Pre

• Have you ever hired or fired someone?
  • If yes, describe the situation.
  • If no, how would you feel if you had to?

Top Down

• Who do you think is the target reader for the following text? Read it and find out.

What Is Job Analysis?

Job Analysis, an Introduction 
Determining the fundamental requirements of the jobs at your business can help you hire the right people, establish competitive pay ranges, develop standards to measure employee performance and make sure your business is running as efficiently as possible. This process of defining jobs is commonly known as job analysis. 

Not only is the job analysis process an important pre-employment step, but it’s also important to routinely conduct an analysis of the roles that are already filled at your company to make sure you’re offering the right professional development opportunities and setting employees up for success. 

Definition of job analysis
Job analysis is the practice of gathering and analyzing details about a particular job, such as the required responsibilities, day-to-day duties, hard and soft skills, qualifications, education, expected outcomes, interaction required (both internal and external), performance standards, working conditions, required physical abilities and nature of supervision. One of the most common ways to use the results of a job analysis is for your job descriptions, but the data can also be used in several other ways. 

Conducting a job analysis provides an overview of the most important requirements of a role to ensure you’re making the right hiring decisions and helping your current employees succeed. For example, if you don’t conduct a job analysis before making a hire, you might discover that your new employee lacks certain skills that are essential to the success of a role. Failing to conduct an in-depth job analysis can also lead to employee discontent, high turnover rates and low engagement if you frequently hire the wrong person or promote team members who aren’t a great fit for their new role. 

Why is job analysis important?
A job analysis is a great tool to help you make a variety of personnel decisions and understand the context of a role within an organization. Businesses often use job analysis for: 

• Writing job descriptions
• Creating job postings
• Recruiting new employees
• Crafting an employee development plan
• Managing employee performance reviews
• Establishing appropriate compensation
• Career mapping
• Job classification (e.g., exempt vs. non-exempt)
• Succession planning

Common job analysis methods
There are several different ways to perform job analysis. The job analysis method you choose depends on the goals of the job analysis, your industry, the job’s work environment and the specifics of the position. Here are three of the most common job analysis methods:

Direct observation
Direct observation requires you to observe an employee in the position while they perform their daily job duties. Take detailed notes on what the employee does, the materials they use, necessary skills and any other job-related requirements. 

The direct observation method typically requires the analyst to be familiar with the job, so they know what to look for and how to describe it appropriately. A department manager or senior employee is best suited to perform this method of job analysis.

Critical incident technique
The critical incident job analysis technique’s goal is determining what separates good work performance from poor work performance. Using this method, analysts interview employees about critical incidents they’ve experienced on the job, which they assess to determine what specific skills were required to reach a positive outcome.

Interview
In the interview job analysis method, you interview employees and their supervisors about the specifics of the employee’s job. Interviewers often ask a variety of questions to determine what duties the job requires and what skills are necessary to complete the job effectively. 

Questions might include: 

1. Describe the job you do in your own words.
2. What is your job’s overall purpose?
3. Describe your working conditions.
4. What do you feel is necessary in terms of education or qualifications to perform your job successfully?
5. What special tools, equipment or machines do you use on a daily basis?
6. What is the level of accountability in your role?
7. How long do you typically spend on X task?

Modified from Source

Bottom Up

• True or False

Post

• What is another way of knowing someone’s skills?
• How do you analyze people?
• Which of the three methods would you choose? Why?

• Match each occupation to the matching sentence. There is one example.