Personnel Psychology: Job Analysis

1. Personnel Psychology: Job Analysis Guide for UHS 2062 students at UniversitiTeknolgi Malaysia Prepared by : SitiRokiahSiwok srsiwok@gmail.com

2. Major Fields in IOP • Personnel Psychology • Organizational Psychology • Human Factors

3. Personnel Psychology :Overview • Job analysis • Job Description • Job Evaluation • Employee Selection • Evaluating Selection Techniques and Decisions • Legal Issues in Employee Selection • Evaluating Employee Performance • Designing and Evaluating Training Systems

4. Job analysis • It is a process of gathering, analyzing and structuring about a job’s components, characteristics and requirements ( Sanchez & Levine, 2000) • A process of determining the work activities and requirements.

5. Job Analysis • Very important. • A job analysis provides information for : • Job description • Employee selection • Performance Appraisal/Competency criteria • Job Evaluation • Job Classification • Job Design • Organizational analysis • Training • etc

6. Job Analysis: Essential Questions • Who will conduct? • How often? • Who should participate? • What types of information?

7. Who will conduct Job Analysis? • Internal Department • Internal Task Force • Supervisors • Employees • Consultants • Interns

8. Who should participate? • Choices • All employees • Random sample • Representative sample • Convenience sample • Considerations: Diversities • Job competence • Race • Gender • Education • Perspectives

9. What type of information ? • Level of specificity • Formal /informal

10. Job Analysis • Many ways to do it. • The goal of the job analysis is : • Identify tasks performed in the job • The conditions under which the tasks are performed and, • the KSAOs needed to perform the tasks under the conditions identified.

11. Job Analysis : The Basic process • Identify task performed • Write tasks statements • Rate task statements • Determine essential KSAOs • Select tests to tap KSAOs

12. Conducting a Job Analysis

13. Step 1: Identify Tasks Performed • Gathering existing information • Interviewing subject matter experts (SMEs) • Individual/group interviews/SME Conferences • AmmermanTechnique • Follow interview guidelines • Observation • Job participation

14. Step 2: Write Task Statements • The next step is writing the task statements. These task statements will be the job description. • Must contain an action ( what is done) and an object ( to which the action is done), where, how , why and when.

15. Step 2: Write Task Statements • Characteristics of well-written task statements • One action and one object • Appropriate reading level • The statement should make sense by itself • All statements should be written in the same tense • Should include the tools and equipment used to complete the task • Task statements should not be competencies • Task statements should not be policies • Include level of authority if decision making included

17. Examples of Task Statements: • Handles customer complaints • Type, files, and distributes correspondence • In charge of the copy machine • Uses the computer to balance department budget • Responsible for opening and closing the office • Greets visitors • Oversees the office

18. Step 3: Rate Task Statements • Tasks can be rated on various scales • Importance • Part-of-the-job • Frequency of performance • Time spent • Relative time spent • Complexity • Criticality • Research shows only two scales are necessary • Frequency • Importance

19. Example of a Task Inventory Scale

20. Using the Ratings • Create a chart summarizing the ratings • Add the frequency and importance ratings to form a combined rating for each task • Include the task in the job description if: • Average rating is greater than 0.5 • Include the task in the task inventory if: • (1) the average rating of (F) or Importance (I) greater than 0. 5 • (2)Combined Ratings (CR) of more than 2

22. Step 4: Determine Essential KSAOs

23. Examples of KSAOs

26. Step 5: Selecting Tests to Tap KSAOs • The next step is to determine the best method to tap the KSAOs needed during recruitment

27. Job Description • The written product of the job analysis is the job description, which is a brief 2-5 page summary of the tasks and job requirements found in the job analysis. • Thus, job analysis is the process of determining the work activities and requirements and job description is the written result of the job analysis. • Job analysis and job description is the basis for many HR activities, such as employee selection, evaluation , training, performance appraisal, job design etc (Brannick & Levine, 2002)

28. Job Description

29. Job Description Sections • Job title • Brief summary • Work activities • Tools and equipment used • Work context • Work Performance • Compensation information • Job competencies

30. Job Description sections: Job title • The job title must describe the nature of the job. • Assists in employee selection and recruitment • The job title influences the perceptions of job worth and status. • Affects the accuracy of resumes.

