INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Course Objectives

●Discover the historical roots of industrial and organizational psychology and its implication to the present field.
●Identify the difference between industrial approach and organizational approach.
●Differentiate the various functions in human resources management and its facets.
●Discuss the importance of job analysis and its impact to human resources function.
●Apply the basic motivation theories in design and administration of rewards.
●Apply the basic theories in team dynamics.
●Recognize relevant issues on work-life balance and well-being in the workplace.
Course Outline

I. Introduction
II. Brief History
III. Job Analysis
IV. Preparing for Job Analysis
V. Conducting Job Analysis
VI. Employee Selection: Recruiting and Interviewing
VII. Predicting Performance using Applicant Skill
VIII. Evaluating Employee Performance
IX. Designing and Evaluating Training Systems
X. Employee Motivation
XI. Employee Satisfaction and Commitment
XII. Organizational Communication
XIII. Leadership
XIV. Group Behavior, Teams, and Conflicts
XV. Stress Management
I. Introduction to I/O Psychology

Industrial/organizational psychology is a branch of psychology that applies the principles of

psychology to the workplace. The purpose of I/O psychology is ―to enhance the dignity and
performance of human beings, and the organizations they work in, by advancing the science and
knowledge of human behavior. A factor that helps differentiate I/O psychology from other fields of
psychology is the reliance on the scientist-practitioner model. That is, I/O psychologists act as
scientists when they conduct research and as practitioners when they work with actual organizations.
Major Fields of I/O Psychology

The industrial approach (the ―I in I/O psychology) focuses on determining the competencies
needed to perform a job, staffing the organization with employees who have those competencies,
and increasing those competencies through training. The organizational approach (the ―O in I/O
psychology) creates an organizational structure and culture that will motivate employees to
perform well, give them with the necessary information to do their jobs, and provide working
conditions that are safe and result in an enjoyable and satisfying work environment.

1. Personnel Psychology I/O psychologists and HRM professionals involved in personnel

psychology study and practice in such areas as analyzing jobs, recruiting applicants, selecting
employees, determining salary levels, training employees, and evaluating employee
performance.
2. Organizational Psychology Psychologists involved in organizational psychology are concerned
with the issues of leadership, job satisfaction, employee motivation, organizational
communication, conflict management, organizational change, and group processes within an
organization. Organizational psychologists often conduct surveys of employee attitudes to get
ideas about what employees believe are an organization’s strengths and weaknesses.

3. Human Factors/Ergonomics - Psychologists in the area of human factors concentrate on

workplace design, human-machine interaction, ergonomics, and physical fatigue and stress.
These psychologists frequently work with engineers and other technical professionals to make
the workplace safer and more efficient. Sample activities in this subfield have included
designing the optimal way to draw a map, designing the most comfortable chair, and
investigating the optimal work schedule.
II. Brief History of I/O Psychology

I/O psychology is thought to have started either in 1903 when Walter Dill Scott wrote The Theory of
Advertising, in which psychology was first applied to business; in 1910 when Hugo Munsterberg
wrote Psychology and Industrial Efficiency, which was first published in English in 1913; or in 1911
when Scott wrote the book Increasing Human Efficiency in Business.

Regardless of the official starting date, I/O psychology was born in the early 1900s.

I/O psychology made its first big impact during World War I. Because of the large number of soldiers
who had to be assigned to various units within the armed forces, I/O psychologists were employed
to test recruits and then place them in appropriate positions. The testing was accomplished mainly
through the Army Alpha and Army Beta tests of mental ability. The Alpha test was used for recruits
who could read and the Beta test for recruits who could not read.
Interestingly, John Watson, who is better known as a pioneer in behaviorism, served as a major
in the U.S. Army in World War I and developed perceptual and motor tests for potential pilots.

I/O psychologists, especially Henry Gantt, were responsible for increasing the efficiency with
which cargo ships were built, repaired, and loaded.

Though certainly not an I/O psychologist, inventor Thomas A. Edison understood the
importance of selecting the right employees. In 1920, Edison created a 150-item knowledge
test that he administered to over 900 applicants. The test and passing score were so difficult
that only 5% of the applicants passed.

