PART TWO Recruitment, Placement, and Talent Management

Monty Rakusen/Cultura/Getty Images

4
Job Analysis
and!the!Talent
Management Process
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Company’s
When you finish studying this chapter, you should Strategic Goals
be able to:

4-1 Define talent management, and explain what

talent management-oriented managers do.

4-2
Employee Competencies
Discuss the process of job analysis, including
and Behaviors Required
why it is important. for Company to Achieve
These Strategic Goals

4-3 Explain and use at least three methods of

collecting job analysis information.

4-4 Explain how you would write a job description,

and what sources you would use. ruitment an
Rec acemen d
Pl t

4-5 Explain how to write a job specification.

ent al
Environm Leg

Tra elopment
De
inin
v
Strategic and

g a nd
4-6 Give examples of competency-based job HR Policies and Practices
Required to Produce
analysis.
Employee Competencies
and Behaviors

Co
s
n

m
e tio pe
Rela ploye

W
ns a
hen Daimler opened its Mercedes-Benz Em tion

assembly plant in Alabama, its managers had

a dilemma. Their strategy was to create a high-
performance plant that Daimler could then extend WHERE ARE WE NOW!.!.!.!
Managers should know what a job entails
to other plants in America, South Africa, Brazil, and
before deciding who to recruit and hire for it,
Germany. The dilemma was that while plant managers so human resource management really starts
couldn’t hire, train, or pay their employees without with determining what the job entails. The
main purpose of this chapter is to show you
knowing what each employee was expected to do,
how to analyze jobs and write job descrip-
in!this plant self-managing teams assembled the tions. We discuss several techniques for
vehicles, and so workers’ tasks might change every analyzing jobs and explain how to write job
descriptions and job specifications. The
day. How do you hire people whose job duties are
main topics we address include The Talent
always changing?1 We’ll see what they did. Management Process, The Basics of Job
Analysis, Methods for Collecting Job Anal-
ysis Information, Writing Job Descriptions,
Writing Job Specifications, and Using
Competencies Models. Then, in Chapter 5
(Personnel Planning and Recruiting), we’ll see
how to actually find the employees you need.
98
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 99

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-1 Talent Management Process

Define talent management, For many people, Chapters 4–13 represent the heart of this book, speci!cally recruit-
and explain what talent ment, selection, training, appraisal, career planning, and compensation. Managers
management-oriented
managers!do.
traditionally view these activities as a series of steps:
1. Decide what positions to !ll, through job analysis, personnel planning, and
forecasting.
2. Build a pool of job applicants, by recruiting internal or external candidates.
3. Obtain application forms and perhaps have initial screening interviews.
4. Use selection tools like tests, interviews, background checks, and physical
exams"to identify viable candidates.
5. Decide to whom to make an o#er.
6. Orient, train, and develop employees so they have the competencies to do
their"jobs.
7. Appraise employees to assess how they’re doing.
8. Compensate employees to maintain their motivation.
This stepwise view makes sense. For example, the employer needs job candidates before
selecting whom to hire.
The problem with the stepwise view is twofold. First, the process usually isn’t
really stepwise. For example, managers don’t just train employees (step 6 above) and
then appraise how they’re doing (step 7). Instead (to use our example), the appraisal
may well also loop back to shape the employee’s subsequent training. So, !rst, rather
than view these eight HR activities as stepwise, it is best to view them holistically—
because the steps interactively a#ect each other and work together. The second
problem is that focusing just on each step may cause the manager to miss the for-
est for the trees. It’s not just each step but the results you obtain by applying them
together that’s important. So, second, it’s important to remember that each and every
step should be focused on achieving, in unison, some speci!c result (such as, say,
improving customer service).
Recognizing all this, the trend today is to view these eight activities not stepwise but
talent management as part of a coordinated talent management e#ort.2 We will de!ne talent management
The goal-oriented and integrated as the holistic, integrated and results- and goal-oriented process of planning, recruiting,
process of planning, recruiting, selecting, developing, managing, and compensating employees.3 What does this mean in
developing, managing, and compen- practice? The manager who takes a talent management approach tends to take actions
sating employees.
such as the following:
1. He or she starts with the results and asks, “What recruiting, testing, training,
or pay action should I take to produce the employee competencies we need to
achieve our company’s goals?”
2. He or she treats activities such as recruiting and training as interre-
lated. For"example, the manager knows that having employees with the
right"skills"depends as much on recruiting and training as on applicant
testing.
3. Because talent management is holistic and integrated, he or she will probably
use the same “pro!le” of required human skills, knowledge, and behaviors
(“competencies”) for formulating a job’s recruitment plans as for making selec-
tion, training, appraisal, and compensation decisions for it.
4. And, to ensure the activities are all focused on the same ends, the manager will
take steps to coordinate the talent management functions (recruiting and training,
for example). Doing so often involves using talent management software.
Talent Management Software
Employers use talent management software to help ensure that their talent manage-
ment activities are aimed in a coordinated way to achieve the company’s HR aims.
For example, Oracle says its Talent Management suite helps the manager to hire the
best talent, provide real-time evaluations of workforce performance, and “[a]lign and
100 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

develop your workforce with your talent management goals.”4 SilkRoad Technology’s
Talent Management Solution includes applicant tracking, onboarding, performance
management, and compensation support. It helps the manager to “"."."."recruit, man-
age, and retain your best employees.”5
K NO WLE

DG The Basics of Job Analysis

E
BASE Talent management starts with understanding what jobs need to be !lled, and the
human traits and competencies employees need to do those jobs e#ectively.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-2
Discuss the process of job What Is Job Analysis?
analysis, including why it is
important.
Organizations consist of positions that have to be sta#ed. The organization chart
(see" Figure 4-1) shows the title of each supervisor’s position and, by means of
connecting lines, who is accountable to whom, who has authority for each area, and
job analysis who is expected to communicate with whom. Job analysis is the procedure through
The procedure for determining the which you determine the duties of the company’s positions and the characteris-
duties and skill requirements of a job tics of the people to hire for them.6 Job analysis produces information for writing
and the kind of person who should job!descriptions (a list of what the job entails) and job (or “person”) speci"cations
be hired for it. (what kind of people to hire for the job). Virtually every personnel-related action—
interviewing applicants, and training and appraising employees, for instance—requires
job descriptions
knowing what the job entails and what human traits one needs to do the job well.7
A list of a job’s duties, responsibili-
ties, reporting relationships, work-
Just"about every employer today—from Marriott to Airbnb—uses job analysis and the
ing conditions, and supervisory job descriptions that stem from it.8
responsibilities—one product of a The supervisor or human resources specialist normally collects one or more of the
job analysis. following types of information via the job analysis:
ob s e ifi ations ● Work activities. Information about the job’s actual work activities, such as
A list of a job’s “human require- cleaning, selling, teaching, or painting. This list may also include how, why, and
ments,” that is, the requisite when the worker performs each activity.
education, skills, personality, and ● Human behaviors. Information about human behaviors the job requires, like
so on—another product of a job sensing, communicating, lifting weights, or walking long distances.
analysis. ● Machines, tools, equipment, and work aids. Information regarding tools used,
materials processed, knowledge dealt with or applied (such as !nance or law),
and services rendered (such as counseling or repairing).

President

Vice President-Sales Vice President-Production Vice President-Finance

Sales Manager Sales Manager Plant Manager Manager Internal Audits

Eastern Division Western Division

Sales Team Supervisor Production Supervisor Accounting Supervisor

Auto Parts

Sales Team Supervisor

Electricals

FIGURE 4-1 Organization Chart

 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 101

● Performance standards. Information about the job’s performance standards

(in"terms of quantity or quality levels for each job duty, for instance).
● Job context. Information about such matters as physical working conditions,
work schedule, incentives, and, for instance, the number of people with whom
the employee would normally interact.
● Human requirements. Information such as knowledge or skills (education,
training, work experience) and required personal attributes (aptitudes,
personality,"interests).

Uses of Job Analysis Information

As Figure 4-2 summarizes, job analysis is important because it supports just about all
human resource management activities.

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION Information about what duties the job entails and what
human characteristics are required to perform these duties helps managers decide what
sort of people to recruit and hire.

EEO COMPLIANCE Knowing a job's duties is necessary for determining, for example,
whether a selection test is a valid predictor of success on the job. Furthermore, to com-
ply with the ADA, employers should know each job’s essential job functions—which
requires a job analysis.

