chapter 4 recruitment

A job requirements analysis

seeks to identify and describe the specific tasks, KSAOs, and job context for a particular job. This type of job analysis aims to be objective, and has a very well-developed body of techniques to support its implementation.

Organizational leaders

Remote or abstract knowledge of job-specific activities

Expertise in organizational

Knowledge of organizational

strategies, goals, and future needs career paths and future rewards for continued development

Supervisors

Direct knowledge of how the job should be done

Mid-level perspective between

Control over providing job

overall organizational goals and

rewards and knowledge of how

specific activities in jobs

rewards relate to performance

Job incumbents

Direct knowledge of how the job typically is done

May have difficulty assessing how

Recipient of job rewards for the

immediate job tasks are linked to

position; direct knowledge of how

strategic goals

rewards are perceived by others in the role

External smes

Outsider perspective on how tasks

May have knowledge of rewards

are typically organized; fresh

of the job as perceived by

perspective, but lacking strategic individuals in other organizations

and cultural expertise

Expert information on occupations or work as a whole; knowledge regarding how to conduct analysis

Organizational Leaders

The competency modeling method focuses squarely on top management, and from this information staffing managers can make certain that KSAO targets in recruiting, selection, and placement are in line with strategic priorities. Leaders can provide a holistic view of work in the organization, which often means their evaluation of the gap between current work functions and needed work functions can result in complete redesign or reorganization of tasks. The leader perspective does have its short-comings, however. Most top managers have limited knowledge of specific job roles and even less knowledge of the day-to-day tasks. After years of working with competency models, many job analysts have come to the conclusion that a top-down leader perspective does not provide the fine-grained detail that is needed for most staffing functions, so a hybrid approach that also incorporates information from supervisors, incumbents, and external experts may be needed to supplement leaders' perspective!

Supervisors

Supervisors are the main source of information for most job analyses. Evidence suggests there are significant advantages to using supervisors, but also some reasons for concern. Evidence has shown that supervisors make the most accurate judgments in the job analysis process. They not only supervise employees performing the job to be analyzed but may also participate in defining job content for evolving and flexible jobs. Understanding job tasks and the right way to do them is the core of a supervisor's role. Moreover, because supervisors ultimately have to accept the resulting descriptions and specifications for jobs they supervise, including them as a source is a good way to ensure such acceptance. The chief problem with supervisors as a source of information is that they will likely realize that the job analysis process is a key opportunity to increase their status and gain resources, and therefore may overstate the importance of their own role.

JOB REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS

Concepts underlying job requirements can be arranged in a hierarchy from observable tasks up to job families. Job requirements analysis starts with tasks, which are identifiable work activities that are logical and necessary steps in the performance of the job. Task dimensions are groups of similar types of tasks. A job is a grouping of positions that have similar tasks. Jobs that are similar to one another can be grouped into job categories. Finally, a job family is a grouping of jobs according to function. For example, within the community and social service job family there are categories of jobs like health workers, counselors, and social workers. Under the counselor category are specific jobs like mental health counselor and rehabilitation counselor.

Task Statements

Job analysis begins with the development of task statements. Task statements are objectively written descriptions of the major tasks an employee performs in a job

They serve as the building blocks for the remainder of the job requirements analysis. The statements are made in simple declarative sentences.

Ideally, each task statement will indicate:

1. What does the employee do?

2. To whom or what?

3. With what expected outcome?

Task Dimensions

It is useful to group sets of task statements into task dimensions and then attach a name to each such dimension. Other terms for task dimensions are "duties," "accountability areas," "responsibilities," and "performance dimensions."

A useful way to facilitate the grouping process is to create a task dimension matrix. Each column in the matrix represents a potential task dimension. Each row in the matrix represents a particular task statement. Cell entries in the matrix represent the assignment of task statements to task dimensions (the grouping of tasks). The goal is to have each task statement assigned to only one task dimension.

There are many different grouping procedures, ranging from straightforward judgmental ones to highly sophisticated statistical ones. 13 For most purposes, a simple judgmental process is sufficient, such as having the people who created the task statements also create the groupings as part of the same exercise. As a rule, there should be four to eight dimensions, depending on the number of task statements, regardless of the specific grouping procedure used.

