Job analysis is the process of conducting studies and gathering information that relates to the operations and responsibilities of a job. It includes the determination of activities within the scope of operations of a job position. The process incorporates the skills that an individual requires to perform the job, the physical and material abilities that an individual needs to accomplish the tasks associated with the position, and the knowledge required for the job. The process entails the collection of information such as job context, work-oriented activities, personal requirements, work performance, work activities, job-related tangible and intangible, and the materials that the job requires. The paper analyzes the purposes of job analysis to organizations.
There are specific features of the process of job analysis. It involves the collection of information relevant to the job and the determination of tasks for the job. Secondly, the process involves the definition of factors related to the job. The factors include responsibilities, standards of performance, human behavior, conditions, roles, and context. Thirdly, the process is useful in finding out the worth of the job position to the organization. It ascertains the contribution and value of the position to the development and daily operations of the organization. The process also analyzes the job in terms of human resource decisions such as training, selection, recruitment, safety, compensation, and health.
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Human resource departments seek to achieve the most relevant methods of performing a job through the process of job analysis. As a result, they can maximize job satisfaction concerning the position in question. The method successfully identifies the important issues that training should be focused on. The process achieves to match the specifications of an employee to the specifications of the job. Job analysis seeks to characterize a job position. It is important to note that job analysis focuses on the job and not the person doing the job.
Literature Review
Job analysis is an essential aspect of human resource function in the management of staff. There are two major components of job analysis mainly job description and job specification. Job description entails the functional aspect of the job ( Cascio, 2015) . It includes the duties and responsibilities that are in the job. A job description is concerned with purposes such as classification of job positions, orientation, and placement of new job occupants, transfers and promotions, employee counseling, the establishment of work standards, determination of career path, and definition of the scope of authority.
Job specification, on the other hand, describes the attributes of the person to occupy the job position. It involves assessing physical abilities, academic qualifications, experience, and personal characteristics that the job requires. The category of job analysis also assesses the behavioral, personal, social, physical, and psychological attributes that an individual should have to successfully deliver in the job. Human resource personnel use job specifications for hiring, training, and development, personnel appraisal, health and safety, job compensation, career planning, disciplining of employees, work planning, and personnel planning. Also, there is a job specification that deals with the classification of tasks into manageable units ( Fagerström et al., 2014) . The vertical job designs assign responsibilities based on the supervisory authorities of different positions while the horizontal design assigns tasks across the organization on a horizontal scale.
The human resource uses job analysis to conduct organizational design. Every organization has a specific structure that defines the responsibility of the team members as well as indicates the chain of command. Organizations use the process to identify various jobs within the organization. Classifications take place to identify the position that a job occupies within the organization structure. As a result, human resources management to group jobs together based on how they relate to one another. For example, there is the formation of departments based on the jobs that relate to the functions of the department. Job analysis also defines the roles and responsibilities of the position in terms of where the job position report to and the subjects within the position.
Job analysis is useful during the acquisition of personnel. The process of acquiring personnel involves advertising for the job, recruitment, selection, orientation, and placement. Before an organization decides to hire, it is important to identify the specifications of the job. Through job analysis, human resource can establish tasks, experience, skills, knowledge, academic qualification, and personal attributes that the job requires about the goals of an organization. Job analysis provides an opportunity for an organization to assess future workforce needs and make the appropriate decisions with regards to staffing functions of every job position ( Cascio, 2015) . The process assists human resource departments to identify the sources of staff, job description, and job specification. It helps to accurately align the abilities of an individual to the specifications of the job. In terms of hiring, job analysis guides induction and placement by identifying the needs of the job and imparting the appropriate skills to new employees.
Job analysis helps organizations to find out the sources of recruitment. Through the process, organizations can identify the potential candidates for a position based on their qualifications. The process enables an organization to access the necessary information of the sources of potential candidates that can accurately match a job position ( Noe et al., 2017) . During the selection process, the selectors take the right individuals based on their capabilities concerning the job descriptions and specifications. An effective job analysis process should accurately spot the functions of the job position and describe the appropriate qualities and qualifications required of the individual do occupy the position.
Human resource development is another purpose for job analysis. Organizations respond to the dynamic world by constantly equipping their employees with the necessary skills. It is the responsibility of every organization to ensure that they update their employees on the abilities to deal with the constantly changing business environment ( Cascio, 2015) . As a result, the regular conducting of job analysis ensures that organizations can assess their needs in terms of the competence of employees. For instance, the process assists an organization to design the career path for jobs. It enables the human resource to establish the career path that the position can take within the organization structure.
