Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations

Job Analysis 173

Comprehensive Occupation Data Analysis Program

The Comprehensive Occupation Data Analysis Program is a task inventory

developed for U.S. Air Force specialties by the Air Training Command.

Detailed task statements are written to describe the work. Each statement

consists of an action, an object of the action, and essential modifi ers. Job

incumbents are asked to indicate the relative amount of time they spend

on each task. Responses are then clustered by computer analysis into occu-

pational groupings so that jobs with similar tasks and the same relative

time - spent values are listed together.

Job Element Method

The purpose of the job element method, developed by Ernest Primoff

of the U.S. Offi ce of Personnel Management, is to identify the behav-

iors and accompanying achievements that are signifi cant for job success.

A combination of behavior and achievements is referred to as an element.

Elements may include job behaviors, intellectual behaviors, motor behav-

iors, and work habits.

A panel of SMEs identifi es tasks signifi cant to the job and then the

KSAOCs necessary to perform the job. At this stage, the job tasks are turned

into job elements. For example, the task “ writes computer programs to

perform statistical analyses, interprets the data, and writes reports ” is trans-

formed into the element “ ability to write computer programs to perform

statistical analyses, interpret data, and write reports. ”

The SMEs then rate the elements on four factors (Primoff, 1975, p. 3):

1. Barely acceptable. What relative portion of even barely acceptable

workers are good in the element?

2. Superior. How important is the element in picking out the superior

worker?

3. Trouble. How much trouble is likely if the element is ignored when

choosing among applicants?

4. Practical. Is the element practical? To what extent can we fi ll our

job openings if we demand it?

The ratings on these four factors are analyzed to identify the elements

with the greatest potential for selecting superior applicants. The premise

behind the job element method is that the same elements may traverse dif-

ferent tasks and different jobs. The federal government uses this method

to establish selection standards and to validate selection examinations

(Primoff & Eyde, 1988).