Knowledge.

Knowledge is a body of information (conceptual, factual, procedura!) that can be applied directly to the performance of tasks. It tends to be quite focused or specific in terms of the job, organization, or occupation. O*NET provides definitions of 33 types of knowledge that might generally be necessary in varying levels in certain occupations, including areas like business and management, manufacturing and production, engineering and technology, mathematics and science, health services, education and training, arts and humanities, law and public safety, communications, and transportation. Knowledge is often divided into declarative and procedural categories. Declarative knowledge is factual in nature, whereas procedural knowledge concerns processes. A surgeon, for example, has declarative knowledge of the symptoms of heart disease and can state them, and also has procedural knowledge of the steps to perform open-heart surgery. Both declarative and procedural knowledge should be reflected in job analysis documents. 18

Skill.

	Skill refers to an observable competence for working with or applying knowledge to perform a particular task or a closely related
	set of tasks. A skill is not an enduring characteristic of the person; it depends on experience and practice. Skill requirements are directly
	inferred from observation or knowledge of tasks performed. Returning to our example, skill refers to the actual demonstrated capacity of
	the surgeon to perform an operation in an efficient and competent manner.

Ability.

An ability is an underlying, enduring trait of the person that is useful for learning about and performing a range of tasks. It differs from a skill in that it is less likely to change over time and that it is applicable across a wide set of tasks encountered in many different jobs. One can think of ability as the underlying personal characteristics that determine how quickly one can acquire and to what degree one can master the knowledge and skills required for a job. 1º Four general categories of abilities are commonly recognized: cognitive (e.g., verbal, quantitative, perceptional, spatial, and memory abilities), psychomotor (e.g., fine manipulative, control movement, and reaction time abilities), physical (e.g., strength, endurance, and coordination abilities), and sensory (e.g., visual and auditory abilities).

Criteria for Choice of Methods.

Some explicit choices regarding methods of job requirements analysis need to be made. One

set of choices involves deciding whether to use a particular method of information collection. An organization must decide whether to use an off-the-shelf method or its own particular method that is suited to its own needs and circumstances. A second set of choices involves how to blend together a set of methods that will be used in varying ways and degrees in the actual job analysis. Some criteria for guidance in such decisions are shown in

- Exhibit 4.9. In practice, job analysis is usually conducted through a combination of these methods so

that the weaknesses of any one method are offset by the strengths of another.

COMPETENCY MODELING

As the pace of change increased, new technology rendered many of these jobs obsolete, and organizations adopted more flexible roles; thus, the relevance of job requirements analysis came into question. As a result, the competency-based type of job analysis came into being. Competency models reflect a desire to 1) underscore the importance of behavior to organizational strategy, (2) evaluate KSAOs that extend across multiple jobs, (3) increase flexibility in job design and job assignments, and (4) make it easier to adapt jobs to a changing organizational context.

Overview

The chief difference between job requirements analysis and competency modeling is the direction of information flow. The job requirements analysis begins by looking at very specific tasks and then aggregates these from the bottom up to form jobs and job categories that are found throughout an organization. Due to its linkage with overall organizational capacities, competency modeling has become closely aligned with the strategic perspective on HR management. Because of this explicit link to organizational strategy, and the use of terminology that is consistent with strategic plans, most job analysts find that executives are much more supportive of competency-based analysis relative to job requirements analysis. 28

Many techniques have been developed over time that facilitate competency modeling, such that it has progressively become a much more rigorous approach than it once was. Tronically, the net result is that competency modeling has come to incorporate many of the practices used in job requirements analysis. Competency analysis begins by considering the organization's internal and external environments and then determines how each job corresponds to the associated strategic goals. Competency models should explicitly consider the organizational context. This is a key point, because the top-down approach of competency modeling makes it much easier to address how jobs fit together and complement one another to produce goods and services compared with the task focus of job requirements analysis.

Finally, because competency models are tied to the organization's strategy, requirements can change over time. Competencies should be sufficiently general to address both present and future organizational needs.