Two of the most interesting figures in the early years of I/O psychology were the husband and
wife team of Frank Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth. The Gilbreths were among the first, if
not the first, scientists to improve productivity and reduce fatigue by studying the motions
used by workers.
However, in the 1930s, when the findings from the famous Hawthorne studies were published,
psychologists became more involved in the quality of the work environment, as well as the attitudes of
employees.

❑ The Hawthorne studies, conducted at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company in the
Chicago area, demonstrated that employee behavior was complex and that the interpersonal
interactions between managers and employees played a tremendous role in employee behavior.

❑ The Hawthorne studies were initially designed to investigate such issues as the effects of lighting
levels, work schedules, wages, temperature, and rest breaks on employee performance.

❑ Much to the surprise of the researchers, the actual work conditions did not affect productivity in
the predicted manner. That is, there were times when productivity improved after work conditions
were made worse, and times when productivity decreased after work conditions were made better.

❑ After interviewing employees and studying the matter further, the researchers realized that
employees changed their behavior and became more productive because they were being studied
and received attention from their managers, a condition that is now commonly referred to as the
Hawthorne effect.
III. Job Analysis and Evaluation Job Analysis—gathering, analyzing, and structuring information
about a job’s components, characteristics, and requirements.

Importance of Job Analysis

1. Writing Job Descriptions

One of the written products of a job analysis is a job description—a brief, two- to five-page
summary of the tasks and job requirements found in the job analysis. In other words, the job
analysis is the process of determining the work activities and requirements, and the job description
is the written result of the job analysis.

2. Employee Selection

It is difficult to imagine how an employee can be selected unless there is a clear understanding of
the tasks performed and the competencies needed to perform those tasks. By identifying such
requirements, it is possible to select tests or develop interview questions that will determine
whether a particular applicant possesses the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to carry out
the requirements of the job.
3. Training

Again, it is difficult to see how employees can be trained unless the requirements of the job are known.
Job analyses yield lists of job activities that can be systematically used to create training programs.

4. Person power Planning

One important but seldom employed use of job analysis is to determine worker mobility within an
organization. Many organizations have a policy of promoting the person who performs the best in the
job immediately below the one in question. Although this approach has its advantages, it can result in
the so-called Peter Principle: promoting employees until they eventually reach their highest level of
incompetence.

5. Performance Appraisal

Another important use of job analysis is the construction of a performance appraisal instrument. As in
employee selection, the evaluation of employee performance must be job related.
6. Job Classification

Job analysis enables a human resource professional to classify jobs into groups based on similarities in
requirements and duties. Job classification is useful for determining pay levels, transfers, and
promotions.

7. Job Evaluation

Job analysis information can also be used to determine the worth of a job.

8. Job Design

Job analysis information can be used to determine the optimal way in which a job should be
performed. That is, what would be the best way for an employee to sit at her computer or what
would be the best way for a warehouse person to lift boxes? By analyzing a job, wasted and unsafe
motions can be eliminated, resulting in higher productivity and reduced numbers of job injuries.
IV. Preparing for a Job Analysis

Who Will Conduct the Analysis?

Typically, a job analysis is conducted by a trained individual in the human resources department,
but it can also be conducted by job incumbents, supervisors, or outside consultants. The Uniform
Guidelines state that a job analysis must be ―professionally conducted, and a job analyst certainly
cannot be called a professional unless she has been trained. In addition, research indicates that
analysts who have been trained produce slightly different results from those produced by
untrained analysts. An interesting alternative to consultants is the use of college interns. Graduate
students from I/O psychology programs tend to have job analysis training and experience and can
be employed for a relatively small cost.
How Often Should a Job Description Be Updated?

This is a tough question, and the typical answer is that a job description should be updated if
a job changes significantly. An interesting study by Vincent, Rainey, Faulkner, Mascio, and
Zinda compared the stability of job descriptions at intervals of 1, 6, 10, 12, and 20 years. After
one year, 92% of the tasks listed in the old and updated job descriptions were the same,
dropping to 54% after 10 years. As one would expect, the stability of tasks performed, the
tools and equipment used, and KSAOs needed to perform the job varied by the complexity of
the job. An interesting reason that job descriptions change across time is job crafting – the
informal changes that employees make in their jobs. That is, it is common for employees to
quietly expand the scope of their jobs to add tasks they want to perform and to remove tasks
that they don’t want to perform.
Which Employees Should Participate?

