_ WHAT IS JOB ANALYSIS?
_ WHAT IS JOB ANALYSIS?
The Job-Oriented Approach
The Person-Oriented Approach
_ PURPOSES OF JOB ANALYSIS
Career Development
Legal Issues
Performance Appraisal
Selection
Training
Vocational Counseling
Research
_ HOW JOB ANALYSIS INFORMATION IS COLLECTED
Who Provides the Information?
Approaches to Collecting Job Analysis Information
_ METHODS OF JOB ANALYSIS
Job Components Inventory
Functional Job Analysis
Position Analysis Questionnaire
Task Inventory
Choosing a Job Analysis Method
Job Analysis Methods for Work Teams
_ RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF JOB ANALYSIS INFORMATION
Reliability
Validity
_ JOB EVALUATION
Comparable Worth
_ CHAPTER SUMMARY
_ I/O PSYCHOLOGY IN PRACTICE
_ LEARNING BY DOING
53
54 _ Chapter 3. Job Analysis
How would you describe the job of a police officer? What are the different tasks that
police officers do, and how much time do they spend doing each one? How difficult is
it to learn the various tasks, and how long does it take? What personal characteristics
does it take to do each task, as well as the entire job? These questions are addressed by
a variety of techniques that I/O psychologists refer to as job analysis.
Even for the most familiar jobs, a job analysis is necessary to provide an accurate
picture of all the details of the job and all the characteristics required of the people who
will do it. For example, everyone is somewhat familiar with the job of a police officer.
However, the public perception of the job is based to a large extent upon depictions
in movies and television programs, such as Law and Order and CSI . Television programs
focus on the more dramatic aspects of the job, which may be rarely performed.
Most police officers spend more time carrying out routine patrol duties and completing
paperwork than on apprehending criminals (Bernardin, 1988). The firing of a weapon is a
common occurrence on television, but it is rarely done by most police officers on the job.
A thorough job analysis would provide an accurate picture of what police officers do all
day on the job. The police officer’s job has been thoroughly studied with many different
job analysis methods and procedures. We look at some of them throughout this chapter.
There are two different categories of job analyses—job oriented and person (or
employee) oriented. The job-oriented job analysis focuses on the tasks that are done
on the job, whereas the person-oriented job analysis is concerned with the personal
characteristics needed for a job. In other words, the job-oriented procedures describe jobs,
and the person-oriented procedures describe the characteristics people need to perform
jobs. Both are important tools for describing jobs and their requirements.
In this chapter, we discuss the job-oriented and person-oriented approaches, as well
as the particular methods that are used for each. In addition, we discuss the uses and
purposes of job analysis information, the sources of information that goes into a job
analysis, and the reliability and validity of job analysis methods. Finally, we discuss job
evaluation, which is a job analysis technique used to set salary levels.
Objectives: The student who studies this chapter should be
able to:
_ List the uses of job analysis information.
_ Describe the sources and ways of collecting job analysis information.
_ Discuss the different job analysis methods.
_ Describe the evidence for reliability and validity of job analysis methods.
_ Explain how job evaluation is used to set salary levels for jobs.
_ WHAT IS JOB ANALYSIS?
Job analysis is a method for describing jobs and/or the human attributes necessary to
perform them. According to Brannick, Levine, and Morgeson (2007, p. 8), there are three
elements that comprise a formal job analysis:
1. The procedure must be systematic. This means the analyst specifies a procedure
in advance and follows it.
What Is Job Analysis? _ 55
2. A job is broken into smaller units. We describe components of jobs rather than
the overall job.
3. The analysis results in some written product, either electronic or on paper.
There is no one way to do a job analysis. Many methods provide different types
of information about jobs and human attributes needed for jobs. As noted earlier, job
analysis techniques can be used to collect information that is job oriented or person
oriented, depending on the purpose of the job analysis.
The Job-Oriented Approach
The job-oriented job analysis provides information about the nature of tasks done on
the job. Some methods describe the tasks themselves. Other methods provide information
about characteristics of tasks. For example, a task for a police officer would be:
Completes report after arresting a suspect
The statement above describes something a police office does. A characteristic of an
officer’s job would be:
Uses pencils and pens
The characteristic isn’t a specific task but describes common features that cut across
tasks. A police officer performs many tasks involving writing, such as completing reports
of many types and giving citations to motorists. The purposes of the job analysis determine
which type of approach would be more useful. The task descriptions provide a
picture of what people do on a job, whereas the characteristics of tasks can be used to
compare the nature of tasks across different kinds of jobs. Police officers and teachers
share the characteristic of using pencils and pens to do tasks, so there can be some
similarities in types of tasks, even though the specific tasks themselves may vary.
A job analysis is needed to describe what a police officer does at work. (Richard Hutchings/Photo
Researchers)
