Benefits Of Job Analysis Business Essay

Edwin B. Flippo defined Job Analysis as the process of studying and collecting information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job.

According to Michael J. Jucius, “Job Analysis refers to the process of studying the operations, duties and organisational aspects of jobs in order to derive specification or job description “.

According to Blum, “A job Analysis is an accurate study of the various job components. It is concerned not only with an analysis of the duties and conditions of work, but also with the individual qualifications of the worker.”

As defined by John A Shubin “Job Analysis is the methodical compilation and study of work data in order to define and characterise each occupation in such a manner so as to distinguish it from all others.”

In the words of Scott, Clothier and Spriegel, “Job Analysis is the process of critically evaluating the operations, duties and relationship of the job.”

Job Analysis is the systematic process of collecting and making judgments about all the important information related to a job. Job Analysis is the procedure through which one determines the duties and nature of the jobs. It also determines the kinds of people who should be hired for those jobs. General purpose of job Analysis is to document the requirements of a job and the work performed. Moreover job Analysis is fundamental to the preparation of job specification and description.

Objectives of job Analysis:

Work simplification: Job Analysis provides the information related to job which can be used to make the job or the process simple. Work simplification refers to fragmenting the job into small parts i.e. different operations in a product line or process with the objective of improving the production or job performance.

For setting standards: Standard refers to minimum acceptable qualities or results or performance or rewards regarding a particular job. Job Analysis provides the information about the job which can be used to set standards for each job category.

Support to personnel activities: Job Analysis information provides support to various personnel activities like recruitment, selection, training and development, wage administration, performance appraisal etc.

Situations under which Job Analysis is conducted: these are the various scenarios in which Job analysis is conducted.

When the organization is founded

When organizations are created complete information about the jobs to be performed

When new jobs are created

When jobs are changed significantly as a result of new technologies, methods, procedures, or systems.

Steps in Job Analysis

The process of job Analysis is essentially done by collecting data then analyzing it. The data provided by the analyst may be related to job identification, nature of the job, materials and equipments to be used in doing the job and relations with other jobs, time and place of accomplishment and so on and so forth. The steps involved in job Analysis are as follows:

Planning and organizing of Programme: The first step is to plan and organize the Job Analysis programme. A person is designated as in-charge of programme and required degree of authority and responsibility is assigned to him. Schedule of the programme and budget estimation is prepared.

Obtaining current information: Current job design information is collected with the study of job description, job specification, process used, manuals and organisation flow charts. Job Analysis information is reviewed and verified with job incumbents to confirm that it is factually correct and complete.

Conducting research: The analyst determines that which manager or department requires the job Analysis. Purpose of the job Analysis is determined, extent to which job analysis is to be done is decided and how the information will be used concluded.

Establishing priorities: Identification and priorities of the jobs to be analyzed should be established by the executives of human resource department and with the help of various executives of the related departments.

Collecting Job Data: The next step is to collect the data related to the job selected for the analysis as they are being performed in the organisation at present. The job is analysed by collecting data on job activities, required employee behaviours, working conditions, and human traits and abilities needed to perform the job.

Preparing Job Description: job descriptions are prepared by using information obtained from job Analysis. It states the full information of job including working conditions, nature of job, processes used machines and materials used for the job.

Developing Job Specification: Job Specifications are developed using information given in job description. Job specification is statement regarding human qualities that are required for a particular job. Such information is used to select the person matching the requirements of the job. Job Analysis outcomes are as follows:

Job Description

Job description is a broad statement of the purpose, duties and responsibilities of a job or position. A job description is based on a detailed job analysis and usually summarises the essential information gathered through job analysis. It describes the main tasks and responsibilities of the job clearly and concisely in order to facilitate the systematic comparison of jobs for evaluation purposes. The kind of information and amount of details contained in the job descriptions depend on the job evaluation plan to be used. Job Description is “snapshot” of a job. Current and accurate job Descriptions maximizes employee effectiveness and productivity as it outlines the positions’ responsibilities and accountabilities. Job Descriptions clearly and concisely communicate what the job entails. In addition, job Descriptions help in attracting and retaining the best talent as it shows that a company is organized, well-run, and fair. Job Descriptions promote responsibility; improve morale and the corporate image. Job Description is a written statement of what the job holder actually does, how he or she does it, and under what conditions the job is performed. There is no standard format for writing job Description. It is an organized factual statement of job contents in the form of duties and responsibilities of a specific job. The preparation of job Description is very important before a vacancy is advertised. It tells in brief the nature and type of job and usually includes:

