Job Analysis

Job Analysis

Job analysis involves a systematic investigation of jobs using a variety of methods, to determine essential duties, tasks and responsibilities.

Job analysis is crucial to the identification of relevant skills and competencies. It involves obtaining objective and verifiable information about the actual requirements of a job, and the skills and competencies required to meet the local area and University’s needs.

Job analysis facilitates accurate recruitment and selection practices, sets standards for performance appraisals and allows appropriate classification/reclassification of positions.

Comparing the skills possessed by employees with the results of job analysis can greatly assist in workforce planning strategies and restructuring or redesigning jobs to reflect the requirements of the local area and/or University-wide changes.

Key Factors in Job Analysis

Task identity:

Employees receive more satisfaction from doing a ‘whole’ piece of work. This is likely to happen when the job has a distinct beginning and end which is clearly visible to the employee and others. It is important that employees see the end results of the work they have produced either on their own or as a part of a team.

Variety:

Employees, who perform repetitive tasks which offer no challenge, may lose interest and become bored and dissatisfied. Greater variety can improve interest, challenge and commitment to the task.

Variety means more than simply adding an extra but similar task. For example, processing different forms would not make th...

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... job title is important, as it provides an indication of the duties of the job, it indicates the relative level of the job within the local area hierarchy and provides status for the employee.

Job titles should be simple and free of technical jargon. The title should be descriptive to enable the position to be quickly identified, for example, use Administrative Officer (Post Graduate) rather than just Administrative Officer.

Generic job titles should only be used for generic positions (Executive Officer, Head of School).

In accordance with EEO legislation, it is necessary to avoid sexist or discriminatory expressions in position titles. Therefore, titles containing man or woman cannot be used.

Guidelines for the use of position titles are being developed.