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL A performance appraisal compares an employee’s actual per-

formance of his or her duties with the job's performance standards. Managers use job
analysis to learn what these duties and standards are.
COMPENSATION Compensation (such as salary and bonus) usually depends on the
job’s required skill and education level, safety hazards, degree of responsibility, and
so on—all factors you assess through job analysis.
TRAINING The job description lists the job’s speci!c duties and requisite skills—thus
WLE
pinpointing what training the job requires.
K NO

DG

Conducting a Job Analysis

E

BASE There are six steps in doing a job analysis of a job, as follows.
STEP 1: Identify the use to which the information will be put because this will determine
how you collect the information. Some data collection techniques—like interviewing
the employee—are good for writing job descriptions. Other techniques, like the position

Job analysis

Job description and

ob specification

Recruiting and selection EEO compliance Performance appraisal Job evaluation—wage Training requirements
decisions and salary decisions
(compensation)

FIGURE 4-2 Uses of Job Analysis Information

102 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

analysis questionnaire we describe later, provide numerical ratings for each job; these
can be used to compare jobs for compensation purposes.
STEP 2: Review Relevant Background Information About the Job, Such as Organization
Charts and Process Charts9 It is important to understand the job’s context. For exam-
organization chart ple, organization charts show the organizationwide division of work, and where the
A chart that shows the organization-
job !ts in the overall organization. A process chart provides a detailed picture of the
wide distribution of work, with titles
work$ow. Thus, in the process chart in Figure 4-3, the quality control clerk should
of each position and interconnecting
lines that show who reports to and
review components from suppliers, check components going to the plant managers,
communicates with whom. and give information regarding the components’ quality to these managers. Finally, an
existing job description may provide a starting point for revising the job"description.
process chart
A workflow chart that shows the Work!ow Analysis Reviewing the organization chart, process chart, and job"descrip-
flow of inputs to and outputs from a tion helps the manager identify what a job’s duties and demands are now. However, it
particular job. does not answer questions like “Does how this job relates to other jobs make sense?”
or “Should this job even exist?” To answer such questions, the manager may conduct
or o anal sis a work!ow analysis. Work#ow analysis is a detailed study of the $ow of work from
A detailed study of the flow of work job to job in one identi!able work process (such as processing a mortgage application).
from job to job in a work process. In turn, this analysis may lead to changing or “reengineering” the job. The following
HR as a Pro!t Center feature illustrates work$ow analysis.

IMPROVING PEFORMANCE: HR AS A PROFIT CENTER

Boosting Productivity Through Work Redesign10
The Atlantic American insurance company conducted a work$ow analysis to identify
ine%ciencies in how it processes insurance claims. As the !rm’s HR director said,
“We"followed the life of a claim to where it arrived in the mail and where it eventually
ended up” in order to !nd ways to improve the process.11
The work$ow analysis prompted several performance-boosting redesigns of the
insurance claim jobs. The !rm reduced from four to one the number of people open-
ing mail, replacing three people with a machine that does it automatically. A new date
stamping machine lets sta# stamp 20 pages at a time rather than one. A new software
program adds bar codes to each claim automatically, rather than manually. The new
system lowered costs. ■

MyLab Management Talk About It 1

If your professor has assigned this, go to the Assignments section of [Link]/mylab/
management to complete these discussion questions. Based on your experience, what would the
workflow look like for the process a dry-cleaning store uses to accept and chronicle a new order of
clothes from a customer? How might this process be improved?

FIGURE 4-3 Process Chart

Information input Components input
for Analyzing a Job’s from plant manager from suppliers
or o
Source: Henderson, Richard"I.,
Compensation Management
in a"Knowledge Based World,
9th"Ed., © 2003, p.137. Job under study—
Reprinted and Electronically Quality Control Clerk
reproduced by permission
of Pearson Education, Inc.,
Upper"Saddle River, New Jersey.
Information output to
plant manager Product quality output
regarding component to plant manager
quality
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 103

In conducting a work$ow analysis, the manager may use a !ow process chart; this
lists in order each step of the process. The manager may convert this step-by-step $ow
process chart into a diagrammatic process chart. This shows, with arrows and circles,
each step in the process.

Business Process Reengineering The work$ow analysis at American Atlantic led to

business process a reengineering of its claims processing operation. Business process reengineering
reengineering means redesigning business processes, usually by combining steps so that small multi-
Redesigning business processes, function teams, often using information technology, do the jobs formerly done by a
usually by combining steps, so that sequence of departments. The basic reengineering approach is to:
small multifunction process teams
using information technology do the 1. Identify a business process to be redesigned (such as processing an insurance
jobs formerly done by a sequence of claim)
departments. 2. Measure the performance of the existing processes
3. Identify opportunities to improve these processes
4. Redesign and implement a new way of doing the work
5. Assign ownership of sets of formerly separate tasks to an individual or
a"team"who use new computerized systems to support the new arrangement
As at Atlantic American, reengineering usually requires redesigning individual
jobs. For example, workers doing date stamping must now know how to use the new
date-stamping machine.
Job Redesign Early economists enthusiastically described why specialized jobs were
more e%cient (as in, “practice makes perfect”). Today, most agree that specialized
jobs can back!re, for instance by sapping morale. Experts typically suggest three
job enlargement ways to redesign specialized jobs to make them more challenging. Job enlargement
Assigning workers additional means assigning workers additional same-level activities. Thus, the worker who previ-
same-level activities. ously only bolted the seat to the legs might attach the back too. Job rotation means
systematically moving workers from one job to another.
job rotation
Systematically moving workers from
Psychologist Frederick Herzberg argued that the best way to motivate workers
one job to another. is through what he called job enrichment. Job enrichment means redesigning jobs
in a way that increases the opportunities for the worker to experience feelings of
job enrichment responsibility, achievement, growth, and recognition—and therefore more motivation.
Redesigning jobs in a way that It does this by empowering the worker—for instance, by giving the worker the skills
increases the opportunities for the and authority to inspect the work, instead of having supervisors do that. Herzberg said
worker to experience feelings of empowered employees would do their jobs well because they wanted to, and quality and
responsibility, achievement, growth,
productivity would rise. That philosophy, in one form or another, is the theoretical basis
and recognition.
for the team-based self-managing jobs in many companies around the world today.
STEP 3: Select Representative Positions Next, with a job to analyze, the manager gen-
erally selects a sample of positions to focus on. For example, it is usually unnecessary
to"analyze the jobs of all the !rm’s 200 assembly workers; instead a sample of 10 jobs
will"do.
STEP 4: Actually Analyze the Job The actual job analysis involves greeting each job
holder; brie$y explaining the job analysis process and the participants’ roles in this
process; spending about 15 minutes interviewing the employee to get agreement on a
basic summary of the job; identifying the job’s broad areas of responsibility, such as
“calling on potential clients”; and then interactively identifying speci!c duties/tasks
within each area using one of the methods we describe just below.12
STEP 5: Verify the Job Analysis Information with the Worker Performing the Job and
with His or Her Immediate Supervisor This will help con!rm that the information (for
instance, on the job’s duties) is correct and complete and help to gain their acceptance.
STEP 6: Develop a Job Description and Job Speci!cation The job description lists the duties,
activities, and responsibilities of the job, as well as its important features, such as working
conditions. The job speci#cation summarizes the personal qualities, traits, skills, and back-
ground required for getting the job done.
104 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-3 Methods for Collecting Job Analysis Information

Explain and use at least three There are many ways (interviews or questionnaires, for instance) to collect job
methods of collecting job information.13 The basic rule is to use those that best !t your purpose. Thus an inter-
analysis information.
view might be best for creating a list of job duties. The more quantitative “position
analysis questionnaire” may be best for quantifying each job’s value for pay purposes.
Before actually analyzing the job, keep several things in mind.
● Make the job analysis a joint e$ort by a human resources manager, the worker,
and the supervisor. The human resource manager might observe the worker
doing the job, and have the supervisor and worker complete job questionnaires.
The"supervisor and worker then verify the HR manager’s list of job duties.
● Make sure the questions and the process are clear to the employees.
● Use several job analysis methods. For example, a questionnaire might miss a task
the worker performs just occasionally. Therefore it’s prudent to follow up the
questionnaire with a short interview.
WLE
K NO

DG

The Interview
E

BASE Job analysis interviews range from unstructured (“Tell me about your job”) to highly
structured ones with hundreds of speci!c items to check o#.
Managers may conduct individual interviews with each employee, group interviews
with groups of employees who have the same job, and/or supervisor interviews with
one or more knowledgeable supervisors. Use group interviews when a large number
of employees are performing similar or identical work, since this can be a quick and
inexpensive way to gather information. As a rule, the workers’ immediate supervisor
attends the group session; if not, you can interview the supervisor separately.
The interviewee should understand the reason for the interview. There’s a tendency
for workers to view such interviews, rightly or wrongly, as “e%ciency evaluations.”
If"so, interviewees may hesitate to describe their jobs accurately.

TYPICAL QUESTIONS Typical interview questions include the following:

What is the job being performed?
What exactly are the major duties of your position?

It is helpful to spend
several minutes prior to
collecting job analysis
information explaining the
process that you will be
following.
Hero Images/Getty Images
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 105

What physical locations do you work in?

What are the education, experience, skill, [and any certi!cation and licensing]
requirements?
In what activities do you participate?
What are the job’s responsibilities and duties?
What are the basic accountabilities or performance standards that typify
your"work?
What are your responsibilities? What are the environmental and working
conditions involved?
What are the job’s physical, emotional, and mental demands?
What are the health and safety conditions?
Are you exposed to any hazards or unusual working conditions?

STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS Many managers use questionnaires to guide the inter-

view. Figure 4-4 presents one example. It includes questions regarding matters like
the general purpose of the job, supervisory responsibilities, job duties, and skills
required.

PROS AND CONS The interview’s wide use re$ects its advantages. It’s a simple and
quick way to collect information. Skilled interviewers can also unearth important
activities that occur occasionally, or informal contacts not on the organization chart.
The"employee can also vent frustrations that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Distortion of information is the main problem.14 Job analysis often precedes
changing a job’s pay rate. Employees therefore often view it as pay-related, and exag-
gerate some responsibilities while minimizing others. In one study, researchers listed
possible job duties either as simple task statements (“record phone messages and
other routine information”) or as ability statements (“ability to record phone messages
and other routine information”). Respondents were more likely to report performing
the ability-based versions of the statements. There may be a tendency for people to
in$ate their job’s importance when abilities are involved, to impress the perceptions
of others.15

INTERVIEWING GUIDELINES To get the best information possible:

● Establish rapport with the interviewee. Know the person’s name, speak under-
standably, brie$y review the interview’s purpose, and explain how the person was
chosen for the interview.
● Use a structured guide that lists questions. This ensures you’ll identify crucial
questions ahead of time and that all interviewers (if more than one) cover all
the required questions. (However, also ask, “Was there anything we didn’t cover
with our questions?”)
● Make sure you don’t overlook crucial but infrequently performed activities—like
a nurse’s occasional emergency room duties. Ask the worker to list his or her
duties in order of importance and frequency of occurrence.
● After completing the interview, review the information with the worker’s
supervisor and the worker.

Questionnaires
Having employees !ll out questionnaires to describe their job duties and responsibili-
ties is another popular job analysis approach.
Some questionnaires are structured checklists. Here each employee gets an inven-
tory of perhaps hundreds of speci!c duties or tasks (such as “change and splice wire”).
He or she must indicate if he or she performs each task and, if so, how much time
is normally spent on each. At the other extreme, the questionnaire may simply ask,
“describe the major duties of your job.”
106 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

FIGURE 4-4 Job

Analysis Questionnaire JOB ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE*
for Developing Job
Descriptions PURPOSE AND INSTRUCTIONS
Source: Adapted from
[Link]/PDFFiles/ Because no one knows the job as well as the person doing it, we are asking you to complete this
Human%20Resources/ form. The purpose is to obtain current information on your job based on a review of job duties and
HR%20Forms/JAQ%20 responsibilities. We are not asking you about your job performance; only what your job requires
FORM_rev%20 you to do.
100809%[Link]; www
.[Link]/ EMPLOYEE DATA (PLEASE PRINT):
class/forms/jaq/[Link];
[Link]/human-
resources/forms/JAQ. Your Name: Today’s date
doc; [Link]/
hr/documents/.../Job%20 Employee ID:
Analysis%20Questionnaire
.doc (all accessed Location/Department:
July 24, 2013).
Your Job Title: Job Code:

How long have you been in your current position:

Work Telephone Number:

Supervisor’s Name: Supervisor’s Title:

SUMMARY OF DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Give a brief description of the main function/purpose of your job. This statement should be a brief
summary of the responsibilities listed in the next section.

Listing of Job Duties

What do you do on your job? Please list your job’s specific duties responsibilities in the space
below. In doing so:
Please list the most important duties/responsibilities first. Write a separate statement for each
duty/responsibility.
At the end of each statement please indicate the approximate percent of your workday (25%,
7%, etc.) you spend on that duty.
Please place an asterisk (*) next to the duties that you consider to be absolutely essential to this
job.

(Add additional duties as necessary)

Are there duties you are now performing that are not now in your job description? If so
please list them on back of this page. (Continued)
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 107

FIGURE 4-4 Continued

Minimum Level of Education (or Equivalent Experience) This Job Requires

What is the minimum level of education necessary to perform your job? Select only one please:
1. Elementary education.
2. Some high school.
3. A high school diploma or equivalent (G.E.D.).
4. A formal vocational training program (approximately one year), an apprenticeship, or some
formal college education.
5. An associate’s degree (AA, AS).
6. A bachelor’s degree (BA, BS).
7. A master’s degree (MA, MS, MBA, MPA).
8. A doctorate degree (Ph.D., MD, JD, EED).
9. Are you required to be licensed or certified to perform your work?

[ ] Yes [ ] No List type

Required Training on Job

What is the level of on-the-job or classroom training someone requires to do your job? Please
select one choice below:
1. No additional training required.
2. A day or two.
3. A week.
4. A month.
5. Several months.
6. One year.
7. Two years or more.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Do you supervise others as part of your ob? If so please briefly describe the nature of your
supervisory responsibilities.

PHYSICAL JOB DEMANDS

lease briefly describe this ob’s main physical demands. or example, does it involve Sitting?
Walking? Standing? ifting? Detailed repetitive motions? Climbing? Etc.

Working Conditions: Environmental and Safety Job Demands

lease list this ob’s working conditions, such as: air-conditioned office work outdoor or indoor
extreme heat or cold wet noise ob hazards working in elevated conditions etc.

EMPLOYEE COMMENTS

Is there any other information that would be important in understanding your ob? If so, please
give us your comments below.

SUPERVISOR’S REVIEW

Based on your understanding of the ob as it currently exists, please review the employee’s response
and provide your own comments in the space below. Please do not change the employee’s
responses.

* Copyright Gary Dessler, PhD

108 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

In practice, the questionnaire often falls between these two extremes. As illus-
trated in Figure 4-4, a typical job analysis questionnaire might include several open-
ended questions (such as “Give a brief description of the main function/purpose
of your job.”) as well as structured questions (concerning, for instance, education
required).
Questionnaires have pros and cons. This is a quick and e%cient way to obtain
information from a large number of employees; it’s less costly than interviewing dozens
of workers, for instance. However, developing and testing it (perhaps by making sure
the workers understand the questions) can be time-consuming. And as with interviews,
employees may distort their answers.

Observation
Direct observation is especially useful when jobs consist of observable physical
activities—assembly-line worker and accounting clerk are examples. However, it’s
usually not appropriate when the job entails a lot of mental activity (lawyer, design
engineer). Nor is it useful if the employee only occasionally engages in impor-
tant activities, such as a nurse who handles emergencies. Reactivity—the worker’s
changing what he or she normally does because you are watching—is another
problem.
Managers often use direct observation and interviewing together. One approach is
to observe the worker on the job during a complete work cycle. (The cycle is the time
it takes to complete the job; it could be a minute for an assembly-line worker or an
hour, a day, or longer for complex jobs.) Here you take notes of all the job activities.
Then, ask the person to clarify open points and to explain what other activities he or
she performs that you didn’t observe.

Participant Diary/Logs
diary/log Another method is to ask workers to keep a diary/log; here for every activity engaged
Daily listings made by workers of in, the employee records the activity (along with the time) in a log.
every activity in which they engage Some !rms give employees pocket dictating machines and pagers. Then randomly
along with the time each activity during the day, they page the workers, who dictate what they are doing at that time.
takes.

Quantitative Job Analysis Techniques

Qualitative methods like interviews and questionnaires are not always suitable. For
example, if your aim is to compare jobs for pay purposes, a mere listing of duties may
not su%ce. You may need to say that, in e#ect, “Job A is twice as challenging as Job B,
and so is worth twice the pay.” To do this, it helps to have quantitative ratings for each
job. The position analysis questionnaire and the Department of Labor approach are
quantitative methods for doing this.

position analysis POSITION ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE The position analysis questionnaire (PAQ) is
questionnaire (PAQ) a very popular quantitative job analysis tool, consisting of a questionnaire contain-
A questionnaire used to collect ing 194 items.16 The 194 items (such as “written materials”) each represent a basic
quantifiable data concerning the element that may play a role in the job.17 The items each belong to one of !ve PAQ
duties and responsibilities of
basic activities: (1) Having Decision-Making/Communication/Social Responsibilities,
various jobs.
(2) Performing Skilled Activities, (3) Being Physically Active, (4) Operating Vehicles/
Equipment, and (5) Processing Information. The !nal PAQ “score” re$ects the job’s
rating on each of these !ve activities. To get those scores, the job analyst decides if
each of the 194 items (such as one on using “written materials”) applies to the job
and, if so, to what extent. For example, within the “Processing Information” activ-
ity section, an item on the extent to which the job requires using “written materials”
such as books and reports might get a rating of 4. Since the PAQ scale ranges from
1 to 5, a 4 suggests that written materials do play a signi!cant role in this job. The
analyst can use an online version of the PAQ (see [Link]) for each job he or
she is analyzing.
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 109

One of the PAQ’s strengths is in assigning jobs to job classes for pay pur-
poses. With ratings for each job’s decision-making, skilled activity, physical activity,
vehicle/equipment operation, and information-processing characteristics, you can
quantitatively compare jobs relative to one another,18 and then classify jobs for pay
purposes.19

