Approaches to Job Analysis | HR Tutorial

Approaches to Job Analysis- Basic Approaches to Job Analysis. There are three fundamental approaches to job analysis.

Job-oriented Approach

The job-oriented approach mainly focuses on the job outcomes and factors facilitating these outcomes. This approach essentially forms the reasons for the existence of a particular job. For instance, the activities a receptionist is expected to execute and how they could contribute to the organization’s objectives are the discussants in this approach.

Employee-oriented Approach

This approach focuses on the behavioral patterns of the employees in performing their respective jobs. For instance, the behaviours of the receptionist can lead to the desired outcomes of the position. The receptionist is required to be methodical in taking appointments, important calls and making reservations, in addition to be presentable and courteous to the clients and guests.

Trait-oriented Approach

The trait-oriented approach focuses on the traits required to accomplish job activities. For instance, the reception required to be pleasant and courteous can be linked with the personality trait of service orientation. However, this approach seeks more complex procedures since a single trait may contribute to job performance in over one activity.

Steps in Job Analysis

Job Analysis involves eight critical steps for its effective implementation in the HR departments.

Step 1: Assimilate information

The first step requires the HR manager to obtain the description of the official as well as existing positions. Examine the organisation charts closely and decide on the employee having recently filled the position to be interviewed, especially in cases when the position requirements have not changed and the employee has efficiently performed the job responsibilities and met your expectations.

Step 2: Seek Assistance

The second step is to discuss the key duties of the job position with a Subject Matter Expert (SME) who holds an insight into such positions that had performed successfully in the past and consult with an HR professional with expertise on personnel management, classification standards, qualifications standards guidebook and assessment statements.

Step 3: Identify important job responsibilities

Identify the key responsibilities of the job position and record them, of which focus on three to five most critical ones that constitute 25% of the employee’s time. Also focus on the duties having direct influence on your organisation’s mission objectives, to ensure that the job analysis is focused on the most important job responsibilities.

Step 4: Identify the KSAs required and Proficiencies

Document the knowledge, skills, ability and competency required to perform each important job activity with success. Your KSAs and proficiencies should not be rigorous in order to eliminate existing employees performing similar job function. They should be differentiated from each other to do justice to filling the position. ‘Knowledge’ refers to detailed information held by an individual that may be directly related to the job performance, including facts, system, theories, ideas, procedures, concepts, events and cases emanating from formal education, personal experience or training. ‘Skill’ refers to the demonstrated and recognizable proficiencies or competencies to perform a job function conveniently.

This may involve using machinery, tools or automated systems, equipment, and showcases measurable performance. ‘Ability’ refers to holding the competence (not to be confused with potential) to perform a behaviour resulting into a perceived product. Ability is a broader and abstract concept than knowledge or skills. ‘Proficiency’ refers to the measurable pattern of behaviours among employees, a key to effective job performance. These can be both theoretical or practical understanding of subject matter and learned or natural capacities to job performance, such as oral communication, customer service, leadership and flexibility.

Step 5: Identify selective placement factors

After determining the responsibilities and the key KSAs and proficiencies, your next step should be to identify any additional placement factors, a candidate should pass before being placed onto the new position. These responsibilities are called Selective Placement Factors (SPFs). While using these factors as parameters, make sure they are included into the minimum qualification requirements of a particular job position. Those who do not meet the SPFs are rated as “not qualified”. An SPF is not a KSA that can be acquired or learned on the job. You may like to identify what is important for selectees to possess before they join your organisation and what can be learned on the job via specific training or new-hire orientation. These placement factors are not used by organisations in cases of lower-grade job positions as such positions do not require specialised knowledge to perform the tasks allocated.

Step 6: Certify KSAs and competencies in your assessment methodologies

Make sure that each of the KSAs and competencies can be measured through information given on the applicant’s resume, and is certified by assessment methods such as questionnaires, interviews, reference checks, etc. Find out if all KSAs and competencies can be rated through a written record of the applicant on the specified criteria.

Step 7: Define the rating criteria of KSAs and competencies

The next step is to define the rating criteria to measure KSAs and competencies of an applicant in order of importance, from ‘Most Important’ to ‘Least Important’ with a 1, 2 and 3 rating scale. During the procedure, you need to take into account factors such as the level of difficulty, performance frequency, level of complexity and the consequences of the candidate performing KSAs and competencies inadequately. The rating scale is very imperative for the development of the crediting plan and rating categories.

Step 8: Create a linkage of job functions with specific KSAs and/or competencies

The last but not the least step takes you through creating a list of key activities and associating them against each KSA and competency identified to perform a particular job. For instance, the KSA or competency can be written communication in order to perform job activities involving preparing presentations, authoring website content, authoring standard operating procedures (SOPs) and designing marketing materials.

Once you are through with completing the above 8 steps, you have completed your job analysis successfully. Make sure you sign the results of your job analysis with the date and provide it to your HR professional while keeping a copy for records purposes.

Practice Question

Q1. Which approach to job analysis focuses on identifying the tasks that a job requires and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform those tasks effectively?
A. Worker-Oriented Approach
B. Task-Oriented Approach
C. Hybrid Approach
D. Critical Incident Technique
Correct Answer: B. Task-Oriented Approach

Q2. Which approach to job analysis emphasizes the worker’s characteristics, including their knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as their personal characteristics, such as personality traits, interests, and values?
A. Worker-Oriented Approach
B. Task-Oriented Approach
C. Hybrid Approach
D. Critical Incident Technique
Correct Answer: A. Worker-Oriented Approach

Q3. Which approach to job analysis combines elements of the task-oriented and worker-oriented approaches to job analysis?
A. Worker-Oriented Approach
B. Task-Oriented Approach
C. Hybrid Approach
D. Critical Incident Technique
Answer: C. Hybrid Approach

Q4. Which approach to job analysis involves collecting and analyzing specific examples of job performance that are critical to job success?
A. Worker-Oriented Approach
B. Task-Oriented Approach
C. Hybrid Approach
D. Critical Incident Technique
Correct Answer: D. Critical Incident Technique

Q5. Which approach to job analysis involves analyzing a job in terms of the inputs, processes, and outputs involved?
A. Worker-Oriented Approach
B. Task-Oriented Approach
C. Hybrid Approach
D. Functional Job Analysis
Correct Answer: D. Functional Job Analysis

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