For organizations with relatively few people in each job, it is advisable to have all employees participate in
the job analysis. In organizations in which many people perform the same job (e.g., teachers at a
university, assemblers in a factory), every person need not participate.

If every incumbent is not going to participate, the question becomes, ―How many people need to be
included in the job analysis? This is a difficult question, one that I normally answer by advising job
analysts to keep interviewing incumbents until they do not hear anything new. Anecdotally, this seems to
be after the third or fourth incumbent for a particular job.

➢ The answer to this question to some extent depends on whether the job analysis will be committee
based or field based. In a committee-based job analysis, a group of subject matter experts (e.g.,
employees, supervisors) meet to generate the tasks performed, the conditions under which they are
performed, and the KSAOs needed to perform them. In a field-based job analysis, the job analyst
individually interviews/observes a number of incumbents out in the field.

If every employee will not participate, the same sampling rules used in research should be used in job
analysis. That is, participants should be selected in as random a way as practical yet still be representative.
Related Studies

On Job Competence

❑ Sanchez, Prager, Wilson, and Viswesvaran and Mullins and Kimbrough found that high-performing
employees generated different job analysis outcomes than did low-performing employees.

❑ Ansoorian and Shultz found moderate differences in physical effort made by employees with
varying levels of expertise

❑ Landy and Vasey and Prien, Prien, and Wooten found that more experienced employees rated
tasks differently than less experienced employees.

❑ Mailhot did not find any differences in job analysis ratings made by employees of different
performance levels.
On Race

❑ Aamodt, Kimbrough, Keller, and Crawford, Schmitt, and Cohen, Veres, Green, and Boyles, and
Landy and Vasey report small but significant differences in the ways in which white and African
American incumbents viewed their jobs.

On Gender

❑ Schmitt and Cohen found that male middle-level managers were more often involved in budgetary
or finance-related tasks than were their female counterparts. Ansoorian and Schultz found no
differences in the physical-effort ratings assigned by male and female incumbents.

On Education Level

❑ Landy and Vasey found that police officers with only a high school diploma were less involved in
court activities than were their more educated counterparts.
On Personality

❑ Extroverted incumbents rated such traits as friendliness, leadership ability, and ambition as being
important for the job whereas conscientious incumbents rated such traits as work ethic and
attention to detail as being important. Similarly, Ford, Truxillo, Wang, & Bauer found that
extroverts and people high in agreeableness were likely to inflate task and KSAO ratings.

On Viewpoint

❑ It should be no surprise that people with different perspectives on the job (e.g., incumbent,
supervisor, customer) produce different job analysis results. For example, Mueller and Belcher
found that incumbents (fire captains) and their supervisors (fire chief, deputy fire chiefs, and
division chiefs) produced different task ratings during a job analysis of the fire captain position.

❑ Wagner conducted a job analysis of dentists and found that patients generated more incidents
where patient–dentist relationship was critical, whereas dentists reported more technical-
proficiency incidents. Likewise, Fisher and Greenis and Andersson and Nilsson found differences in
the critical incidents generated by managers, incumbents, and customers.
V. Conducting a Job Analysis

Although there are many ways to conduct a job analysis, the goal of most job analyses is to identify
the tasks performed in a job, the conditions under which the tasks are performed, and the KSAOs
needed to perform the tasks under the conditions identified.

Step 1: Identify Tasks Performed The first step in conducting a job analysis is to identify the major
job dimensions and the tasks performed for each dimension, the tools and equipment used to
perform the tasks, and the conditions under which the tasks are performed. This information is
usually gathered by obtaining previous information on the job, interviewing job incumbents,
observing performance, or actually performing the job itself.

❑ Gathering Existing Information

Prior to interviewing incumbents, it is always a good idea to gather information that has already
been obtained. For example, one might gather existing job descriptions, task inventories, and
training manuals. This information might come from the organization with which you are working,
other organizations, trade publications, and journal articles.
❑ Interviewing Subject Matter Experts

➢ The most common method of conducting a job analysis is to interview subject matter experts
(SMEs). SMEs are people who are knowledgeable about the job and include job incumbents,
supervisors, customers, and upper-level management.

