Deck 6: Job Analysis and Design

Question 1

Why is it important to conduct a job analysis on key jobs within the organization

Answer 1

Job Analysis is a systematic process of gathering, documenting and analysing information about the content, context, and requirement of a particular job. It is a prerequisite for outlining a job description and job specification. It serves as an important document for any HR professional. It helps HR to select the right person for the right job. It also helps to distinguish between an essential and a non-essential activity of an organisation.
Some key uses of Job Analysis are as follows:
Designing Job descriptions and Job Specifications - Job analysis serves as the basis for designing job descriptions and job specifications. The information gathered from a job analysis helps the management to decide the qualifications and attributes of the applicants. It helps in assessing the right set of education, experience, ability, etc.
Training and Development - Job analysis helps in ascertaining the required skills and subsequently arranging for the necessary training sessions for the employees. It helps the organisation in achieving its objectives and saves time and money. On the other hand it boosts employee motivation as it helps them moving up the career ladder.
Compensation - Information gathered from a job analysis helps the management to estimate the appropriate compensation for each job.
Discovering Unassigned Duties - Job analysis can help reveal unassigned duties and subsequently filling the gap.
Job Appraisals - Since it serves as a benchmark, performance is measured against the description given in the analysis.
Strategic Planning - A well-defined job analysis helps organisations to deal with contingencies, unpleasant environment, major changes, etc. it assists in the major functions of management i.e. planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling.
Boosts Employee Morale - It provides information that permits an employee to be both satisfied and productive. He or she would work to their maximum level.

Question 2

Job analysis is often serves as a "cornerstone" of HRM. Describe how job analysis helps with the recruiting and selection, and training and career development functions.

Answer 2

Job analysis plays a very significant role in HRM programs. Job analysis almost affect every part of diagnostic HRM model. So, it is a very important for the organisations to understand every aspect or characteristic of each job.
Job analysis often serve as a cornerstone of HRM.As it helps in getting valid information about the nature and responsibilities of all the jobs in the organisation which can be used to hire right kind of people for right job. This information can be used to promote the employees in organisation and for the employee's career development. Data collected during job analysis helps the job analyst to understand about the training need requirements and information related to the duties and responsibilities of a job, helps in establishing wages for the various jobs. In other words, it can be said that job analysis is used to organise, utilise and maintain the workforce in an organisation.

Question 3

Assume that you've been asked to conduct a job analysis on an entry-level administrative assistant position at your organization. Which job analysis method would you be most likely to use to collect data about the job: observation, interviews, questionnaires, or incumbent diary/lob Explain.

Answer 3

Job analysis plays a very significant role in HRM programs. Job analysis almost affect every part of diagnostic HRM model. To conduct a job analysis in organisation, various method of job analysis can be used such as interview, observation method, survey method and incumbent log.
To conduct a job analysis on an entry level administrative assistant position at organisation, it is preferable to use the questionnaire method, because it is a very cost-effective method. It does not require much time to get the questionnaire filled in an organisation. This method can also help in collecting the information on all aspects of an entry level administrative assistant position.

Question 4

As a current (or future) manager, how will you communicate the requirements of an entry-level customer service representative to a candidate who just arrived at your office for an interview Will you describe the job in terms of competencies Knowledge, skills, and abilities Both Explain your answer.

Question 5

What core information should be included in most job descriptions and job specifications

Question 6

What is the difference between an essential and a nonessential skill How are these related to the Americans with Disabilities Act

Question 7

Describe the mechanistic and motivational models of job design. What is the emphasis of each

Question 8

Assume that you're a manager who needs to design three new jobs for your department in a company. Will you apply the job characteristics model of job enrichment to these new jobs Why or why not

Question 9

What are the six major components of the O*NET Model How many occupations are included in the O*NET database

Question 10

Explain the difference between competency modeling and job analysis Why do some companies prefer to use competency modeling

Question 11

Marina Jackson was recently promoted to the position of regional sales manager for Today's Fashion, a national chain of specialty clothing stores with 200 outlets across the country. Marina is the regional manager for the Pacific Coast, which is one of Today's Fashion's largest markets. She manages 35 outlets in California and Oregon; each of these outlets has a store manager who reports directly to Marina.
Each outlet has between three and five assistant store managers, depending on the number of specialty departments. Each assistant manager is responsible for one particular specialty department. These departments vary considerably in size and in the number of sales clerks reporting to the assistant manager. Because the chain's success lies in being receptive to local customers' tastes and buying habits, each store has a different collection of merchandise, and several different combinations of departments can be found in Marina's region. The departments include casual wear, formal wear, shoes, cosmetics, and jewelry.
Prior to being appointed to the regional sales manager position, Marina had been both a store manager and an assistant manager in a casual-wear department. While she was an assistant manager, Marina had often thought that she was responsible for many aspects of store management that other assistant managers were not held responsible for. In addition, she never really felt comfortable that her store manager had clearly defined her areas of responsibility. Thus, despite the chain's success, Marina felt that there was considerable room for improvement in how Today's Fashion was managed. As a result, one of the first things Marina did after being appointed to the regional sales position was to initiate a job analysis for the job of assistant store manager.
Marina had earned a BBA degree with a marketing emphasis from the University of California at Los Angeles. Although she had no formal training in job analysis, she was confident that she could construct an accurate and useful job description and specification for the assistant manager job, primarily because of her personal experience with that position. However, rather than simply writing from her own experience, Marina interviewed three current assistant store managers from the outlet closest to her regional office in Sacramento. On the basis of these interviews and her own experience, Marina constructed the job description and job specification shown in Exhibit 6A-1. She hopes that these documents will form the basis of a new selection program that she wants to implement for

her region. She believes that the best way to improve store management is to hire assistant store managers who are qualified to perform successfully.
Critically evaluate the job analysis that Marina conducted for the position of assistant store manager. Has she used appropriate methods What are the strengths and weaknesses of her efforts