Training and development is the constant improvement of the capabilities of employees. Career planning and job analysis provide the opportunity for an organization to identify the efforts that a job requires. Kulkarni (2013) acknowledges that organizations encounter a lot of pressure in equipping their employees with the appropriate skills to help in dealing with dynamic challenges. The pressure comes from changes in technology and demand for better methods of production. Organizations have the responsibility to constantly train their employees to adhere to the external challenges; that help them to deal with the competitive world. Through job analysis, organizations identify the needs for the new changes and impart the necessary skills to employees.
The next function of job analysis is compensation. A study conducted by Hoque et al. (2018) finds that there is a relationship between the compensation system and the performance of employees. Though compensation is partly dependent on the revenues of an organization, the system should take the job description and specification into consideration. Compensation is a source of motivation for employees. An organization with a good compensation system motivates employees. The human resource uses job analysis to establish the worth of a job. To determine the compensation for a job position, the assessment process analyzes the job-related factors. They include safety, risks, efforts, responsibilities, skills, level of education, experience, and working conditions.
Apart from compensation, performance appraisal is another process used to reward employees. According to performance Koshy & Suguna, (2014) performance appraisal helps organizations to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of employees. The activity ensures that supervisors and employees meet to discuss their goals concerning the goals of the organization. Performance appraisal assigns scores to employees based on their performance. Job analysis enables an organization to assess the performance of an employee concerning compensation. Through the process, the organization appropriately rewards the employee through a salary increase, identification of training needs, and promotion. Organizations use the job analysis process to develop an effective performance appraisal plan used in rewarding employees.
Job analysis helps organizations to assess their states of health and safety. Some work settings are high risks and pose challenges to the daily operations of workers. Job analysis enables organizations to find out the risks involved in workplace settings. Through risk assessment, organizations can develop health and safety policies that are used to prevent risky incidences. Beus et al. (2016) note that unsafe workplaces cause serious implications for both employees and organizations. Therefore, organizations must ensure that they provide safe working places to build confidence in employees.
Job analysis also helps in job evaluation and setting up of standards. Many organizations work with targets ( Cascio, 2015) . For example, there can be a minimum amount of sales that a company expects from sales personnel. The company arrives at the sales figure after conducting a job analysis to assess the potential of the job position. Organizations use job analysis to set the minimum standards that employees are required to meet.
Organizations use job analysis to find out problems faced by workers; they then undertake the appropriate actions to make the environment a favorable environment for workers. Also, environmental and technical assessment of the workplace seeks to establish the needs for coping up with changing situations ( Noe et al., 2017) . For example, through the process, organizations can identify needs for technological changes in global dynamics. Lastly, job analysis helps organizations sets goals and objectives.
Conclusion
The project allowed me to understand the essence of job analysis in accomplishing the strategic goals and objectives of an organization. Job analysis is used in the development of job specifications and job descriptions that provide the framework for hiring new employees. Through the process, an organization collected information on knowledge, skills, experience, and personal characteristic required for a job. I realized that organizations continuously engage in job analysis to find out the expertise gap within the workforce. As a result, organizations can design the training needs to equip employees with the right skills. Next, I learned that job analysis is helpful is used to designing the compensation system for a job position. Organizations assess the important factors that determine compensation for the job.
Job analysis is used to design the organization structure. An organization structure distinguishes the roles of each job position and determines how different positions relate to one another in terms of flow in authority. Job analysis is also a human resource planning tool. After assessing the workforce needs, human resources can conduct transfers, promotions, and training activities. The process is also used by organizations to set the deliverables for every job position. Organizations use the process to find out the achievable targets for employees. By gauging the capabilities of every job position, organizations can develop general strategic goals that guide them.
References
Beus, J. M., McCord, M. A., & Zohar, D. (2016). Workplace safety: A review and research synthesis. Organizational psychology review , 6 (4), 352-381.
Cascio, W. F. (2015). Managing human resources . New York: McGraw-Hill.
Fagerström, L., Lønning, K., & Andersen, M. H. (2014). The RAFAELA system: a workforce planning tool for nurse staffing and human resource management. Nursing Management , 21 (2).
Hoque, A. S. M. M., Awang, Z. B., Siddiqui, B. A., & Sabiu, M. S. (2018). Role of employee engagement on compensation system and employee performance relationship among telecommunication service providers in Bangladesh. International Journal of Human Resource Studies , 8 (3).
Koshy, E. R., & Suguna, P. (2014). Performance appraisal in the contemporary world. International journal of Advance Research in Computer science and Management studies , 2 (9).
Kulkarni, P. P. (2013). A literature review on training & development and quality of work life. Researchers World , 4 (2), 136.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
