Job analysis
Before recruiting for a new or an existing position you need to define accurately and clearly the nature and purpose of the role and the skills and attributes needed
Before recruiting for a new or an existing position you need to define accurately and clearly the nature and purpose of the role and the skills and attributes needed. Job analysis is the first stage in this process. It involves asking questions and gathering information to identify the key elements of the job and the required and desired characteristics of the post-holder. This analysis forms the basis of the job description and person specification.
Carrying out a thorough job analysis at the start of the recruitment process allows you to challenge any assumptions you may have about the way a particular job is done or the kind of person who should do it . Taking the time to think through the requirements of the job and the business may lead to the role appealing to a wider pool of applicants from more diverse backgrounds.
Job analysis can highlight areas where discrimination may arise. Does the role require someone to be able-bodied or is this just an assumption? An accurate and fair job analysis reduces the likelihood of receiving complaints about your recruitment procedures. It also ensures knowledge and expertise about the role is gathered and retained within the organisation and allows you to redesign or adapt the role should that be required.
In order to recruit the most talented individuals you need to look beyond the six strands of diversity that are legislated for. Rather than taking your idea of the job as it currently stands and simply ironing out any issues relating to minority groups covered by legislation, the purpose of job analysis is to break the job down into its essential elements and to be flexible about all other aspects of the job.
Provided that a potential employee can carry out those essential elements, other elements of the job can be tailored to suit the individual, thus maximising the pool of individuals the job will appeal to. If you define the job in terms of the elements that are absolutely essential, then this should rule out the possibility of any unjustified discrimination.
Job analysis should be coordinated by line managers or HR personnel – whoever is going to be largely responsible for drafting the job description and person specification and coordinating the recruitment process as a whole.
However, this is not a one person job. The person who takes charge of job analysis should liaise with people who are already doing the job (or doing similar jobs if it is a newly created position) and with those who will be working closely with the newly recruited employee/s. This should ensure that individual assumptions about how the job should be done are challenged.
It also means that views of people with different perspectives on the job are considered – those in a managerial or HR role may have a better understanding of how the job fits into the structure of the organisation as a whole. Those who are doing the job or working closely with that person will have a good knowledge of the demands of the job 'on the ground'.
Try to involve someone who has received training on equality, diversity and inclusion. This person should have a greater awareness of aspects of the job that may disadvantage certain groups. If you have a member of staff who is specifically responsible for equality and diversity issues they could fulfil this role.
Asking questions
Ask self–reflexive questions. This will get you thinking about the essential elements of the position for which you are recruiting, and to explore the different ways in which those key elements could be satisfied.
Gathering information
Gathering information from the current postholders and managers will answer some of the questions about the job, and who is an appropriate person to fill it. There are various ways of gathering this information.
The time taken to rethink alternative ways that the job can be performed, and the time and costs involved in n adapting jobs to accommodate all potential workers could be off-putting.
If your organisation regularly takes on large numbers of graduates for similar positions, you could carry out a thorough job analysis to review all similar positions at once, then review every few recruitment cycles. While the initial analysis may require substantial resources, the value comes from the large numbers of new staff who will be affected by any changes and a significant widening of the talent pool from which you can select future employees.
Smaller organisations may not have the resources to set up formal systems to gather information about every position within the company in the manner suggested in the gathering information tool. However, more informal conversations with current postholders, HR and line managers, guided by the self-reflexive questions in the asking questions tool, can help you to identify the key elements of the job and to challenge any assumptions you may have about the way it should be carried out
Direct discrimination and genuine occupational requirements
The job should not directly discriminate against anyone on the basis of age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, unless this is in order to satisfy a genuine occupational requirement (GOR). Indirect discrimination The job must not indirectly discriminate against anyone on the basis of the above categories unless this discrimination can be objectively justified.
