Functional Job Analysis

The Foundation of a Useful Job Description

A functional job analysis is the cornerstone of a useful job description which ultimately will result in better hiring of new employees.

There are a number of elements to a functional type of job analysis but they can be categorized in 4 sections, the classification elements, the requirement of the positions, the requirements of the employee and the definition of success. I would encourage you to spend the time necessary to make this as useful as possible. It will pay dividends for years to come.

Stake Holders
Who Performs the Functional Job Analysis?

Generally there are 3 types of people who should be involved in the analysis,

Human Resources
Direct Supervisor
Current or past employees who did the job

HR's role is to create the document including legal template information. The direct supervisor is the person who defines the position requirements and suggests employee requirements. Finally, it is always a good idea to have a couple of successful past or current employees who are doing the job or have done the job to gather their input on the requirements for the position.

Classification Elements

In any company there are a number of classification elements that should be included in a good job analysis. Items in this section include;

Job Title
Classification (PT/FT, Temp/Employee, Exempt/Hourly etc.)
Department/Division
Location
Pay Grade

These are elements you would find in any HR information system and they are used to classify employees. Add or remove from this list as appropriate for your company.

Position Requirements

The position requirements of a functional type analysis for any job are the key elements of the analysis. It lays out the purpose of the position, lists what needs to be accomplished by whomever fills the position, and the chain of command for the position. In other words, this describes the what of the position. It can be divided up in any number of ways and is somewhat dependent on the nature of the position.

Here is a sample job analysis to give you an idea of what it might look like for fictional sales job. You can see from the example it answers a number of what questions like what is the description of the positions, what are the specific duties of the position, what are the skills or tools required for this position and so on.

Functional Job Analysis Continued... Continue to part two regarding the importance of job analysis

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