The
job analysis may include these activities:
- Reviewing
the job responsibilities of current employees.It is critical that you ask the actual
employees what they do. Frequently, HR and management (especially senior
management) have no idea what the day to day functions of any job are.
They may see the output, but have no idea what goes into it. If you're asked
to list your current responsibilities for a job analysis, be thorough.
Don't just say "produce monthly reports.” Say, "gather data from 6
different departments, check the data for accuracy using custom designed
Access tool that I created and maintain, etc., etc., etc.” If you leave
off the details they may think your report is simply a button that you
push once a month to produce.
- Doing Internet research and viewing
samplejob descriptionsonline or offline highlighting similar
jobs. While you never want to copy
another company's job description, looking at several is helpful in
writing your own job descriptions. You can find sample job descriptions by
searching for "[Job Title] Sample Description” or you can look at job
postings for positions companies are currently hiring. You can also look
at LinkedIn to see how people describe their accomplishments in a job. All
of this searching can help you figure out how to word the job analysis and
help remind you of tasks and responsibilities that you may have forgotten.
- Analyzing
the work duties, tasks, and responsibilities that the employee filling the
position needs to accomplish.Not
every job within a company is optimized. You may find duties that are
undone or projects that you should move from one department to another. When
you're doing a job analysis, make sure you look at the needs of the
company and at any unassigned or illogical responsibility. Then, work with
management to add the proper tasks to the proper job analysis.
- Researching and sharing with other
companies that have similar jobs.Sometimes
companies will happily share information about their job descriptions.
There are also salary survey companies, where you can match up your jobs
to their descriptions and share salary information. But, they can also
help you figure out what to include in your own job descriptions.
- Articulatethe most important
outcomes or contributions needed from the position.Sometimes you get so caught up in
the tasks that you forgot to look at the needed outcomes. For instance, if
it's the report that is needed, all the gathering and auditing of data is
worthless without the final analysis and report. Sometimes, you can
identify holes in your organization and figure out a way to fill them by
doing job analyses. The more information you can gather, the easier you
will find theactual writing of the job description
You don't need to worry about pretty language. You want a
functional job description more than anything else. Make sure it is clear and
concise. Ask yourself, "If somebody else read this, would they know what the
person in this position actually does?”