Human Resource Management

Unit 2
Job Analysis

Job Analysis is one of the most important functions of Human Resource Manager.
Performance Appraisal, Job Designing, Personnel selection, employee training,
career development and planning are among the many activities that depends
upon the information gathered in the job analysis.

Key terms:

Job: A job may be defined as a collection or aggregation of tasks, duties and

responsibilities which as a whole is regarded as a regular assignment to individual
employees. Putting in different words the meaning of a job can be described as a
pocket containing differentiated set of total workload in an organization.

Position: Position is collection of tasks and responsibilities regularly assigned to a

person.

It is to be noted that job is impersonal and position is personal.

Today, however, the word job has many mutations depending upon how, when and
by whom it is used. It is often used interchangeably with the terms like positio and
tasks. Before proceeding with a detailed discussion on job Analysis it would be
fruitful to familiarize ourselves with terms that form specific job attributes.
Elements: An element is alignment of two or more micro motions to make a basic
movement like picking up an object.
A task is congregation of elements to constitute an activity for a specific purpose
like preparing a lecture. Two or more related tasks performed in carrying out
specific job responsibilities are referred to as duty.

A position constitutes specific duties and tasks group together. In an organization

there may be one or more person assigned a position. A position constitutes the
whole unit of work assignment

Job: When positions are combined they create a job.

A job family is a group of two or more jobs that either call for similar worker
characteristics or contain parallel work tasks as determined by job analysis.

Occupation: A grouping of similar jobs or job families across organizations is

termed as occupation.

A Career represents a sequence of positions, jobs or occupations that a person has

over his or her working life.

Having familiarized oneself with the basic conceptual framework which acts as
foundation stone for the knowledge on job analysis, we shall now proceed with a
step-by-step discussion of the main topics.
 Job Analysis
Job Analysis is a written record of actual requirements of the job activities.

Definitions:

Job Analysis is the process of determining and reporting pertinent information

relating to the nature of a specific job.
Bayers and Rue

It is the determination of tasks, which comprise the job of the skills, knowledge,
abilities, and responsibilities required of the holder for the successful job
performance. Putting it in other words it is the process of getting information about
the job incumbents skills, education and training to carry out the job effectively
and terms on time for completion, performance standard.

It is procedure by which pertinent information is obtained about a job, i.e. it is

detailed and systematic study of information relating to the operations and
responsibilities of a specific job.

A job analysis results in two important documents:

Job Description;
Job Specification.

Job Description:

Job description is written record of the duties, responsibilities and requirements of

particular jobs. It is concerned with the job itself and not with the work. It is a
statement describing the job in such terms as its title, location, duties, working
conditions and hazards. In other words, it tells us What to be done, and how it is
to be done and why. It is a standard of function, in that it defines the appropriate
and authorized contents of a job.
Job Specification:
Job specification is a standard of personnel and designates the qualities required
for an acceptable performance. It is a written record of the requirements sought in
an individual worker for a given job. In other words, it refers to a summary of the
personnel characteristics required for a job. It is a statement of the minimum
acceptable human qualities necessary for the proper performance of a job.

Purpose and Uses of Job Analysis

Job Analysis is not useful but an essential part of organizational strategies to serve
the following purposes:

Organization and Manpower Planning: It is helpful in organization

planning, for it defines labour needs in concrete terms and coordinates the
activities of the work force, and clearly divides duties and responsibilities;
Recruitment and Selection: By indicating the specific job requirements of
each job (i.e. the skills and knowledge), it provides a realistic basis for the
hiring, training, placement, transfer and promotion of personnel. Basically,
the goal is to match the job requirements with a workers aptitude, abilities
and interests. It also helps in charting the channels of promotion and in
showing lateral lines of transfer;
Wage and Salary Administration: By indicating the qualification required
for doing a specified job and the risks and hazards involved in its
 performance, it helps in salary and wage administration. Job analysis is used
as a foundation for job evaluation;
Job Re-Engineering: Job Analysis provides information, which enables us
to change jobs in order to permit their being managed by personnel with
specific characteristics and qualification.
Employee Training and Management Development: Job Analysis
provides the necessary information to the management of training and
development programmes. It helps to determine the content and subject
matter of in training courses. It also helps in checking application
information, interviewing, weighing test results, and in checking references.
Performance Appraisal: It helps in establishing clear cut standards which
may be compared with the actual contribution of each individual;
Health and Safety: It provides an opportunity for identifying hazardous
conditions and unhealthy environmental factors so that corrective measures
may b taken to minimize and avoid the possibility of accidents.
Employee Orientation: Effective job orientation cannot be accomplished
without a clear understanding of the job requirements. The duties and
responsibilities of a job must be clearly defined before a new employee can
be taught how to perform the job.
Utilizing Personnel: Job Analysis information can help both employees and
managers, pinpoint the root of a problem if employee functions are not
adequate.
In sum, it may be noted that job analysis is a systematic procedure for securing and
reporting the information, which defines a specific job.
Steps in Job Analysis/Process
The major steps to be followed in carrying out job analysis in an organization can
be described as follows:
Step 1: Studying job vis a vis the organization: Review the available
Background information through organization workflow or process
charts. Studies the job inter relationships. Often, a restructuring, down
sizing, merger, or rapid growth will initiate this review.

Step 2: Selection of uses of job analysis information: Be selective

regarding the future uses of job analysis. The employee or the
manager may request a job analysis to determine the appropriate
compensation, but they also be interested in formally documenting
changes in recruitment, placement and training for a particular job.

Step 3: Identify the job to be analyzed: it is always advisable to

choose flow representative and key positions for job analysis, thus
avoiding unnecessary time and financial expenditure.

Step 4: collection of Job Analysis data: manager should consider using a

number of different methods of data collection because it is
unlikely that any one method will provide all the necessary
information needed. Three of the most popular form of data
collection is:
Observation of tasks and behavior with the job incumbent i.e. both
physical and mental activities;
Interviews;
Questionnaires and checklists;
Step 5: Develop a Job Description: Highlight the major tasks, pertaining to
effective job performance through the written description;

Step 6: Develop a Job Specification: Transcript the information obtained

after step 4 highlight what personal qualities, trait, skills, background
is necessary for optimal job performance.

Job Performance
Observation Degree of
Interview interaction
Critical incident technique with
Data Collection methods Questionnaires personal
Diary method
Training material
Dictionary of occupation

Step 7: Review and update of information: If no major changes have occurred in

the organization, then a complete review of all jobs
should be performed every three years.

Review & Update of information

Develop a job specification

Develop a job description

 Collection of job analysis data

Identify the job to be analyzed

Selection of uses of job analysis information

Studying job vis a vis the organisation

Contents of Job Analysis

A job Analysis provides the following information:

1. Job Identification;
2. Significant characteristics of a job;
3. What the typical worker does;
4. Which materials and equipment of a worker uses;
5. How a job is performed;
6. Required personnel attributes;
7. Job relationship.

It is obvious from the foregoing that a job analysis is usually a clear indication of a
job description and job specification.