Lesson Commentary
I. Definition
Job Analysis (JA) is a family of methods for describing a job (tasks and situation) and the human attributes necessary to perform that job.
The goals of job analysis are to capture information about:
- what gets accomplished;
- the technology and equipment used;
- the characteristics of the environment; and
- the human attributes needed to accomplish the task.
Why is JA important?
Job analysis is useful for identifying the criteria of effective job performance, which become the basis for almost everything else we study as I/O psychologists. Last lesson, we learned a bit about criteria as the dependent variable in a research study. This lesson, we're going to talking about a more specific instance, criteria as job performance. In this context, criteria can be thought of as the evaluative standards used for making a decision on the job. In this way, the results of a job analysis (clarifying the criteria of performance) can be used for everything from deciding pay levels for different employment positions to determining how to fill those positions. In this way, job analysis is the cornerstone of almost all other human-resource practices and all we do as I/O psychologists.
More importantly, one must understand that poor criteria beget poor decisions. Therefore, job analysis should be conducted with care.
Let's be really concrete! Imagine you and your friend are talking about the performance of one of your instructors in class. After a few minutes of discussion, it becomes clear that you and your friend disagree about your instructor's performance. You think your instructor is doing well, but your friend is really upset and thinks your instructor is not doing well at all.
If you both attended the same class, why would you disagree so much? One reason may be that you have different performance criteria in mind. You may be considering how well prepared the lectures are and the clarity of presentation while your friend is thinking about enthusiasm and inspiration (and, this particular instructor, while really clear and well prepared, happens to be a real snooze).
Off hand, this doesn't seem like a big deal. But now imagine you and your friend are CEOs of a major firm and instead of discussing your instructor's performance, you are discussing the performance of a member of your top management team. Your friend is now recommending that this person, who happens to be married with children and a loyal member of the organization for years and years, be terminated from his or her job. If you and your fellow CEO do not get your criteria straight, you could be making a big mistake letting an otherwise valuable employee go. Even worse, you could set yourself up for legal trouble.
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