Job Analysis- Zeroing on What Your Job is About

Many times we face situations when we have a lot of work to do but we don’t have sufficient time to complete that work. Instead of looking for the reasons behind such a situation, we focus on completing the work as soon as possible without job analysis.

This becomes the reason that most of the time we are into the workload. What successful people do is prioritizing the tasks.

For example, I have a series of ten jobs to accomplish throughout the day, out of which five are very important than my aim should be to finish those five tasks first. Then after finishing those five tasks complete the other five tasks. This can be done by doing job analysis.

Job analysis can actually help you to become more efficient. You can minimize less important task and get more productive for the important ones.

Their job analysis becomes an important part of the process.

It helps you basically to become more conscious of what exactly is expected from you to perform in jour job, with which you understand the importance of each task in your job.

WHAT’S IN IT

Popular Definition Of Job Analysis By Harry L. Whylie

Job analysis deals with the anatomy of the job. This is the complete study of the job embodying every known and determinable factor, including

• The duties and responsibilities involved in its performance
• The conditions under which performance is carried on
• The nature of the task
• The qualifications required in the worker
• The conditions of employment such as pay, hours, opportunities and privileges

Importance of Job Analysis

Job analysis has the following significance-

• It helps you understand how to become most efficient in your job.
• It also helps you identify the important task that should be accomplished first and other tasks that should be done after the priority tasks are completed. This is very helpful in a situation where there is a lack of time.
• It helps you to make sure that all the resources and team required to accomplish the job is ready.
• A job analysis will help you work at your best level. It is a method by which you can reduce the work overload and perform better. Like this, there are many other techniques available.
• All these techniques aim to improve your work environment, lower your work stress, improve efficiency, help in better understanding with upper level and same level members and help you achieve success.

How do you do Job Analysis?

To perform a job analysis a person has to go through a series of steps as given below:

Review Formal Job Documentation

Job documents include a job description. A job description is the most important document. It helps you identify what is the objective of the job, what are the most important tasks and what is expected from you by the company.

Apart from these look for the past records that include appraisals and performance appreciations as this can help you understand what type of work or tasks the company appreciates and rewards. Try to prioritise those tasks.

Have a look at pieces of training available in the company and try to attend all those training sessions that provide training for such tasks.

Also, another important thing is to try to understand the incentive scheme. Try to find out what type of jobs get the incentive and how much.

All these steps will help you understand the importance of each task allocated to you. This can help you perform more important tasks first and become more productive and efficient.

Understanding the organization’s strategy and culture

Your job exists for a reason. This will ultimately be determined by the strategy of the organizational unit that you are working for. This strategy is should often be expressed in a mission statement.

In some way, what you do should help the organization achieve its mission (if it does not, you have to ask yourself how secure the job is!). Make sure you understand and perform well the tasks that contribute to the strategy.

Similarly, every organization has its own culture – its own, historically developed values, rights and wrongs, and things that it considers to be important. If you are new to an organization, talk through with established, respected members of staff to understand these values.

Make sure that you understand this culture. Make sure that your actions reinforce the company’s culture, or at least do not go against it. Looked at through the lens of culture, will the company value what you do?

Check that your priorities are consistent with this mission statement and the company culture.

Finding the top achievers and why they are top achievers

There may be many people who perform the same task as you do. Those people may be from the same organisation or maybe a different organisation.

Try to analyse their position, of where they stand. If they stand in a better position than you are that means they are more successful at what they or doing.

Try to analyse them and find the reason behind them that why they are more successful. What skill and knowledge you need to acquire to be in that position. Then try to gain the required skills and knowledge and training.

Check you have the people and resources to do the job

This is an important step to know. About the resources and team required by you to accomplice the give job or tasks. Having the required knowledge helps you. Keep a check on whether you a well equipped with the required resources and people or not.

And if your analysis tells you that you require more people or resources then you should work in that direction to get the required resources and people.

Confirm priorities with upper-level management

The above four steps will give you a very good idea of your job. While reaching this stage you will be clear with all your duties and responsibilities. And what the company expects from you. Also, you should be clear with the facts that what tasks are to be prioritised and what jobs carry less importance.

At this step, you can actually discuss all these things with your head or boss or upper-level management team. You can go deep into the details about each job and get proper clarification about the same.

Take action for job analysis

All the above steps would have made you get a deep understanding of the job and you might have received the idea of how to be successful in your job. At these steps what is important to understand is if you have certain tasks which are important than others try to finish them prior.

Another thing if you have some tasks that carry very very less or no importance drop them if you can. Being successful in your job in an organisation requires not only being the best at your job but also having to give and take relationships with your colleagues and other team members.

You should always be ready to help and never be shy to seek help from other members of the organisation. The most important thing is you should always try to attend the training sessions and try to improve your knowledge and develop your skills.

What should an ideal job include?

Duties and tasks

And ideal job should have a series of tasks and duties listed along with the tasks, time and durations.

Environment

Identification of proper work environment must be clear in order to increase the efficiency of performance.

Tools and types of equipment

If a job requires the use of any types of tools and types of equipment, then it should be specified in the job.

Relationships

The communication in the organisation must be clear including the relation of the members at different levels and with different levels.

Requirements

The knowledge and skills set must be clear along with the growth opportunities.

Benefits of Job Analysis

Helps the Organisation

Jobs analysis helps organisations to make the required changes in the organisational structure in order to match the needs and requirements of the jobs more accurately.

Helps in recruitment

Job analysis identifies the needs and requirements of the organisation and helps in better understanding the skills and knowledge necessary for the organisation.

Performance training and appraisal

Job analysis helps you to allow the members of the organisation to improve their skills and knowledge. It helps in identifying the actual set of skills and knowledge and then achieving them by organising various training programs.

Job evaluation

Identifying the necessary set of skills and knowledge is important for any job to achieve organisational and personal growth. It can be achieved with the help of job analysis.

Promotion and transfer

Any type of job up-gradation or transfer requires analysing the requirement and new set of skills which can be achieved with the help of job analysis and training.

Conclusion

Job analysis is the most important activity to be performed for any type of business. It helps you deeply understand the needs and requirements of the job. Job analysis helps you identify the proper set of skills and knowledge required.

With a proper job analysis, You can achieve better employee performance which can help in the growth and development of both the employee and the organisation.

Job analysis gives a detailed description of tasks and activities that need to be formed along with the time, frequency and duration of the job.

Another popular definition of job analysis by Blum that gives you a brief idea about what actually is job analysis is given below.

“A job analysis is an accurate study of the various components of a job. It is concerned not only with an analysis of the duties and conditions of work but also with the individual qualifications of the worker.”

Also you can read our blog on How to Handle a Stressful Job and Relax your Mind?

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