job analysis in the real world

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© 2009 APT, Inc.

Job Analysis in the Real World

Some perspectives from the trenches

Presented to the Portland I/O Psychology Association

Bob Lewis

June 5, 2009

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About APT

Talent

Management Strategies

• Full-service human resources consulting firm comprised of:• Ph.D. industrial/organizational psychologists• Human resource professionals • IT specialists

• Diversity provider (certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council)

• What sets APT apart:• Professional integrity• Industry expertise• Technical skill• Customer service

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Our Service Areas

• Job Analysis• Selection Systems• Employment Litigation Support• Assessment and Coaching• 360-Degree Feedback• Performance Management• Staffing for Organizational Change• Organizational Surveys• Compensation

Talent

Management Strategies

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Classic Approach to JA

From Harvey and Wilson (2000)

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Classic JA Item

From Harvey and Wilson (2000)

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Classic Reasons to Collect JA Data

• Identify employee specifications• Select or develop predictors that assess

important KSAs…to forecast…likely to be successful

• Develop criteria or standards of performance…to be considered successful on the job

From Gatewood, Feild, and Barrick (2008)

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Real World Reasons for JA Data

• Make the attorneys go away• We’re contesting a lawsuit• We’ve signed a consent agreement

• Keep the attorneys away• We want to gain the benefits of a selection system;

incidentally want one that’s defensible

• Need to design a training course• JASR and other tabletop exercises• Arm waving exercises of the “strategy” firms

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JA Drivers/Targets

Previously…Manual and/or gov’t jobs

Supervisors of manual and/or gov’t jobs

Previously…Title VII and case law

TargetsDrivers

Currently…Managerial jobs

Professional/IC jobs

Currently…Wage-hour exemption

Consent agreements

Talent fungibility/best practice

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Implications

• “Observational” or “interview/focus group” approaches to job analysis are less favored

• Job analysis results are increasingly being built into “talent management” systems

• Jobs with wider discretion increasingly being rigorously analyzed

• Job analysis results must be used strategically• “Surprise, you’re now non-exempt.”

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The Challenges

• Developing survey instruments that make sense when work is hard to observe, legal requirements are important, and skills are compensatory• Detailing differences among jobs that differ little and

“experts” find hard to describe.• Relative importance ratings• Addressing issues of scope, scale, and talent fungibility

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The Challenges

• Dealing with client competency models* that have already gotten traction• “Use understanding of…industry and major

competitors to set goals and action plans.”• “Plan with sufficient flexibility to meet the challenges of

rapid global growth”

• *I’ve yet to work with a client that had just one

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The Challenges

• On demand job analysis

• Card sorting approaches are deceptively easy and have led to the belief job analysis should be similarly easy.

• Assessing Minimum Qualifications• OFCCP• Buster approach

• Talent Mobility

• When “expertise” is more important than “importance”

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Unresolved Issues

• Multitasking

• Central to wage-hour cases

• Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (Might be the “full employment for I/O psychologists, Part II” Act)

• More scrutiny of MQ’s and job titles

• What is the real difference between Manager I, Manager II, Manager III and Senior Manager I jobs?

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Tried and True Approaches

• Lots of pre-survey work• Understand the context • Interviews and focus groups

• Communicate endlessly• Survey managers and incumbents

• Others if appropriate (e.g., Regional Trainers)

• Overlap analyses

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