Job Description and Job Specification

Job Analysis is a primary tool to collect job-related data. The process results in collecting and recording
two data sets including job description and job specification. Any job vacancy can not be filled until and
unless HR manager has these two sets of data. It is necessary to define them accurately in order to fit the
right person at the right place and at the right time. This helps both employer and employee understand
what exactly needs to be delivered and how.

Both job description and job specification are essential parts of job analysis information. Writing them
clearly and accurately helps organization and workers cope with many challenges while onboard.

Though preparing job description and job specification are not legal requirements yet play a vital role in
getting the desired outcome. These data sets help in determining the necessity, worth and scope of a
specific job.

Job Description
Job description includes basic job-related data that is useful to advertise a specific job and attract a pool
of talent. It includes information such as job title, job location, reporting to and of employees, job
summary, nature and objectives of a job, tasks and duties to be performed, working conditions, machines,
tools and equipments to be used by a prospective worker and hazards involved in it.
Purpose of Job Description

 The main purpose of job description is to collect job-related data in order to advertise for a
particular job. It helps in attracting, targeting, recruiting and selecting the right candidate for the
right job.
 It is done to determine what needs to be delivered in a particular job. It clarifies what employees
are supposed to do if selected for that particular job opening.
 It gives recruiting staff a clear view what kind of candidate is required by a particular department
or division to perform a specific task or job.
 It also clarifies who will report to whom.

Job Specification
Also known as employee specifications, a job specification is a written statement of educational
qualifications, specific qualities, level of experience, physical, emotional, technical and communication
skills required to perform a job, responsibilities involved in a job and other unusual sensory demands. It
also includes general health, mental health, intelligence, aptitude, memory, judgment, leadership skills,
emotional ability, adaptability, flexibility, values and ethics, manners and creativity, etc.

Purpose of Job Specification

 Described on the basis of job description, job specification helps candidates analyze whether are
eligible to apply for a particular job vacancy or not.
 It helps recruiting team of an organization understand what level of qualifications, qualities and
set of characteristics should be present in a candidate to make him or her eligible for the job
opening.
 Job Specification gives detailed information about any job including job responsibilities, desired
technical and physical skills, conversational ability and much more.
 It helps in selecting the most appropriate candidate for a particular job.

Job description and job specification are two integral parts of job analysis. They define a job fully and
guide both employer and employee on how to go about the whole process of recruitment and selection.
Both data sets are extremely relevant for creating a right fit between job and talent, evaluate performance
and analyze training needs and measuring the worth of a particular job.
Training needs analysis
Introduction[edit]
Training Need Analysis(TNA) is the process of identifying the gap between employee training and
needs of training. Training needs analysis is the first stage in the training process and involves a
procedure to determine whether training will indeed address the problem which has been identified.
Training can be described as “the acquisition of skills, concepts or attitudes that result in improved
performance within the job environment”. Training needs analysis looks at each aspect of an
operational domain so that the initial skills, concepts and attitudes of the human elements of a
system can be effectively identified and appropriate training can be specified.[1]

Training needs analysis is most often used as part of the system development process. Due to the
close tie between the design of the system and the training required, in most cases it runs alongside
the development to capture the training requirements.

Design Integrated Training Analysis[edit]

Tools and methods for an integrated approach, Design Integrated Training Analysis, have been
proposed and developed. The trade-offs between design and training are both assessed in light of
the understanding of the operational tasks. This approach also uses information on recorded critical
incidents to review proposed training and to provide traceability between hazards and training. This
single, integrated approach to human factors and training needs analysis has been successfully
used on a number of defence projects.

Training Analysis Process[edit]

Over the last 20 years the critical nature of the man-in-the-loop has changed from simply manual
dexterity and procedural operation to a state in which their decision making, cognitive abilities, data
assimilation, communication skills, and attitude are all crucial. In addition the job structure of the
personnel operationally involved with modern systems has diversified in direct proportion to the
complexity of the technology. This has fueled the need for a formal approach.

The task of training can be broken down into a number of discrete components, each addressing a
different part of the overall learning process. This breakdown is as follows:-

 Psycho-motor Skills
 Procedural Skills
 Knowledge Transfer
 Communication Skills
 Colossal Thinking
 Attitude Learning
 Performance Training
 Physiological Stresses

The role of training analysis is to build a formal bridge between the available design data and the
training media and training objectives, in order to facilitate the transfer of trainingelements into the
operational environment.

