What is job analysis and what is it for?

Before you can create a precise job description of the position to advertise a vacancy in your organisation, you need to carry out a job analysis. This analytical process will allow an assessment of the need and purpose of the position and how the work is to be performed.

A job description should include a list of essential functions and this is where the analysis comes in, ensuring that the work to be performed in a given job is accurately described.

Is a job analysis the same as a workplace analysis?

No, they are two different concepts because, while job analysis focuses on tasks, responsibilities, skills, training and experience, a workplace analysis is an assessment of its operations, procedures, processes, physical environment and individual workstations.

Carrying out a workplace analysis helps to identify hazards and risks, greatly facilitating the subsequent implementation of control methods. The benefits of carrying out an analysis include:

To prevent accidents and incidents that may cause injury to employees or damage to property.
Create and maintain a safe environment in which to work.
Identify and eliminate or control hazards in a timely manner.
Support an ongoing safety culture in your workplace.

How is a job analysis carried out?

There are different issues that job analysis will have to address. The intention of asking these questions is to determine if tasks can be achieved in a new or different way from the known or habitually employed one.. Among the issues that cannot be omitted from this analytical process are the following:

What is the purpose of the job role? What should be the essential duties of the person filling this vacancy? What capabilities will the hired person need to have?
What would happen if this position were not filled? Would it be possible to transfer essential functions of that role to other roles within the same department or to other departments/units of the company?
What can we learn from our experience of the last five years in this role? Has it been marked by high turnover or has it been a continuous problem area? What explains the current vacancy?
What does this information tell us about the job role? Does it need to be redefined or perhaps eliminated?

The responsibility for analysing a vacant or newly created position rests primarily with the hiring manager, but it is recommended that at least one additional person be involved, to enrich the process with another viewpoint, be it more managerial or perhaps closer to the department where the post to be filled is located.

Why is job analysis important?

The job description is a key document for personnel management, as it affects how a role is classified and compensated.. It serves as the basis for setting expectations with an employee and for performance appraisal and management.

It is also important for determining the candidate's professional development needs. For that reason, Job analysis prior to developing a vacant position description should be carried out carefully and without allowing the urgency of the recruitment process to undermine the importance of ensuring accuracy.

It is essential that each job description is written in such a way as to provide all the information that candidates need to contact the company. It must accurately reflect all the required duties and responsibilities, as well as desirable training, experience and certification requirements. But, To reach this level of accuracy, it is necessary to study in depth the position to be filled, what it entails and what it requires of the professional who fills it, something for which analysis is inevitably necessary.