Nature of Competencies

competency is an underlying characteristic of an individual that contributes to role performance and to organizational success. 30

Competencies specific to a particular job are the familiar KSAO requirements established through job requirements analysis. Competency requirements may extend beyond job-specific ones to those of multiple jobs, general job categories, or the entire organization. These competencies are much more general or generic KSAOs, such as technical expertise or adaptability. A competency model is a combination of the several competencies deemed necessary for a particular job or role.

Despite the strong similarities between competencies and KSAOs, there are two notable differences. First, competencies may be job spanning, meaning that they contribute to success in multiple jobs. Members of a work team, for example, may each hold specific jobs within the team but may be subject to job-spanning competency requirements, such as adaptability and teamwork orientation. Such requirements ensure that team members will interact successfully with one another and will even perform portions of others' jobs if necessary. As another example, competency requirements may span jobs within the same category, such as sales jobs or managerial jobs.

All sales jobs may have product knowledge as a competency requirement, and all managerial jobs may require planning and results orientation. Such requirements allow for greater flexibility in job placements and job assignments within the category.

Second, competencies serve to align requirements of all jobs with the mission and goals of the organization. A job requirements analysis can easily miss out on these broader features. A restaurant, for example, may have "customer focus" as a defining characteristic that contributes to competitive advantage. Customer service orientation should therefore be a competency requirement for all jobs as a way of indicating that servicing customer needs is a key component of all jobs. Research has shown that diversity-related organizational outcomes can be enhanced by incorporating diversity management as a job-spanning competency.

Types of Rewards

Rewards are commonly classified as either extrinsic or intrinsic in nature. Extrinsic rewards are tangible factors provided to job incumbents (e.g., pay, benefits, work schedule, advancement, job security) as a way to make the job more attractive. Intrinsic rewards are the intangibles that are more internal to the job itself and experienced by the employee as an outgrowth of actually doing the job and being a member of the organization (e.g., variety in work duties, autonomy, feedback, coworker and supervisor relations).39

The extrinsic rewards of jobs are usually more objectively verifiable and can serve as a strong selling point to those outside the organization. Extrinsic rewards are also valuable because they can offset less pleasant parts of jobs. The evidence on the effects of extrinsic rewards is clear: pay, benefits, and other outcomes of work are strongly associated with applicant attraction, motivation, and retention.

There is, at the same time, equally clear evidence that intrinsic rewards have positive effects as well. Intrinsically rewarding job tasks are the best predictors of engagement at work. Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are not an either-or proposition when it comes to making jobs attractive: the most effective HR systems combine both.40

Employee Value Proposition

The totality of rewards, both extrinsic and intrinsic, associated with the job constitutes the employee value proposition (EVP)." The EVP is akin to the "package" or "bundle" of rewards provided to employees and to which employees respond by joining, performing for, and remaining with the organization. It is the "deal" or "bargain" struck between the organization and the employee, first as a promise to the prospective employee and later as a reality to the actual new employee. The EVP thus functions as the glue that binds the employee and the organization.

The challenge to the organization is to create EVPs for various employee groups that, on average, are both attractive and affordable (how to create an individual EVP in the form of a formal job offer to a prospective employee is considered in the final match chapter). No reward, extrinsic or intrinsic, is costless; the organization must figure out what it can afford as it creates its EVPs. The dual affordability-attractiveness requirements for EVPs highlight the need to determine the right magnitude, right mix, and right distinctiveness of the rewards of a job. 42 Right magnitude refers to a package of rewards that is large enough to attract and retain workers but not so great that it causes strain on the organization's financial or operational system. A package of rewards that is seen as inadequate or noncompetitive can have negative effects at any stage of the staffing process. Such perceptions may arise very early in the applicant's job search, before the organization is even aware of the applicant, due to word of mouth, online feedback, or electronic recruitment information. Alternatively, an inadequate rewards package may become an issue later in the job search process, as the offer and negotiation process unfolds. Either way, the perception that the EVP is not met can be a deal killer that leads the person to self-select out of consideration for the job, turn down the job, or quit. Conversely, an appropriate rewards package requires an eye to financial and operational issues. An overly generous rewards package creates affordability problems for the organization. High wages and exorbitant benefits are a direct drain on financial health. Overly loose scheduling and autonomy can create coordination problems, undermining productivity. These problems may be

Above and beyond the magnitude of rewards, the mix of rewards is also worth consideration. A good mix refers to a situation in which the composition of the rewards package is in sync with the preferences of prospective or current employees. A package that provides excellent retirement benefits, long-term performance incentives, and job security is likely to be more attractive to more experienced employees who are seeking stable employment. A package that provides opportunities for constant travel, a competitive environment, and extensive skill development is a more appealing mix for new labor market entrants.