➢ Job analysis interviews differ greatly from employment interviews in that the purpose of the
job analysis interview is to obtain information about the job itself rather than about the person
doing the job.

➢ Job analysis interviews come in two main forms: individual and group. In the individual
interview, the job analyst interviews only one employee at a time. In the group interview, or
SME conference, a larger number of employees are interviewed together.
➢ Regardless of whether individual or group interviews are used, certain guidelines should be
followed that will make the interview go more smoothly.

1. Prepare for the interview by announcing the job analysis to the employees well in advance by
selecting a quiet and private interview location.

2. Open the interview by establishing rapport, putting the worker at ease, and explaining the
purpose of the interview.

3. Conduct the interview by asking open-ended questions, using easy to-understand vocabulary,
and allowing sufficient time for the employee to talk and answer questions. Avoid being
condescending and disagreeing with the incumbent.
➢ A good way to start the actual interview is by asking the employee to describe what she does
from the moment she first enters the parking lot at work to the moment she arrives back
home. A question such as this provides some structure for the employee in recalling the
various aspects of her job and also provides the interviewer with many follow-up questions
and areas that will provide additional information.

➢ With a committee-based approach, a committee of SMEs meets to brainstorm the major

duties involved in a job. Once this has been done, the committee identifies the tasks (work-
related activities) that must be completed for each of the duties. Th e results are then
summarized in job descriptions or a job analysis report.
➢ An excellent job analysis interview technique was developed by Ammerman and reported by
Robinson. The basic steps for the Ammerman technique are:

1. Convene a panel of experts that includes representatives from all levels of the organization.

2. Have the panel identify the objectives and standards that are to be met by the ideal incumbent.

3. Have the panel list the specific behaviors necessary for each objective or standard to be attained.

4. Have the panel identify which of the behaviors from step 3 are ―critical‖ to reaching the objective.

5. Have the panel rank-order the objectives on the basis of importance.

❑ Observing Incumbents

➢ Observations are useful job analysis methods, especially when used in conjunction with
other methods such as interviews. During a job analysis observation, the job analyst
observes incumbents performing their jobs in the work setting.

➢ The advantage to this method is that it lets the job analyst actually see the worker do her job
and thus obtain information that the worker may have forgotten to mention during the
interview.

➢ The method’s disadvantage is that it is very obtrusive: Observing someone without their
knowing is difficult. There is seldom any place from which an analyst could observe without
being seen by employees. This is a problem because once employees know they are being
watched, their behavior changes, which keeps an analyst from obtaining an accurate picture
of the way jobs are done.
❑ Job Participation

➢ One can analyze a job by actually performing it. This technique, called job participation, is
especially effective because it is easier to understand every aspect of a job once you have
done it yourself.

➢ The technique is easily used when the analyst has previously performed the job. An excellent
example would be a supervisor who has worked her way up through the ranks.
Step 2: Write Task Statements

➢ Once the tasks have been identified, the next step is to write the task statements that will
be used in the task inventory and included in the job description.

➢ At the minimum, a properly written task statement must contain an action (what is done)
and an object (to which the action is done). Often, task statements will also include such
components as where the task is done, how it is done, why it is done, and when it is done.
❑ Here are some characteristics of well-written task statements:

➢ One action should be done to one object. If the statement includes the word ―and, it may have more
than one action or object. For example, the statement ―Types correspondence to be sent to vendors
has one action and one object. However, ―Types, files, and sends correspondence to vendors
contains three very different actions (types, files, sends).
➢ Task statements should be written at a level that can be read and understood by a person with the
same reading ability as the typical job incumbent.
➢ All task statements should be written in the same tense.
➢ The task statement should include the tools and equipment used to complete the task.
➢ Task statements should not be competencies (e.g., ―Be a good writer).
➢ Task statements should not be a policy (e.g., ―Treats people nicely).
➢ The statement should make sense by itself. That is, ―Makes photocopies does not provide as much
detail as ―Makes photocopies of transactions for credit union members, which indicates what types
of materials are photocopied and for whom they are copied.
➢ For those activities that involve decision making, the level of authority should be indicated. This level
lets the incumbent know which decisions she is allowed to make on her own and which she needs
approval for from a higher level.
Step 3: Rate Task Statements

➢ Once the task statements have been written (usually including some 200 tasks), the next step is
to conduct a task analysis—using a group of SMEs to rate each task statement on the frequency
and the importance or criticality of the task being performed.

