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Job analysis is the process of breaking down a particular job into
its essential functions or parts. This is a useful tool in interviewing,
selecting, training, and promoting employees as well as determining pay. Under
the ADA, a person is considered to be qualified for a job if he or she can
perform its essential functions, with or without accommodation. You should
consult EEOC regulations for further guidance on determining the essential
functions of a job.
The first step in a job analysis is to make a list of the tasks.
Next, ask yourself the following questions about each:
1. How is the task performed? What methods, techniques, and tools
are used?
2. How often is the task performed? Are the tasks performed less
frequently as important to success as those done more frequently?
3. How much time is allotted to perform the task? Is the pace
consistent?
4. Why is the task performed?
5. Where is the task performed?
6. How is success measured?
7. What happens if the task is done wrong?
8. What aptitudes are necessary? (Aptitude refers to the potential
to learn and accomplish a skill.)
9. What knowledge is necessary? (Knowledge refers to the level of
general or technical information.)
10. What skills are necessary? (Skills refer to the applied
ability through training required.)
11. How much physical exertion is required? (Physical exertion
refers to lifting, standing, bending, reaching, twisting, and crawling.)
12. What happens if the task is not completed on time?
13. What are the environmental conditions (i.e., hot, cold, dusty,
wet, etc.)?
14. How much mental exertion is needed?
15. How much emotional exertion is needed?
Supplement your knowledge of the job with information from other
sources. Interviewing the worker and supervisor is critical for office jobs
where output cannot be continually measured. Observation is used for
manufacturing jobs and jobs that involve manual labor. Worker task logs and
questionnaires also might be used. Job analysis is particularly useful when
hiring people with disabilities. It is equally useful for bringing experienced
workers back to a job who are recovering from injury or illness. Frequently a
referral agency will provide an analysis free of charge. A careful match of the
individual's aptitudes and abilities with the job enhances the probability of
success. The job analysis also helps in determining if a job accommodation is
necessary. Accommodations can include additional assistance to the individual
with a disability, a physical change to the worksite, a restructuring of tasks
or working hours, etc. Several formats for job analysis are available. A sample
format is found in Appendix F.
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Caren, a 28-year-old woman who had spent her life in an
institution with a label of severe mental retardation, went to work for a
Mississippi envelope manufacturing company operating a stay machine which tapes
the boxes that hold stationery. She stacked each taped box, reaching 20 boxes
before starting another stack. Because she could not hold a mental count past
10, she would have to recount the entire stack every time she added a new box.
With her production at just 25 percent of the company standard, her agency
support counselor convinced the employer to install a punch counter, the little
device that ushers use to count crowds, on the machine. Caren was then trained
to include punching the counter as part of her routine: tape, stack, punch;
tape, stack, punch. In two weeks, Caren's productivity more than doubled to 54
percent of the company standard, and she soon achieved the company's minimum
standard of productivity. The employer, amazed at Caren's productivity,
realized that keeping count is a difficult task for most people, so they put
punch counters on the other four stay machines, as well. Everybody's
productivity improved, and Caren now has worked for the factory more than eight
years. |
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