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (DOL) PROCEDURE Experts at the U.S. Department of Labor

did much of the early work developing job analysis.20 They used their results to com-
pile what was for many years the bible of job descriptions, the Dictionary of Occu-
pational Titles. This mammoth book contained detailed information on virtually
every job in America. Internet-based tools have largely replaced the Dictionary.21
However, the U.S. Department of Labor job analysis procedure remains a good
example of how to quantitatively rate, classify, and compare jobs. As Table"4-1
shows, the DOL method uses a set of standard activities called worker functions
to describe what a worker must do with respect to data, people, and things. With
respect to data, for instance, the functions include synthesizing and copying. For
people, they include mentoring and supervising. For things, basic functions include
manipulating and handling.
Each worker function has an importance rating. Thus, “coordinating” is
1, whereas “copying” is 5. If you were analyzing the job of a receptionist/clerk,
for"example, you might label the job 5, 6, 7 to represent copying data, speaking/
signaling people, and handling things. You might code a psychiatric aide in a hospital
1, 7, 5 in relation to data, people, and things. In practice, you would score each task
that the worker performed as part of his or her job in terms of data, people, and
things. Then you would use the highest combination (say 4, 6, 5) to rate the overall
job, since this is the highest level that you would expect a successful job incumbent to
attain. If you were selecting a worker for that 4, 6, 5 job, you’d expect him or her to
be able to at least compute (4), speak/signal (6), and tend (5). If you were comparing
jobs for pay purposes, a 4, 6, 5 job should rank higher (see Table 4-1) than a 6, 8, 6
job. The manager can then present a summary of the job along with its 3-digit rating
on a form such as in Figure 4-5.22

Online Job Analysis Methods23

Employers also use online job analysis methods. Here the human resource depart-
ment generally distributes standardized job analysis questionnaires to geographi-
cally disbursed employees online, with instructions to complete the forms and return
them by a particular date. The job analyst may then convene, online, job experts to

TABLE 4-1 Basic Department of Labor Worker Functions

data People Things
Basic Activities 0 Synthesizing 0 Mentoring 0 Setting up
1 Coordinating 1 Negotiating 1 Precision working
2 Analyzing 2 Instructing 2 Operating/controlling
3 Compiling 3 Supervising 3 Driving/operating
4 Computing 4 Diverting 4 Manipulating
5 Copying 5 Persuading 5 Tending
6 Comparing 6 Speaking/signaling 6 Feeding/o#bearing
7 Serving 7 Handling
8 Taking instructions/helping

Note: Determine employee’s job “score” on data, people, and things by observing his or her job
and determining, for each of the three categories, which of the basic functions illustrates the per-
son’s job. “0” is high; “6,” “8,” and “7” are lows in each column.
110 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

FIGURE 4-5 Sample Report

Based on Department
of Labor Job Analysis Job Analysis Schedule
Technique DOUGH MIXER
1. Established Job Title
(bake prod.)
2. Ind. Assign
3. SIC Code(s) and Title(s) 2051 Bread and other bakery products

4. JOB SUMMARY:
Operates mixing machine to mix ingredients for
straight and sponge (yeast) doughs according to
established formulas, directs other workers in
fermentation of dough, and curls dough into
pieces with hand cutter.

5. WORK PERFORMED RATINGS:

D P (T)
Worker Functions Data People Things
5 6 2

Work Field Cooking, Food Preparing

6. WORKER TRAITS RATING (to be filled in by analyst):

Training time required
Aptitudes
Temperaments
Interests
Physical demands
Environment conditions

discuss and !nalize the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics doing the
job"requires.24
Without a job analyst actually sitting there with the employee or supervisor, there’s
a chance they won’t cover important points or that misunderstandings arise. Therefore,
all instructions should be clear, and test the process !rst.
The U.S. Navy used Internet-based job analysis.25 To keep ambiguities to a mini-
mum, it had the employees complete structured online job analysis forms step by step
and duty by duty, as follows:
● First, the online form lists a set of work activities (such as “Getting Information”
and “Monitor Processes”) from the Department of Labor O*NET work activities
list (see Figure 4-6).26
● Next, the form directs employees to select those work activities that are impor-
tant to their job.
● Then, the form asks them to list actual duties of their jobs that !t each of those
selected work activities. For example, suppose an employee chose “Getting
Information” as an important work activity. Now he or she would list next to
“Getting Information” speci!c job duties, such as “bring new orders from our
vendors to the boss’s attention.”
Again, the main caveat with online job analysis is to strip the process of ambiguities.
The Navy’s online method proved e#ective.27
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 111

FIGURE 4-6 O*NET

Generalized Work
Activities Categories
Note: The U.S. Navy employees
were asked to indicate if their
jobs required them to engage in
work activities such as: Getting
Information; Monitoring
Processes; Identifying Objects;
Inspecting Equipment; and
Estimating Quanti!able
Characteristics.
Source: From O*NET Web site,
[Link].

MyLab Management Apply It!

If your professor has assigned this activity, go to the Assignments section of [Link]/
mylab/management to complete the video exercise.

WLE
Writing Job Descriptions
K NO

DG

The most important product of job analysis is the job description. A job descrip-
E

BASE tion is a written statement of what the worker actually does, how he or she does it,
and what the job’s working conditions are. You use this information to write a job
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-4 speci!cation; this lists the knowledge, abilities, and skills required to perform the job
satisfactorily.28
Explain how you would write
a job description, and what
sources you would use. HR in Action at the Hotel Paris In reviewing the Hotel Paris’s employment systems, the HR
manager was concerned that virtually all the company’s job descriptions were out of date, and
that many jobs had no descriptions at all. She knew that without accurate job descriptions, all her
improvement efforts would be in vain. To see how this was handled, see the case on page 127 of
this chapter.

Diversity Counts
You might assume that job descriptions are only of use in business settings, but that’s
not the case. For example, for parents who want the best care for their kids, writing up
a job description before hiring a child-care worker could be quite useful. For instance,
because what children learn when they’re very young predicts their future academic
and career success, facilitating early-childhood learning is a crucial task for many care-
givers.29 And yet because few parents think through and write a job description before
recruiting their child-care workers, many hire this important person not clearly crystal-
lizing what they want this person to do—including, for instance, facilitating learning.
112 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

A well-thought-out job description might bene!t everyone involved. The parent—

knowing that supporting early-childhood learning is so important—might put more
e#ort into !nding and training the child’s caregiver (95% of whom are women). The
child might bene!t from a more nurturing learning environment. And the caregiver
would gain if, after recognizing how many challenging tasks she is responsible for, the
parent would raise her salary from the current national average of about $19,000 per
year—just about the poverty level for a family of three. ■
There is no standard format for writing a job description. However, most descrip-
tions contain sections that cover:
1. Job identi!cation
2. Job summary
3. Responsibilities and duties
4. Authority of incumbent
5. Standards of performance
6. Working conditions
7. Job speci!cation
Figures 4-7 and 4-8 present two sample forms of job descriptions.

Job Identification
As in Figure 4-7, the job identi!cation section (on top) contains several types of
information.30 The job title speci!es the name of the job, such as inventory control
clerk. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) status section identi!es the job as exempt
or nonexempt. (Under the FLSA, certain positions, primarily administrative and pro-
fessional, are exempt from the act’s overtime and minimum wage provisions.) Date is
the date the job description was approved.
There may also be a space to indicate who approved the description and perhaps
one showing the job’s location in terms of facility/division and department. This sec-
tion might also include the supervisor’s title and information regarding salary and/or
pay scale. There might also be space for the pay grade/level of the job, if there is one.
For example, a !rm may classify programmers as programmer II, programmer III,
and so on.

WHAT’S IN A NAME (OR IN A JOB TITLE)? Some job titles are quite creative. For example,
Pinterest calls its designers Pixel Pushers, and its interns Pinterns.31 One study con-
cluded that employees who participate in retitling their jobs and who have more
descriptive job titles tend to be more satis!ed and to feel more recognized.32
The U.S. Navy discovered that the hard way. From the Navy’s earliest days, sailors
traditionally had descriptive job titles such as “electrician’s mate !rst class.” In part
to strip its job titles of gender-speci!c labels containing “man” or “men,” the Navy
decided to group all sailors with the same pay rate together, with the same (bland) job
title such as “petty o%cer !rst class.”33 An uproar ensued. A petition with over 100,000
signatures got to the White House. The Navy returned to its traditional job titles.