31. Job Description sections: Brief summary • The summary is useful for recruitment advertising • The language used should be easily understandable. • Avoid the use of jargon and abbreviations

32. Job Description sections: Work Activities • Organize work activities by dimensions • Similar activities • Similar KSAOs • Temporal order • Task statements • One activity per statement • “stand alone” statements • Written in easy to understand style • Precise, not general

33. Job Description sections: Tools and equipment used • Include all the tools and equipment used to perform the activities. • Placing the tools in a separate section make them easier to identify. • Also useful for training purposes

34. Job Description sections: Work Context • Work context includes: • Work schedule • Degree of supervision • Ergonomic details

35. Job Description sections: Work Performance • Contains description of performance evaluation, which includes: • The standard used • Evaluation frequency • Evaluation dimensions • Evaluation personnel

36. Job Description sections: Compensation Information • Contains information on the salary grade and the factors used to determine the salary. • The actual salary or salary range should not be written in the job description

37. Job Description sections: Job Competencies • Contains the KSAOs necessary to do the job • Competencies should be separated: • Those needed before hire • Those that can be learned after hire

38. Job Description Sections:Job Competencies • Common Names • Job competencies • Knowledge, skill, ability, and other characteristics (KSAOs) • Job specifications • Competencies should be separated • Those needed before hire • Those that can be learned after hire

39. The importance of Job Analysis:More details

40. Employee Selection • Without a clear understanding of the tasks performed and competencies needed to perform the tasks, employee selection cannot be made. • With clear understanding and requirements for tasks identified, tests or interview questions can be formulated to determine suitability of applicants.

41. Performance Appraisal • The evaluation of employee performance must be job related, thus job analysis is crucial in the construction of a performance appraisal instrument (PAI). • Through job analysis, performance appraisal instrument, are specific, job-related and valid; leading to accurate performance appraisals. • PAI, when properly administered and utilized, serve as excellent source of employee training and counselling.

42. Job classification • Job analysis enables the HR to classify jobs into groups based in requirements and duties. • Useful in determining pay levels, transfers and promotions.

43. Job Evaluation • Another use of the job analysis is to determine the worth of a job . • The process of determining a job’s worth is called job evaluation. • Job evaluation is usually done in 2 stages, namely determining internal pay equity and determining external pay equity

44. Job Design • Job analysis information can be use to determine the optimal way in which a job should be performed. • Examples : the best way to sit at the computer table, the best way for a warehouse person to lift boxes etc • Good work design prevents wasted and unsafe motions; resulting in higher productivity and reduced number of injuries.

45. Training • Job analysis provides requirements of a job and yields lists of job activities that can be used to create training programs.

46. Personpower Planning • Personpower planning is important (but seldom used). • Personpower planning is to determine employees’ mobility within an organization, that is looking into other jobs that employees can be expected to be eventually promoted and become successful. • Job analysis results are used to compare all jobs in the company so as to promote the best employee from the most similar job, thus better match between the person being promoted and the requirements of the job.

47. Also…..

48. Legal Guidelines Compliance • Any employment decision must be based on job-related information and job analysis is one of the ways to directly determine job relatedness. • No law specifically requires a job analysis , but several important guidelines and court cases mandate job analysis for all practical purposes.

49. Organizational Analysis • During the course of their work, job analysts often become aware of certain problems within the organization. • Job analysts thus help to correct lapses in the organization and correct problems so as to promote better organizational functioning.

50. Main references: • Aamodt, M. G ( 2010). Industrial/Organizational Psychology. An Applied Approach.( 6th Ed) USA: Wadsworth • Spector, P. E. ( 2008). Industrial and Organizational Psychology (5thed). USA: Wiley • Job Analysis (2010). Cengage Learning