Methods of Job Analysis

Job analysis is the process of getting information about jobs especially, what the worker does; how he gets it done; why he does it; skill, education and training required; relationship to other jobs, physical demands; environmental conditions.

Job analysis traditionally has been conducted in a number of different ways. Also, firms differ in their needs and in the resources they have for conducting job analysis. An HR specialist (an HR specialist, job analyst, or consultant), a worker, and the worker’s supervisor usually work together in conducting the job analysis.

Job analysis data is usually collected from several employees from different departments, using interviews and questionnaires. The data is then averaged, taking into account the departmental context of the employees, to determine how much time a typical employee spends on each of several specific tasks.

Some of the methods of job analysis are:- 1. Observation Method 2. Interview Method 3. Questionnaire Method 4. Diary Incumbent 5. Critical Incident Technique 6. Expert Conference Method 7. Job Auditing Method 8. Records Maintenance Method 9. Checklist Method.

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Methods of Job Analysis – Observation, Interview , Questionnaire, Diary Incumbent, Critical Incident Technique, Job Auditing, Checklist Method and More…

Methods of Job Analysis – 3 Important Methods: Interview Method, Questionnaire Method and Observation Method

According to Jones and Decothis, “Job analysis is the process of getting information about jobs: specially, what the worker does; how he gets it done; why he does it; skill, education and training required; relationship to other jobs, physical demands; environmental conditions”.

Edwin B. Flippo has defined job analysis as the process of studying and collecting information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job. The immediate products of this analysis are job descriptions and job specifications.

Job analysis traditionally has been conducted in a number of different ways. Also, firms differ in their needs and in the resources they have for conducting job analysis.

An HR specialist (an HR specialist, job analyst, or consultant), a worker, and the worker’s supervisor usually work together in conducting the job analysis. Job analysis data is usually collected from several employees from different departments, using interviews and questionnaires. The data is then averaged, taking into account the departmental context of the employees, to determine how much time a typical employee spends on each of several specific tasks.

Job analysis should collect information on the following areas:

i. Duties and Tasks:

The basic unit of a job is the performance of specific tasks and duties. Information to be collected about these items may include: frequency, duration, effort, skill, complexity, equipment, standards, etc.

ii. Environment:

This may have a significant impact on the physical requirements to be able to perform a job. The work environment may include unpleasant conditions such as offensive odors and temperature extremes. There may also be definite risks to the incum­bent such as noxious fumes, radioactive substances, hostile and aggressive people, and dangerous explosives.

iii. Tools and Equipment:

Some duties and tasks are performed using specific equipment and tools. Equipment may include protective clothing. These items need to be specified in a Job Analysis.

iv. Relationships:

Supervision given and received. Relationships with internal or external people.

v. Requirements:

The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA’s) required to perform the job. While an incumbent may have higher KSA’s than those required for the job, a Job Analysis typically only states the minimum requirements to perform the job.

The various method of job analysis:

1. The Interview Method:

i. The three types of interviews managers use to collect job analysis data are – individual (to get the employee’s perspective on the job’s duties and responsibilities, group (when large numbers of employees perform the same job), and supervisor (to get his/her perspective on the job’s duties and responsibilities).

ii. The pros of using an interview are that it is – simple, quick, and more comprehensive because the interviewer can unearth activities that may never appear in written form.

iii. The following questions are some examples of typical questions. “What is the job being performed?” “In what activities do you participate?” “What are the health and safety conditions?”

iv. The following are interview guidelines –

a) The job analyst and supervisor should identify the workers who know the job best and would be objective;

b) Establish a rapport with the interviewee;

c) Follow a structured guide or checklist;

d) Ask worker to list duties in order of importance and frequency of occurrence;

e) Review and verify the data.

2. Questionnaire Method:

i. Structured or unstructured questionnaires may be used to obtain job analysis information

ii. Questionnaires can be a quick, efficient way of gathering information from a large number of employees. But, developing and testing a questionnaire can be expensive and time consuming.