Job Summary
The job summary should summarize the essence of the job, and should include
only its major functions or activities. Thus (in Figure 4-7), the telesales rep “"."."."is
responsible for selling college textbooks.".".".” For the job of mailroom supervisor,
“the mailroom supervisor receives, sorts, and delivers all incoming mail properly,
and he"or she handles all outgoing mail including the accurate and timely posting
of such mail.”34
Some experts state unequivocally that “one item frequently found that should
never be included in a job description is a ‘cop-out clause’ like ‘other duties, as
assigned,’”35 since this leaves open the nature of the job. Finally, state in the summary
that the employee is expected to carry out his or her duties e%ciently, attentively, and
conscientiously.
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 113

JOB TITLE: Telesales Respresentative JOB CODE: 100001

RECOMMENDED SALARY GRADE: EXEMPT/NONEXEMPT STATUS: Nonexempt
JOB FAMILY: Sales EEOC: Sales Workers
DIVISION: Higher Education REPORTS TO: District Sales Manager
DEPARTMENT: In-House Sales LOCATION: Boston
DATE: April 2013

SUMMARY (Write a brief summary of job.)

The person in this position is responsible for selling college textbooks, software, and multimedia products to professors,
via incoming and outgoing telephone calls, and to carry out selling strategies to meet sales goals in assigned territories of
smaller colleges and universities. In addition, the individual in this position will be responsible for generating a designated
amount of editorial leads and communicating to the publishing groups product feedback and market trends observed in
the assigned territory.
SCOPE AND IMPACT OF JOB
Dollar responsibilities (budget and/or revenue)

The person in this position is responsible for generating approximately $2 million in revenue, for meeting operating expense
budget of approximately $4000, and a sampling budget of approximately 10,000 units.

Supervisory responsibilities (direct and indirect)

None
Other

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE (Knowledge and experience necessary to do job)

Related work experience
Prior sales or publishing experience preferred. One year of company experience in a customer service or marketing
function with broad knowledge of company products and services is desirable.
Formal education or equivalent
Bachelor’s degree with strong academic performance or work equivalent experience.
Skills
Must have strong organizational and persuasive skills. Must have excellent verbal and written communications skills
and must be PC proficient.
Other
Limited travel required (approx 5%)

(Continued)

FIGURE 4-7 Sample Job Description, Pearson Education

Source: Reprinted and electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Relationships
There may be a “relationships” statement (not in Figure 4-7) that shows the jobholder’s
relationships with others inside and outside the organization. The following presents
some illustrative relationships for a human resource manager.36
114 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES (List in order of importance and list amount of time spent on task.)

Driving Sales (60%)

Achieve quantitative sales goal for assigned territory of smaller colleges and universities.
Determine sales priorities and strategies for territory and develop a plan for implementing those strategies.
Conduct 15–20 professor interviews per day during the academic sales year that accomplishes those priorities.
Conduct product presentations (including texts, software, and Web site); effectively articulate author’s central
vision of key titles; conduct sales interviews using the PSS model; conduct walk-through of books and
technology.
Employ telephone selling techniques and strategies.
Sample products to appropriate faculty, making strategic use of assigned sampling budgets.
C ose c ass test adoptions or first edition products.
Negotiate custom publishing and special packaging agreements within company guidelines.
Initiate and conduct in-person faculty presentations and selling trips as appropriate to maximize sales with the
strategic use of travel budget. Also use internal resources to support the territory sales goals.
Plan and execute in-territory special selling events and book-fairs.
Develop and implement in-territory promotional campaigns and targeted email campaigns.

Publishing (editorial/marketing) 25%

Report, track, and sign editorial projects.
at er and communicate si nificant mar et eedbac and in ormation to pub is in roups.

Territory Management 15%

Track and report all pending and closed business in assigned database.
Maintain records of customer sales interviews and adoption situations in assigned database.
Manage operating budget strategically.
Submit territory itineraries, sales plans, and sales forecasts as assigned.
Provide superior customer service and maintain professional bookstore relations in assigned territory.

Decision-Making Responsibilities for This Position:

Determine the strategic use of assigned sampling budget to most effectively generate sales revenue to exceed sales goals.
Determine the priority of customer and account contacts to achieve maximum sales potential.
Determine where in-person presentations and special selling events would be most effective to generate the most sales.

Submitted By: Jim Smith, District Sales Manager Date: April 10, 2013

Approval: Date:

Human Resources: Date:

Corporate Compensation: Date:

FIGURE 4-7 Continued

Reports to: Vice president of employee relations.

Supervises: Human resource clerk, test administrator, labor relations director,
and one secretary.
Works with: All department managers and executive management.
Outside the company: Employment agencies, executive recruiting
!rms, union"representatives, state and federal employment o%ces, and
various"vendors.37
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 115

FIGURE 4-8 Marketing

Manager Description
from Standard
O ational lassifi ation
Source: U.S. Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics.

Responsibilities and Duties

This is the heart of the job description. It should present a list of the job’s respon-
sibilities and duties. As in Figure 4-7, list each of the job’s major duties separately,
and describe"it"in a few sentences. In the !gure, for instance, the job’s duties include
“achieve quantitative sales goal"."."."” and “determine sales priorities.".".".” Typical"duties
for other jobs might include making accurate postings to accounts payable, maintain-
ing favorable purchase price variances, and repairing production-line tools and equip-
ment. This section may also de!ne the jobholder’s authority limits. For example, the
jobholder might have authority to approve purchase"requests up"to $5,000, grant time
o# or leaves of absence, discipline department personnel, recommend salary increases,
and interview and hire new"employees.
Usually, the manager’s basic question here is, “How do I determine what the job’s
duties are and should be?” The answer !rst is, from the job analysis; this should reveal
what the employees on each job are doing now.
Second, you can review various sources of standardized job description infor-
Standard Occupational mation. For example, the U.S. government’s Standard Occupational Classi"cation
lassifi ation O (SOC) ([Link]/soc/[Link]) classi!es all workers into one of 23 major
Classifies all workers into one of groups of jobs, such as “Management Occupations” and “Healthcare Occupations.”
23 major groups of jobs that are sub- These in turn contain 96 minor groups of jobs, which in turn include 821 detailed
divided into minor groups of jobs and
occupations, such as the marketing manager description in Figure 4-8. The employer
detailed occupations.
can use standard descriptions like these to identify a job’s duties and responsibilities,
such as “Determine the demand for products.”
The employer may also use other popular sources of job description information,
such as [Link]. Another simple solution is just to Google the job
description you want, by seeing online what others are doing. Thus, someone writing
job descriptions for marketing manager would readily !nd relevant online descriptions
using methods like these:
● Go to [Link] Then click Resource Center, then Recruiting
and Hiring Advice, then Job Descriptions. Then !nd the Marketing and Sales
Manager Sample Job Description.38
● Go to [Link]. Then click Job Descriptions, then scroll down to
the job description you’re interested in.39
● O*NET online, as noted, is another option for !nding job duties. We present an
example in the HR Tools for Line Managers and Small Businesses feature at the
end of this section.
116 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

TRENDS SHAPING HR: DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Thanks to social media such as LinkedIn, line managers today can do things for which
they formerly required HR managers. For example, (to paraphrase what someone
posted on LinkedIn): I hope some of you IT recruiters out there can help me to better
understand what I need to put into the job descriptions that I’m writing for the O*NET
developers and development managers I’m recruiting for. The !rst of many replies listed
12 tasks including: (1) Do technical skills match the desired job?, (2) What technical
problems were solved by the job seeker?, and (3) Did job seeker know about Cloud
Deployment?40 ■

Writing clear job duties is an art. For a teacher, for example, one duty might be:41
Incorrect: Ensures that students learn !fth-grade English with the aim of passing
the required common exam.
Comment: What the teacher does is ambiguous, and the expected process and
results of the teacher’s actions aren’t clear.
Correct: Studies past common English exams to understand what they typically
involve; prepares yearly, weekly, and daily lesson plans; presents each day’s
lesson clearly with follow-up questions to ensure learning; administers weekly
tests to con!rm learning; and counsel students one-on-one in class lessons
as"necessary.

KNOW YOUR EMPLOYMENT LAW

Writing Job Descriptions That Comply with the ADA
WLE
The list of job duties is crucial to employers’ e#orts to comply with the Americans
K NO

DG

with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the ADA, the individual must have the requisite
E

BASE skills, educational background, and experience to perform the job’s essential func-
tions. The"EEOC says, “Essential functions are the basic job duties that an employee
must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.”42 Factors to
consider include:
● Whether the position exists to perform that function
● The number of other employees available to perform the function
● The degree of expertise or skill required to perform the function
● Whether employees in the position are actually required to perform the
function43
● What the degree of expertise or skill required to perform the function is44
As an example, answering calls and directing visitors to the proper o%ces might
be essential functions for a receptionist. The EEOC says it will consider both the
employer’s judgment about which functions are essential, and a written job description
prepared before advertising or interviewing for a job as evidence of essential functions.
Other evidence includes the actual work experience of present or past employees in
the job, the time spent performing a function, and the consequences of not requiring
that function.
If the disabled individual can’t perform the job as currently structured, the employer
is required to make a “reasonable accommodation,” unless doing so would present an
“undue hardship.” The EEOC says reasonable accommodation may include:
● acquiring or modifying equipment or devices,
● part-time or modi!ed work schedules,
● adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials, or policies,
● providing readers and interpreters, and
● making the workplace readily accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. ■
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 117

Standards of Performance and Working Conditions

A “standards of performance” section lists the standards the company expects the
employee to achieve for each of the job description’s main duties and responsibilities.
One way to set standards is to !nish the statement, “I will be completely satis!ed with
your work when".".".".” This sentence, completed for each duty, should produce a usable
set of performance standards. For example:
Duty: Accurately Posting Accounts Payable
1. Post all invoices received within the same working day.
2. Route all invoices to the proper department managers for approval no later than
the day following receipt.
3. Commit an average of no more than three posting errors per month.
Finally, the job description may list the job’s working conditions, such as noise level
or hazardous conditions.