Title/ Designation of job and location in the concern

Job summary and achievable results

The nature of duties and operations to be performed in that job

The nature of authority- responsibility relationships

Main tasks of job and standard to be achieved

Terms and conditions including salary, hours of work, leave, etc

Limits of discretion i.e budgetary responsibilities

Necessary qualifications required for job.

Combination, co-relation and relationship of that job with other jobs in a concern.

Specification of machines, tools, materials and their applications.

The provision of physical working conditions or the work environment required in performance of that job.

Job Specification

Job specifications usually involve a listing of the personal qualifications regarded as necessary for satisfactory performance. Job specifications are mainly used in selecting and recruiting staff and are accordingly not essential for job evaluations. But certain personal attributes, such as experience, education and aptitude, may occur in both in job description as well as in job specification. Many job evaluation plans accordingly use job specifications to complement job description.

Job Specification describes the desired attributes of the person doing the job. It is a statement which tells minimum acceptable human qualities that helps to perform a job. Such requirements are usually established for individual jobs on the basis of judgments made by staff analysts, but in some instances they are based upon statistical validation procedures. Job Specification translates the job description into human qualifications so that a job can be performed in a better manner. Job Specification helps in hiring an appropriate person for an appropriate position. The contents are:

Educational qualifications and experiences for job title

Physical and other related attributes

Physique and mental health

Special attributes and abilities

Interpersonal skills

Maturity and dependability

Family background

Work-output job context and other job characteristics

Job Specification should be used as a guideline to the knowledge, skills and aptitudes required to perform a specific job. Job Analysis, job Description and job Specification, together form the basis of recruitment, selection and placements of persons in an organisation.

Methods of Job Analysis / Data collection techniques

There are different methods used by different organizations to collect information and conduct the job Analysis. These methods are:

Personal observation: In this method the observer actually observes the concerned individuals while performing a job. He makes an extensive list of the duties performed by the workers and the qualities required to perform those duties .Based on the information collected, job analysis is prepared. In some instances this method is very useful, but under certain conditions it does not work or becomes more difficult. This is especially true with jobs in which some elements of the complete job cycle occur at infrequent or unpredictable intervals. By simply observing an assembly line worker may not reveal his monthly inventory duty which is very much integral part of the job.

Actual performance of the job: In this method the observer who is in charge of preparing the job Analysis actually does the work himself. This gives him a clear idea of the required skills, the difficulty level of the job, the efforts required and so on and so forth.

Interview method: In this method an interview is conducted of the employees who are performing the job or the supervisor or both. There are group of experts to conduct the interview. They ask questions about the job, skill levels required, and difficulty levels associated with the job. They put questions and cross questions and collect information and based on this information job Analysis is prepared. This technique may be time consuming, and the danger exists that employees may exaggerate the importance of their jobs. In addition, certain important elements of the job may be missed both by the interviewer and persons interviewed because of its infrequent occurrence. For example an assembly line worker may also be required to do inventory supplies on a monthly basis. Although this responsibility may be extremely important, it may be overlooked during the interview since it occurs on an infrequent basis.

Critical incident method: In this method the employees are asked to write one or more critical incidents they have encountered while performing the job. These incidents give ideas about the problem, level of difficulty, how to handle it, qualities required to deal with the incidents and so on and so forth. Critical incident method gives an idea about the job and its importance.

Questionnaires method: Most probably questionnaires method is the least costly method of collecting Job Analysis data. Well designed questionnaires have been claimed to be the most efficient way to collect a wide array of job data and information in a short time. In this method a questionnaire is provided to the employees and they are asked to put their remark. The questions may be multiple choice questions or open ended questions. The questions decide how exactly the job Analysis will be done. However, there is the danger that many of the respondents may not complete the questionnaire, may complete it inaccurately, or take an excessively long time to return it. Although questionnaire is less expensive than interviewing, sometimes questionnaires contain the same problem of providing incomplete information and inaccurate in describing the actual tasks performed. However, it is considered as an effective method because of the simple logic that people would think twice before putting anything in writing.

