978-0078029165 Chapter 4

Chapter 04 – Work Analysis and Design

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CHAPTER 4

1. Understand what work analysis is and what its major products are.

2. Explain the purposes and uses for work analysis data.

3. Compare and contrast methods for collecting data.

4. Describe commonly used and newer methods for conducting work analysis, including

O*NET.

5. Describe the process of competency modeling and compare this method to others

forms of work analysis

6. Explain how work analysis information is applied to job design efforts.

Chapter 04 – Work Analysis and Design

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manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.

CHAPTER 4 – SUMMARY

I. Overview

A. Work analysis is the foundation for HR systems.

B. Work analysis leads to products to create and sustain organizational capability.

C. Effective work analysis increases the probability that HR deliverables will meet

the requirement of customers, both internal and external.

II. What is Work Analysis?

A. Work analysis is a systematic process of gathering information about work, jobs and

the relationships among jobs.

B. The major steps in conducting a work or job analysis.

1. What are the required outputs and how do we measure them?

2. What are the essential tasks, activities, behaviors required to meet or exceed

3. What are the raw inputs that are required for the outputs and what specific

equipment is necessary?

4. What are the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics or

competencies required to perform the activities at step 2?

5. How should jobs/work be defined? Where does the work get done to maximize

1. Knowledge – an organized body of information

2. Ability – a demonstrated competence to perform a behavior

3. Skill – a competence to perform a learned psychomotor act

4. Other characteristics – personality factors, attitudes, etc

D. What Are the Major Goals for Work Analysis?

1. Describe the observables/desired outcomes

2. Describe work behavior independent of worker personal characteristics

3. Produce data that is verifiable and reliable

E. Do We Really Need All the Specificity in Formal Job Analysis?

1. There is a strong trend to reduce the specificity in job descriptions

2. In Japan job descriptions are perceived to be harmful for team building; focus is

on training and job rotation

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3. In Europe, highly detailed job descriptions are frequently required by regulation

union agreement.

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4. Job descriptions can be aggregated to the unit or functional level, defining job

specifications at the team level, and defining team member competencies.

5. Organizations can retrieve general job descriptions from the Internet (e.g.,

O*NET).

6. There are situations where great detail in the job description and job

1. EEO legislation and relevant court rulings have created greater interest in and

need for work/job analysis.

i. Griggs v. Duke Power and Albemarle Paper Company v. Moody – must

1. Job Descriptions outline the job’s content and scope (i.e. duties, tasks, activities,

behaviors, and/or responsibilities).

2. Job Specifications consists of KASOCs, experience, and special educational

requirements, degrees, licenses needed to carry out job tasks.

3. Is used to redesign jobs and to determine how jobs relate to one another.

4. Determine compensation both for individual jobs and for team competencies

5. Used to develop performance appraisal systems

6. Additional products and purposes can be reviewed in Figure 4-3 (p. 108).

H. What Are the Major Methods of Work Analysis?

1. See Figure 4-4, p. 109 for overview of methods and their advantages &

disadvantages

2. Common job analysis data collection methods.

i. Observation.

ii. Performing the job.

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3. The data collected should be correlated to relevant organizational data directly

1. Types of Information.

i. Task/job -oriented methods indicate the tasks or duties required

2. The Form of Job Information

3. The Standardization of the Work Analysis Content

i. HRM professionals have created uniform or consistent methods for

4. Sources of Job Information

i. Cameras

ii. Recording devices

1. 187 items in six categories

i. Information input requirements

ii. Mental processing

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2. PAQ results can identify selection tests for job being analyzed

3. Extensive research using the PAQ makes it one of the most useful tools; useful

for Title VII cases to support argument of job relatedness

i. Taylor v. James River Corporation– PAQ was used and a cognitive ability test

was suggested. The test was used by the company, use of the test resulted

in adverse impact. PAQ results helped support the argument of job

relatedness in the use of the.

4. Organizations should conduct their own studies of validity of employment test as

soon as technically feasible, and not simply rely on PAQ recommendations

5. PAQ results need to be understood relative to organizational context.

1. Developed to analyze managerial jobs (see Figure 4-7, p. 117)

2. 274-Item questionnaire contains 15 sections

3. Asks significance of each item to position

4. Data can be used in hiring, training and staff development

5. Does not tell whether a particular job specification is necessary for a given

1. Focused more on how objectives are accomplished than on what is

accomplished

2. Concentrated on managerial positions and should be closely linked to business

goals and strategies

3. Attempts to identify and define the individual competencies that are common or

4. Most commonly used to derive performance management and training

programs.

