobs have between eight and 12;
- Other job functions or responsibilities;
- Effort required to do the job;
- Working conditions;
- Selection criteria in terms of minimum qualifications, required or desired KSAs (competencies), and required or desired licenses or certifications;
- FLSA exempt vs. nonexempt status;
- Internal occupational codes, pay grades, titles; and
- Approvals and dates.
Step 8: Keep the Job Description Up-to-Date
Employers should review all job descriptions regularly. At a minimum they should be reviewed whenever a job is to be filled, since recruitment is an ideal time for managers to assess their organizational needs and rework job duties, if permitted by the organization or by union contract.
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