Hiring is of key importance to the overall productivity of Canadian businesses. A well put together job description is a good business investment because it can be used to support most HR functions: recruitment, selection, orientation, training, work plans, compensation, performance reviews and legal defence. Job descriptions explain the key responsibilities of the actual position, reporting relationships and work environment. The first step in writing or rewriting job descriptions is job analysis. Job analysis is an in-depth study of a job. It provides information for job descriptions. In doing the analysis, you or an employee will gather information about jobs through interviewing employees, observing performance of certain tasks, asking employees to fill out questionnaires and worksheets, and collecting information about a job from secondary sources such as the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system. deleted or modified.

Step 1 : Understand the job

Start by developing a complete understanding of the position. This is the foundation on which hiring is based. In conducting your analysis, consider:

• All of the duties and responsibilities of the position
• Their scope and level
• The context in which these are to be performed
• The amount of responsibility, authority and accountability required to perform the work
• The major and minor activities

Step 2: Identify Performance Behaviours

Next, identify examples of behaviour that you would use to evaluate the quality of the work. Identify examples of both effective and ineffective behaviours. To do this, ask yourself:

• What are the performance expectations for superior performance?
• How do you know someone is doing an excellent, satisfactory or poor job?
• How does it look when a high performer is doing an excellent job or when a poor performer is doing an unsatisfactory job?

Step 3: Essential Competencies

Using the examples of behaviour as a basis, identify and choose only the most critical/ essential competencies required to demonstrate high performance. Differentiate between high performers and average performers:

• There should be no more than 6 to 10 competencies selected for a role or job. Remember, fewer are better.
• The key is to select only the most critical/essential competencies required to demonstrate high performance. While all competencies may seem desirable, they are not all critical.
• Familiarize yourself types of competencies and skills.

Next, sort the competencies based on how critical or essential each one is. You could sort each of the competencies into one of four groups:

• Critical/essential
• Important/significant
• Less important/learn on the job
• Not applicable

When determining how critical or essential a Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (CKSA) is, consider factors such as:

• The difficulty or criticality of the tasks being performed
• The impact on job outcomes
• The impact on the performance of other employees
• The consequence of error if the CKSA is not present
• How frequently the CKSA is used on the job
• Whether the CKSA is required at when the job starts or can be learned or acquired on the job within the first six months

When completed sorting, review and make any adjustments that are needed. Count the number of CKSA you sorted in the Critical/Essential and Important/Significant groups. There should be between 6 and 10 competencies. If you have more than that number, you can rank the competencies in your Important/Significant group and pick only the highest ranking that provide you with an appropriate number of competencies. Put all others aside. If you ended up with fewer than an appropriate number of competencies, then rank the competencies in your Less Important/Learn on the Job group and pick only the highest ranking to add to the Important/Significant group, providing you with an appropriate number of competencies. Put all others aside. The competencies you have chosen form the CKSA portion of the qualifications for the job.

Step 4: Identify Target perfomance level

Target levels refer to the types of behaviours demonstrated by high performers. They are not minimum standards. The key is to select the target level that high performers demonstrate most of the time (general rule - 75% of the time). While all people may be able to demonstrate a level once, target levels refer to what they do most of the time. To assist you, think about what a high performer in the job demonstrates most of the time when they are engaged in that competency. Do not select an inappropriately high target level. Setting the bar too high can lead you to hiring no one. The focus is on trying to describe reality, not ideals. Once you have set the Target Level, you should also set the minimum acceptable level required at job start. You could set Level 1 as the lowest possible level and 5 as the highest. Ensure the minimum level is also realistic.

Step 5: Experience, Education and Training Needed

Review the final list of Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (CKSA) and determine the various ways in which these could be acquired through education, experience (work, volunteer and/or life) and/or training. It may be helpful to consider the background of high-performing employees in this type of position. Be sure to include as many of the equivalent combinations of education and experience as possible. Consider the availability of qualified people in the job market and ensure the qualifications are reasonable given that market. It is important to determine a qualification that is appropriate to the job on day one and not inappropriately high or low. If qualifications are set too high, candidates that have the competencies may be inadvertently eliminated at the screening stage before having the opportunity to prove themselves. Alternatively, if the qualifications are set too low, most of the applicants will need to be considered which can be a time consuming process and many may not have the required competencies.

Step 6: Special Considerations

Now is the time to identify and include any special considerations you may wish to include.Some jobs may require additional specific criteria like the following:

• Criminal records review
• Drivers, firearms or other licenses
• Professional designations (for example: Professional Engineer)
• Occupational certifications
• Physical requirements to lift heavy objects, work in strenuous situations etc.
• Willingness statements (for example: willingness to work in dusty or noisy environments

Step 7: Review and Finalize

At this point you have completed the job analysis process. This final step is to give you an opportunity to stand back and take a second look at your work to ensure it’s valid and stands the ‘common sense’ check. To do this, ask yourself the following questions:

• Given what I know about the accountabilities of this job/role, are the Competencies, knowledge skills and abilities chosen really the most critical ones? Will they help me identify the difference between a high performer and a poor one?
• Do the behavioural levels identified really define what high or poor performers actually do in this job/role?
• Are the experience, education and training requirements related to the CKSA chosen: job-related, inclusive, reasonable and appropriate?
• Have all necessary special considerations been included?

If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, review your work and make adjustments so that you can answer each question with a ‘yes’. If you answered ‘yes’ to all of the questions, finalize your Statement of Qualifications. These may now be added to Job Descriptions, included in applicant packages and advertisements, and used as a basis for determining the most appropriate assessment methods to be used in the hiring process.

Step 8: Using Results

The list of qualifications and competencies developed through job analysis are used to create:

• The Statement of Qualifications to be attached to Job Descriptions
• Advertising content and/or applicant information packages
• Criteria for short listing applicants
• As a basis for determining the most effective assessment methods