3. Observation Method:

i. Direct observations are useful when jobs consist of mainly observable physical activity as opposed to mental activity.

ii. Reactivity can be a problem with direct observations, which is where the worker changes what he/she normally does because he/she is being watched.

Observation

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Methods of Job Analysis Observation, Interview, Questionnaire and Diary Incumbent

A lot of information and data is required to conduct job analysis for different jobs. Organizations use various techniques to collect the information about the job. The usage of any one technique does not lead to any result, thus, organizations aim at integrating more than one technique to get an adequate data.

Method # 1. Observation:

Observation method implies observing the employees at work and recording the tasks and duties performed by them. It also involves recording the speed and efficiency with which a task is completed. This method is mostly used in case of simple, unskilled, and semi-skilled jobs; and is useful only when used with other methods of job analysis. While observing an average employee, it should be taken into consideration whether or not they are working in suitable working conditions.

The limitation of this method is that it is a time consuming process and fails to take the intellectual aspects of jobs.

Method # 2. Interview:

Interview method refers to a method in which a job analyst conducts an interview of an employee to get information about the job description. The supervisors, employees, and managers in an organization must be familiar with the roles and responsibilities of the job in detail. The effectiveness of this method depends on the skills and knowledge of both the interviewer and interviewee.

Types of the interviews conducted under this technique are:

i. Initial Interview – Provides most of the job information

ii. Verification Interview – Verifies the results of the initial interview

iii. Follow-up Interview – Clears the language and correctness of terms with the group of supervisors

The interview method helps the job analysts by facilitating direct communication with the job holders. This helps in recording enough information about the job.

Nevertheless, the method also suffers from the following limitations:

i. Consumes a lot of time

ii. Prone to manipulation of information by the interviewees.

Method # 3. Questionnaire:

Questionnaire method implies filling up of the questionnaires by the job holders. The questionnaires cover all the roles and responsibilities of the job holders and the nature of work involved in the job. The questionnaires can be open-ended, close-ended, or a mixture of both. In job analysis, the close-ended questionnaires with multiple-choice answers are preferred as they help in quantifying the results. It is a very economical method to prepare job analysis.

A questionnaire should cover the following aspects:

i. Where and how workers get information to do their jobs?

ii. What are the tools and machines used to work?

iii. What planning, organizing, and decision-making is done to carry out the work?

There are certain extensively used standard questionnaires, which include:

i. Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)

ii. Management Position Description Questionnaire (MPDQ).

i. Position Analysis Questionnaire:

The Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) method is referred as the highly specialized structured instrument of job analysis that focuses on employee activities. PAQ was developed by McCormick, Jeanneret, and Mecham (1972) at Purdue University. It is used to measure and relate the job characteristics with human characteristics. PAQ consists of 195 job elements that are divided into six major categories.

These job elements describe the generic human work behaviors, which are categorized as shown in Table-1:

Table-1 represents the categorization of 195 job elements of PAQ into six categories. Here, each category consists of varied number of job elements, depending upon the nature and extent of that category. The first category, which is known as information input, includes 35 job elements and deals with the information required by the employee to perform the job. The second category; that is, the mental processes, contains 15 elements related to the decision-making and planning skills. The third category, which is known as work output, consists of 49 elements that deals with the physical activities, tools, and machines involved in the job.

Interpersonal skills form the basis of the fourth category that includes 36 elements and determines the interpersonal behavior required by the job holder. The fifth category involves 19 elements and deals with the work situation and other job contexts. The sixth and last category in PAQ includes 41 elements and covers other miscellaneous aspects of the job.

PAQ includes questions to get information about skills, abilities, and knowledge required to perform various jobs. The answers of such questions are recorded on a form that is further used to develop a composite job requirement statement.

PAQ provides the following advantages:

a. Permits easy quantification of job details

b. Yields results much faster than any other method

c. Produces reliable results as compared to other methods.