➢ Although many types of scales can be used, research suggests that many of the scales tap
similar types of information, thus, using the two scales of frequency of occurrence and
importance shown in Table 2.3 should be sufficient.
➢ After a representative sample of SMEs rates each task, the ratings are organized into a
format similar to that shown in Table 2.4. Tasks will not be included in the job description if
their average frequency rating is 0.5 or below. Tasks will not be included in the final task
inventory if they have either an average rating of 0.5 or less on either the frequency (F) or
importance (I) scales, or an average combined rating (CR) of less than 2. Using these criteria,
tasks 1, 2, and 4 in Table 2.3 would be included in the job description, and tasks 2 and 4
would be included in the final task inventory used in the next step of the job analysis.
Step 4: Determine Essential KSAOs

➢ A knowledge is a body of information needed to perform a task.

➢ A skill is the proficiency to perform a learned task.

➢ An ability is a basic capacity for performing a wide range of different tasks, acquiring a
knowledge, or developing a skill.

➢ Other characteristics include such personal factors as personality, willingness, interest, and
motivation and such tangible factors as licenses, degrees, and years of experience.

➢ Currently, KSAOs are commonly referred to as competencies. In the old days, KSAOs were called
job specifications (job specs).

➢ When competencies are tied to an organization’s strategic initiatives and plans rather than to
specific tasks, the process is called competency modeling.
Step 5: Selecting Tests to Tap KSAOs

Once the important KSAOs have been identified, the next step is to determine the best methods
to tap the KSAOs needed at the time of hire. Th ese methods will be used to select new
employees and include such methods as interviews, work samples, ability tests, personality
tests, reference checks, integrity tests, biodata, and assessment centers.
Using Other Job Analysis Methods

Methods Providing General Information About Worker Activities Position

1. The Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) is a structured instrument developed at Purdue

University by McCormick, Jeanneret, and Mecham, and is now available from PAQ Services in
Bellingham, Washington.

➢ The PAQ contains 194 items organized into six main dimensions: information input, mental
processes, work output, relationships with other persons, job context, and other job-related
variables such as work schedule, pay, and responsibility.

➢ The PAQ offers many advantages. It is inexpensive and takes relatively little time to use. It is one of
the most standardized job analysis methods, has acceptable levels of reliability, and its results for a
particular position can be compared through computer analysis with thousands of other positions.
Although the PAQ has considerable support, research indicates its strengths are also the source of
its weaknesses.
➢ The PAQ’s instructions suggest that incumbents using the questionnaire have education levels
between grades 10 and 12.

➢ Research has found, however, that the PAQ questions and directions are written at the college
graduate level; thus, many workers may not be able to understand the PAQ. This is one reason
developers of the PAQ recommend that trained job analysts complete the PAQ rather than the
employees themselves.

2. Job Structure Profile

➢ A revised version of the PAQ was developed by Patrick and Moore. The major changes in the
revision, which is called the Job Structure Profile (JSP), include item content and style, new items
to increase the discriminatory power of the intellectual and decision-making dimensions, and an
emphasis on having a job analyst, rather than the incumbent, use the JSP.

➢ Research by JSP’s developers indicates that the instrument is reliable, but further research is
needed before it is known whether the JSP is a legitimate improvement on the PAQ.
3. Job Elements Inventory

➢ Another instrument designed as an alternative to the PAQ is the Job Elements Inventory (JEI),
developed by Cornelius and Hakel.

➢ The JEI contains 153 items and has a readability level appropriate for an employee with only a
tenth-grade education.

➢ Research comparing the JEI with the PAQ indicates that the scores from each method are very
similar; thus, the JEI may be a better replacement for the difficult-to-read PAQ. But as
mentioned with the JSP, much more research is needed before conclusions can be confidently
drawn.
4. Functional Job Analysis

➢ Functional Job Analysis (FJA) was designed by Fine as a

quick method that could be used by the federal
government to analyze and compare thousands of jobs.

