ABSTRACT
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JOB ANALYSIS: ESTABLISHING A FOUNDATION FOR PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY
The topic of this chapter, job analysis, is the foundation of nearly all personnel activities. To appraise employee performance, hire the right person for a job, train someone to perform a job, or change or redesign a job, we need to know exactly what the job is. This is the purpose of job analysis. Many of the topics we will discuss in the next several chapters rest on this foundation. For example, when we discuss the recruitment, screening, testing, and selection of applicants for a job (in the next two chapters), we determine what knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) are required to perform the job before we hire someone. When we discuss evaluating job performance (Chapter 6), we need to know what the job consists of before we can tell if someone is doing it well or poorly.
In addition, the analysis of jobs draws heavily on the research methods and measurement issues studied in Chapter 2, so make sure you have a firm grasp on the previous chapter. In job analysis, we strive to be as objective and precise as possible. Measurement methods and techniques of observing and recording data are critical to analyzing jobs.
The topic of job analysis also relates to some of the issues discussed in Chapter 1. For example, when Taylor was applying time-and-motion methods to the study of a job, he was in effect conducting a job analysis. Additionally, one of the job analysis methods we will discuss in this chapter examines the specific processes by which a job gets done. These are the same types of processes Taylor studied in his scientific management methods. Making connections such as these will help you see how the various topics that we will be discussing fit together.
