Real-Life Communication
Job analysts are in the business of communicating. They have to
interview employees at length, make contacts and push for survey responses.
Most of all, they have to be versatile enough to relate to all kinds of different
fields and people.
"Communication skills are very important because
we have to have a vocabulary that allows us to communicate with all levels
of occupations and all kinds of people, from laborers to business professionals,"
says Clara Hamory. She is a job and occupational analyst.
"We have
to have a really well-rounded vocabulary to be able to converse with different
levels," says Hamory.
Analyst Travis McCavour says job analysis is
all about giving management a meaningful picture of their employees. That,
he says, takes effective communication.
"We're in the business of communicating
ideas," says McCavour. "Whether it's a new way of looking at how work is performed,
or how we value it, it's important to share those ideas effectively, to see
them through."
Another important asset is good writing and grammar
skills. Analysts put their communication skills to practical use in writing
job descriptions, surveys and reports.
They also have to assist employees
in their own communication skills, showing them how to write a task statement
(a list of the tasks they do in their job) using proper active language. Analyst
Johnny Weismuller says this coaching often presents challenges.
"Putting
an inventory together, talking to the people in the field, trying to get a
task statement out of them -- that's one thing," says Weismuller.
"It's
quite another to work with someone who has limited literacy skills and try
to get them to write a task statement which has action verb first, subject
and object after, or to rephrase poor sentences. These are people who know
the technical content of the job, but aren't used to describing it."
You
are a job analyst giving a workshop on writing task statements to the employees
of a car assembly plant. The following exercise is an example of how you would
teach them how to use active, accurate language to describe their jobs. Study
and complete the exercise for yourself.
Writing task statements
Task
statements are used in occupational surveys to find out what each person does
in his or her job. Because the worker fills out the survey, task statements
must be written in the language of the worker (not the psychologist or occupational
analyst creating the survey booklet).
The format for a "task statement"
is:
"I" [Action Verb] [Direct Object]
However, the "I" portion
is assumed, and therefore dropped from each task.
Good examples: ...adjust
carburetors
...align antennas
...calibrate electronic equipment
...troubleshoot
targeting systems
Exercise: For each task below, select
the proper task statement from the list provided.
In this painter's
job, a person must calculate the area of wall space to determine the amount
of paint required for applying two coats of paint.
1. The task involved
in the above statement was suggested by the employee as: "Know how to multiply
two numbers." The following alternatives were made in active language. Check
the one that relates best to the task.
- "Apply two coats of paint"
- "Create the cross-product of two integers"
- "Summate two logarithms and take the anti-log of the result"
- "Compute area to be painted"
- "Convert area measurement to amount of paint needed for two coats"
2. Another task involved in the painter's statement was suggested
by the employee as: "Avoid getting paint on the trim." The following alternatives
were made in active language. Check the three that relate best to the task.
- "Apply due diligence while painting"
- "Apply covering and masking to trim before painting"
- "Cut in around trim while painting"
- "Remove covering and masking carefully from trim"
- "Wipe up splashed paint with gasoline"