In addition to the advantages, there are certain disadvantages of PAQ. Generally, the language used in the questionnaires is too difficult; therefore, it is required that the questionnaires should be filled under the guidance of trained job analysts.

ii. Management Position Description Questionnaire:

The MPDQ method refers to the highly specialized questionnaire aimed at analyzing the skills and capabilities required for managerial jobs.

MPDQ consists of 208 job elements categorized into 13 sections, as shown in Table-2:

The job elements are divided into categories based on the managerial responsibilities, restrictions, demands, and other miscellaneous job features. While recording responses in MPDQ, the respondents are asked to state how each job element is important for their job positions.

Method # 4. Diary Incumbent:

The diary incumbent method implies the process of recording and maintaining the job duties and responsibilities of a particular job in a diary on a daily basis.

This helps in:

i. Providing enough information about the job and making updates as required.

ii. Comparing jobs on daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

iii. Analysing the jobs that are difficult to observe.

The limitation of this method is that the individuals might fail to maintain the diary record on a daily basis.

These techniques can be used in combinations to get complete information about a job.

The use of these techniques depends on the following factors:

i. Nature of the position

ii. Type of information needed

iii. Time availability.

Job analysts should coordinate with the supervisors of the positions to determine the most effective method for collecting information.

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Methods of Job Analysis – Top 9 Methods of Gathering Information: Survey Method, Critical Incident Technique, Interview Method and a lot More…

The collection of job information is the first and most important step in the process of job analysis.

The following are the methods of gathering information:

1. Question or Survey Method.

2. Critical Incident Technique.

3. Interview Method.

4. Expert Conference Method.

5. Direct Observation or Job Auditing Method.

6. Records Maintenance Method.

Their working is as follows:

1. Questionnaire or Survey Method:

In this method a questionnaire is prepared to get the job information. It is circulated among all jobholders. These questionnaires ask the jobholder to supply the several types of information sought in job analysis. They may in addition ask the immediate supervisor to examine and comment on the replies provided by the jobholders.

No single questionnaire is appropriate for all types of jobs. However, most of them follow an outline that first identifies the job, then seeks information on the principal tasks involved and subsequently put questions designed to discover the mental skill and physical requirements of a satisfactory jobholder. Normally in one section, information is requested on any normal working conditions. The jobholder is told the objective of such survey so that they may fill up the questionnaire properly.

This method of gathering job information is an objective method, but the main defects of this method are three – Firstly, it is a time-consuming method-Secondly-in this method workers are more trusted. Thirdly, it cannot be used for all jobs and by illiterate workers. Workers are neither interested in filling such questionnaire nor are they competent for it.

2. Critical Incident Technique:

The above technique is useful for the purpose of gathering data for making recruitment and selection decisions, in most cases, the utility of the above technique is unchecked and as such they are not entirely scientific. The critical incident technique for job analysis is mainly useful for scientific analysis and selection research.

In this technique incidents are small illustrations of successful or unsuccessful job behaviour. After collection of many such incidents, they are classified into behavioural categories, which describe desired job behaviour and are useful in recruitment and selection decisions.

Moreover, the categories also include a list of the specific behaviour that indicates the difference between effective and ineffective performance on the job. They therefore specify precisely the kinds of performance to be appraised. It is also useful for assessing the effectiveness of the job description and job specification.

3. Interview Method:

For gathering job information interview method is also viewed in place of questionnaire. This procedure is more common when the majority of jobholders have little experience in writing in this method. The job analyst interviews the job holders and asks questions to them while interviewing, the analyst must observe the following rules –

(i) Interview should be taken in leisure time.

(ii) Job analyst must introduce himself to the jobholder first and tell him the purpose of the interview.

4. Expert Conference Method:

In this method services of supervisors having wide knowledge about a job are used. It is with the help of such experts that details about the job are obtained. Here, a conference of supervisors is held, the analyst initiates discussion which provides details about jobs; though a good number of jobholders are not involved in collecting information.

5. Direct Observation Method:

Under this method job analyst observes the work and also the worker while he is involved with the work. This method has much to commend it. Experienced and expert analysis combine interviewing and on the job observation to provide more accurate information than is usually obtained by the use of questionnaire of unspecialized interviewers.