Finally, rewards packages should be distinctive, helping to build an employer brand. 43 Organizations often compete for employees

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by providing rewards that are not otherwise available. For example, companies in the fashion industry give their employees deep discounts on clothing and accessories that would not be easy to acquire from other companies. Some companies provide opportunities for high-performing employees to develop relationships with high-powered mentors within and outside the organization. Still others give employees a chance to contribute their time and energy to devote paid hours to nonprofit organizations that fit with the mission and values of employees. From these examples, it should be obvious that there are many very different ways for organizations to be distinctive; no two ways of being unique are quite the same!

Which to Use?

Should the organization opt to use interviews, surveys, or both? Interviews are certainly more personal; employees

are allowed to respond in their own words. Questions can probe individual perceptions regarding reward magnitude, mix, and distinctiveness. The resulting data provide insights beyond mere rating-scale responses. On the downside, interviews are costly to schedule and conduct, data analysis is messy and time-consuming, and statistical summaries and analysis of the data are difficult. Surveys are easier to administer (especially online), and they permit statistical summaries and analyses that are very helpful in interpreting responses.

Unfortunately, surveys cannot reveal information that the survey designer did not know about.

Assuming adequate resources and expertise, a combined interview and survey approach would be best. This would allow the organization to capitalize on the unique strengths of each approach, as well as offset some of the weaknesses of each. In such cases, interviews usually are done first and then the information gathered from the open-ended responses is used as a springboard to develop specific survey questions.

Recall that under the ADA, the

the organization must not discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability who can perform the

"essential functions" of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation. This requirement raises three questions: What are essential functions? What is the evidence of essential functions? What is the role of job analysis?

Job Relatedness and Court Cases

In equal employment opportunity and affirmative action (EEO/AA) court cases, the organization is confronted with the need to justify it challenged staffing practices as being job related. Common sense suggests that this requires the organization to conduct some type of job analysis to identify job requirements. If the case involves an organization's defense of its selection procedures, the UGESP requires conducting a job analysis. In addition, specific features or characteristics of the job analysis make a difference in the organizal defense. Specifically, an examination of court cases indicates that for purposes of legal defensibility the organization should conform to the following recommendations:

1. "Job analysis must be performed and must be for the job for which the selection instrument is to be utilized.

2. Analysis of the job should be in writing.

3. Job analysts should describe in detail the procedure used.

4. Job data should be collected from a variety of current sources by knowledgeable job analysts.

5. Sample size should be large and representative of the jobs for which the selection instrument is used.

6. Tasks, duties, and activities should be included in the analysis.

7. The most important tasks should be represented in the selection device.

8. Competency levels of job performance for entry-level jobs should be specified.

9. Knowledge, skills, and abilities should be specified, particularly if a content validation model is followed."4

THE NEED FOR JOB ANALYSIS

The process of studying jobs in order to gather, analyze, synthesize, and report information about job requirements and rewards

The changing nature of jobs

• Jobs are constantly evolving

• Need for greater flexibility

• Team- based work

• Employees need to go beyond "tasks and duties as written"

Job analyses must be able to adapt to these conditions

Job REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS: OVERVIEW

Definition

• Process of studying jobs to gather, analyze, synthesize, and report information about job requirements

• Specific KSAOs for the job

Has different degrees of relevance to staffing activities

Support activity for staffing activities

Provides foundation for successful staffing systems

Task Statements

Objectively written descriptions of the behaviors or work activities engaged in by employees in order to perform the job. Each task may have multiple "actions"

Task dimensions (Duties)

• Involves grouping sets of task statements into dimensions, attaching a name to each dimension