➢ Jobs analyzed by FJA are broken down into the

percentage of time the incumbent spends on three
functions: data (information and ideas), people (clients,
customers, and coworkers), and things (machines, tools,
and equipment).

➢ An analyst is given 100 points to allot to the three

functions. The points are usually assigned in multiples of
5, with each function receiving a minimum of 5 points.
Once the points have been assigned, the highest level at
which the job incumbent functions are then chosen from
the chart shown in Table 2.6.
Methods Providing Information About Tools and Equipment

Job Components Inventory

➢ To take advantage of the PAQ’s strengths while avoiding some of its problems, Banks, Jackson,
Stafford, and Warr developed the Job Components Inventory (JCI) for use in England.

➢ The JCI consists of more than 400 questions covering five major categories: tools and
equipment, perceptual and physical requirements, mathematical requirements,
communication requirements, and decision making and responsibility. It is the only job
analysis method containing a detailed section on tools and equipment.
Methods Providing Information About the Work Environment

AET (Arbeitswissenschaftliches Erhebungsverfahren zur Tatigkeitsanalyse)

➢ To obtain information about the work environment, a job analyst might use the AET, an
acronym for ―Arbeitswissenschaftliches Erhebungsverfahren zur Tatigkeitsanalyse (try
saying these three times!), which means ―ergonomic job analysis procedure.

➢ By ergonomic, we mean that the instrument is primarily concerned with the relationship
between the worker and work objects.

➢ Developed in Germany by Rohmert and Landau, the AET is a 216-item.

Methods Providing Information About Competencies

1. Occupational Information Network

➢ The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) is a national job analysis system created by the
federal government to replace the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) which had been in use
since the 1930s.

➢ O*NET is a major advancement in understanding the nature of work, in large part because its
developers understood that jobs can be viewed at four levels: economic, organizational,
occupational, and individual.

➢ O*NET includes information about the occupation (generalized work activities, work context,
organizational context) and the worker characteristics (ability, work style, occupational values and
interests, knowledge, skills, education) needed for success in the occupation.

➢ The O*NET also includes information about such economic factors as labor demand, labor supply,
salaries, and occupational trends.
2. Critical Incident Technique

➢ The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) was developed and first used by John Flanagan and his
students at the University of Pittsburgh in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

➢ The CIT is used to discover actual incidents of job behavior that make the difference between a
job’s successful or unsuccessful performance. This technique can be conducted in many ways,
but the basic procedure is as follows:

a. Job incumbents each generate between one and five incidents of both excellent and poor
performance that they have seen on the job. These incidents can be obtained in many ways—
logbooks, questionnaires, interviews, and so on; research has shown that the method used makes
little difference, although questionnaires are usually used because they are the easiest. A
convenient way to word requests for critical incidents is by asking incumbents to think of times
they saw workers perform in an especially outstanding way and then to write down exactly what
occurred. Incumbents are then asked to do the same for times they saw workers perform poorly.
This process is repeated as needed.
b. Job experts examine each incident and decide whether it is an example of excellent or
poor behavior. This step is necessary because approximately 5% of incidents initially cited
as poor examples by employees are actually good examples and vice versa. For example,
in a recent job analysis of the position of university instructor, a few students described
their worst teachers as those who lectured from material not included in their textbooks.
A committee of faculty members and students who reviewed the incidents determined
that lecturing from non-text material actually was excellent. Thus, the incidents were
counted as examples of excellent rather than poor performance.

c. The incidents generated in the first stage are then given to three or four incumbents to
sort into an unspecified number of categories. The incidents in each category are then
read by the job analyst, who combines, names, and defines the categories.
d. To verify the judgments made by the job analyst in procedure 3, three other incumbents are given
the incidents and category names and are asked to sort the incidents into the newly created categories.
If two of the three incumbents sort an incident into the same category, the incident is considered part
of that category. Any incident that is not agreed upon by two sorters is either thrown out or placed in a
new category.

e. The numbers of both types of incidents sorted into each category are then tallied and used to create
a table. The categories provide the important dimensions of a job, and the numbers provide the
relative importance of these dimensions.

➢ The CIT is an excellent addition to a job analysis because the actual critical incidents can be used
for future activities such as performance appraisal and training.