IMPROVING PERFORMANCE: HR TOOLS FOR LINE MANAGERS

AND SMALL BUSINESSES
Using O*NET
Without their own job analysts or even HR managers, many small business owners face
two hurdles when doing job analyses. First, most need a more streamlined approach
than those provided by questionnaires like Figure 4-4. Second is the concern that, in
writing their job descriptions, they’ll overlook duties that should be assigned. What
they need is an encyclopedia listing all the possible positions they might encounter,
including a list of the duties normally assigned to these positions.
The small business owner has at least three options. The Standard Occupational
Classi#cation, mentioned earlier, provides detailed descriptions of thousands of
jobs and their human requirements. Web sites like [Link] provide
customizable descriptions by title and industry. And the Department of Labor’s
O*NET is a third alternative. We’ll focus here on how to write a job description using
O*NET ([Link] It is free to use.

O*NET
The U.S. Department of Labor’s online occupational information network, called
O*NET, enables anyone to see the most important characteristics of various occupations,
as well as the experience, education, and knowledge required to do each job well. Both the
Standard Occupational Classi!cation and O*NET list the speci!c duties associated with
numerous occupations. O*NET also lists skills, including basic skills such as reading and
writing, process skills such as critical thinking, and transferable skills such as persuasion
and negotiation.46 An O*NET job listing also includes information on worker require-
ments (required knowledge, for instance), occupation requirements (such as compiling,
coding, and categorizing data, for instance), and experience requirements (including edu-
cation and job training). Employers and career planners also use O*NET to check the
job’s labor market characteristics, such as employment projections and earnings data.47
The steps in using O*NET to facilitate writing a job description follow.

STEP 1. Review Your Plan. Ideally, the jobs you need should $ow from your depart-
mental or company plans. Do you plan to enter or exit businesses? What do you expect
your sales to be in the next few years? What departments will have to be expanded or
reduced? What kinds of new positions will you need?

STEP [Link] an Organization Chart. Start with the organization as it is now. Then
produce a chart showing how you want it to look in a year or two. Microsoft O%ce
and others o#er free tools.48
118 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

STEP 3. Use a Job Analysis Questionnaire. Next, gather information about each
job’s duties. (You can use job analysis questionnaires, such as those shown in
Figures 4-4 and 4-9.)

STEP 4. Obtain Job Duties from O*NET. The list of job duties you uncovered through
the job analysis in step 3 may or may not be complete. We’ll therefore use O*NET to
compile a more complete list. (Refer to the A, B, and C examples pictured.)

Source: Reprinted by permission of

O*NET OnLine.

A (above)

B (above)

C (above)
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 119

Start by going to [Link]/49 (A). Here, click on Find Occupations.

Assume you want to create job descriptions for a retail salesperson. Key Retail Sales
in the Industry Keyword drop-down box. This brings you to the Occupations match-
ing “retail sales” page (B).50
Clicking on the Retail Salespersons summary produces the job summary and spe-
ci!c occupational duties for retail salespersons (C).51 For a small store, you might want
to combine the duties of the “retail salesperson” with those of “!rst-line supervisors/
managers of retail sales workers.”
STEP 5. List the Job’s Human Requirements from O*NET. Next, return to the summary
for Retail salespersons (C). Here, click, for example, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.
Use this information to help develop a job speci!cation for your job. Use this informa-
tion for recruiting, selecting, and training your employees.
STEP 6. Finalize the Job Description. Finally, perhaps using Figure 4-9 as a guide, write
an appropriate job summary for the job. Then use the information obtained previously
in steps 4 and 5 to create a complete listing of the tasks, duties, and human require-
ments of each of the jobs you will need to !ll. ■

FIGURE 4-9 Simple Job

Description Questionnaire Background Data
Source: Copyright Gary for Job Description
Dessler, PhD.
Job Title Department

Job Number Written by

Today’s Date Applicable DOT Codes

I. Applicable DOT Definition(s):

II. Job Summary:

(List the more important or regularly performed tasks.)

III. Reports To:

IV. Supervises:

V. Job Duties:
(Briefly describe, for each duty, what employee does and, if possible, how
employee does it. Show in parentheses at end of each duty the approximate
percentage of time devoted to duty.)

A. Daily Duties:

B. Periodic Duties:
(Indicate whether weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.)

C. Duties Performed at Irregular Intervals:

 120 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

MyLab Management Talk About It 2

If your professor has assigned this, go to the Assignments section of [Link]/mylab/
management to complete these discussion questions. Pick a job that someone with whom you are
familiar is doing, such as a bus driver, mechanic, and so on. Review the O*NET information for that job.
To what extent does the person seem to have what it takes to do that job, based on the O*NET informa-
tion? How does that correspond to how he or she is actually doing?
WLE
K NO

DG

Writing Job Specifications

E

BASE
The job speci!cation takes the job description and answers the question, “What human
traits and experience are required to do this job e#ectively?” It shows what kind of person
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-5 to recruit and for what qualities you should test that person. It may be a section of the job
Explain how to write a job description, or a separate document. Often—as in Figure 4-7 (“REQUIRED KNOWL-
specification. EDGE AND EXPERIENCE”) on pages"113–114—it is part of the job description.52

Specifications for Trained versus Untrained Personnel

Writing job speci!cations for trained and experienced employees is relatively straight-
forward. Here job speci!cations tend to focus on factors such as length of previous
service, quality of relevant training, and previous job performance.
The problems are more complex when you’re !lling jobs with untrained people
(with the intention of training them on the job). Here you must specify qualities such
as physical traits, personality, interests, or sensory skills that imply some potential for
Filling jobs with untrained performing the job or for trainability. Thus, for a job that requires detailed manipula-
employees requires iden- tion, you might want someone who scores high on a test of !nger dexterity. Employers
tifying the personal traits identify the job’s human requirements either through a subjective, judgmental approach
that predict performance. or through statistical analysis (or both).

Specifications Based on Judgment

Most job speci!cations simply re$ect the educated guesses of
people like supervisors and human resource managers. The
basic procedure here is to ask, “What does it take in terms
of education, intelligence, training, and the like to do this
job well?”
How does one make such “educated guesses”? You could
simply review the job’s duties, and deduce from those what
human traits and skills the job requires. You can also choose
human traits and skills from those listed in Web-based job
descriptions like those at [Link]. (For exam-
Blend Images - Hill Street Studios/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images

ple, one job description there lists “Generates creative solutions”

and “Manages di%cult or emotional customer situations.”)
O*NET online is another option. Job listings there include lists
of required education, experience, and skills.
In any case, use common sense. Don’t ignore behaviors
that may apply to" almost any job but that might not nor-
mally surface through a job analysis. Industriousness is an
example. Who wants an employee who doesn’t work hard?
One researcher collected information from 18,000 employees
in 42 di#erent hourly entry-level jobs.53 Generic work behav-
iors that he found to be important to all jobs included thor-
oughness, attendance, unruliness [lack of], and scheduling
$exibility (for instance, o#ers to stay late when store is busy).
Another study, of over 7,000 executives, found that crucial
top-leader behaviors included: takes initiative, practices self-
development, displays high integrity, drives for results, and
develops"others.54
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 121

■ HR AND THE GIG ECONOMY DO GIG WORKERS NEED JOB SPECIFICATIONS?

Hiring nonemployee gig workers doesn’t mean the employer doesn’t need job descriptions and job
specifications. The employer must still ensure that the workers at least fit certain minimum requirements.
Therefore both yft and ber list “driver requirements,” which are essentially ob specifications.55
Driver requirements vary somewhat by location, but both Uber and Lyft require drivers to be at least
21, have a Social Security number and in-state driver’s license (at least one year old), have in-state
insurance, and undergo both DMV and national and county-wide background checks. For Uber the
background check also requires no recent DUI or drug-related offenses, or incidents of driving without
insurance or license, or fatal accidents, or history of reckless driving, and no criminal history. And your
car must pass muster. For example, it must be a four-door sedan, seat four or more (excluding driver),
be 2001 or newer, have in-state plates and be currently registered, and pass Uber’s vehicle inspection.

MyLab Management Talk About It 3

If your professor has chosen to assign this, go to the Assignments section of [Link]/
mylab/management to complete these discussion questions. Based on your experience, what
other human requirements would you say there are to be a good Uber or Lyft driver? Should the
companies add these as requirements? Why?