• Other terms - "duties," "accountability areas," "responsibilities," and "performance dimensions"

Task/dimension importance

• Decide on attribute to be assessed in terms of importance

• Decide whether attribute will be measured in categorical or continuous terms

KSAOS

Prior information

Current job descriptions, training manuals,

performance appraisals, O*NET

Readily available, inexpensive

External sources may not match iobs in vour organization. focus is on how iobs have been done

previously

Observation

Trained job analysts or HR professionals

Thorough, rich information, does not rely on intermediary information sources

Not appropriate for jobs that are largely mental, incumbents know they re being observed

Interviews

HR professionals discuss job requirements with job incumbents and managers

Takes the incumbent's knowledge of the position into account

Time-consuming and costly, quality depends on interviewee and skill of the interviewer

Task questionair

Job incumbents. managers. and HIR

with questions regarding the job

Standardized method, combine information from large numbers of incumbents quick v

professionals complete a standardized form Developing questionnaires can be expensive and time-consuming, incumbents must be capable

o como cung une rouns accuratelv

Machine learning

Mutple, Incluaing pror iniormation, observation, interviews, task questionnaires. and online databases

Efficiently combines large amounts of data from different sources, can demonstrate how groups

of tasks and qualifications relate to one another across jobs

Can be difficult to understand the process, requires expert decision makers

Committee or a task

Managers, representatives from HR, and

incumnents meet to discuss 1on

descriptions

Brings expertise of a variety of individuals into the process, increases reliability, enhances

acceptance

Significant investment of staff time

COMPETENCY MODELING

An alternative to Traditional Task/Requirements based Job Analysis

Usage reflects a desire to:

• connote job requirements that extend beyond the specific job itself

• describe and measure the organization's workforce in more general terms

• as a way of increasing staffing flexibility in job assignments

Three strategic HR reasons for doing competency modeling

1. Create awareness and understanding of need for change in business

2. Enhance skill levels of workforce

3. Improve teamwork and coordination

WHAT IS A COMPETENCY?

Competencies modeling is often a misunderstood process.

Competencies are not as clearly defined as KSAOs

Nature of competencies

• an underlying characteristic of an individual that contributes to job or role performance and to organizational success

Similarities between competencies and KSAOs

• Both reflect an underlying ability to perform a job

Differences between competencies and KSAOs

• Competencies are much more general

UT

• May contribute to success on multiple jobs

• Contribute not only to job performance but also to organizational success

COMPETENCY MODEL PROCESS

Identify Job Criteria: Define what the objectives of the job are.

Data Collection: Focus groups, Interviews, and Surveys.

Reduce into 10-20 "competencies": Essential skills or traits needed to excel on the job.

Define: Give examples of the specific behaviors that are included in the competency to be a top performer.

Note: Specific behavioral examples are more explicit than task descriptions from a Job

Requirements Analysis.

For competencies, we aren't listing job tasks in terms of WHAT needs to be done, but rather we are focusing on HOW these tasks needs to be done.

Relationship Building:

A concern for building strong, positive relationships with customers.

• Ask questions to identify common bonds with customers

• Use existing relationships to get introductions

• Demonstrate to the clients that s/he values their relationship

• Entertain the clients and spend time in non-business settings.

• Spend time with the decision maker rather than with operations level people on an account.

Interpersonal Awareness:

The ability to notice, interpret and anticipate others' concerns and feelings and to communicate this awareness empathetically to others.

• Understands the most important concerns of others.

• Know what other individuals like and dislike

• Understand the reasons understanding others' behaviors.

• Takes time to listen when others come with problems.