➢ The CIT’s greatest drawback is that its emphasis on the difference between excellent and poor
performance ignores routine duties. Thus, the CIT cannot be used as the sole method of job
analysis.
3. Job Components Inventory

➢ In addition to information about tools and equipment used on the job, which were discussed
earlier, the JCI also provides information about the perceptual, physical, mathematical,
communication, decision making, and responsibility skills needed to perform the job.

4. Threshold Traits Analysis

➢ An approach similar to the JCI is the Threshold Traits Analysis (TTA), which was developed by Lopez,
Kesselman, and Lopez. This method is available only by hiring a particular consulting firm, but its
unique style makes it worthy of mentioning.

➢ The TTA questionnaire’s 33 items identify the traits that are necessary for the successful
performance of a job. The 33 items cover five trait categories: physical, mental, learned,
motivational, and social. The TTA’s greatest advantages are that it is short and reliable and can
correctly identify important traits. The TTA’s greatest disadvantage is that it is not available
commercially. Because the TTA also focuses on traits, its main uses are in the development of an
employee selection system or a career plan.
5. Fleishman Job Analysis Survey Based on more than 30 years of research, the Fleishman Job
Analysis Survey (F-JAS) requires incumbents or job analysts to view a series of abilities and to
rate the level of ability needed to perform the job. These ratings are performed for each of the
72 abilities and knowledge. Th e F-JAS is easy to use by incumbents or trained analysts and is
supported by years of research. Its advantages over TTA are that it is more detailed and is
commercially available.

6. Personality-Related Position Requirements Form (PPRF) The Personality-Related Position

Requirements Form (PPRF) was developed by Raymark, Schmit, and Guion to identify the
personality types needed to perform job-related tasks. Th e PPRF consists of 107 items tapping
12 personality dimensions that fall under the ―Big 5 personality dimensions (openness to
experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability). Though
more research is needed, the PPRF is reliable and shows promise as a useful job analysis
instrument for identifying the personality traits necessary to perform a job.
7. Job Adaptability Inventory

The Job Adaptability Inventory (JAI) is a 132-item inventory developed by Pulakos, Arad,
Donovan, and Plamondon that taps the extent to which a job incumbent needs to adapt to
situations on the job. The JAI has eight dimensions:

1. Handling emergencies or crisis situations

2. Handling work stress
3. Solving problems creatively
4. Dealing with uncertain and unpredictable work situations
5. Learning work tasks, technologies, and procedures
6. Demonstrating interpersonal adaptability
7. Demonstrating cultural adaptability
8. Demonstrating physically oriented adaptability
8. Personality-Related Position Requirements Form (PPRF)

The Personality-Related Position Requirements Form (PPRF) was developed by Raymark,

Schmit, and Guion to identify the personality types needed to perform job-related tasks. Th e
PPRF consists of 107 items tapping 12 personality dimensions that fall under the ―Big 5
personality dimensions (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion,
agreeableness, and emotional stability). Though more research is needed, the PPRF is reliable
and shows promise as a useful job analysis instrument for identifying the personality traits
necessary to perform a job.
Evaluation of Methods

Different methods are best for different uses—worker-oriented methods, such as the CIT,
JCI, and TTA, are the best for employee selection and performance appraisal; job-oriented
methods, such as task analysis, are best for work design and writing job descriptions. To get
the most out of a job analysis, several techniques should be used so that information on
each of the job description sections can be obtained. From a legal perspective, courts have
ruled that job analysis is necessary and that acceptable job analyses should:

(1) use several up-to-date sources,

(2) be conducted by experts,
(3) use a large number of job incumbents, and
(4) cover the entire range of worker activities and qualifications.
❖ The PAQ is seen as the most standardized technique and the CIT the least standardized.

❖ The CIT takes the least amount of job analyst training and task analysis the most.

❖ The PAQ is the least costly method and the CIT the most.

❖ The PAQ takes the least amount of time to complete and task analysis the most.

❖ Task analysis has the highest-quality results and TTA the lowest.

❖ Task analysis reports are the longest and job-elements reports the shortest.

❖ The CIT has been rated the most useful and the PAQ the least.