The Position analysis questionnaire (PAQ): Quantification of the process of job Analysis has gained momentum in recent years. One such technique utilising a structured questionnaire is the position analysis questionnaire (PAQ). It was developed in the early 1970s through the efforts of McCormick and others. It consists of 194 job elements of a work-oriented nature which are divided into six major categories. The job elements are normally rated by the analyst on a scale of 0 to 5. Major drawbacks of the use of the PAQ involve its length and the high level vocabulary and complicated scoring requirements.

Log records/Daily Diary: Companies can ask employees to maintain log records or daily diary mentioning their daily activities along with those activities performed at infrequent intervals and Job Analysis can be done on the basis of information collected from the record. A log record is a book in which an employee records and writes all the activities performed by him while performing the job. The records are extensive and provide a fair idea about the duties and responsibilities associated with any job.

HRD record: Records of every employee are maintained by HR department. The records contain details about educational qualification, job title, years of experience, duties handled, any mistakes committed in the past and if any actions taken. It also includes number of promotions received by employees, their area of work and as well as their core competency etc. Based on these records job analysis is done.

Managerial Job Analysis: Because managerial jobs are different in nature from jobs with clearly observable routines and procedures, some specialized methods have evolved for their analysis. One of the most well known and widely used methods was developed at Control Data Corporation and is labelled as the Management Position Description Questionnaire (MPDQ). This is composed of a listing of over 200 job statements. The MPDQ examines a variety of managerial dimensions, including decision making and supervising.

Computerized Job Analysis: With the growth of the information communication technology, researchers have developed computerized job Analysis systems. An important feature of computerized job Analysis is the specificity of data. All of this specific data is compiled into a Job Analysis database. A computerized job Analysis system often can reduce the time and effort involved in writing job descriptions. These systems have banks of job duty statements that relate to each of the task and specify scope statements of the questionnaires. Computer technology with job Analysis methodology allows firms to develop more accurate and comprehensive job descriptions, linked to compensation programs, and performance appraisal systems. These processes can also provide better data for legal defensibility.

Combination Methods: There are indeed a number of different ways to obtain and analyze information about a job. Each of the methods has its own strength and weaknesses. Therefore, generally, a combination of methods is preferred over one method alone.

Benefits of Job Analysis

Organizational structure and design: – Job Analysis data helps in preparing the organization chart and the organizational structure. Classification of the jobs, relation of each job with one another and various positions and hierarchy of the positions is determined in order to avoid overlapping of authority- responsibility relationship and to avoid distortion in chain of command.

Man power planning: – Job Analysis data provides the qualitative aspects of the jobs in an organisation. It determines the demands of job in terms of duties to be performed, qualification and personal skills required in the employees. It is a tool which is used for matching job with men.

Recruitment and Selection: – Job Analysis helps in hiring future human resources of an organisation. Job Description and job Specification provides necessary information that helps to recruit and select the right kind of people for the available jobs.

Training and Development: – Based on the job requirements identification of the training needs of the persons can be done easily. Training can be provided in those specific areas which will help to improve the job performance.

Job Evaluation: – Job evaluation refers to studying in detail the job performance by all individual. Information regarding the level of difficulty, skills level, qualities required to perform the job are obtained from job analysis to establish relative worth of different jobs. Promotions and Transfer: – promotion is given to an employee on the basis of the skill and talent required for the future job. Similarly when an employee gets transfer to another branch the job must be very similar to that of his previous job. To take these decisions the information is collected from job Analysis.

Performance Appraisal: – By comparing actual performance of the employees to the standard set by organisation, the personnel activities like promotion, increments, incentives or corrective actions to enhance job performance is decided. These standards are established using information provided by job Analysis.

Career path planning and Employee counselling: – Many companies have not taken up career planning for their employees. Employee counselling is done to prevent the employee from leaving the company. Employees are informed about the limitations of jobs in terms of development and are guided to take required steps for their future development. Job Analysis provides such information regarding the areas in which a person requires modification for better career options.

