JOB ANALYSIS AND JOB DESCRIPTION

The Talent Acquisition Process

Candidate selection process: 5 steps

1.​ Job Analysis
2.​ Sourcing
3.​ Recruitment
4.​ Screening
5.​ Selection

? What if an HR manager hires the wrong person or a line manager treats an applicant
unfairly?
→ The candidate selection process challenging and often cost the company money

1.​ Job Analysis:

Before searching for candidate, you need to know what job requires by creating a detailed and
accurate description of the role.
2.​ Sourcing:
Identifying candidates who are qualified to do a job by using proactive recruiting techniques
3.​ Recruitment:
The process of attractions, screening, and hiring qualified people for a job
4.​ Screening:
During a screening process, you evaluate applicants on many factors, their applicant, resume,
recommendation letters, and skill assessments
→ meet the qualification → INTERVIEW
●​ Fairness in the interviewing stage is critically important:
Diversity and inclusion must be integrated in any recruitment efforts.
Diversity like traditional recruitment, is based on a candidate’s merit and fit for a role → eliminates
bias in the selection process and provides all applicants with opportunity.
=> To achieve this goal, you and your org can examine all recruitment components, including
screening, assessments and selection systems to identify and reduce potential bias.
All recruitment activities soliciting, screening, and interviewing candidates takes place after the job
analysis has been completed.
5.​ Selection:
-​ In this stage, you choose the most qualified person from a pool of candidates.
-​ This step concludes the employee selection process
-​ The entire selection process is often a candidate’s first impression of your org → helps them
determine if your org aligns with their values and goals.
=> After the employee selection process is complete, you’ll proceed to hire and onboard the selected
candidates.
 Job analysis
A study of the major tasks and responsibilities of jobs to determine their importance and relation to
other jobs in a company.
In order to hire the right person for a job, you have to know what skills and abilities the candidates
need to have to be successful in the job.
→ A job analysis takes stock of this by determining exactly what a specific job is responsible for.
2 components: Job Description and Job Specification
1.​ Job Description:
Job Description is a written document describing an employee’s work tasks and responsibilities.
This statement details of tasks performed on the job and purpose of the job itself
When creating a job description, you include a job title who employee reports to and who reports to
them, the key duties they will perform, and the agreed upon terms of employment for the job.

Job Description:
●​ Job title
●​ Department
●​ Reporting Relationship
●​ Key Areas of responsibility
●​ Term of Employment

In some cases, JD might include personal characteristics. There may be a Bona Fide Occupational
qualification.
●​ Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ): a condition that is reasonably necessary to
conduct business operations.
○​ ex1: religious institutions may make a person’s religion a qualification criterion, or a
swimsuit company may only hire female models for female swimsuits.
○​ ex2: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a minimum age for pilots and
co-pilots and does not hire individuals over the age of 60.
Deciding on these qualifications and their inclusion and job descriptions must be very carefully done
in accordance with this Title VII exception
After identifying the jobs and main tasks and responsibilities the next step is to create a job
specification.
2.​ Job Specification: describes the qualification and employee needs in order to perform a
specific job.
Job Specification:
●​ Education
●​ Experience
●​ Training
●​ Required skills, knowledge and characteristics

Bank Teller Job Analysis

BANK TELLER
Description
Full-time bank teller who is responsible for processing all deposits and money in compliance with
bank procedures
 Reporting directly to the bank manager
Must have previous experience as a bank teller, a friendly demeanor, and a keen eye for detail
Tasks and Skills:
-​ Deposit cash and checks
-​ Examine cash carefully to ensure there is no counterfeiting
-​ Enter transactions into computer
-​ Explain bank services and charges to customers as needed
-​ Observe behaviour and report any suspicious activity to security personnel.

Job analysis techniques

Techniques in job analysis

●​ Interview s
●​ Questionnaires
●​ Observations

When you think of an interview between 2 people, you picture a direct intersection, right ?
→ One person ask question and other answer them
1.​ Interview:
Interview can either be a structured or unstructured

Structured Interview Topics Unstructured Interview Questions

uses detail checklist to ensure the uses open - ended questions to allow the
interviewer covers all the necessary topics employee to provide in-depth responses
during interview based on their experiences
●​ Background ●​ ex1:what are your most time -
●​ Interest in job sensitive responsibilities, and how
●​ Personal strengths do you prioritize them ?
●​ Hypothetical scenarios → this type of question allow the
employee to respond freely and for
the interviewer to ask follow-up
questions
●​ ex2: why are you interested in a
position working with us ?
●​ ex3: can you describe a time where
you overcame a challenge in the
workplace ?

