Chapter 5

Job Analysis, Job Design and Quality of Work Life

1. Job analysis
A proper match between work and employee capabilities is now an economic necessity, and
organisations that fail to have the right people in the right place at the right time are at risk. Job
analysis focuses attention on what employees are expected to do. It may be defined as the process by
which jobs are divided to determine what tasks, duties and responsibilities they include, their
relationships to other jobs, the conditions under which work is performed, and the personal capabilities
required for satisfactory performance.

Purpose of job analysis

The purpose of job analysis is to determine why jobs exist, what tasks are required within the job,
when, where and how the job is performed, under what conditions, and what qualifications are needed
to perform the job.

Components of job analysis

Job analysis provides information about three basic aspects of a job.
Job content: the duties and responsibilities of the job
Job requirements: the formal qualifications, knowledge, skills, abilities and personal characteristics
which employees need to perform the job in a particular situation or context
Job context: situational and supporting information regarding the particular job

Approaches to job analysis

There are two basic approaches to job analysis:

a job-oriented (or task) approach - A job-oriented approach is concerned with what gets done
that is, the tasks, duties and responsibilities of the job (job content) (see figure 5.1).
an employee-oriented (or behaviour) approach. - The employee-oriented approach focuses on how
the job is done that is, the human behaviour required to perform the job (job requirements).

Job analysis and job design

Job analysis is normally conducted after the job has been designed, the worker has been trained and the
work has been performed. It is a snapshot of the job that exists at that time, not what it should be.

When to analyse a job

Job analysis is generally undertaken:
1.

when the organisation commences and the job analysis program is started;

2.

when a new job is created; and

3.

when a job is changed significantly as a result of new methods, new procedures or new
technology.

Uses of job analysis

The information produced by job analysis is used extensively in HRM. For example it is used to
effectively hire, train, appraise, compensate or use its human resources. The information gathered
during the job analysis may be used in:

Job descriptions
Job specifications
Job design
organisational structure and design
HR planning
recruitment
selection
job orientation
performance standards and performance appraisal
training and development
career planning and development
job evaluation
compensation and benefits
healthy and safe working environment.
industrial relations
legal requirements

Job descriptions
A job description is a written statement explaining why a job exists, what the job-holder actually does,
how he or she does it, and under what conditions and to what standards the job is performed.

Job description guidelines - Their use and organisational

preference largely determine the style and format of job
descriptions. Clarity and simplicity of expression are
prerequisites for job descriptions and specifications.

Job specifications
The job specification or person specification is derived from the job description. It identifies the
experience, qualifications, skills, abilities and knowledge, personal qualities and special requirements
needed to successfully perform the job.

Job Design
Identifies what work must be performed, how it will be performed, where it will be performed and who
will perform it.

Legal requirements and job analysis

Increasingly HR managers face legal requirements prohibiting discriminatory HR practices,
particularly in employment. Given that systematic job analysis can identify the critical elements of a
job, (that is, the duties and responsibilities that must be performed) and the necessary skills, abilities
and personal characteristics required for successful job performance, it provides insurance that an
organisations HR policies and practices are legally defensible and that job related selection criteria will
be employed (see figure 5.5).

Criticism of job descriptions

The traditional job description has been criticised for being a straitjacket suitable only for repetitive
work; a static written description that ignores the dynamics of the job. Job fluidity undermines the
effectiveness of traditional job descriptions and means that they risk being out of date and
counterproductive as guides for selection, job evaluation and so on. Thus, job descriptions are seen as
being appropriate only for stable, predictable and bureaucratic organisations. Finally, job descriptions
are seen as archaic because the traditional job comprising set tasks is disappearing. Project-based work
instead of position-based work signals the demise of the traditional job and traditional job description.
Competition, technical innovation and changing workplace values have created the need for a work
environment where jobs are re-invented totally.

In what ways can job analysis assist in the successful design and
implementation of other HRM functions? How frequently should job
analysis be carried out?