5. Competency – an “underlying characteristic of a person which results in effective

and/or superior performance on the job” or as a “cluster of related knowledge,

6. An estimated 75% of companies have some form of competency-based

application.

i. One popular, two-level competency model distinguishes “can-do

competencies” (skills and knowledge derived from education and

experience) and “will–do competencies” (personality and attitudinal

characteristics that reflect an individual’s willingness to perform).

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5. The most comprehensive data base for describing occupations and workers

i. Useful for developing hiring procedures

ii. Basic job descriptions can be retrieved

iii. Occupational data (i.e. salary)

iv. Great place to start for detailed job descriptions and job specifications

F. Critical Incident Technique (CIT)

1. Qualitative approach to job analysis used to obtain specific, behavioral focused

2. Four characteristics or CIT

i. Be specific

ii. Focus on observable behaviors

iii. Describe the context in which the behavior occurred

iv. Indicate the consequences of the behavior

3. Requirements of a well-written critical incident report

i. It must be sufficiently detailed

ii. There should be no mention of traits

iii. There should be no judgmental inferences

4. Uses of the CIT

i. Applicable to a variety of jobs (e.g., airline pilots, dentists, etc.)

1. Popular in making hiring and promotional decisions

2. Agreement that personality characteristics can be predictors of job

performance, and that the Five-Factor Model is most useful

3. The Five Factors include

i. emotional stability

ii. extroversion/introversion

iii. openness to experience

iv. agreeableness

v. conscientiousness

4. The results do not serve as a “substitute for a user’s professional judgment” as

1. System for describing jobs and tasks in terms of abilities, skills, knowledge and

social-interpersonal attributes

2. One of the most thoroughly researched formal JA methods

3. Links characteristics of job and tasks to requirements people need to perform

those jobs and tasks

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4. An individual’s attributes profile can be compared to the requirements of a

job

5. Pro’s of this method

i. web-based system

ii. cost effective

iii. link results to tests

iv. easy to use

v. instant scoring and interpretation

I. Job Compatibility Questionnaire (JCQ)

1. Gathers broad information on factors of work related to performance,

absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction

2. JCQ theory is that the greater the compatibility in preferences for particular job

characteristics, they will be more effective and have longer job tenure

3. 200 items that incumbents complete

4. Incumbent responses are used to develop the profile of the job

5. Incumbents indicate the extent to which a JCQ item is descriptive of the job

using a 5 point scale

6. Useful for

i. Predicting retention/turnover for low wage jobs

ii. redesign jobs

1. Reflects an orientation towards creating or changing the manner in which work

gets done

2. Requires a thorough understanding of how jobs relate to one

another/organizational structure

3. Enriching jobs through more meaningful work, greater responsibility, and greater

work autonomy to increase motivation and job satisfaction

4. The Job Characteristics Model states motivation¸ satisfaction, lower absenteeism

and turnover is possible if workers:

5. Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) used to measure work characteristics

6. Much criticism of the JDS and the Job Characteristics Model

7. Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ) is superior method

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i. Used to study the relationship between work design variables and important

work outcomes such as job satisfaction

ii. Figure 4-14 (p 131) lists the 18 work characteristics from the WDQ

iii. Most effective predictor of job satisfaction: autonomy and social support

H. What is Strategic Job Analysis?

1. Intended to forecast what a job may be like in a new environment with new

2. Steps to conducting a strategic job analysis

i. Job analysis or subject matter experts (SMEs) and customers describe job

based on strategic plan and standardize description.

ii. Incumbents or SMEs discuss how changes such as new technology affect the

job

iii. Detailed description and KASOCs are generated including expected changes

iv. New analysis compared to current to note differences.

v. Comparison provides information relevant to developing performance

standards, training content, KASOCs, etc.

3. Requires widespread involvement to increase probability of predicting changes.

Should include a variety of functional areas, customers, and technologists

IV. Autonomous Work Groups (AWG) or Self-Managing Teams

A. Employees with a high degree of decision making responsibility and control

B. Leadership, external to the team, act as facilitators rather than supervisors

C. Teams may be involved in setting team goals, resolving internal conflict, and making

task assignment

D. Application of Job Characteristics Model

E. To be effective, training is critical

F. The effectiveness of AWGs or Self-Managing Work Teams is mixed. Team members

and managers need to be patient. It can take up to 2 years to see positive effects

G. Use of AWG’s can lead to higher job satisfaction

V. Rating Source Matters: Potential Biases in Work Analysis Data

A. The rating source, the purpose for the data, and type of ratings will impact results and

accuracy of data

B. Incumbents assign more importance to their jobs than supervisors and trained

analysts

C. External job analysis experts are the best source of unbiased data

D. Incumbents maybe the best source of information

E. Because work analysis methods involve human judgment, the results are subject to

bias

F. Best to have large number of experts from a variety of sources, (customers, clients,

incumbents, managers) rating KASOCs and job specifications

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VI. How Do You Choose the Best Job Analysis Method?

