JOB ANALYSIS (JA)

Interviews (Individual or group)

Format:  Individual or group with SME (Subject Matter Experts)

SMEs:   Employees and/or supervisors

Key Points:

•Make purpose of the job analysis clear

•Interviewers need to be trained

•Use a structured format Potential Limitations:

Employees may distort the responsibilities of their job

Supervisors may lack detailed information as to how the job is done

On-Site Observation

•  Best used for structured jobs

•  Need to get a representative sample

•  Need to be unobtrusive

Questionnaire Dimensions measured by the PAQ:

a)  Where and how employees get job/task information

b)  Cognitive process involved (e.g., planning, organisation, making decisions)

c)  Output (e.g., activities performed, tools/processes used)

d)  Interpersonal relationships required (e.g., co-workers, clients)

e)  Context of job (physical and social)

Advantages:

•PAQ can allow comparisons and generalisations across jobs

•Decent internal consistency reliability (.80)

•Inter-rater reliability of .66

Limitations:

Cannot clarify questions or follow up on respondents answers

Best used  for manual labour jobs (lots of items related to equipment use)

Relatively high reading level level (10th - 12th grade)

Task differences may not be measured due to behavioural similarities 

Job Analysis Process for Employment Selection 

1.Identification of work activities and development of job task statements

2.Develop a list of KSA’s necessary for adequate performance of the job tasks

3.Site observations to confirm and substantiate findings

4.Evaluate job tasks and KSA statements to discern (and document) their job-relatedness

5.Generate test  items and evaluate their job-relatedness, or select existing tests for their job-relatedness

6.    Construct test instruments and assess their validity for purposes of selection/promotion decisions

Basic Task Statement Components

1)    What is the action being performed? (using an action verb)

2)    To Whom/What is the action directed? (the object, or receiver, of the action verb)

3)    How is the action performed? (e.g., use of certain procedures, equipment, tools).  The “how” is arguably the most crucial part of the task statement in that it directly relates to KSAs

4)  Why is the action being performed? (the purpose of the action).  Often, it is preceded by words such as “in order to” or “so as to.” Be careful not to confuse the “why’ part of the statement with the “what” section