Health and safety: -Job Analysis points out the risk factor associated with a particular job and thus the action required for the safety of the employees can be taken. Unsafe operations can be eliminated or can be replaced by safe one or the safety equipments can be installed.

Labour relations: When companies plan to add extra duties or remove certain duties from a job, they require the help of job Analysis, when this activity is systematically done using job Analysis, it does not affect adversely to the union members and do not hamper labour relations.

Acceptance of job offer: Appointment letter issued by an organisation always mention the duties to be performed by him. This information is collected from job Analysis, which is why job Analysis becomes important.

Discovering Unassigned Duties: Job Analysis can help to reveal unassigned duties if any. However, the end result of job Analysis is effectiveness and efficiency i.e. doing the right thing and doing it rightly and respectively. The underlying motive at the long run is increase in company’s profitability, productivity and sustainability.

Job Evaluation

Job Evaluation is the process of analyzing and assessing various jobs systematically to ascertain their relative worth in an organization. Job Evaluation means systematically determining relative worth of jobs to create job structure and to develop job hierarchy. In Job Evaluation process the relative worth of job is identified based upon job comparability. According to relative worth, importance of job and relative value compensation is designed and selected. Hence it involves determination of relative worth of each job for the purpose of establishing wage and salary differentials. Basically, relative worth is determined on the basis of Job Description and Job Specification. Job Evaluation helps to determine wages and salary grades for all jobs. Employees need to be compensated depending on the grades of jobs they perform. Remuneration must be based on the relative worth of each job. Ignoring this basic principle arrives at inequitable compensation practice. A perception of inequity is a sure way of de-motivating an employee and a profound ill effect on employees’ morale.

According to Alford and Beatty, “Job Evaluation is the application of the job Analysis technique to the qualitative measurement of relative job worth, for the purpose of establishing consistent wage rate differentials by objective means. It measures the differences between jobs on the job requirements, and establishes the differential numerically (job rating), so that it can be converted to wage rate after the wage level is determined”.

According to Kimball and Kimball Jr., “Job Evaluation represents an effort to determine the relative value of every job in a plant and to determine what the fair basic wage for such a job should be.”

According to Bethel, Atwater and Smith et at, “Job Evaluation as a personal term has both a specific and genetic meaning specifically, it means job rating or the grading of occupations in terms of duties, generally it means the entire field of wages and salary administration along modern lines”.

Edwin B. Flippo defines. “Job Evaluation is a systematic and orderly process of determining the worth of a job in relation to other jobs.”

In the words of Maurice B. Cumming, “Job Evaluation is a technique of assessing the worth of a job in comparison with all other jobs throughout an organisation”.

According to Scott, Clothier and Spriegel, “Job Evaluation or job rating is the operation of evaluating a particular job in relation to other jobs either within or outside the organisation.” According to International Labour Organisation, “Job Evaluation may be defined as an attempt to determine and compare the demands which the normal performance of particular job makes on normal workers without taking into account of the individual abilities or performance of the workers concerned.”

In the words of Dale Yoder, “Job Evaluation is a practice which seeks to provide a degree of objectivity in measuring the comparative value of jobs within an organisation and among similar organisations.”

In the words of John A. Shubin, “Job Evaluation is a systematic procedure for measuring the relative value and importance of an occupation on the basis of their common factor (skill, training, efforts) for the purpose of determining wages and salary differentials.”

According to Bureau of Labour Statistics, “Job Evaluation is the evaluation or rating of job to determine their position in job hierarchy. The evaluation may be achievement through assignment of points or the use of some other systematic rating method for essential job requirements such as skill, experience and responsibility”.

Features of Job Evaluation

The primary objective of job Evaluation is to find out the value of work, but this is a value which varies from time to time and from place to place under the influence of certain economic pressure. The main features of job Evaluations are as follows:

It attempts to assess jobs, not people.

Job Evaluation is the output provided by job Analysis.

It provides bases for wage negotiation founded on facts.

Job Evaluation does not design wage structure, it helps in rationalising the system by reducing number of separate and different rates.

Job Evaluation is done by group of experts.

Job Evaluation determines the value of job and the value of each of the aspects of job such as skill and responsibility levels are also related and studied in connection with the job.

Job Evaluation helps the management to maintain high levels of employee productivity and employee satisfaction.