Job Specifications Based on Statistical Analysis

Basing job speci!cations on statistical analysis (rather than only judgment) is more
defensible, but it’s also more di%cult. The aim is to determine statistically the relation-
ship between (1) some predictor (human trait such as height, intelligence, or !nger
dexterity), and (2) some indicator or criterion of job e#ectiveness, such as performance
as rated by the supervisor. The basic procedure is predictive validation.
This procedure has !ve steps: (1) analyze the job and decide how to measure job
performance, (2) select personal traits like !nger dexterity that you believe should
predict performance, (3) test candidates for these traits, (4) measure these candidates’
subsequent job performance, and (5) statistically analyze the relationship between the
human trait (!nger dexterity) and job performance. Your aim is to determine whether
the trait predicts performance.
Why is this more defensible than the judgmental approach? First, if the trait
doesn’t predict performance, why use it? Second, equal rights laws prohibit using traits
that you can’t prove distinguish between high and low job performers. But, in practice,
most employers rely on judgmental approaches.

The Job-Requirements Matrix

Although most employers use job descriptions and speci!cations to summarize their
job-requirements matrix jobs’ duties and responsibilities, the job-requirements matrix is also popular.56
A more complete description of A"typical matrix lists the following information, in !ve columns:
what the worker does and how and
why he or she does it it clarifies Column 1: Each of the job’s four or !ve main job duties (such as post accounts
each task’s purpose and each duty’s payable)
required knowledge, skills, abilities, Column 2: The task statements for the main tasks associated with each main
and other characteristics. job"duty
Column 3: The relative importance of each main job duty
task statement Column 4: The time spent on each main job duty
Written item that shows what the Column 5: The knowledge, skills, ability, and other human characteristics
worker does on one particular job (KSAO) related to each main job duty57
task; how the worker does it; the
knowledge, skills, and aptitudes The main step in creating a job-requirements matrix involves writing the task
required to do it; and the purpose of statements. Each task statement describes what the worker does on each of a main
the task. job duty’s separate job tasks and how the worker does it.
122 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

Employee Engagement Guide for Managers

As noted earlier, the manager should not ignore, while writing the job speci!cation,
desirable on-the-job behaviors that apply to almost any job but that might not nor-
mally surface through a job analysis. Employee engagement is an example.
The human resource consulting company Development Dimensions International
conducted a study of 3,800 employees, and identi!ed several personal characteris-
tics that seemed to predict the likelihood someone would be engaged.58 These traits
included adaptability, passion for work, emotional maturity, positive disposition, self-
advocacy, and achievement orientation.
A sensible suggestion is to seek out people who already have records of being
engaged employees. Because past behavior is often the best predictor of future behav-
ior, one suggestion is that if you want to hire people who are more likely to become
engaged employees, “"."."."look for examples of engagement in other areas of life.”59
For example, seek out candidates with a demonstrated commitment to serve others,
such as nurses, veterans, and voluntary !rst responders.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4-6 Using Competencies Models

Give examples of competency- Many people still think of a “job” as a set of speci!c duties someone carries out for
based job analysis. pay, but the concept of job is changing. Companies today continue to $atten their
hierarchies, squeezing out managers, and leaving the remaining workers with more
jobs to do. Changes like these tend to blur where one job starts and another ends. In
situations like these, relying on a list of job duties that itemizes speci!c things you
expect the worker to do is often impractical.60
Many employers are therefore using a di#erent job analysis approach. Instead of
listing the job’s duties, they list, in competency models (or pro!les), the knowledge, skills,
and experience someone needs to do the job. Such models or pro!les (see Figure"4-10)
list the competencies employees must be able to exhibit to get their jobs done.61 In

FIGURE 4-10 HR Manager SHRM Body of Competency & KnowledgeTM

Competency Model
Source: The SHRM Body of
Competency and Knowledge. Behavioral Competencies
©2014, Society for Human Technical Competency Leadership &
Navigation
Resource Management,
Alexandria, VA. Used with
permission. All rights reserved.
Business Ethical Relationship
Acumen Practice Management
Effective
Individual
Performance
Global
Consultation Critical & Cultural Communication
Evaluation Effectiveness

HR Expertise (HR Knowledge Domains)

Successful
Business
People Organization Workplace Strategy Outcomes

Talent Acquisition Structure of the HR in the Business

& Retention HR Function Global Context & HR Strategy HR
Employee Org. Effectiveness Diversity & Functional
Engagement & Development Inclusion Areas
Learning Workforce Risk Management
& Development Management Corporate Social
Total Rewards Employee Responsibility
Relations Employment Law
Technology & Regulations*
& Data
*Application only to examinees testing within the U.S.
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 123

creating a competency model for HR managers, the Society for Human Resource Man-
agement describes a competency as a “cluster of highly interrelated attributes” (such
as research design knowledge, critical thinking skills, and deductive reasoning abili-
ties) that give rise to the behaviors (such as critical evaluation) someone would need
to perform a given job (in this case, HR manager) e#ectively. 62
The competency model or pro!le then becomes the guidepost for recruiting,
selecting, training, evaluating, and developing employees for each job.63 In other
words, the manager hires new employees using tests that measure the pro!le’s list of
competencies, trains employees with courses that develop these competencies, and
appraises performance by assessing the worker’s competencies. The accompanying
Strategic Context feature illustrates.

■ IMPROVING PERFORMANCE: THE STRATEGIC CONTEXT

Daimler Alabama
By 2020, Daimler intends to use its expanded Tuscaloosa, Alabama factory complex to start building
hybrid and (eventually) electric SUVs.64 That’s a step it could take because its original factory there,
which came on line about 20 years before, has been so successful.
In planning its original Alabama Mercedes-Benz factory, Germany-based Daimler’s strategy was
to design a high-tech factory.65 The plant emphasizes just-in-time inventory methods, so inventories
stay negligible due to the arrival “just in time” of parts. It also organizes employees into work teams,
and emphasizes that all employees must dedicate themselves to continuous improvement (seeking
continuously to find better ways to do things).
Such a production strategy requires certain employee competencies (skills and behaviors). For
example, it requires multiskilled and flexible employees who are eager to work cooperatively in teams.
Competency-based job analysis played an important role in this factory. Guidelines here regarding
whom to hire and how to train them are based more on the competencies someone needs to do the job
(such as “ability to work cooperatively on a team”) than on lists of job duties. Because employees don’t
have to follow detailed job descriptions showing what “my job” is, it’s easier for employees to move
from job to job within their teams. Not being pigeonholed also encourages workers to look beyond
their own obs to find ways to improve things. or instance, one team found a 0.23 plastic prong that
worked better than the one for 2. 0 the plant was using to keep car doors open during painting.
Building its modern “continuous improvement” plant meant Daimler needed employees who thought
competency-based job for themselves. Organizing its jobs around worker competencies and using competency-based job
analysis analysis helped Daimler achieve its strategic aims here.
Describing the job in terms of
measurable, observable, behavioral MyLab Management Talk About It 4
competencies (knowledge, skills,
If your professor has assigned this, go to the Assignments section of [Link]/
and/or behaviors) that an employee
mylab/management to complete these discussion questions. Specifically, what competencies
doing that job must exhibit to do
would you look for in a prospective Alabama plant employee? Why?
the job well.

How to Write Competencies Statements

The process for identifying a job’s required competencies (competency-based job
analysis—describing the job in terms of measurable, observable, behavioral competen-
cies) is similar to a traditional job analysis. Thus, you might interview job incumbents
and ask about job responsibilities and activities, and required skills and knowledge.
But instead of compiling lists of job duties, your aim is to !nish the statement,
“In order to perform this job competently, the employee should be able to.".".".” Use your
knowledge of the job to answer this, or the worker’s or supervisor’s insights, or use
information from a source such as O*NET, or from the Department of Labor’s O%ce
of Personnel Management (see [Link]). Then, for each competency write a
competency statement.
A good competency statement includes three elements.66 One is the name and a
brief description of the competency, such as “Project Management—creating accurate
and e#ective project schedules.” The second is a description of the observable behaviors
that represent pro!ciency in the competency, such as “continuously manage project
 124 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

FIGURE 4-11 Skills Matrix Level 6 6 6 6 6 6

Note: This is an example of
a skills matrix for technical/ Level 5 5 5 5 5 5
engineering product development
employees. The blue numbered Level 4 4 4 4 4 4
boxes show the level required for
each skill for these product devel- Level 3 3 3 3 3 3
opment employees. An accompa-
nying key would provide speci!c Level 2 2 2 2 2 2
examples for each level of each
skill, with di%culty increasing for Level 1 1 1 1 1 1
each skill level starting at Level 1.
For example, Level 1 for Technical Technical Decision- Interpersonal Leadership Commercial
Expertise/Skills might say “has or Expertise/Skills Making Skills Skills Awareness
is in process of acquiring the basic and Problem Skills
knowledge necessary to do this Solving Skills
type of job,” while Level 6 might
say, “Capable of conducting and
supervising highly complex ana-
lytical tasks requiring advanced
technical know-how and skills.” risks and dependencies by making timely decisions.” Third are pro#ciency levels. For
Source: Copyright Gary example (for project management from low to high):67
Dessler,"PhD.
● Pro!ciency Level 1. Identify project risks and dependencies and communicate
routinely to stakeholders
● Pro!ciency Level 2. Develop systems to monitor risks and dependencies and
report changes
● Pro!ciency Level 3. Anticipate changing conditions and impact to risks and
dependencies and take preventive action

