Job analysis

What is job analysis?

• Job analysis is about getting the job description right - it’s an objective and structured process to gather information to understand exactly what is required for a person to be successful in the role and it provides objective and verifiable requirements for the job.
• It identifies key tasks and responsibilities as well as the knowledge, skills and capabilities required to successfully perform the role.
• The aim of a job analysis is to define and outline the common duties or tasks performed on the job, as well as descriptions of the skills, personality, experience, career aims, behaviours and team fit required to perform the role, which in turn becomes a documented position description.

Why is job analysis important?

Too often time-pressured managers pull out the same job description they have been using for years but how many jobs stay static and unchanged in our fast-paced world?

A structured job analysis is an opportunity to review the role and work out what elements are productive and which might perhaps be delegated to someone else.

A properly conducted job analysis can also uncover tools and technologies commonly used in the position as well as a number of other elements that define work performed in the position.

The job description is also the first step in the process of the ‘employment life cycle’ and when it is done well it will assist you in identifying:

• The correct level or classification of the role and the appropriate remuneration
• What interview questions should be asked to enable you to select the best candidate for the job
• What to verify with the referees
• Performance development and review criteria
• Learning and development requirements.

Job analysis answers a very difficult question that most organisations struggle with: What are the specific behavioural requirements for this job that will produce the desired results?

Who might be able to help?

The best person to know the expectations and skills required for a role is usually the person currently occupying the position – assuming they have been in the role for at least six months and if you are confident they have been performing the role at a satisfactory level.

The supervisor and other team members are also likely to have some good input and give you an idea of how the role interacts with others in the immediate and broader team. It may be an opportunity to review work practices within the department and to remedy some inefficiencies.

What are the key elements of a good job description?

Purpose of the Position
In no more than 2-3 sentences define the main purpose of the position e.g. Lead and manage the nursing service to ensure high quality healthcare is delivered to the residents of XYZ Aged Care Facility.

Key Tasks or Accountabilities
Begin the task statement with a verb (action word). Typical words used are Administer, Assist, Contribute, Develop, Implement, Lead, Manage, Provide.

This should then be followed by the purpose of the action e.g. Review, develop and implement appropriate quality improvement activities to improve the standard of care to patients and to ensure the continued improvement of all aspects of the service.

Typically you will have 6-8 well defined key accountabilities.

Other Optional Elements
It may also be useful to identify the key challenges that the role faces e.g. Invest time in developing effective relationships with the local Aboriginal communities or balance the needs of your own professional development within a demanding work environment.

Who are the key relationships with both internally within the organisation as well as externally? Who does the role report to? What committees is the successful applicant expected to be an active member of, etc.?

What is the work environment like? E.g. ABC Hospital offers a supportive team environment with flexible hours. This can be an opportunity to sell the benefits of the organisation but don’t go over the top with this. Be realistic. You may need to also incorporate the challenges of the role.

You expect an applicant to be honest in their CV; the same applies to the advert and job description. The right job description is the first step in helping you to select the right candidate.

Selection Criteria
'Knowledge' usually refers to the body of information needed for a particular job e.g Bachelor of Physiotherapy and General Registration with the Physiotherapy Board of Australia.

'Skills' refers to the particular observable behaviours that a person needs to carry out work tasks, which are usually acquired through previous jobs or training e.g. Paediatric Emergency Life Support Skills.

'Capabilities' are the less visible, physical or mental capabilities or aptitudes required by the person e.g. excellent communication skills and ability to interact effectively within a multidisciplinary team environment.

Soft Skills versus Hard Skills
Sometimes clinical competencies and educational requirements are referred to as 'hard' skills. Whereas, more intangible skills like leadership, communication and motivation are referred to as 'soft' skills. The main difference is that it is usually easier to remedy a hard skill, for instance, by sending someone on a course or using on-the-job training. It is also easier to identify these skills e.g. either someone has completed and Advanced Life Support course or not. It is much more difficult to teach people effective communication skills or good team play and also harder to identify who has these skills.

Typically, recruiting managers know what skills and competencies are expected from employees. While it is still critical to have the required level of clinical or technical competency, when it comes to the required behaviours, the issues become unclear and challenging.

If you think about the last person you worked with who performed particularly poorly in a role, what sorts of skills were they lacking?

It is issues like poor communication skills, lack of motivation, weak leadership, lack of insight and poor team play, which derail a recruit, causes conflict in teams and takes up the time of busy managers in performance remediation activities. It is usually not so much about a lack of clinical or technical ability.

Therefore, it is important to also reflect on what kinds of behaviours are ideal for your role and to try to describe them. If your role involves interacting with a large number of patients, families and multidisciplinary team members, then you need to focus on finding and identifying someone who will be a good communicator and comfortable dealing with a broad range of people.

For management roles, think about the key things that make for an effective manager. What does a good manager look like? Is it someone who is consultative, who involves the team in decisions? Or is it someone who manages a budget well or sets the strategic direction.

You have to drill down sometimes to define what does ‘demonstrated effective management skills’ mean? How does someone demonstrate to me that they are an effective manager?

When you think about the time you might have wasted in the past managing a recruit who wasn’t suitable for your team – the time and effort in performance management, the disruption to patient care and conflict within the team – it is, therefore, a small investment of your time to truly consider and reflect on what are the elements of this job, and to develop a job description that will help you identify, recruit and manage the right employee.

Read the RDN tips on Preparing for the interview to get some advice on how you can structure your questions to better identify the behaviours you are seeking – and the behaviours you definitely do not want in your team.