Job Analysis: Job Description, Job Specification

JOB ANALYSIS

 Human Resource management begins its working by understanding what jobs need to be filled, and the human traits & competencies employees need to do those jobs effectively. This analysis is renamed as job analysis.

“Job analysis is the procedure through which a manager determines the duties of the positions and the skills of the people to hire for them.”  

Job analysis is the fundamental process that forms the basis of all human resource activities. The importance of job analysis has been well-established for years, dating back to at least the First World War. The United States government’s Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978) and the American Psychological Association’s Principles for the Validation and use of Personnel Selection Procedures stipulate that job analysis  is essential to the valediction of any and all major human resources activities. In its simplest terms, a job analysis is a systematic process for gathering, documenting and analyzing date about the work required for a job. 

The data collected in a job analysis, and reflected through a job description, includes a description of the context and principal duties of the job, and information about the skills, responsibilities, mental models and techniques for job analysis. These include  the Position Analysis Questionnaire, which focuses on generalized human behaviors and interviews, task inventories, functional job analysis and the job element method.

Job analysis produces information for:

1.      job descriptions (a list of what the job entails) and

2.      job (or person) specifications (what kind of people to hire for the job)

1)      JOB DESCRIPTIONS

The most important product of job analysis is the job description. A job description is a written statement of what the worker actually does, how he or she does it, and what the jobs working conditions are. You use this information to write a job specification; this lists the knowledge, abilities, and skills required to perform the job satisfactorily. There is no standard format for writing a job description. However, most descriptions contain sections that cover:

1.      Job identification

2.      Job summary

3.      Responsibilities and duties

4.      Authority of incumbent

5.      Standards of performance

6.      Working conditions

2) JOB SPECIFICATIONS

The job specification takes the job description and answers the question, What human traits and experience are required to do this job effectively? It shows what kind of person to recruit and for what qualities you should test that person. It may be a section of the job description, or a separate document.

Also known as employee specifications, a job specification describes about required skills of person like:

1)      Educational qualifications, 

2)      Specific qualities

3)      Level of experience

4)      Physical

5)      Emotional

6)      Technical and communication skills

7)      Responsibilities involved in a job and 

8)      Other unusual sensory demands (like: general health, mental health, intelligence, aptitude, memory, judgment, leadership skills, emotional ability, adaptability, flexibility, values and ethics, manners and creativity, etc.)

Job description and job specification are two integral parts of job analysis. They define a job fully and guide both employer and employee on how to go about the whole process of recruitment and selection. Both data sets are extremely relevant for creating a right fit between job and talent, evaluate performance and analyse training needs and measuring the worth of a particular job.

Uses of Job Analysis Information:

job analysis is important because managers use it to support just about all their human resource management activities.

1)      RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

Information about what duties the job entails and what human characteristics are required to perform these activities helps managers decide what sort of people to recruit and hire.

2)      EEO COMPLIANCE

Job analysis is crucial for validating all major human resources practices. For example, to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers should know each job essential job functions which in turn requires a job analysis.

3)      PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

A performance appraisal compares each employee’s actual performance with his or her duties and performance standards. Managers use job analysis to learn what these duties and standards are.

4)      COMPENSATION

Compensation (such as salary and bonus) usually depends on the jobs required skill and education level, safety hazards, degree of responsibility, and so on all factors you assess through job analysis.

5)      TRAINING

The job description lists the jobs specific duties and requisite skills and therefore the training that the job requires. Job analysis is important in helping employers execute their overall strategic plans. The accompanying Strategic Context feature illustrates this.