Best Method(s)

Job description

PAQ

O*NET

Job Design

PAQ

WDQ

Job Classification

PAQ, O*NET

Job Evaluation

PAQ, O*NET

Selection Tests

PAQ, JCQ

Performance Appraisal

CIT

Job Related Interviews

CIT

Training Program

CIT, O*NET

Legal Compliance

No Method ideal

Job Specification

Use Own Data to validate

If available

A. Multiple methods of data should be used whenever feasible

B. O*NET has a wealth of information to accomplish most of major purposes

C. Organizations should use their own data whenever possible to determine whether

particular job specifications are correlated with critical criteria

C. Work analysis helps to ensure that HR systems will be professionally sound, and legally

defensible

D. Comprehensive and multiple source/ method data collection produce the most

effective deliverables

E. Work analysis facilitates group performance through the clear definition of

responsibilities and tasks, and an understanding of working relationships

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Job descriptions– Describes the job in terms of its content and scope. Includes information on

job duties and responsibilities, an identification of critical internal and external customers,

equipment to be used on the job, working conditions, relationships with coworkers, and the

extent of supervision required

Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) – is an instrument designed to measure the five key elements of the

Job Characteristic Model.

Job Enrichment- efforts provide more meaningful work, greater responsibility, and greater

worker autonomy

Job design- deals with the allocation and arrangement of organizational work activities and

tasks

Job specifications– Consists of the KASOCs needed to carry out the job tasks and duties. May

include specific educational requirements or years of experience

KASOCs- are critical knowledge, abilities, skills, and other characteristics necessary to perform

the work or job tasks.

Knowledge- refers to an organized body of information, usually of a factual or procedural

nature applied directly to the performance of a function.

Management Position Description Questionnaire (MDPQ) – is a standardized job analysis

instrument for management jobs.

Occupational Information Network (O*NET) – provides automated database for collecting

describing and presenting reliable and valid occupational information

(http://online.onetcenter.org/)

Organizational Structure- is the network of relationships or the connections among the various

jobs of an organization.

Personality-based Job Analysis- based on the idea that personality is an important predictor of

job performance. It uses the Five-factor Model of personality.

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Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) – standardized questionnaire that assess activities using

187 items in six categories. PAQ analysis identifies specific selection tests.

Quantitative methods- provide descriptions in numeric form (PAQ, MPDQ).

Qualitative methods- are narrative, non-numerical (CIT).

verbal, or mental manipulation of data, people or things.

Strategic Job Analysis- forecasts what a job may be like in a new environment with new

strategic goals, new technologies, increased customer contact or expanded duties.

Task or Job Oriented Methods- indicate the tasks or duties required to perform a job.

relationship between work design variables and important work outcomes.

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accommodations” that would allow qualified people with disabilities to perform a given job. Job

analysis may be necessary to establish essential functions of the job.

Taylor v. James River Corporation- The PAQ can used to establish “job relatedness”

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CHAPTER 4 – DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is meant by conducting a work analysis? How might you convince top managers of

the importance of conducting work analysis?

First determine the tasks, activities, behaviors or duties to be performed. Identify the critical

products, services or performance outcomes that are required by the customer and figure out

what tasks are necessary to do for that job that will yield the required outcome. Next relative

2. Do you believe having highly detailed job descriptions for every position can interfere with

group effectiveness? If so, is there anything that can be done?

Instead of being written to be highly specific and detailed, job descriptions can be written at the

group level which would encompass the minimal KASOCs that all group members need and the

tasks that everyone would be expected to be able to perform. Moreover, job descriptions do not

have to say that the incumbent will perform only those specific tasks defined in the description

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e. Job design

Focus on the tasks performed and the responsibilities of the employees. This will enable the

human resources to be reallocated or grouped together on the basis of the functions performed

4. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of using interviews, observation, and

questionnaires for collecting work analysis data.

•Interviews

Advantages: Information on infrequently performed activities and physical and mental

•Observation

Advantages: Allows for a deeper understanding of job duties than relying on incumbents‘

descriptions.

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7. How would you use O*Net for developing job descriptions and specifications?

O*Net has job descriptions for all of the jobs in its database. O*Net also lists KASOCs, educational

8. A fast growing small business decides to hire a human resources manager for the first time.

What steps should be taken next?

See Figure 4-1 on page 102 for chronological steps in effective work analysis. The company would

first have to determine the tasks and KASOCs required for the human resource manager position.