Job analysis and competency models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Job analysis and competency models - Essay Example Job analysis describes work, whereas competency modeling influences behavior. The major purpose of job analysis is to bring a better comprehension of the work assignments and to measure them as well, that is, it determines the trait relevance. On the other hand, competency modeling intends to influence the way in which this work assignments are executed so that they are in line with strategy of the organization in that it heightens situational strength (Wilson, 2012). In this regard, the two approaches are complementary. Job analysis describes a job as an abstract entity whereas competency modeling influences workers into enacting their role. It presents a job as a social construction that is separate from the employee that holds it with performance considered as a by-product of an individual’s interpretation of the job. This is evident in the job titles, which date back to the advent of division of labor following industrial revolution. Competency modeling, then again, views a job as function that is first to be interpreted by an employee before enacting it (Weiner, 2013). The latter method seems to be more practical then the former. Job analysis is about the past, whereas competency modeling is futuristic. The descriptive nature of job analysis means that it is past-oriented and depends on those workers, who have already done the work in the past, as the main source of information, that is, it depicts the job the exact execution in the present. On the contrary, competency modeling focuses on how the job ought to be interpreted and enacted as from the present into the future, regardless of what has been done in the past ( Weiner, 2013). In this context, the methods lie on two varying extremes. Job analysis is job focused rather than focusing on the organization, just as competency modeling does. Practically, job analysis focuses on the job even from the name itself. It fails to recognize the possibility of