Job Analysis Process

All businesses have daily needs and challenges to everyday, which is why Human Resource managers and other managers’ turns to Job analysis to help them plan efficiently and effectively. Job analysis an important practice widely used in today’s business. A thoughtful and carefully constructed job analysis process gathers information about the duties, responsibilities, and essential skills required to ensure that the proper persons are placed in the appropriate positions with the right qualifications to fulfill and perform the required job demands.Thoughtful collaborative planning, led by the HR Manager and staff, lends flexibility to the dynamic and constantly changing needs of the organization and the people who labor within. The purpose, process and method of job analysis is the subject of further discussion here to help understand the critical nature creating a true value add within the HR function. The Purpose of Job AnalysisJob Analysis and the information obtained is crucial to recruiting, selection and retention; training programs; performance evaluation and managing compensation; job design and redesign; and above all supporting management to meet the demands of efficiency and productivity. It is essential for the organization’s HR to understand what is needed, where and when to help fulfill the company’s goals and objectives, yet remain responsive to changing needs and circumstances.Job analysis certainly provides this highly beneficial insight in the following key areas: Recruitment and Selection: HR management uses Job Analysis to select the ‘best’ fit of applicants to positions. Job analysis assists HR in carefully identifying the most capable candidates possessing the most suitable education, advanced knowledge, and appropriate proper skills necessary to perform a job, or better, function. Training and Development: Job Analysis is also essential in determining the type, depth and quantity of training and deve lopment needed to integrate new-hires, enhance organizational and personal job  proficiencies and maintain current awareness and understanding of changing workplace initiatives.Continuing training and development goals are particularly well served to improve the employees’ knowledge and understanding of the required job duties. A good The Job Analsis system provides detailed tools to assist management in deciding which systems, tools and materials are needed to help accomplish training and development goals.Evaluation of Employees Performance: Measuring employee performance and productivity is essential to aid management in meeting company goals as well as hiring and retaining quality staff at all levels of the organization. Thorough, thoughtful and monitored Job Analysis process can be used to flexibly and objectively measure metrics and objective s to make sure that goals are being met, productivity maintained ensuring continuing company success.Compensation and Benefits: Objective Job Analysis allows ‘fair’ standards to be set for salaries, wages and benefits paid. The process underscores the value of employee experience, skills and growth with particular job requirements. With a good process in place HR can capably assist management in setting career paths, employee development, incentives, promotions, raises and so forth. The Process of Job AnalysisThe Job Analysis process will help companies intelligently align tasks and functions with ‘most’ qualified applicants, hire and retain them, all the while promoting efficiency and flexibility to meet the demands of a competitive marketplace. Staffing plans are best managed and derived in large part by determining and knowing how many employees are required for particular positions, match qualifications with pay, while setting performance measures.Establishing a dynamic Job Analysis process requires several important parts to be effective in meeting company needs, including but not limited to the following: Understanding & Embracing Job Analysis: Understanding & embracing Job analysis, even in small companies will help a firm identify and recognize the different methods of job analysis and data necessary to establish a solid effective system best suited to the company environment. Input & Analysis: An important first step is to determine who will be primarily responsible for job analysis.While usually managed by the human resource department, company managers, consultants, and even customers will have vital input and contributions. Choosing the appropriate process pays dividends later and is a vital way to self-inform management and HR as to priorities, benchmarks and the labor market. Establishing objective criteria early on in examining particular jobs, skills, an company needs establishes a good basis for managing the system and adopting methods best suited to do so.Planning & Decision Making: Any business process or system is only as good as the infor mation gathered and provided and every level of the organization could be rendered ineffective by too much, too little or irrelevant information with which to make important HR decisions. Obtaining meaningful employee feedback has long proven to be helpful but often overlooked. How much information gathered from inside and outside the organization is key consideration along with how information and data are recorded, presented and weighted.HR management and company management must pay attention to letting Job Analysis get to embedded in old information or become irrelevant to management decision-making processes. A Job Analyst: Even in small companies where employees wear various hats, it is critical to have a properly trained Jobs Analyst. The Analyst should have a thorough up to date knowledge of various analytical methods, research skills, be organized and a good communicator. Innovative experience, if affordable or desirable, would be a big help. Cost effective consulting could be a ready complement or substitute.Even if this function is ‘as needed’ or part time, the Analyst’s role will enable the function to remain useful and dynamic. Job Analysis Process Overview: Project and process information is routinely communicated within the organization in many ways. Identifying the communication channels, throughputs and outputs is much more productive than asking people what they do all day long and there are many psychologically barriers of all employees regardless of rank to answer interview questions and questionnaires honestly.While there is a place for such investigative tools, there is no substitute for observing, discussing and analyzing the skills necessary for a specific position matched against realistic management expectations and using modern methods to match with company requirements. Collecting the Data: Job information and functional data, such as available applicant qualifications, skills and abilities, job activities, duties and responsibilities, are collated so that all such needed and important is readily available in an understandable format to all recipients.The HR manager and management should be constantly searching for enhancements to recruit talent at all levels of the organization, even if not immediately required. Planning flexibly and with foresight can pay huge dividends later. Review, Validation, Monitoring: Similar to hiring, a diligent effort must be made to ensure that data and details collected for analysis are up to date, relevant and realistic and in presentable format.Review of all positions should be made objectively and at all levels of the organization. Feedback from a variety of sources is helpful. Deriving and Implementing Job Descriptions & Specifications: Generally job descriptions are referred to as tasks, duties and abilities (TDA). At this stage, no one, supervisors, managers, or job seekers should have any significant questions about the position. About the company and be nefits, yes, about the ‘job’ – not with a fully functioning, flexible and objective Jobs Analysis.Recruiting and retention are vastly facilitated by selecting proper candidates for positions by matching properly described knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics, known as KSAO. The HR manager, and department, having followed the correct steps for their company can now use Job Analysis processes to assist company management in performance measuring, turnover (and reasons for), earnings/costs, productivity, incentive programs, and most important as a ‘budgeting tool’ for human resource allocation.Care, however, must be taken not to let the process run itself. Continuous monitoring and review is required by all levels of management with HR taking the lead. By utilizing Job analysis, a company can standardize and build a dynamic, thoughtful and above all a flexible Job Analysis process, usually with nominal investment, and by engaging in th e process significantly aid in the achievement of company goals.Establishing a thoughtful process at any time will save time and money, matching the changing needs of the organization with quality and qualified personnel. The HR function can take positive proactive steps to identify quality employees with desired skills and education that match the skills needed by the firm while allowing for a variety of other value-added features to meet future demands of the firm, all starting with a Job Analysis process.