6. Records Maintenance Method:

The next method of gathering job information is the record method. In this method different information about the job is received from the old records of the personnel department. The job analyst refers the records and notes the relevant aspects of information.

But in this method, many matters remain unknown like worker-supervisor relationships, the nature and description of the job, equipment and tools being used at present to perform the job and current working conditions. If records are pretty old then the very purpose of job analysis is defeated. Hence it is desirable that this method is used with interview method just to ratify the data.

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Methods of Job Analysis – Interview, Observation, Questionnaire, Critical Indent, Checklist and Record

For effective organisational performance, there is a necessity of job analysis. It is a process, which study the criteria for successful job performance. From this the worker known what actually an organisation expected in terms of quality and quantity to achieve its goal. Job analysis is intended to reveal what is actually done and opposed to what should be done on a job.

The process entails detailed study of a job by which work ‘related’ information is processed as well as documented and the required method and procedures of doing a particular task and related activities are developed and laid down. Analysis is done with the help of research tools such as questionnaires, direct observation of performance and interviews with incumbents and supervisors.

There are following information sources of gathering information for job analysis.

They are:

Method # 1. Interview:

In this method, the job analyst directly interviews the job holder and asks questions regarding the various jobs performed by them for collection of data. This method is found suitable particularly for jobs wherein direct observation is not feasible. The interview should be structured and the interviewer must be trained in proper interviewing techniques. It is used as a technique for comparing the data collected by the analyst through observation or questionnaire.

The following guidelines, as outlined by Carrol L. Shartle, Otis and Lenhert, may help the interviewer to make his/her interview more effective:

(a) Introduce yourself to make the worker know who you are and why you are there.

(b) Allay the worker’s fear whatsoever by showing keen interest in both him/her and his/her job.

(c) Do not advice the worker how to do the job.

(d) Try to talk to the worker in his/her language, to the extent possible.

(e) Do not create confusion between work and the worker.

(f) Make a full-fledged job study within the objectives of the program and

(g) Verify the job information whatsoever obtained.

Method # 2. Observation:

The analyst observes the Worker doing the job. This is the most reliable technique of getting information regarding job. It helps to gather information of repetitive nature and analyze the tasks performed, the pace which activities are done, and the working condition during a complete work cycle. The jobs of draftsman, mechanic spinner or weaver are the examples of such job. Observation coupled with discussions with the supervisor and the workers constitute the preferred approach in most of the cases to get the required information. Training is also helpful to make the job analyst skillful.

Method # 3. Questionnaire:

This is the widely used method where detailed questionnaire is prepared by the job analyst and distributed among the workers. The employee’s after filling structured questionnaire return back to the supervisor, who after making the required and necessary corrections in the information submit to the job analyst. The structured questionnaire must cover all job related tasks and behaviour, each of which is described in terms of factors such as importance, difficulty, frequency, relationships to overall performance.

This technique is highly economical as it covers a large number of job-holders at a time but time consuming and generally does not yield satisfactory results, as many employees do not complete the questionnaire because of their own limitation.

Method # 4. Critical Incident:

In this method, job-holders are asked to describe their past experiences related to job. The incident so collected is analyzed and classified according to job areas they describe. The job requirement becomes clear, once the analyst draws the line between effective and ineffective behaviour of workers on the job. This method is also time consuming and job analyst requires high degree of skills to analyze the content of description given by the worker.

Method # 5. Checklist:

The checklist method of job data collection differs from the questionnaire method in the sense that it contains a few subjective questions in the form of yes or no. The job-holder is asked to tick the questions that are related to his job. It is prepared on the basis of job information obtained from various sources such as supervisors, industrial engineers and other people who are familiar with the job. Once the checklist is prepared, it is then sent to the job holder and the information is tabulated to obtain the job- related data. The method is costly and therefore, is not suitable for small organizations.

Method # 6. Record:

Personal department maintains the record of the facts and figures related to the job-holder. The analyst collects the information from the record maintained by the Personal department.

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