The employee’s responses can reveal job duties that may be unassigned or missed
=> This provides an advantages to you HR team as you can use this information to accurately
develop/update a job description
Disadvantages:
Any misrepresentation during an interview can negatively affect the quality of the information you
gather and overall job analysis process.
ex: an employee might exaggerate the expertise or knowledge required for the job to make it appear
more challenging or desirable.
2.​ Questionnaires:
Questionnaires like interviews are common in job analysis and can be either unstructured or
structured.
When executed properly, questionnaire can be as effective as interviews
However, like interviews, questionnaires can be distorted by misrepresentations.
→ Type of structured questionnaires:
The Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ): is a tool that includes 194 job-related questions.
+​ PAQ is completed by either employee or supervisor. In their responses, they describe and
record information about the specific tasks, activities and competences required to perform
the role.
+​ You can also use standardized words provided by the US Department of Labor to create clear
and accurate question for a structured questionnaire
=> These consistent terms ensure the questionnaire captures the necessary information for each role.
3.​ Observation:
You will directly observe an employee performing their job. You can collect data about the task that
worker completes and the skills they use.
→ This method is the most accurate because it involves firsthand observation and provides a clear
understanding of the job requirements.
Disadvantage: cost money and time

__________________________________________________________________________________

RECRUITING AND TRACKING APPLICANTS

Recruiting and Tracking applicants
1.​ Recruiting:
-​ Recruiting activities such as soliciting and tracking applicants, and fair and transparent
practices fall under this stage of the funnel
-​ When managers identify the need to fill a position, they submit the formal request to HR
-​ In return, HR produces an employee requisition
-​ After creating a JD, that description is made available to interested applicants with the skills
and requirements needed for a role.
-​ Strategies to Recruit talent:
●​ Internal / External recruitment:
If existing employees have the skills to fill the role, this information can be collected and
stored in a skills inventory for future use.
Depending on the org’s circumstances, external recruitment might be the better strategy.
External recruitment involves sharing the job description with people outside the org through
various platforms (job boards, job fairs, social media, and community sites,...)
●​ Executive search firms: ~ headhunters
Executive search firms act as intermediaries btw highly skilled professionals and potential
employers
Because competitors often employ these professionals, headhunters can help companies avoid
accusations of poaching talent by using their vast professional networks to make introductions
However, headhunters come at a high cost. with fees ranging from 30% to 40% of executive
or professional salary hired for the position
=> Company should consider this strategy
2.​ Tracking applicants:
 -​ Using tools such as applicant tracking systems (ATS’s) to track job applicants throughout the
recruitment and selection processes.
-​ A small org might only need a simple filling system to track or manage applicants, but a
larger org need advanced system
ATS’s:
●​ help org maintain applicant records
●​ typically allow org to list job openings, gather standardize, analyze and compare applicant
information
●​ integrating ATS’s and HR Information system (HRIS) enables a simple transition from
candidate to employee, allowing org to use them independently or together.
●​ store data, use background screening providers, combine the org’s HRIS, and create reports
for review and government reporting.
3.​ Fair and Transparent Recruitment practices
-​ During the recruitment process, it is vital to treat all applicants fairly and to avoid practices
that can create a bias towards or against particular candidates.
+​ Nepotism: is one such bias.
●​ It occurs when people of influence appoint their relatives or friends to position in a
business, even though they might be less qualified than other candidates
●​ Employer subject to EEO regulations can face legal issues if they selectively hire
people they know rather than considering the entire pool of potential candidates and
ensuring the hiring process remains transparent.
+​ Competition:
●​ When the job demands specialized knowledge, skills and abilities, it increases the
competition for suitable candidates
●​ Alternatively, high unemployment rates make recruitment more manageable as many
qualified candidates apply.
●​ However, this also means that selecting the most appropriate candidates becomes
challenging
+​ Employer branding:
●​ For an org to attract qualified candidates. it must be perceived as a great workplace
●​ The org can achieve this through effective employer branding which creates a
cohesive and well promoted image that highlight the company’s strengths and sets it
apart from competitors
●​ these strength often include the company’s compensation, benefits, work culture, job
responsibilities, training, and growth opportunities.