2. Collection of job analysis information

There are numerous ways of collecting job analysis information. The most appropriate data collection
method depends on the purpose of the job analysis, the types of information to be collected, the
sources of information, the means of information collection and the way in which the data are to be
analysed and reported. The five most common data collection methods are observation, interview,
questionnaire, diary/log and critical incident reports.

Other approaches include film and video, a computerised system and job analyst participation. Each
can be used alone or in conjunction with one or more of the other data collection methods.

Combination of data collection methods

A combination of methods increases the probability of better results, so multiple methods are
frequently used. The job analyst, depending upon the purposes of the job analysis (for example,
recruitment and selection, performance appraisal or job evaluation), determines the method or
combination of methods to be used.

3. Job analysis techniques

The most popular job analysis techniques are:
Functional Job Analysis (FJA): uses standardised statements and terminology to describe the nature
of jobs and to prepare job descriptions and job specifications.
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ): is a job analysis instrument and scoring/reporting service
that uses a structured questionnaire for quantitatively assessing jobs.
Management Positions Descriptions Questionnaire (MPDQ): is a behaviourally oriented, structured
questionnaire for describing, comparing, classifying and evaluating management positions.
Position Classification Inventory (PCI): is a job analysis inventory based on Hollands RIASEC
theory, which can be used to classify occupations and to assess personjob fit.
Hay Guide Chart Profile Method: Job content is analysed in terms of three major factors that are
present to some degree in every job. These are know-how, problem solving and accountability. A
fourth factor, working conditions, is used for those jobs for which hazards, an unpleasant environment
and/or particular physical demands are significant elements.
New multi-method approaches: based on computer technology and sophisticated quantitative
techniques are now coming into use. These can efficiently analyse a geographically dispersed work
force, track and document rapidly changing job content and, for large organisations, produce results
which are very cost effective.

4. Competency profiling
The usefulness of task-oriented approaches to job analysis has been reduced by changes in the
workplace. HR managers have increasingly focused on person-oriented approaches such as critical
incident reporting and behaviourevent interviews to identify the skills and behaviours needed to
perform a job. These occupational requirements are referred to as competencies (see figure 5.10). A
competency is an underlying characteristic of a person that leads to or causes superior or effective
performance.
Competency characteristics

Motives
Traits
Self-concept
Knowledge
Skill
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The difficulties associated with assessing and developing the hidden competencies means some HR
managers and theorists prefer to concentrate on developing universal standards of performance
expressed in terms of outputs rather than inputs. This approach is called the standards model and it
emphasises minimal standards of performance.

The Behavioural Event Interview

The Behavioural Event Interview (BEI) is a development of critical incident reporting that generates
not only information about the job, but also about what the job holder thinks, feels and hopes to
achieve in the job. It identifies the competencies needed to do the job well.

Criticism of competency profiling

Ambiguous meaning of competency

Generic off-the-shelf nature
Present or past focused
Emphasis on technical competencies
Assumption of rationality

5. Job analysis and EEO

To guarantee compliance with EEO requirements, managers must know the job. Job analysis can
provide the hard evidence of job relatedness and thus help the HR manager to establish organisational
adherence to EEO requirements.

6&7. Practical problems and theoretical criticisms of job analysis

Some problems that arise in job analysis are the product of human behaviour, while others stem from
the nature of the job analysis method. Traditional approaches to job analysis are mostly criticised for
their basic assumption that jobs are static, and the validity of the job concept itself.

8. Job design
Job design is the specification of the content of a job, the material and equipment required to do the
job, and the relation of the job to other jobs. A well-designed job promotes the achievement of the
organisations strategic business objectives by structuring work so it integrates management
requirements for efficiency and employee needs for satisfaction.

Methods of job design

Jobspecialisationorsimplificationinvolvesusingstandardisedworkproceduresand
havingemployeesperformrepetitive,preciselydefinedandsimplifiedtasks.

Jobenlargementseekstohorizontallyloadajobbyaddingtothevarietyoftaskstobe
performed.

