Job analysis: what it is, what it is for, and phases of the process

For a company to function in the most appropriate way, it is necessary to know what they do and how far they should be able to go their workers, if there is any kind of lack of training or if competing companies ask their workers for more requirements. workers.

A correct analysis of the job position allows the human resources department to recruit and select the best candidates for the company, in addition to knowing what are the competencies, tasks, abilities and needs that each position.

Next Let's understand what a job analysis is, what is its importance, what types are there and how to make one.

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What is job analysis?

A job analysis consists of an investigation of the job that is going to be offered or a certain position in the company that you want to know in depth and improve. With this type of analysis, it is intended to know the necessary skills so that, whoever is doing it, can have a better performance by establishing all the necessary criteria to select the most suitable candidate. appropriate.

Typically, this type of analysis It is the responsibility of the Human Resources department., who has, among other functions, the mission of recruiting and selecting the most suitable workers for that constitute the company, in addition to making sure that, if necessary, they update their training. Companies do not function properly without suitable people for each of the positions in it, so this department must know what requirements are necessary for each job.

Once the specific job has been analyzed, it is usual to make a precise description of what it consists of. This makes it easier to establish the requirements that are considered necessary to carry it out, in addition to defining the job offer and the profile of the desired candidate. In addition, by delimiting and specifying each of the jobs, the company will be able to draw a complete organizational chart, finding out what each position contributes to the organization as a whole.

Advantages of this type of analysis

The compilation of all the data that is obtained during the job analysis helps in decision-making, in addition to allow validating more useful and efficient methods and techniques for the performance of individual jobs and the company as a whole set. Thus, with this type of analysis You can make better decisions in the selection of personnel, in addition to being able to evaluate the performance of workers and determine who should be promoted, retained, demoted or fired.

Among the clearest advantages that job analysis gives us are:

1. Structure of the organization

Through this type of analysis it is possible know how the tasks of the organization are divided into its most basic units: divisions, sections, departments, work units such as workers or work groups...

2. Structure of the jobs

As its name suggests, this type of analysis allows us to know what the job itself is like, specifically its structure. lets us know how jobs should be grouped into jobs and job ranges, in addition to knowing which positions are similar in their usefulness and function for the company.

3. degree of authority

Through job analysis we can know the organization chart of the company and, in turn, which positions are above others. It allows knowing the degree of authority of each position and its involvement in decision-making.

4. performance criteria

The performance criteria are the reference to know hierarchical reporting relationships within the organization, the number and types of positions. That is, it allows us to know to what extent the work of a certain position depends on how well another does it, whether it is above or below it in terms of authority.

5. Employee redundancy

By analyzing the job position, we can detect those positions that are practically performing the same function or are too similar to allow them to continue to exist. this tool allows you to decide if it is necessary to combine two jobs into one or change their functions to avoid duplication.

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Types of job analysis

There are several types of job analysis that can be performed. They are not mutually exclusive, rather on the contrary, they are all necessary to specify exactly what the functions are, requirements and competencies of each position in the company, although depending on time and means you can decide to only have one type of analysis. The main ones are the following four:

1. Task-Based Analysis

Task-based job analysis It is the oldest and most classic. It basically consists of finding out what tasks workers perform, regardless of what skills, training and skills they have or should have. This model aims to define and establish the tasks, duties and responsibilities associated with each of the positions in the company.

2. Competency-based analysis

The analysis of competencies focuses on those skills needed to perform the job.

3. Strengths-Based Analysis

Strengths-based analysis focuses on those actions that workers enjoy the most, or those in which they perform especially well. It is a question of looking for those motivations that have moved the workers to choose the position or the desire that arouses them to carry out that position.

4. Personality-Based Analysis

Although it is certainly a bit more complicated, a job analysis can be carried out looking for those personality traits that are most suitable for carrying out such a position. The most dysfunctional traits can also be analyzed, that is, those that are a source of problems for the work in question.

Where to extract information

Job analysis is a tool that tries to follow the scientific method. It is based on the most objective and reliable sources of information and techniques possible to make the analysis a faithful representation of organizational reality.

Data is extracted from the job itself, such as the tasks the employee performs, how they are performed, and the behaviors associated with the employee's employment. But beyond these observations, there are several techniques to be able to extract all the necessary information.

• Interviews and discussion groups.
• Questionnaires
• Observation or self-observation.
• Analysis through documentation, performance evaluation and old job offers.
• The Critical Incident Methodology

Development of job analysis

Next we will see how to develop a job analysis and the steps to follow. It is essential that when proceeding with an analysis of this type, one knows what aspects must be document, which people in the organization can provide them and the way in which the information is going to be managed. information.