The objectives of job Evaluation

To provide a standard procedure for fixing salary: job Evaluation aims at providing a standard procedure for fixing salary of employees doing a particular job and belonging to a particular level in the organization. This is required to remunerate the employees according to his capabilities and therefore making them satisfied on the job.

To reconcile the pay in accordance with employees’ efforts: The rate of pay is decided by looking into various factors on the job.

To ensure that wages and salaries are paid according to the qualification and work: Job Evaluation recognizes the importance of qualification of the employees and the efforts put by him on the job and decides the salary based on these factors. This   ensures that the employees are judged on similar factors and there is no bias.

To decide salary using scientific methods of evaluation:  The job Evaluation methods are scientific in nature. It must be decided after looking into the issues concerned with a scientific approach not based on personal bias or personal choice.

To have a fair study of the job factors to avoid ambiguity: Job Evaluation studies the job factors in a fair and just manner and thereby tries to avoid all sorts of ambiguity. When the factors for judging the jobs are very clear and accurate, it assigns more credibility to the entire job evaluation process.

Advantages of job Evaluation

Job Evaluation is advantageous to management, workers, trade unions and organisations as well. Management has the advantage of greater order in its pay arrangement and more stable wage structure. Unions benefit from a greater sense of fairness and reasons in pay matters. Union can play a more important role in determining the relation between different levels of pay and in the joint regulation of work place conditions. Employees benefit because job evaluation provides an agreed framework for setting questions affecting jobs and so helps to prevent arbitrary decisions. It also helps to ensure that differences in skill and responsibility are properly recognised. Everyone benefits from a system which enables the pay for new and revised jobs to be settled in the same way as for existing job by preventing anomalies.

Job Evaluation Methods

The essence of compensation administration and establishment of the pay structure is job Evaluation. It systematically determines the value of each job in relation to all jobs within the organization by using job Analysis information. In short, Job Evaluation seeks to rank all the jobs in the organization and place them in a hierarchy that will reflect the relative worth of each. The techniques which have been commonly used are as follows:

Non-analytical or Non-quantitative or summary methods. Non-analytical methods are:

Job Ranking

Job Classification or grading

Analytical or quantitative methods. Analytical methods are:

Factor Comparison

Point rating or assessment

Job Ranking Method

This is the oldest and simplest method of job Evaluation. This is generally used in smaller units where the job raters know all the jobs quite well. In this method no such effort is made to break a job into its elements or factors. The sole aim is rather to judge the job as a whole and fix the relative value by ranking one whole job against another whole job. Job at the top of the list has the highest value and obviously the job at the bottom of the list will have the lowest value.

Jobs are arranged from highest to lowest, in order of their value or merit to the organisation. Jobs also can be arranged according to the relative difficulty in performing them, in order of importance beginning with the most important to the least important jobs in the organisation. This procedure is followed for jobs in each department and an attempt is then made to equate or compare jobs at various levels among the several departments. When this is completed, grade levels are defined and salary groups are formed. Jobs are placed into different salary ranges more or less on a predominated basis in their rank order. The most obvious limitation to the ranking method is its sheer inability to be managed when there are a large number of jobs. Other drawbacks to be considered are the subjectivity of the method. There are no definite or consistent standards by which to justify the rankings.

An example of ranking of jobs where additional jobs between already ranked may be assigned.

Rank

Monthly salary range

Manager

9.000-12.000

Assistant Manager

7.000-9.000

Superintendent

6.000-8.000

Assistant

5,000-7.000

Clerk/typist

4,000-6,000

Peon

3.000-4.000

Advantages:

1.     The system is quite simple to adopt.

2.     Once the workers understand the process, it is very easy to administer.

3.     Less time consuming in evaluating the jobs.

4.     This system is suitable for smaller organisation where the raters are fully acquainted with all the existing jobs in the enterprise.

Disadvantages:

1. Due to lack of scientific approach jobs may be arbitrarily ranked resulting in differences in similar jobs.

2. Since the ranks judgements of the jobs are subjective, the fairness of the judgement is questionable.

3.   In a complex and large organisation, it is not possible to be familiar with all the jobs and thus general description will not enable correct assessment of the relative importance of the jobs.