Jobrotationincreasestaskvarietybyperiodicallyshiftingemployeesbetweenjobs
involvingdifferenttasks.

Jobenrichmentinvolvesmakingbasicchangesinjobcontentandlevelofresponsibility

Sociotechnicalenrichmentfocusesontherelationshipbetweentechnologyandgroupsof
workers.Theaimistointegratepeoplewithtechnology.
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Autonomousworkteamsrepresentjobenrichmentatthegrouplevel.Theemployersetsup
selfmanagedworkteamswhoareresponsibleforaccomplishingdefinedperformance
objectives.

Comprehensive job enrichment: the HackmanOldham Job Characteristics

Model
The Job Characteristics Model (JCM) combines both horizontal and vertical improvements to
stimulate employee motivation and satisfaction. Employees perform better when they perceive their
work as being meaningful, have responsibility for outcomes and receive feedback on the results of
their activities. Five core job characteristics are especially important to job design:
1.

Skills variety - the degree to which a job holder must carry out a variety of different activities
and use a number of different personal skills in performing the job
Task identity - the degree to which performing a job results in the completion of a whole and
identifiable piece of work and produces a visible outcome that can be recognised as the result of
personal performance.
Task significance - the degree to which a job has a significant impact on the lives of other
people, whether those people are co-workers in the same organisation or individuals outside the
organisation.
Autonomy - the degree to which the job holder has the freedom, independence and discretion
necessary to schedule work and to decide which procedures to use in carrying it out.
Feedback - the degree to which performing the activities required by the job provides the
employee with direct and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her performance.

2.
3.
4.
5.

What are some problems you would expect to find in an organisation where jobs have
been designed for maximum efficiency without any consideration of employee needs?

9. Quality of work life

Quality of work life (QWL) programs incorporate principles of job enrichment and sociotechnical enrichment in a comprehensive effort to improve the quality of the work
environment. QWL programs especially seek to integrate employee needs and wellbeing
with the organisations desire for higher productivity.

Review Questions
Questions in bold print are recommended as exam questions

1. What are the major steps involved in job analysis? What environmental issues influence design of
jobs in organisations? In what ways do they have an influence?
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The purpose of job analysis is to obtain answers to such questions as:

1.

Why does the job exist?

2.

What physical and mental activities does the worker undertake?

3.

When is the job to be performed?

4.

Where is the job to be performed?

5.

How does the worker do the job?

6.

What qualifications are needed to perform the job?

7.

What are the job working conditions (such as the levels of temperature, light, offensive fumes
and noise)

8.

What machinery or equipment is used in the job?

9.

What constitutes successful performance?

Job design can be influenced by a range of internal and external environmental factors. Some that
students might mention include:
Legal - Job design and the process of job analysis must conform to equal opportunity requirements. It
must also conform to occupational health and safety requirements. It must also not contravene the
requirements of relevant awards of enterprise deals.
Technological - Technology usually alienates workers from the product or service that they are
producing. Technology often also ensures that jobs are in need of more skilled people. Hence, jobs
have to be designed with clear skill implications stated, and with effort to build in more of the
motivating job characteristics.
Demographic - Job Design must take account of the differences between individuals. The job must suit
the person to be motivating; and the person must suit the job for the job to be performed well.
Business - Job design has two basic rationales. The first is to produce a good or service. The second is
to increase individual motivation and commitment.
Industrial Relations - Job designs must not contravene awards or enterprise bargaining provisions.

