What is a Job Analysis? A simple way to make recruitment easier

Contents

Will your new employee turn out to be a pet – or a pest?
What's a Job Analysis?
Why bother to do a Job Analysis?
So how exactly do you a Job Analysis?
What other methods are there for undertaking a Job Analysis?

Will your new employee turn out to be a pet – or a pest?

“Mum, can I please have a pet?”

Do you remember asking that as a child?

I certainly do, and I’m pretty sure the immediate response was eye rolling, followed by a “we’ll see” or an “I’ll think about it”.

Even your young brain knew that you’d have to persist at your argument in order to stand a chance of winning. So if you were anything like me, you made sure that your oldies knew you meant business!

Chances are that you were so persistent that your parents knew that some action was needed. It’s very likely that they did a quick assessment as to what kind of pet would be suitable:

Would it need to be a high maintenance or low maintenance pet?
Should it be a fluffy, cute, cuddly pet – or something reptilian and exotic?
Where would it live?
Who would clean the pet’s living quarters – and how time consuming was this task?
Would the pet need any training?
How much would it cost to feed and house it?
Would it need any other equipment, and how much would it cost?

Yep, your parents probably thought of all of these things through before taking you to the pet store.

You need to be just as objective with your recruitment decisions

When your business is bursting at the seams and you need a new employee, like yesterday, it’s all too easy to be like the impatient child rather than the considered adult.

But just like buying the wrong pet can turn out to be a mistake you’ll regret, hiring the wrong employee can be an even bigger (and costlier) mistake. NB: if you had an article or web page on the cost of a bad hire, this would be a great place to link to it!

So rather than give in to the pressure, make sure you’re being objective and conduct a Job Analysis.

What’s a Job Analysis?

A Job Analysis is a process whereby you determine the duties and requirements of a particular role – and then assesses relative importance of those duties.

It’s important to note that the Job Analysis is conducted of the job, not the person.

Thus the product of the Job Analysis is a description of the job, and not the person… that comes later.

Conducting a Job Analysis is the very first step when you’re creating a new role within your organisation.

Why bother to do a Job Analysis?

The Job Analysis will impact on your decisions around training, compensation, selection procedures and performance appraisals. By having a Job Analysis, you can ensure that the resources you allocate to a certain job are suitable and relevant.

With a Job Analysis you’ll easily be able to make decisions on the following:

Determining training needs: Training content, methods of delivery and how to assess the effectiveness of the training. For example, a high level managerial role will have different needs to an “on the tools” type of job.
Identifying compensation: You need to ensure that the pay (and overall rewards structure) is appropriate to the skill levels, work environment, responsibilities, and level of education required for the role.
Choosing selection procedures: Thanks to the Job Analysis, you’ll have all the info on job duties and minimum education/experience requirements to write a good job advertisement. Plus you can determine interview questions and pre-employment tests, as well as collating suitable induction material for new hires.
Effective performance reviews: With the info from the Job Analysis, you can set appropriate goals, objectives, performance standards and evaluation criteria.

In short: a little time spent on the Job Analysis will save you a whole load of time (and hassle) further down the track.

So how exactly do you do a Job Analysis?

There are a number of ways in which you can do a Job Analysis. The easiest way is to give your incumbent employee (if you have one) a Job Analysis Template to complete.

The Job Analysis Template is a simple questionnaire that identifies job duties, responsibilities, tools and equipment used, work relationships and work environment. This template is then reviewed by the supervisor (or business owner) for accuracy. The incumbent may also be interviewed to ensure that the information in the Job Analysis Template is complete.

What other methods are there for undertaking a Job Analysis?

What happens if you don’t have an incumbent employee – e.g. if this is a new position? In this instance, you have a number of other options available to you:

Review of job classification systems
Task inventories
Checklists
Brainstorming needs.

Job Analysis techniques can be used individually or in combination. In reality, the method(s) you use will depend on the type of job, number of jobs, number of incumbents and location of jobs.

What happens with the information from the Job Analysis?

Once you’ve completed the Job Analysis, you now have the information you need to create a Job Description and Person Specification for the role you’re recruiting.

Because you’ve spent a little time doing your homework on the role requirements, there’s a far better chance that your new recruit will turn out to be a real pet. That is, someone who is a real asset to your organisation, and someone that’ll be a valuable part of your team for years to come.

Summary

The Job Analysis is the first step in the recruitment process, and feeds directly in to the Job Description and Person Specification.
The Job Analysis evaluates the role, not the person.
Conducting a Job Analysis helps you make the right decisions around compensation, training, selection procedures and performance reviews.
The Job Analysis covers job duties, responsibilities, tools and equipment used, work relationships and work environment.
Job Analysis Templates are an ideal way to undertake a Job Analysis, but if you don’t have an incumbent employee there are other techniques you can use.

Next step:

Would you like help with your next Job Analysis?

It’s easy to DIY with the Job Analysis Template, that’s all ready for you to use.
Buy the Job Analysis Template in Recruit NZ’s online DocShop.

Click here to go to the DocShop

Or would you prefer us to help you?

Contact our friendly team today to discuss your recruitment needs.