1. set the tasks

The first part of the process consists of analyze the tasks performed by workers. It is the oldest and, at the same time, the most fundamental type of job analysis. It is necessary to know what types of tasks and how they are being carried out within the organization in order to carry out a comprehensive job analysis. Thus, in order to collect information in this step, it is necessary to ask yourself the following questions:

• What does the employee do?
• As it does?
• What does he do it for?
• Why does he do it?

Trying to answer these questions for each job position We can write a list of the tasks performed in the organization. For example, if we want to analyze the job of a waiter, we can ask ourselves these questions regarding the following two tasks: bringing food and drinks and cleaning the table.

In the case of bringing food and drinks, the waiter uses a tray to be able to bring these things to the customer who has ordered those foods. The reason for this is that we are interested in the customer being satisfied consuming what he has ordered.

In the case of cleaning the table, the waiter does it with a cloth, disinfectant and other cleaning products so that the table is in a condition to be used by other customers. The reason for this is to avoid not complying with the hygiene standards ordered by the Ministry of Health, in addition to avoiding complaints from the dissatisfied client.

2. Job duties and responsibilities

Once you know what tasks are performed within the organization they are grouped into different functions. It may be the case that there are tasks that only fulfill one function, others that are quite different each other but serve the same and a task that, in turn, performs different functions within the organization.

Taking the example of the waiter, we could consider that bringing food to customers would be within the "customer service" function, while cleaning would have "establishment hygiene" as its main function, although it could also be related to customer service. customer.

Once the functions of the tasks performed in the organization have been established, they They are organized according to the degree of responsibility within the same. They can be classified on a scale in the event that we can talk about responsibilities that are much more important than others, however, in On many occasions, most of the tasks imply a similar degree of responsibility, with which they can be equally high-priority.

3. Knowledge and experiences

A fundamental aspect during the analysis of the job is the evaluation of the experience and knowledge necessary to perform the job. So that the skills, abilities and training that are recommended or requested to have to carry out the tasks of the job are evaluated.

In many cases this necessary knowledge is easy to establish. For example, to be able to work in a clinic as a doctor, the training that will be requested will be a degree in medicine and, preferably, a postgraduate or master's degree. In other cases, however, the qualifications required to carry out the job are not so clear. For example, to work in a supermarket, they may ask for a food handling degree or professional training, although this is not always the case.

During the analysis of the job to be able to know what the desired training is the ideal is to go directly to employees and managers. They will give their opinion or experience, what degree they have, what they have been asked for and what they have seen in previous companies where they have worked. It is very useful to know what competitor companies request from their workers since, in this way, In this way, we will prevent the company from losing strength in its field due to the lack of training of its workers.

4. Skills in job analysis

At this point it is important to carry out the job analysis based on the skills of your workers. Three very useful techniques can be used here, which can be complemented.

4. 1. Interview with managers

Managers are a key figure within the organization, since they are who know the job first hand and know what skills are needed to properly perform tasks.

4.2. Performance evaluation

It deduces what skills differentiate a good employee from one who does not do his job well.

4.3. critical incidents

with this technique those key behaviors in the job position are established, those that determine success or failure of the organization. It finds out what behaviors can benefit or harm the performance of the company and it is intended to replicate or eradicate them.

5. Have clear goals

Regardless of which technique is used, the ideal is to use all three, The fundamental thing is that with its use it is possible to answer the following questions:

• What is the difference between a good and a bad employee?
• Why are some employees able to perform tasks better than others?
• If you were to hire an employee to perform a task, what would you look for?
• Is something else necessary to correctly establish the competencies?

In any case, it should be noted that each company has its own idea of ​​what the ideal skills are for its workers depending on the position they occupy, that is, this is a very subjective step.

This variability in the required skills is greatly influenced by the organizational culture of the company, which varies greatly from one to another. In addition, each company has a different client, so the criteria extracted from the analysis of positions in one company may not be of any use to another.

Bibliographic references:

• Martín-Valverde, A., Rodríguez-Sañudo Gutiérrez, F. Garcia Murcia, J. (1996). Labor law. Madrid: Tecnos.
• m. Peiro, J. (1996). Organization Psychology. Madrid: UNED.
• Leal Millán, A., Román Onsalo, M., Alfaro de Prado Sagrera, A., Rodríguez Félix, L. (2002). The human factor in labor relations, Direction and Management Manual: Pyramid.