An Introduction to Work and Organizational Psychology

An International Perspective

Nik Chmiel, Franco Fraccaroli, Magnus Sverke, Nik Chmiel, Franco Fraccaroli, Magnus Sverke

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781119168034
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Industrial & Organizational Psychology
• Index: Psychology

The latest edition of this classic text provides a comprehensive and internationally relevant introduction to work and organizational psychology, exploring the depth and diversity of the field in an accessible way without obscuring the complexities of the subject.

• Third edition of a classic textbook offering a complete introduction to work and organizational psychology for undergraduate and graduate students with no prior knowledge of the field
• An innovative new six part structure with two-colour presentation focuses the core material around issues that are either Job-Focused, Organization-Focused, or People-Focused
• Each chapter title is a question designed to engage readers in understanding work and organizational psychology whilst simultaneously inviting discussion of key topics in the field
• The third edition introduces two new co-editors in Franco Fraccaroli from Italy and Magnus Sverke, who join Nik Chmiel and will increase relevance and appeal for European students

PART I
JOB-FOCUSED

1
What Do People Really Do at Work? Job Analysis and Design

Stephen A. Woods and Daniel P. Hinton

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Overview

What do people really do at work? Or to phrase the question differently, what is the content and nature of different jobs in organizations? What should people do in their respective jobs in order to deliver organizational strategy? This chapter introduces the means by which these questions are answered: job analysis. In this chapter, job analysis is defined, and its place within a number of wider organizational systems is explored. Following this, the distinction is drawn between two broad types of analysis: work-oriented and worker-oriented analysis in terms of their focus and the end products that they are used to generate. A number of both work- and worker-oriented methods for the collection of job analysis data are described, after which are considered some specific organizational contexts in which job analysis data is used in the form of training needs analysis and job design. Finally, two modern alternatives to the classical approach to job analysis are described: competency profiling and work analysis. These approaches are explored in terms of the benefits that they can provide to practitioners in overcoming some of the limitations of traditional approaches to job analysis in the modern working world.

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1.1 What Is Job Analysis?

What do people really do at work? How do jobs vary such that one person excels in a role, while another struggles? When selecting someone for a job, how do recruiters know what to look for? And, when designing a training programme, how can we make informed decisions about what content should be included and what content is redundant? How can we analyse work design so that we know if it is motivating?

For a role with which you, the reader, are relatively familiar – for example, sales or retail positions – the answers to these questions might seem fairly straightforward. However, this becomes much more challenging for jobs with which you are less familiar. If someone were to ask you what makes an effective nuclear power plant operator, or what content might make up a training programme for pathology lab technicians, what would you say? How could a practitioner find out what people really do at work?

The answers to all of these questions may be uncovered through a process called job analysis. Job analysis allows practitioners to gain a thorough understanding of the nature of a job, and the characteristics required for someone to be able to be effective in that job, to a very fine level of detail. Brannick, Levine and Morgeson define job analysis as follows:

Job analysis is the systematic process of discovery of the nature of a job by dividing it into smaller units, where the process results in one or more written products with the goal of describing what is done on the job or what capabilities are needed to effectively perform the job.

(2007, p. 8; emphasis added)

Bound up in this definition is the idea that job analysis is a robust process whereby a job and the person doing that job are very closely scrutinized. The methods of job analysis all examine work and workers in extremely fine detail, allowing the job analyst the same level of understanding of them as an expert in that field, even if the analyst had, prior to conducting the job analysis, been unfamiliar with the role.

It may appear, at first glance, that job analysis is a rather laborious and unnecessarily complex approach to the understanding of a job. However, it forms the foundation of a diverse range of organizational processes. In recruitment and selection, it provides the criteria by which one can assess a candidate's degree of fit to the job, and their likely level of future job performance. In training and development, it helps to identify gaps between actual performance and the expected level of performance in a job (this gap representing the training needs of an employee or group). In performance management, it allows one to quantify an individual's performance in more objective, behavioural terms. In short, without job analysis, many of the things organizations do would be fundamentally flawed in their approach.

1.2 Types of Job Analysis: Work- and Worker-oriented Analysis

Classically, there are two broad forms of job analysis: work-oriented analysis and worker-oriented analysis (McCormick, 1976). These forms differ in their focus, and by extension, the types of data which they generate.

Work-oriented analysis seeks to break down a job into its constituent parts through a process of continual narrowing of focus. Within work-oriented analysis, the parts of a job are arranged in a sort of hierarchy. At the top of this hierarchy is the job, which is made up of a number of positions. Positions are composed of duties, which, in turn, are made up of tasks. Tasks can be viewed as collections of activities, which are, themselves, made up of elements, the smallest units of work, which make up the bottom of the hierarchy. The nature of each of these constituent parts is explored further in Box 1.1. By systematically breaking down the job into increasingly smaller parts, work-oriented analysis allows the analyst to understand the nuances of a job role which would otherwise be hidden. The result of work-oriented analysis is a comprehensive picture of every aspect of a job, down to its finest details.

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Box 1.1: Constituent parts of a job

• Job: The totality of the work conducted by individuals working in similar positions across all organizations (for example, the job of ‘receptionist').
• Position: A collection of duties for which a single individual in a specific organization is responsible (for example, ‘the receptionist at Company X').
• Duty: A collection of tasks that contribute towards a shared goal (for example, customer communication).
• Task: A collection of activities that contribute towards a related set of specific job requirements (for example, communicating with customers via telephone).
• Activity: A collection of elements that contribute towards a single job requirement (for example, redirecting customer calls to relevant departments).
• Element: The smallest and most basic unit of work, beyond which further meaningful subdivision is impossible (for example, lifting the telephone's receiver).

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Worker-oriented analysis takes a fundamentally different approach to understanding a job. The aim of worker-oriented analysis is to understand the characteristics that define an effective worker in the role. These characteristics are, collectively, referred to by the abbreviation KSAOs, which stands for Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other Attributes, the four broad types of characteristics with which worker-oriented analysis is concerned. The distinction between these types of characteristics is explored in Box 1.2. Worker-oriented analysis, therefore, produces a profile of person characteristics that define the ideal person for a job, the person who, at least theoretically, should be a perfect fit to the job.

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Box 1.2: KSAOs

• Knowledge: The learning necessary to be able to perform the tasks of a job effectively (e.g. product knowledge; knowledge of processes and procedures).
• Skills: Acquired physical, mental, and social capabilities related to specific job tasks, which are acquired through experience and strengthened through practice (e.g. machinery operation; leadership).
• Abilities: Innate physical and cognitive capabilities that can be applied flexibly to a number of different job tasks (e.g. verbal reasoning; manual dexterity).
• Other Attributes: Any other relevant characteristic of a person that cannot be classified into one of the categories above (e.g. motivation; attitudes; personality traits; values).

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1.3 Products of Job Analysis

Work- and worker-oriented analysis can further be separated by their end products. As stated in the operational definition provided above, job analysis results in some form of written product. The end result of work-oriented analysis is the production of a job description. A job description is a statement of the overall purpose of the role and the key tasks and duties for which the job holder will be expected to be responsible.

By contrast, the product of worker-oriented analysis is a person specification. A person specification is a profile of the KSAOs, experience and overt behaviours necessary to perform effectively in the job. Typically, the characteristics in the person specification will be divided into those that are essential for the job (those which the job holder must possess to be effective), and those that are seen as desirable (which are non-essential for effectiveness, but might differentiate job holders in terms of their fit to the role and subsequent level of performance).

Both of these documents are critical to the understanding of the job role. Therefore, work- and worke...