By: Sue Ebbers, Ph.D.

Originally published on June 23, 2021

Updated on January 17, 2024

The job task analysis is a rigorous approach to identify the true role requirements for each critical position within a company. It allows your business or non-profit organization to ensure the true job that each employee performs is documented, and that job performance actually aligns with results your company seeks to achieve. It is a step-by-step process that fully answers the question “What does a person in this role do?”

The J/TA is broken down into large, medium sized and small chunks. To use an analogy, the J/TA is similar in nature to a Russian Maryushka doll. You separate the halves of one doll, and another is nested within the first. Repeat the task, and there is another doll. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Read on to learn more about how to complete a job task analysis.

 Is A J/TA The Same As A Competency Model?

When the need for a custom training curriculum arises, the best place for you to start is with a job/task analysis. Abbreviated as J/TA and similar in many ways to a “competency model,” the job task analysis is different from learning analysis or subject matter analysis, in that it provides a detailed list of the job tasks performed by someone in the role. This four-step structure is critical for gathering relevant input, and forms the basis for your analysis:

Step 1: The top level is called a “Duty” or “Domain”. It’s a broad 2-3 word overview of what will be in that column. There are usually between 5 and 7 duties, or domains for any job.

 Step 2: The next level, called “Tasks”, includes all the major tasks under that Duty or Domain.

 Step 3: The third level, called “Sub-Tasks” includes the steps in the process that leads to the “Task” result. Your team members should brainstorm all of these items, and then arrange them in linear steps. Essentially, what is done first, then second, then third, and on.

 Step 4: If available, survey all people in this job, asking them to agree or disagree with each task and sub-task, as well as stating the levels of difficulty, importance, and frequency (“DIF”) for each task.

The input you receive can be gathered into a spreadsheet or database for further analysis. This chart is an example that demonstrates the first two of the four steps of the J/TA for one of a non-profit organization’s fundraising roles:

How Much Does It Cost To Complete A Job Task Analysis?

The primary cost driver of a J/TA is job complexity, which can vary widely even within the same organization. For an experienced human resources generalist or analyst within your company, the time required to perform a highly-detailed accurate J/TA can take upwards of 65-165 hours. For high complexity positions, and for jobs with employees whose performance has a direct life and death impact on themselves or others, the J/TA can be more costly.

The good news is that after you complete a job task analysis, you have validated documentation of all steps in all processes that a job role engages in. This documentation helps clarify expectations, especially when there are multiple seniority levels functioning in the same area, including beginning, intermediate,or advanced skilled staff. For companies that desire scalability, this enables you to:

  • Build your job description accurately, helping to reduce turnover.

  • Develop a training program aligned with required behaviors and with organizational results, ensuring achievement of goals.

  • Develop a rigorous test for certification and licensure purposes (if relevant) where passing it demonstrates ability to do the job, helping to reduce liability.

  • Determine priorities in terms of the main training focuses, maximizing your Return on Investment (ROI).

  • Develop a succession training plan so that you build capacity in other roles that could serve as stepping stones into the target role before you need to hire for it, helping to improve efficiencies.

What Qualifications Are Necessary To Complete A Job Task Analysis?

Although members of an H.R. team are frequently responsible for generating performance evaluations. This may include interviewing, hiring, and on-boarding new team members for a wide variety of roles. But their practical knowledge stops at this point in the process. A job task analysis should really only be performed by a trained senior instructional designer, because the process relies on a thorough understanding of systems thinking and learning theory. This type of curriculum approach is ultimately a strategic investment in validated proof, often with legal implications. Asking well-meaning colleagues who simply don't have the tools to bring about transformational change through learning to engage in a J/TA will present a major, unnecessary risk to your organization. For something this essential to the alignment of your workforce to organizational outcomes, qualifications matter!

A journey-based curriculum, where a series of trainings are ordered and flow as a ‘journey’ through the different job role processes, can only be effectively built when there is a clear understanding of the duties, tasks, and steps to be taken in each task. The job task analysis is therefore indispensable when a custom curriculum is required.

If you plan to embark on a journey-based curriculum, make sure that you hire one or more individuals who have formal instructional design training. Preferably, they should have earned a Master of Science in Instructional Design from a reputable school such as Florida State University’s Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies (ISLT) program in the College of Education.

Change by Design has deep experience in designing and developing job task analyses, as well as learning materials that lead to an effective curriculum. This comprehensive case study details how an international big truck manufacturing company helped all dealership salesmen (beginners, intermediates, and experts) upskill the right way, achieving workforce alignment to results.

Related Articles For Further Reading

3 Ways To Avoid Damaging Assumptions That Undermine Business Results

6 Easy Steps: A Practical Guide To Delivering Business Process Improvement Results For Your Organization

Why Decomposing Skills Is A Necessary Instructional Design Task

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