Question 12

Marina Jackson was recently promoted to the position of regional sales manager for Today's Fashion, a national chain of specialty clothing stores with 200 outlets across the country. Marina is the regional manager for the Pacific Coast, which is one of Today's Fashion's largest markets. She manages 35 outlets in California and Oregon; each of these outlets has a store manager who reports directly to Marina.
Each outlet has between three and five assistant store managers, depending on the number of specialty departments. Each assistant manager is responsible for one particular specialty department. These departments vary considerably in size and in the number of sales clerks reporting to the assistant manager. Because the chain's success lies in being receptive to local customers' tastes and buying habits, each store has a different collection of merchandise, and several different combinations of departments can be found in Marina's region. The departments include casual wear, formal wear, shoes, cosmetics, and jewelry.
Prior to being appointed to the regional sales manager position, Marina had been both a store manager and an assistant manager in a casual-wear department. While she was an assistant manager, Marina had often thought that she was responsible for many aspects of store management that other assistant managers were not held responsible for. In addition, she never really felt comfortable that her store manager had clearly defined her areas of responsibility. Thus, despite the chain's success, Marina felt that there was considerable room for improvement in how Today's Fashion was managed. As a result, one of the first things Marina did after being appointed to the regional sales position was to initiate a job analysis for the job of assistant store manager.
Marina had earned a BBA degree with a marketing emphasis from the University of California at Los Angeles. Although she had no formal training in job analysis, she was confident that she could construct an accurate and useful job description and specification for the assistant manager job, primarily because of her personal experience with that position. However, rather than simply writing from her own experience, Marina interviewed three current assistant store managers from the outlet closest to her regional office in Sacramento. On the basis of these interviews and her own experience, Marina constructed the job description and job specification shown in Exhibit 6A-1. She hopes that these documents will form the basis of a new selection program that she wants to implement for

her region. She believes that the best way to improve store management is to hire assistant store managers who are qualified to perform successfully.
What kinds of factors about Today's Fashion and its operations should Marina have examined more seriously in order to improve her job analysis

Question 13

Marina Jackson was recently promoted to the position of regional sales manager for Today's Fashion, a national chain of specialty clothing stores with 200 outlets across the country. Marina is the regional manager for the Pacific Coast, which is one of Today's Fashion's largest markets. She manages 35 outlets in California and Oregon; each of these outlets has a store manager who reports directly to Marina.
Each outlet has between three and five assistant store managers, depending on the number of specialty departments. Each assistant manager is responsible for one particular specialty department. These departments vary considerably in size and in the number of sales clerks reporting to the assistant manager. Because the chain's success lies in being receptive to local customers' tastes and buying habits, each store has a different collection of merchandise, and several different combinations of departments can be found in Marina's region. The departments include casual wear, formal wear, shoes, cosmetics, and jewelry.
Prior to being appointed to the regional sales manager position, Marina had been both a store manager and an assistant manager in a casual-wear department. While she was an assistant manager, Marina had often thought that she was responsible for many aspects of store management that other assistant managers were not held responsible for. In addition, she never really felt comfortable that her store manager had clearly defined her areas of responsibility. Thus, despite the chain's success, Marina felt that there was considerable room for improvement in how Today's Fashion was managed. As a result, one of the first things Marina did after being appointed to the regional sales position was to initiate a job analysis for the job of assistant store manager.
Marina had earned a BBA degree with a marketing emphasis from the University of California at Los Angeles. Although she had no formal training in job analysis, she was confident that she could construct an accurate and useful job description and specification for the assistant manager job, primarily because of her personal experience with that position. However, rather than simply writing from her own experience, Marina interviewed three current assistant store managers from the outlet closest to her regional office in Sacramento. On the basis of these interviews and her own experience, Marina constructed the job description and job specification shown in Exhibit 6A-1. She hopes that these documents will form the basis of a new selection program that she wants to implement for

her region. She believes that the best way to improve store management is to hire assistant store managers who are qualified to perform successfully.
Carefully read the job description and job specification that Marina prepared. Do they appear to be thorough Do you think that they are adequate to serve as a basis for a new selection system How well do you think these documents will work if Marina is sued for discrimination in her hiring practices Why

Question 14

Assume that you (male or female) were going to take a 6-week leave of absence from your job five months from now. How do you think your supervisor and co-workers would react to the news Explain.

Question 15

Do a brief job analysis of your current (or a past) job, including a job description and job specifications/qualifications. Which tasks, duties, or responsibilities could you finish before your leave of absence Which could you delegate to your co-workers Which would have to wait until you return from your leave of absence

Question 16

Assume that you received a lot of negative comments from your supervisor and co-workers when you "announced" that you'd be taking a 6-week leave of absence. How would that make you feel Would it have any impact on your commitment to the organization