For complex multi-user system a user-to-task map is often constructed to present the relationship
between the tasks and the identified team structure and also to identify new groups of users that
would need to have an understanding of the system. The training gap is assessed by a comparison
between the goals and tasks undertaken by the individuals and the existing training.

There is a wide variety of training media that can be used, ranging from traditional lecture-based
teaching to sophisticated simulators. Different media will be more or less appropriate for different
activities. It is necessary to determine the most suitable and cost-effective training media for the
different areas.

There have been many different approaches defined, however, the system approach to training has
been the most successful.

Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is defined as the “Identification of training requirements and the most
cost effective means of meeting those requirements”.

A TNA should always be performed where a major new development in policy, equipment
acquisition or procedures is deemed to have potential impact upon the current training regime.

TST has considerable experience of successfully employing the accepted techniques applied to the
development of training systems, including the Systems Approach to Training(SAT) in both the
defence and civilian domains using customer specific standards such as JSP 822 where required.

Carrying out all TNA activates in accordance with SAT principles ensures rigorous visibility in each
design stage with clear audit trails from the initial Scoping Study through to the recommended
solution.
 Training Evaluation
The process of examining a training program is called training evaluation. Training evaluation checks
whether training has had the desired effect. Training evaluation ensures that whether candidates are
able to implement their learning in their respective workplaces, or to the regular work routines

Techniques of Evaluation
The various methods of training evaluation are:

 Observation
 Questionnaire
 Interview
 Self diaries
 Self recording of specific incidents

Types of evaluation
Evaluating the Training (includes monitoring) addresses how one determines whether the goals or
objectives were met and what impact the training had on actual performance on the job.

Generally there are four kinds of standard training evaluation:

1. Formative
2. Process
3. Outcome
4. Impact.
1. Formative evaluation provides ongoing feedback to the curriculum designers and developers to ensure
that what is being created really meets the needs of the intended audience.
2. Process evaluation provides information about what occurs during training. This includes giving and
receiving verbal feedback.
3. Outcome evaluation determines whether or not the desired results (e.g., what participants are doing)
of applying new skills were Achieved in the short-term.
4. Impact determines how the results of the training affect the strategic goal

Evaluation Methods
 Evaluation methods can be either qualitative (e.g., interviews, case studies, focus groups) or
quantitative (e.g., surveys, experiments)
 Training evaluation usually includes a combination of these methods and reframes our thinking about
evaluation in that measurements are aimed at different levels of a system.

Formative Evaluation

 Formative Evaluation may be defined as “any combination of measurements obtained and judgments
made before or during the implementation of materials, methods, or programs to control, assure or
improve the quality of program performance or delivery.”
 It answers such questions as, “Are the goals and objectives suitable for the intended audience?” “Are
the methods and materials appropriate to the event?” “Can the event be easily replicated?”
 Formative evaluation furnishes information for program developers and implementers.
 It helps determine program planning and implementation activities in terms of (1) target population,
(2) program organization, and (3) program location and timing.
It provides “short-loop” feedback about the quality and implementation of program activities and thus
becomes critical to establishing, stabilizing, and upgrading programs.

Process Evaluation

 Process Evaluation answers the question, “What did you do?” It focuses on procedures and actions
being used to produce results.
 It monitors the quality of an event or project by various means. Traditionally, working as an
“onlooker,” the evaluator describes this process and measures the results in oral and written reports.
 Process evaluation is the most common type of training evaluation. It takes place during training
delivery and at the end of the event.

Outcome Evaluation

Outcome Evaluation answers the question, “What happened to the knowledge, attitudes, and
behaviors of the intended population?”

This project would produce both “outcomes” and “impacts.”

Outcome evaluation is a long-term undertaking.

Outcome evaluation answers the question, “What did the participants do?”

Because outcomes refer to changes in behavior, outcome evaluation data is intended to measure what
training participants were able to do at the end of training and what they actually did back on the job
as a result of the training.

Impact Evaluation takes even longer than outcome evaluation and you may never know for sure that
your project helped bring about the change.

Impacts occur through an accumulation of “outcomes.”