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Semester 2 2025 - DUE 15
September 2025
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, The Process of Job Analysis and its Role in Performance Management
Job analysis is a systematic process of collecting and analyzing information about the duties,
responsibilities, necessary skills, outcomes, and work environment of a particular job. It serves
as the foundation for various human resource functions, including performance management.
Its Role in Performance Management: Job analysis provides the essential blueprint for a fair
and effective performance management system. Without it, there's no clear standard against
which to measure an employee's performance. It ensures that the criteria used for evaluation are
directly related to the actual job requirements, which is a key principle of a legally defensible
and credible system. It also helps to:
Establish Clear Performance Standards: The information gathered through job
analysis is used to set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound
(SMART) goals. This helps employees understand exactly what is expected of them,
preventing ambiguity and ensuring the evaluation is based on objective criteria.
Identify Competencies: Job analysis helps identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities
(KSAs) required for a job. This information is crucial for developing competency-based
performance measures.
Develop Relevant Metrics: The data helps managers select appropriate metrics, whether
they are based on results (e.g., sales figures) or behaviors (e.g., customer service
interactions), ensuring that what is being measured is truly relevant to the job's success.
Ensure Fairness and Legal Compliance: By linking performance metrics directly to job
requirements, job analysis minimizes the risk of bias and discrimination. A system based
on a thorough job analysis is more likely to be considered fair and legally sound.
Distinguishing among Different Performance Measuring Approaches
Performance can be measured using various approaches, each with its own focus.
Trait Approach: This approach focuses on an employee's personal characteristics or
traits like conscientiousness, initiative, and creativity. While these traits might be linked
to performance, they are often subjective and difficult to define and measure accurately.
A rating scale is a common tool for this approach.
Behavioral Approach: This approach focuses on specific, observable behaviors that an
employee must exhibit to perform their job effectively. It's more objective than the trait
approach because it measures what an employee does, not what they are. Examples
include a BARS (Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale) or a BOS (Behavioral
Observation Scale).