Is job analysis so important for an organisation?

What are the Benefits of Performing a Job Analysis?

A job analysis consists of a thorough analysis of the job duties and knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal characteristics (KSAPCs) required for success in a certain position. However, a job analysis can sometimes take a substantial amount of time and effort. So why should an organization consider performing a job analysis?

The primary reason an organization will perform a job analysis is to ensure the selection procedures they use to choose between job applicants are valid and defensible. Practically speaking, a valid selection procedure is one that accurately measures the actual requirements of the job in a fair and reliable way. A valid selection procedure should measure only knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal characteristics that the job analysis has identified as being required to perform important and/or critical job duties. Essentially, a valid selection procedure should only measure the qualifications that are really needed for the job.

In the legal realm, a selection procedure is valid if it can be proven by an employer in litigation that it is "... job related and consistent with business necessity" (see Griggs v. Duke Power Co.,401 U.S.424 ,1971), to address the requirements of the various federal Civil Rights Act. This standard is usually met (or not) by arguing how the selection procedure address, (1) the federal Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978); (2) professional testing standards, such as, but not limited to, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology’s Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures (SIOP Principles,2003) and the American Psychological Association’s Standards for Education and Psychological Testing (APA Standards,1999); and three (3) court decisions that have examined the validity of employment testing in various settings.

Academically speaking, the SIOP Principles and APA Standards have adopted the same definition for validity: "The degree to which accumulated evidence and theory support specific interpretations of test scores entailed by proposed uses of a test."

Beyond this overlying benefit, there are several more compelling benefits to performing a job analysis:

Workforce planning -- An effective job analysis can work in tandem with an organization’s future-casting. By identifying the duties and KSAPCs for various job titles, HR professionals can match the needs of their organization with the talent of their current and future workforce.

Succession planning -- A strategy of workforce planning, HR professionals can use job analysis results to help fill key roles within their organization, now and in the future. 

Training -- By basing training procedures on the findings of a job analysis, organizations are better equipped to identify the gaps or distances between the current workforce or a newly-hired workforce and the KSAPCs needed the first day of the job. HR professionals can consequently create job-specific or group/employee-specific training procedures. 

Employee development -- Using the results of a job analysis, organizations may identify any gaps on an individual level and assist employees with their career management. 

Compensation -- With an effective job analysis, organizations can ensure that job titles requiring similar duties and KSAPCs are being compensated similarly. 

With an effective job analysis, organizations can ensure that job titles requiring similar duties and KSAPCs are being compensated similarly.

ADA compliance -- Biddle Consulting Group’s patented GOJA job analysis (Guidelines-Oriented Job Analysis) process asks specific questions that are outlined by the1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to determine whether or not a duty is considered an essential function. Our GOJA process gathers information to assist the organization in deciding whether or not each duty is an essential function. If an employee can perform an essential function with or without reasonable accommodation, the employer must provide such an accommodation (unless it would incur an undue hardship, ADA,1990). 

Performance appraisals -- The results of a job analysis can allow an organization to develop an employee according to the specific needs of their job title. Additionally, organizations may also use the results of a job analysis to groom employees for promotion by training in areas that will contribute to a future position.

Yes! As I concur with the colleagues here.

Yes and the advantages for job analysis are

1. Job analysis helps the personnel manager at the time of recruitment and selection of right man on right job.
2. It helps him to understand extent and scope of training required in that field.
3. It helps in evaluating the job in which the worth of the job has to be evaluated.
4. In those instances where smooth work force is required in concern.
5. When he has to avoid overlapping of authority- responsibility relationship so that distortion in chain of command doesn’t exist.
6. It also helps to chalk out the compensation plans for the employees.
7. It also helps the personnel manager to undertake performance appraisal effectively in a concern.

Job Analysis required for:(snippets)

1.Assessment of the actual staff requirement.

2. Allocation of Duties and responsibilities.

3. Optimization of Efficiency and Productivity of work-force.

4.Avoiding conflict among the work force insisting on their allocated duties and enjoy inappropriate work relaxations which is not conducive for a Team work environment.

5.Job categorization and Promotion policy requirements

6.To develop a competitive payment structure.

Agree with all explanations contained in the Expert answers and acknowledge their efforts.

In big Organisations Human Resource Planning is based on Job/Function wise analysis.

I agree with the opinion submitted and I strongly believe that it is very necessary for all type of industries. 

–      To support a high-performance work system.

–      To create strategically job descriptions.

–      To support the performance management process in fostering, measuring, and rewarding:

•       General competencies

•       Leadership competencies

•       Technical competencies

Job Analysis is very important to get the best out of your employees in their assigned jobs, responsibilities and roles ...

In theory - Job Analysis sounds good.  This can help when looking at job description and specific requirements of the role.

In practise - Job Analysis tends to be futile.  Many people carry out duties and undertake responsibilities which initially were not designed to be incorporated into their jobs.  Many people do work which really is not part of their job description but the tasks have evolved and are done in order to meet business needs.  Not every aspect of a job is analysed so information can be subjective rather than objective depending on the desired outcome of the research.

It provides objective criteria needed for executives to make informed decisions regarding staffing, selection, performance, succession planning and compensation.

Job analysis (also known as Work analysis[1]) is a family of procedures to identify the content of a job in terms of activities involved and attributes or job requirements needed to perform the activities. Job analysis provide information to organizations which helps to determine which employees are best fit for specific jobs. Through job analysis, the analyst needs to understand what the important tasks of the job are, how they are carried out, and the necessary human qualities needed to complete the job successfully. The process of job analysis involves the analyst describing the duties of the incumbent, then the nature and conditions of work, and finally some basic qualifications. After this, the job analyst has completed a form called a job psychograph, which displays the mental requirements of the job.[2] The measure of a sound job analysis is a valid task list. This list contains the functional or duty areas of a position, the related tasks, and the basic training recommendations. Subject matter experts (incumbents) and supervisors for the position being analyzed need to validate this final list in order to validate the job analysis.[3] Job analysis is crucial for first, helping individuals develop their careers, and also for helping organizations develop their employees in order to maximize talent. The outcomes of job analysis are key influences in designing learning, developing performance interventions, and improving processes.[4] The application of job analysis techniques makes the implicit assumption that information about a job as it presently exists may be used to develop programs to recruit, select, train, and appraise people for the job as it will exist in the future.[5]

Job analysts are typically industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists or human resource officers who have been trained by, and are acting under the supervision of an I-O psychologist. One of the first I-O psychologists to introduce job analysis was Morris Viteles. In1922, he used job analysis in order to select employees for a trolley car company. Viteles' techniques could then be applied to any other area of employment using the same process.[6] Job analysis was also conceptualized by two of the founders of I-O psychology, Frederick Winslow Taylor and Lillian Moller Gilbreth in the early20th century.[1] Since then, experts have presented many different systems to accomplish job analysis that have become increasingly detailed over the decades. However, evidence shows that the root purpose of job analysis, understanding the behavioral requirements of work, has not changed in over85 years.[7]

It is very important to know what each job title requires in terms of functions and duties within an organization.

Mr. Jetley made all the points already.  :)