BP EXAMPLE British Petroleum’s (BP’s) exploration division executives wanted to shift

employees from a job duties–oriented “that’s-not-my-job” attitude to one that moti-
vated employees to obtain the skills required to accomplish broader responsibilities.68
Their solution was a skills matrix like that in Figure 4-11. They had skills matrices
for each job or job family (such as drilling managers). As in Figure 4-11, each matrix
CHAPTER 4

listed (1) the types of skills required to do that job, such as technical expertise, and
(2) the minimum skill required for pro!ciency at each level. The !gure’s note shows
how to actually use the matrix.
BP’s talent management e#orts in this unit could now focus on recruiting, hiring,
training, appraising, and rewarding employees based on the set of skills employees
need to perform the job in question.

Chapter Review
Chapter Section Summaries
4-1. Employers today often view all the sta%ng and pay are goal-directed; use the same
sta#–train–reward activities as part of a single “pro!le” for formulating recruitment plans for
integrated talent management process. Talent a job as you do for making selection, training,
management is the holistic, integrated, and appraisal, and payment decisions for it; and
results and goal-oriented process of planning, integrate all the talent management functions.
recruiting, selecting, developing, managing, and 4-2. Job analysis is the procedure through which
compensating employees. Taking a talent man- you determine the duties of the department’s
agement perspective means: keep in mind that positions and the characteristics of the people
the talent management tasks are parts of a to hire for them. Job descriptions are a list of
single interrelated talent management process; what the job entails, while job speci!cations
make sure talent management decisions such as identify what kind of people to hire for the
 CHAPTER 4 • Job AnAlysIs And THE TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT PRoCEss 125

job. The job analysis itself involves collecting personnel. For trained employees, you’re looking
information on matters such as work activi- primarily for traits like experience. For untrained
ties; required human behaviors; and machines, personnel, you should identify traits that might
tools,"and equipment used. The basic steps in job predict success on the job. Most job speci!cations
analysis"include deciding on the use of the job come from the educated guesses of people like
analysis information, reviewing relevant back- supervisors, and are based mostly on judgment.
ground information, analyzing the job, verifying Some employers use statistical analyses to identify
the information, and developing job descriptions predictors or human traits that relate to success
and job speci!cations. on the job. Human traits that may predict the job
4-3. There are various methods for collecting job analysis candidates’ likelihood to be engaged and that the
information. These include interviews, question- manager might therefore want to include in the
naires, observation, participant diary/logs, and job speci!cation include adaptability, passion for
quantitative techniques such as position analysis work, emotional maturity, positive disposition,
questionnaires. Employers increasingly collect self-advocacy, achievement orientation, and a
information from employees via the Internet. work history that includes a demonstrated com-
4-4. Managers should know how to write job mitment to serve others.
descriptions. While there is no standard format, 4-6. With competencies models and pro!les, the aim
most descriptions contain sections that cover job is to create descriptions of what is required for
identi!cation, a job summary, a listing of respon- exceptional performance in a given role or job, in
sibilities and duties, the job incumbent’s authority, terms of required competencies, knowledge, and
and performance standards. It may also contain experience. Each job’s pro!le then becomes the
information regarding the job’s working condi- benchmark for creating recruitment, selection,
tions and the job speci!cations. Many employers training, and evaluation and development plans
use Internet sources such as [Link] for each job. Competency-based job analysis
.com to facilitate writing job descriptions. means describing the job in terms of measurable,
4-5. In writing job speci"cations, distinguish between observable, behavioral competencies (such as
speci!cations for trained versus untrained skills).

Discussion Questions

CHAPTER 4
4-1. Why, in summary, should managers think 4-4. Describe the types of information typically
of sta%ng, training, appraising, and paying found in a job speci!cation.
employees as a talent management process? 4-5. Explain how you would conduct a job analysis.
4-2. What items are typically included in the job 4-6. Do you think all companies can really do
description? without detailed job descriptions? Why or
4-3. We discussed several methods for collecting why"not?
job analysis data—questionnaires, the position 4-7. Explain how you would create a job-
analysis questionnaire, and so on. Compare and requirements matrix for a job.
contrast these methods, explaining what each is 4-8. In a company with only 25 employees, is there
useful for and listing the pros and cons of each. less need for job descriptions? Why or why not?

Individual and Group Activities

4-9. Working individually or in groups, obtain cop- in this class. Based on that, use your judgment to
ies of job descriptions for clerical positions at develop a job speci!cation. Compare your con-
the college or university where you study, or the clusions with those of other students or groups.
!rm where you work. What types of informa- Were there any signi!cant di#erences? What do
tion do they contain? Do they give you enough you think accounted for the di#erences?
information to explain what the job involves and 4-11. Appendices A and B at the end of this book
how to do it? How would you improve on the (pages 614–634) list the knowledge someone
description? studying for the HRCI (Appendix A) or SHRM
4-10. Working individually or in groups, use O*NET (Appendix B) certi!cation exam needs to have
to develop a job description for your professor in each area of human resource management
 126 PART 2 • RECRUITMEnT, PlACEMEnT, And TAlEnT MAnAGEMEnT

K NO
WLE (such as in Strategic Management that you believe would be suitable for inclusion

DG
and Workforce Planning). In"groups in the HRCI exam and/or the SHRM exam;
E
BASE of several students, do four things: and (4) if time permits, have someone from
(1)"review Appendix A and/or B; your team post your team’s questions in front
(2) identify the material in this chapter that of the class, so that students in all teams can
relates to the Appendix A and/or Appendix answer the exam questions created by the other
B required knowledge lists; (3) write four teams.
multiple-choice exam questions on this material

Experiential Exercise
The Instructor’s Job Description Figure 4-4 job analysis questionnaire for this
Written and copyrighted by Gary Dessler, PhD. purpose, and half will use the Figure 4-9 job
description questionnaire.
Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to give you expe- 4-13. Based on this information, each group will
rience in developing a job description, by developing one develop its own job description and job speci!-
for your instructor. cation for the instructor.
4-14. Next, each group should choose a partner
Required Understanding: You should understand the
mechanics of job analysis and be thoroughly familiar with group, one that developed the job description
the job analysis questionnaires. (See Figures 4-4 and 4-9.) and job speci!cation using the alternate method.
(A group that used the job analysis question-
How to Set Up the Exercise/Instructions: Set up groups of naire should be paired with a group that used
several students for this exercise. As in all exercises in this the job description questionnaire.)
book, the groups should be separated and should not con- 4-15. Finally, within each of these new com-
verse with each other. Half of the groups in the class will bined groups, compare and critique each
develop the job description using the job analysis ques- of the two"sets of job descriptions and
tionnaire (Figure 4-4), and the other half of the groups job speci!cations. Did each job analysis
will develop it using the job description questionnaire method provide di#erent types of informa-
(Figure 4-9). Each student should review his or her ques- tion? Which"seems"superior? Does one seem
CHAPTER 4

tionnaire (as appropriate) before joining his or her group. more"advantageous for some types of jobs
than"others?
4-12. Each group should do a job analysis of the
instructor’s job: Half of the groups will use the

Application Case
The Flood 10 old-timers, and his original factory supervisor, Maybelline. He
decided to meet with Linda Lowe, a consultant from the local university’s
Written and copyrighted by Gary Dessler, PhD. business school. She immediately had the old-timers fill out a ob
In August 2017, hurricane Maria hit Miami, Florida, and the Optima questionnaire that listed all their duties. Arguments ensued almost at
Air Filter Company. Many employees’ homes were devastated. Optima once: Both Phil and Maybelline thought the old-timers were exagger-
found that it had to hire almost three completely new crews, one for ating to make themselves look more important, and the old-timers
each shift. The problem was that the “old-timers” had known their insisted that the lists faithfully reflected their duties. eanwhile, the
jobs so well that no one had ever bothered to draw up job descriptions customers clamored for their filters.
for them. When about 30 new employees began taking their places, Questions
there was general confusion about what they should do and how they 4-16. Should Phil and Linda ignore the old-timers’ protests and
should do it. write the ob descriptions as they see fit? Why? Why not?
The flood quickly became old news to the firm’s out-of-state How would you go about resolving the differences?
customers, who wanted filters, not excuses. hil ann, the firm’s 4-17. How would you have conducted the job analysis? What
president, was at his wits’ end. He had about 30 new employees, should Phil do now?