Job Analysis

What job analysis produces

A job analysis has two outputs. The first is a task inventory: what the person in the job actually does, how often and how important each task is. The second is a list of KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics) that someone needs to perform those tasks.

From those two lists you can write an accurate job description, choose interview questions and assessments that measure the right things, place the job in a pay structure through job evaluation, and design training. Skip the analysis and every one of those outputs rests on a hiring manager's memory of what the job was like five years ago.

Job analysis methods

• Interviews with incumbents and supervisors. The most common method. Ask about a typical day, the hardest parts of the job, and what separates top performers from average ones.
• Observation. Watch the work, or listen to recorded calls. Very good for routine, visible work like warehouse picking or contact center calls; weak for knowledge work.
• Questionnaires and task surveys. Incumbents rate a list of tasks on frequency and importance. Scales well when hundreds of people hold the same job.
• Critical incident technique. Collect specific examples of especially good and especially poor performance. Excellent raw material for behavioral interview questions.
• Work logs or diaries. Incumbents record activities over a week or two. Useful when the work varies a lot.
• Structured instruments such as the Position Analysis Questionnaire, or occupational data from O*NET as a starting point.

In practice, combine two or three. A typical approach is to start from O*NET, interview a handful of incumbents and supervisors, then survey a wider group to confirm task ratings.

A worked example

A logistics company is hiring 200 warehouse associates for peak season and wants a short assessment. The HR analyst spends a shift observing pickers, interviews six associates and two supervisors, and surveys 80 incumbents on 25 tasks.

The survey shows that reading pick lists accurately, using a handheld scanner and lifting up to 50 pounds repeatedly are rated high on both frequency and importance. Operating a forklift, which sat in the old job description, is done by fewer than 10% of associates. The company drops forklift experience as a requirement, adds a five-minute scanner accuracy exercise to the screen, and documents the lifting requirement as an essential function. Applications rise and the essential functions list now holds up if a reasonable accommodation question comes up.

Why it matters legally

If a selection procedure has adverse impact on a protected group, the employer must show it is job related and consistent with business necessity. The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978) expect validation work to rest on a job analysis. A documented analysis is the first thing an expert will ask for if a test or cut score is challenged.

The ADA also turns on job analysis: whether a duty is an essential function affects reasonable accommodation decisions, and a written job description prepared before advertising the job is evidence of what is essential. Rules vary by state and country, so treat this as general information.

Common mistakes

• Asking only the hiring manager. Managers describe the job as they imagine it. Incumbents describe what they do.
• Listing everything. A good analysis rates tasks so the selection process focuses on what is frequent and important.
• Analyzing once. Jobs change with new systems and processes. Re-check high-volume roles every two to three years, or whenever the work changes.
• Confusing job analysis with competency modeling. A competency framework describes broad behaviors across many jobs. Job analysis is specific to one job and is the stronger basis for selection decisions.