❖ Task analysis gives the best overall job picture and the PAQ the worst.
Job Evaluation

Once a job analysis has been completed and a thorough job description written, it is important to
determine how much employees in a position should be paid. This process of determining a job’s
worth is called job evaluation. A job evaluation is typically done in two stages: determining internal
pay equity and determining external pay equity.

Determining Internal Pay Equity

Internal pay equity involves comparing jobs within an organization to ensure that the people in jobs
worth the most money are paid accordingly. The difficulty in this process, of course, is determining
the worth of each job.
Step 1: Determining Compensable Job Factors The first step in evaluating a job is to decide
what factors differentiate the relative worth of jobs. Possible compensable job factors include:

1. Level of responsibility
2. Physical demands
3. Mental demands
4. Education requirements
5. Training and experience requirements
6. Working conditions

The philosophical perspectives of the job evaluator can affect these factors. Some evaluators
argue that the most important compensable factor is responsibility and that physical demands
are unimportant. Others argue that education is the most important. The choice of
compensable factors thus is often more philosophical than empirical.
Step 2: Determining the Levels for Each Compensable Factor Once the compensable factors
have been selected, the next step is to determine the levels for each factor. For a factor such as
education, the levels are easy to determine (e.g., high school diploma, associate degree,
bachelor’s degree). For factors such as responsibility, a considerable amount of time and
discussion may be required to determine the levels.
Step 3: Determining the Factor Weights Because some factors are more important than others, weights must be
assigned to each factor and to each level within a factor. Here is the process for doing this:

1. A job evaluation committee determines the total number of points that will be distributed among the factors.
Usually, the number is some multiple of 100 (for example, 100, 500, 1,000) and is based on the number of
compensable factors. The greater the number of factors, the greater the number of points.

2. Each factor is weighted by assigning a number of points. The more important the factor, the greater the
number of points that will be assigned.

3. The number of points assigned to a factor is then divided into each of the levels. If 100 points had been
assigned to the factor of education, then 20 points (100 points/5 degrees) would be assigned to each level.

4. The total number of points for a job is compared with the salary currently being paid for the job. Wage trend
lines are drawn based on the results of a regression formula in which salary is predicted by the number of job
analysis points.

✓ Jobs whose point values fall well below the line are considered underpaid (―green circled) and are
immediately assigned higher salary levels. Jobs with point values well above the line are considered overpaid
(―red circled‖) and the salary level is decreased once current jobholders leave.
Determining External Pay Equity

With external equity, the worth of a job is determined by comparing the job to the external market
(other organizations). External equity is important if an organization is to attract and retain
employees.

To determine external equity, organizations use salary surveys. Sent to other organizations, these
surveys ask how much an organization pays its employees in various positions.

On the basis of the survey results, an organization can decide where it wants to be in relation to
the compensation policies of other organizations (often called market position).

✓ That is, an organization might choose to offer compensation at higher levels to attract the best
applicants as well as keep current employees from going to other organizations.
✓ Other organizations might choose to pay at the ―going rate‖ so that they have a reasonable
chance of competing for applicants, even though they will often lose the best applicants to
higher-paying organizations.
Note:

It may seem surprising that competing organizations would supply salary information to each
other, but because every organization needs salary data from other organizations, compensation
analysts tend to cooperate well with one another.

The amount of money a job is worth: this amount is called direct compensation.

Employees are also compensated in other ways, such as pay for time not worked (e.g., holidays,
vacation, sick days), deferred income (e.g., Social Security and pension plans), health protection
such as medical and dental insurance, and perquisites (―perks) such as a company car.
Determining a Sex and Race Equity

In addition to analyses of internal and external equity, pay audits should also be conducted to
ensure that employees are not paid differently on the basis of gender or race. Two types of audits
should be conducted:

1. looks at pay rates of employees within positions with identical duties (equal pay for equal work)
2. looks at pay rates of employees in jobs of similar worth and responsibility (comparable worth).

Comparable worth is an issue very much related to the discussion of job evaluation. Comparable
worth is often in the news because some groups claim that female workers are paid less than male
workers. Interestingly, all but 6.2% of the gap between men and women can be explained by such
factors as men being in the workforce longer, having a higher percentage of full-time jobs, and
working more hours in a year.