2. What is job enrichment? Should all jobs be enriched? Why or why not?
Job enrichment involves making basic changes in job content and level of responsibility. Through
vertical loading the employee is given the opportunity to experience greater achievement, recognition,
responsibility and personal growth and through horizontal loading the complexity of work is increased
to promote interest. Job enrichment thus builds motivating factors into the job content by
Combining tasks - factionalised tasks are combined to increase skill variety and task identity.
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Creating natural work units - the job is changed so that the employee is responsible for or owns an
identifiable body of work so that he will view his work as important and meaningful rather than
irrelevant and boring.
Establishing client relationships - wherever possible a direct relationship is established between the
employee and her client (i.e. the user of the product or service that the employee produces).
Expanding jobs vertically - vertical loading gives employees responsibilities and control formerly
reserved for higher level positions. It seeks to close the gap between the doing and the controlling
aspects of the job and thus increase employee autonomy.
The above elements of job enrichment all sound like they are giving the worker more to do, without
any commensurate increase in remuneration. This can lead to claims of exploitation.

3. Who should conduct a job analysis? Why?

Job analysis is usually conducted by a job analyst. Job analysts are people who collect
information about job content, how the job is done and the personal requirements needed to do
the job successfully. Smaller organisations may not have a specialist job analyst so the task
becomes part of the HR managers job portfolio.
4. Job analysis is described as a basic HRM activity. Why?
Job analysis is a basic HR activity because it focuses attention on what employees are expected to do.
Knowledge about jobs and their requirements is collected through job analysis. Job analysis may be
defined as the process by which jobs are divided to determine what tasks duties and responsibilities
they include, their relationships to other jobs, the conditions under which work is performed, and the
personal capabilities required for satisfactory performance. In larger organisations, this systematic
collection, evaluation, and organisation of job information is done by HR specialists called job
analysts. In smaller organisations it is generally part of the HR Managers job portfolio.
Organisations today are becoming more dependent on their human resources. Revolutionary change,
complex techniques and global competition mean increasing vulnerability. Organisations that fail to
have the right people in the right place at the right time are at risk. A proper match between work and
employee capabilities is now an economic necessity. HR Managers therefore need a good
understanding of work and the way it is organised. Job analysis and job design provide the foundations
for this knowledge.

5. What is the relationship between job analysis and job design?

Job analysis provides information about 3 basic aspects of a job
Job Content - describes the duties and responsibilities of the job in a manner that can range from
global statements to very detailed descriptions of tasks and procedural steps.
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 Job Requirements - identify the formal qualifications, knowledge, skills abilities and personal
characteristics that employees need in order to perform the content of the job in a particular
situation or context.
Job Context - refers to situational and supporting information regarding the particular job: its
purpose, where it fits within the organisation, scope data such as the magnitude of financial, human
or material resources managed; the availability of guidelines, the potential consequences of error,
the amount and closeness of supervision received or provided; and the work setting, cultural
context, physical demands and working conditions.
Job design looks at the content of the job, the material and equipment required to do the job, and the r
elation of the job to other jobs.

6. What is the difference between a job description and a job specification?

Job Descriptions define what a job is by identifying its content, requirements and context. Because job
descriptions provide a written summary of the duties and responsibilities of the job, they help
managers and current and prospective employees understand what the job is and how it is to be
performed. A job description is a written statement explaining why a job exists, what the job holder
actually does, how he or she does it, and under what conditions job is performed. There is no standard
format used for writing a job description. The format, in fact, will vary widely depending on
management preference and the uses to which the job 4. Job analysis is described as a basic HRM
activity. Why?
Job analysis is a basic HR activity because it focuses attention on what employees are expected to do.
Knowledge about jobs and their requirements is collected through job analysis. Job analysis may be
defined as the process by which jobs are divided to determine what tasks duties and responsibilities
they include, their relationships to other jobs, the conditions under which work is performed, and the
personal capabilities required for satisfactory performance. In larger organisations, this systematic
collection, evaluation, and organisation of job information is done by HR specialists called job
analysts. In smaller organisations it is generally part of the HR Managers job portfolio.
Organisations today are becoming more dependent on their human resources. Revolutionary change,
complex techniques and global competition mean increasing vulnerability. Organisations that fail to
have the right people in the right place at the right time are at risk. A proper match between work and
employee capabilities is now an economic necessity. HR Managers therefore need a good
understanding of work and the way it is organised. Job analysis and job design provide the foundations
for this knowledge.
descriptions will be put. Most job descriptions (in one form or another) do however contain
information on job identification, job summary, duties and responsibilities, relationships, know how,
.
problem solving, accountability, and special circumstances
Job Specification - job specifications focus on the personal characteristics and qualifications that an
employee must possess to perform the job successfully. The job specification is derived from the job
description. It identifies the experience; qualifications, skills, abilities and knowledge, personal
qualities and special requirements needed to successfully perform the job. The job specification shows
the HR Manager what kind of candidate to recruit and identifies what factors to assess the candidate
on. The job specification may be incorporated into the job description form or documented separately.
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Job Descriptions and Job Specification should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that they still
accurately describe the job and the personal requirements needed. This maintains the integrity of the
documents and promotes employee confidence in the job analysis process.