Recruiting a Diverse Workforce

Inclusive Recruitment Strategies
-​ Inclusive job descriptions are an essential component, but specific strategies can also reduce
bias in recruitment.
●​ Pre-employment assessments:
-​ Hiring teams commonly use these assessments to discover if a candidate’s character traits
align with the specific role.
-​ Pre-employment assessments can also reveal whether a candidate is likely to succeed if they
join your organization.
-​ Measure different attributes and qualities that are important in a specific role.
-​ Through specially designed tests, they often evaluate job knowledge, integrity, cognitive
ability, personality, emotional intelligence, and physical ability.
 -​ To administer these tests, the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
(UGESP), requires that any task given to a job applicant should be reliable and valid.
-​ Pre-employment assessments may need to be adjusted to accommodate specific individual
needs.
-​ A well-designed assessment can streamline the hiring process. These assessment can highlight
gaps and experience, discover over representative proficiencies, and identify candidates with
diverse cognitive abilities. This knowledge about a candidate can foster better collaboration
among teams
●​ Blind resumes:
-​ Hide personal information and characteristics that are unrelated to the qualifications and
experience needed in a role.
-​ This information can include a candidates name, age, gender, ability, ethnicity, level of
education and educational institution.
ex: your company may hire candidates, ethnicity, or educational institutions to eliminate bias in the
hiring process and more fairly assess candidates.
-​ Blind resumes focus attention on an applicant’s qualifications and skills regardless of their
demographic background.
-​ It’s important to note the blind resumes do not guarantee diversity and inclusion.
-​ Your org should have a clear plan for blind resumes. what information should be hidden, and
why ? Automated HR software applications, such as applicant tracking systems, offer a
convenient solution for removing demographic information from an application.
Alternatively, you can manually cover personal information on printed resumes or use
spreadsheet applications.
●​ Employee resource groups: ~ affinity groups
-​ These voluntary employee lead groups bring together employees with similar backgrounds or
demographics such as gender or ethnicity.
-​ They promote diversity and inclusion through talent acquisition, employee engagement and
professional networking.
-​ Employee resource groups can take various forms, some groups may volunteerism or support
for a particular cause. Others may offer professional development and provide employees
with opportunities to share knowledge. These groups have well-defined purposes, activities,
budgets and roles in supporting your organization.
-​ Employee resource groups play a vital role in promoting and maintaining inclusive
recruitment processes. They should be constructed with your org’s diversity recruitment
strategy in mind, and be recognized for their contributions.
=> These recruitment strategies will help you build a more diverse and inclusive workplace. You can
use them to create opportunities for underrepresented groups, accommodate flexibility and
accessibility in the workplace, and strive toward an equitable allocation of skills and roles.
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP)

Example: Recruiting a Diverse Workforce

Alex (HR) complete the job analysis → job description + specification => external is the best option
No applicants → Alex reaches out to internal employee → Alex + HR team using “Blind resume”

-​ As a refresher, Connective is a modern communication company that helps businesses stay

connected. They specialize in helping distributed workforces collaborate with a suite of
software tools such as video conferencing and cloud-based phone systems.
-​ Alex from HR is working to fill a sales position. The sales team has been struggling to keep
up with demand after a big and successful marketing campaign. Last time, Alex completed a
job analysis and then rolled up the job description and specification. As Alex begins the
next round of recruitment, they know it’s important to build a talented and diverse workforce.
Alex has received a formal request from the sales team and produced an official employee
requisition. Alex and the sales team leaders have determined that external candidate is
probably going to be the best option for this role.
-​ With the job description complete, Alex shares the job description with people outside the org
through job boards, social media and community sites.
-​ There aren’t any applicable industry job fairs coming up soon, but Alex reached out to several
colleagues to see if they have job fairs in the near future.
-​ Because the position is fully remote, Alex reaches out to members of the HR and sales team
to see if anyone is interested in attending and representing Connective.
-​ Alex prepares a set of spreadsheets and shared files for the applicant tracking.
-​ At Connective, there is a strict procedure regarding nepotism. That is to treat all applicants
fairly. No relatives of Connective employees are able to apply for this position.
-​ As a new initiative at Connective, Alex and the HR team are going to use blind resumes for
this position. Removing personal information and demographic information from the resume
will allow everyone reviewing the background to focus on the skills, experience, and
qualifications of the applicant.
-​ Though this isn’t a guarantee to introduce diversity. It is one of the many strategies that can
help. Alex has also let the company’s employee resource group know that this position is
hiring and some members have mentioned that they will share the job listing. Alex makes sure
to thank everyone participating for their time. Alex has made sure to take some steps towards
a fair and equitable recruitment process. There are more steps to take in the talent acquisition
process, but this is where we’ll leave Alex for now. Recruitment, and specifically recruiting a
diverse workforce, are two important aspects of building an org.