Job Analysis: Its Importance, Methods, and Steps

What’s it: Job analysis refers to a detailed examination of the elements or structure of jobs in your company. It is important to provide insight into job descriptions and specifications in each position, which is useful in human resource planning, including in recruitment.

The analysis examines what activities are in your company? How strategic are they for your company? What are the responsibilities of each? What qualifications are required? What output and performance do you expect?

Why is job analysis important?

Several reasons explain why job analysis is important. First, the output becomes the input for making human resource planning, including for:

• Recruiting and selecting employees
• Planning compensation such as salary and benefits
• Creating performance appraisal standards
• Designing training and career development programs
• Preparing promotion and succession programs
• Reorganizing business processes

It all requires a detailed description of all jobs and positions in your company. That includes the job title, role, responsibility, authority, required skills, and salary. So, by understanding the jobs in the company, you can develop more qualified human resources accompanied by appropriate policies and programs.

Take the case in recruitment. With an accurate and detailed description, you draft the requirements to be met by applicants, such as the education, skills, knowledge, and personal qualities required. So, you can fill vacant positions with qualified candidates.

Second, you can use the analysis outputs to evaluate how relevant each job is to your company’s goals and strategies. So, you can improve the work process to synergize them to be more effective.

Third, you can map out how each position can add value to the company. For example, you may pay more attention to some strategic positions and invest more in developing the position holder’s qualities and skills. On the other hand, you may need to eliminate some non-vital positions to support more efficient business processes.

Fourth, a conducive work environment with minimal conflict requires evaluating the analysis output. Conflicts in work often arise due to overlapping authority and responsibilities. So, to solve this problem, you can map and specify the authority and responsibility in each position. It aims to avoid gray areas or dual roles. And, to do so, you need job analysis.

What is analyzed?

Job analysis examines aspects such as descriptions and specifications. The job description contains duties, roles, responsibilities, working conditions, equipment required, and relationships with other positions.

Meanwhile, job specifications outline the qualifications and qualities required to hold a position. It includes the knowledge and skills needed to do the job, including relevant training.

Required individual experience and character is another aspect. For example, a position in marketing requires extroverts rather than introverts as they tend to be more adept at communicating with clients or customers.

In addition to these two, you might evaluate the job title and compare it to your needs. It answers questions like how strategic is a job to your company? How relevant is it to your company’s goals and objectives? How hard is it to do? Does it require more physical or mental? How risky is the job, and how big is the impact?

What are the methods for collecting data and information?

There are several ways to obtain data and information. The common method is through direct observation, questionnaires, or interviews. You can combine these methods.

Under direct observation, you monitor how employees perform daily tasks, what activities are involved, and how employees spend their time. This method is common for production work, where observations do not interfere with employees’ daily activities.

Meanwhile, questionnaires can provide more information, including input from your employees. You can ask your employee or manager to fill it out.

Questionnaires are also relatively more flexible where how detailed the questions are; it all depends on you. Detailed questionnaires can take a lot of time to fill out. On the other hand, if it is less detailed, you will get less information.

Under the interview method, you ask some predefined questions. Like a questionnaire, you can dig up more information, for example, about the problems that your employees often face in carrying out their work. In addition, you can ask them about their expectations about company policies and programs.

What are the steps in a job analysis?

The steps in analyzing a job title or job in a company can vary. And let’s look at the general steps.

Collect information data

Information can come from spreading questionnaires or conducting interviews with employees. You ask them to describe the specific tasks performed, including their responsibilities. Other sources are manuals or existing written documents, which you can compare with the results of interviews/questionnaires.

Evaluating the company’s needs for human resources

You examine existing positions and compare them to your needs at this stage. For example, are these positions suitable to accommodate and support your company’s goals and targets? Here, you check not only the job title but also aspects such as competence.

Are there any irrelevant positions? Is it necessary to add a new position? What competencies do you want to develop? Again, this requires you to think ahead. And in this case, benchmarking can be a helpful tool.

Customize job

At this stage, you map out all the positions, adjusting to the targets and goals you want to achieve. It may require you to, for example:

• Change duties and responsibilities for multiple positions due to overlapping
• Transfer certain positions to other departments
• Eliminate certain positions because they are not relevant
• Add new positions to support your needs

Create job descriptions and specifications

Once you’ve adjusted the position to your needs, it’s time for you to create a detailed description and specification for all positions, both old and new positions – if any. First, you define each position’s roles, duties, and responsibilities. Then, you identify the competencies and individual qualities required in each position.

Next, you also map the relative importance and workload of each position. Finally, you map out how the positions are interrelated and how they can be synergized with each other.

What to read next

• Job Description: Why It Matters, Examples
• Job Specification: What Is It And Why Is It Important?
• Internal Recruitment: How it Works, Advantages and Disadvantages
• External Recruitment: How it works, Advantages and Disadvantages
• Job Analysis: Its Importance, Methods, and Steps
• Job Advertisement: Contents, How to Create, Factors to Consider
• Recruitment: Its Importance, Types, and Stages