What are we referring to when we talk about the analysis of a job? It can basically defined as the process by which the duties and responsibilities are determined for a vacancy, as well as the type of people (in terms of skills and experience) who could be hired to fill said vacancy.

It also can be defined as the process of collection, evaluation and organization of information about a particular position.

Let’s take a quick look at the situations where a job analysis process would be needed or recommended. There are several situations that often lead the management to think about the need for a job analysis position, such as the following:

  • When an organization is founded
  • When new positions are created
  • When the positions are significantly modified as a result of new technologies or procedures
  • When the system of compensation and wages of a company is being upgraded

Similarly, if the following symptoms occur, it would be necessary for management to consider the assessment of a job analysis process.

  • Employees complain because they don’t know what specific tasks they’re required to perform. Conflicts and misunderstandings frequently occur.
  • The competency and authority of supervisors overlap, resulting in duplicated efforts and occasional conflicts.
  • Recruitment and selection are ineffective. Employees are given tasks without having the necessary skills to accomplish them.
  • The workforce is not adequately trained.
  • The overall productivity of the organization is not acceptable by management’s standards.
  • The workflow is not uniform, it’s often delayed and incomplete.

If a job analysis is adequately executed, the company will obtain well prepared job descriptions, which helps management meet their needs in critical aspects of staff policy, such as remuneration, recruitment and selection, organizational design, performance evaluation and labor planning.

What data should be collected in a job analysis?

The company can be enriched by the large amount of data obtained in the process of analyzing jobs, such as the following:

  • Work activities and processes
  • Activity records
  • Procedures used
  • Personal responsibility
  • Employee-oriented activities
  • Human behavior, such as physical actions and communication at work
  • Elementary movements for method analysis
  • Machines, tools, equipment and aids used for work
  • Tangibles and intangibles related to the position
  • Knowledge which must be treated or applied
  • Required skills
  • Job performance
  • Error analysis
  • Work measurements, such as the time required for a task
  • Job context (work program, incentives)
  • Physical working conditions
  • Personal requirements for the position
  • Identity of the position within the structure of the organization

Benefits for department managers

  • Improves their knowledge about the workflow of their unit
  • Allows them to perform a better selection of staff
  • It facilitates an objective evaluation of their subordinates

Benefits for employees

  • It allows them to acquire knowledge and understanding of the duties of the position
  • It can be used as a guide for their self-improvement

Choosing a manager for the job analysis program

The program’s manager should establish procedures, manufacture models, manage the data collection, check the progress and ensure compliance with the timetable for its implementation. It may be the human resources manager or someone else.

His or her most important functions are to eliminate overlaps in descriptions, ensure that they are drafted in a uniform style, direct methods to review, check and approve, and ensure that the description projects become definitive texts.

Therefore, whoever is appointed program manager should be familiar with the company, their work units and functional divisions. He or she must be respected by everyone. The program manager and the supervisors must have a common goal and mutual trust.

Some companies use external consultants to present a new job description program. They’re used in varying degrees, sometimes even assuming the responsibility of preparing the definitive manual that lists the job descriptions of the company.

Some companies hire the consultant to act as an advisor to the manager. The consultant can set directions, share experiences, suggest methods or provide critical services lacked by the company. The expertise of the program manager increases during its evolution.

Image courtesy of www.lifeofpix.com at pexels.com

Image courtesy of www.lifeofpix.com at pexels.com

How is the information obtained in a job analysis process?

There are six steps to achieve this:

  1. Ensure, for its success, that the support of top management is visible: To ensure the success of a program of job descriptions, support from top management should be visible. Senior executives must communicate their wishes about the program and what they expect from the managers, employees and supervisors.
    The wider the participation of managers and supervisors in preparing the program, the more important its communication will be. The president of the company or other senior executive in charge should make an official announcement, a policy statement aimed at those who will be affected.
  2. Identify the positions that need to be analyzed: To do this, you must use a chart or, if possible, it would also be useful to have the results of a previous job analysis.
    The chart is a graph that shows the organizational structure and where the title of the position is presented, and, through connecting lines, who reports to whom, and who is in charge of what department.
  3. Choose the method that will be used to obtain data: There are several methods that you can use, such as interviews, job observation, job questionnaires, employee logs, or a combination of those.
  4. Gather and organize the obtained information.
  5. Review the information with participants.
  6. Develop a job description and specification.

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