• Anticipates how others will react to a situation

THE "GREAT EIGHT" COMPETENCIES

Leading: initiates action, gives direction

Supporting: shows respect, puts people first

Presenting: communicates and networks effectively

Analyzing: thinks clearly, applies expertise

Creating: thinks broadly, handles situations creatively

Organizing: plans ahead, follows rules

Adapting: responds to change, copes with setbacks Performing: focuses on results, shows understanding of organization

STRATEGIC COMPETENCIES

Visioning (establishes and communicates a long-term view)

Alignment (considers multiple stakeholder perspectives in determining strategic direction)

Environmental awareness (understands external business influences)

Assessment and evaluation (uses economic, financial, industry, and customer data to identify opportunities)

Strategy creation (meets evolving goals and objectives)

Plan development (links objectives with plans for implementation)

Implementation (executes plans)

Extrinsic rewards

• external to the job itself

• designed and granted to employees by the organization

• pay, benefits, work schedule, advancement, job security

Intrinsic rewards

• intangibles

• experienced by employees as an outgrowth of doing the job

• variety in work duties, autonomy, feedback, coworker and supervisor relations

Employee value proposition

• The "package" or "bundle" of rewards provided to employees and to which employees respond by joining, performing, and remaining with the organization

COLLECTING JOB REWARDS INFORMATION

Within the organization

• Interviews with employees

• Surveys with employees

Outside the organization

• SHRM survey

• O*NET

• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

JOB REWARDS INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Reward mix

• If you could change the mix of rewards provided in your job, what would you add?

• Of the rewards associated with your job, which two are the most important to you?

Reward Distinctiveness

• Which rewards that you receive in your job are you most likely to tell others about?

• Which of our rewards really stand out to you? To job applicants?

Rewards offered

• What are the most rewarding elements of your job? Consider both the work itself and the pay and benefits associated with your job.

• Looking ahead, are there any changes you can think of that would make your job more rewarding?

Reward magnitude

• Describe the amount of potential for growth and development in your job.

• Do you feel like the pay and benefits provided for your job are adequate for the work you do, and if not, what would you change?

JOB REWARDS SURVEY

survey can provide a good follow-up to conducting an interview.

Developing questions

• Should cover material identified in interviews

• Identify both extrinsic and intrinsic elements

Response options

• Importance of each type of reward for workers

• Extent to which each type of reward is provided on the job

WARNING!!!!

Do not ask if you are not prepared to make changes!

One common mistake organizations make when conducting interviews and surveys of their employees is that they do not follow-up on the results.

If you find that your employees see a strong disconnect between the rewards they desire and the rewards they are being offered, you may unintentionally generate additional negative feelings by ignoring

WHAT ABOUT INTRINSIC REWARDS?

From a recruitment perspective, identifying specific plausible intrinsic rewards associated with a position may be helpful.

Examples:

• Opportunities for growth and advancement

• Unique problems to solve

• Autonomy in scheduling or performing work

• Complex or challenging work (engaging)

• Ownership of a task or process

• Impact on the organization or society

JOB CHARACTERISTICS THEORY

Jobs have five (5) core characteristics which drive

intrinsic motivation

1. Skill Variety: Using various skills throughout the day. Working on a variety of distinct tasks.

2. Task Identity: Feeling ownership of a process or product allowing it to be part of your identity

3. Task Significance: Recognizing the impact of your work for the organization and for

4. Autonomy: Freedom to choose how to go about doing your work

5. Feedback: Understanding the results and outcomes of your work.

LEGAL ISSUES

Job relatedness and court cases

• Recommendations - Establishing job-related nature of staffing practices

Essential Job Functions:

• Fundamental job duties of the employment position the individual with a disability holds or desires

• The reason the position exists is to perform the function

• A limited number of employees available among whom the performance of that job function can be distributed

• The incumbent is hired for his or her expertise or ability to perform the particular

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ):

Demographic characteristics which are

"essential" to performing the job.

• Religious teacher must be a member of the religion which they are instructing

• Mandatory retirement age for some jobs (safety related)

• Actors/Models need to appear a certain way.

Content validity

is the degree to which the selection instrument or assessment (e.g. interview) measures content which is relevant for the job.

Example:_ An interview asks relevant questions about performing aspects of the job.

ADVERSE IMPACT / DISCRIMINATION

We previously discussed the 4/5 rule (e.g. flow statistics)

• If flow statistics indicate there is adverse impact, we should take corrective action.

We need to check to ensure that our recruitment and selection practices align with the job description.

• We need to be appropriately evaluating "essential functions".

• We need to show job relevance of our questions/assessment

When an organization is accused of discriminatory practices, the courts will evaluate the quality of the job analysis and how well the other organizational functions utilize that information effectively.