7. What is competency profiling? What are the arguments for and against its uses?
Competency profiling is a job analysis method that focuses on the skills and behaviours needed to
perform a job successfully. There are many criticisms of the use of competency profiling including:

The ambiguous meaning of competency

Its generic off-the-shelf nature
Its focus on the past
Its emphasis on technical competencies
Its assumption of rationality

It is also argued that competency profiling foster competitiveness and a more strategically focused
approach to HRM.

8. Explain the difference between job specialisation, job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment.
Job specialisation or simplification involves employees performing standardised, repetitive and routine
tasks. Advantages are improved operating efficiencies, the need for minimum on-the-job training, the
easy control of production quantities, fewer errors made by workers performing routine jobs;
ultimately resulting in reduced labour costs. The disadvantages include: repetition, mechanical pacing,
no end product, limited social interaction, no employee involvement, higher costs, and lack of
flexibility.
Job enlargement seeks to horizontally load a job by adding to the variety of tasks to be performed.
Task variety is assumed to offset some of the disadvantages of job specialisation and thereby increase
employee performance and satisfaction.
Job rotation increases task variety by periodically shifting employees between jobs involving different
tasks. It is closely related to job enlargement but instead of giving the employee more tasks to do, the
employee is rotated between different jobs. Job rotation aim to reduce boredom through diversifying
the tasks to be performed. If however, all the tasks are boring and routine, similar problems to those
found with job enlargement arise. In contrast, if job rotation is used to place employees in more
challenging jobs it can be effective for improving job satisfaction helping an employee develop a
generalist perspective, increasing skills and increasing workforce flexibility.
Job enrichment involves making basic changes in job content and level of responsibility. Through
vertical loading the employee is given the opportunity to experience greater achievement, recognition,
responsibility and personal growth and through horizontal loading the complexity of work is increased
to promote interest.

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9. What is the relationship between job analysis and job design?

Job analysis provides information about 3 basic aspects of a job

Job Content - describes the duties and responsibilities of the job in a manner that can range from
global statements to very detailed descriptions of tasks and procedural steps.
Job Requirements - identify the formal qualifications, knowledge, skills abilities and personal
characteristics that employees need in order to perform the content of the job in a particular
situation or context.
Job Context - refers to situational and supporting information regarding the particular job: its
purpose, where it fits within the organisation, scope data such as the magnitude of financial, human
or material resources managed; the availability of guidelines, the potential consequences of error,
the amount and closeness of supervision received or provided; and the work setting, cultural
context, physical demands and working conditions.
Job design looks at the content of the job, the material and equipment required to do the job, and the
relation of the job to other jobs.

10. What is the difference between a job description and a job specification?

Job Descriptions define what a job is by identifying its content, requirements and context.
Because job descriptions provide a written summary of the duties and responsibilities of the job,
they help managers and current and prospective employees understand what the job is and how it
is to be performed. A job description is a written statement explaining why a job exists, what the
job holder actually does, how he or she does it, and under what conditions job is performed.
There is no standard format used for writing a job description. The format, in fact, will vary
widely depending on management preference and the uses to which the job

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