Discussion 7

Hello everybody! I hope this e-mail finds you either almost out the door for a nice weekend or returning from one (a nice weekend, not a door). I, for one, am looking forward to Monday because it means I'm back from Bakersfield (no offense to anyone who likes Bakersfield).

*** New Members ***

Wow, do we have a lot of new members this month! I guess that's what devoting an entire ESF meeting to job analysis does. Our new members include:

Rona Murray - Fish & Game
Robin Bogdanich - State Personnel Board
Crystal Dunlap - Developmental Services
Joanne Cordy - Rehabilitation
Karen MacKenzie - Consumer Affairs
Barbara Warner - Health Services
Terry Downs - Franchise Tax Board
Cindi La Due - Fair Employment & Housing
Bill Cooper - Board of Equalization
Michael Davis - California Highway Patrol
Wendy Wilson - California Highway Patrol
Robin Enos - General Services
Sandy Standridge - General Services
Fariba Shahmirzadi - Motor Vehicles

Whew! That brings our total number of members to 43, and includes 29 agencies! Think of all the brain power...

*** Information ***

1. Okay, last time I promise: Attached is the (hopefully) "perfect" version of the KSA Excel spreadsheet (with buttons). I found one more nasty glitch so hopefully they're all gone now. Some of you received this file a few days ago--no need to replace the one I sent you.

2. As part of our never-ending quest to make our lives easier, I ran across King County (Washington)'s job analysis website. It includes quite a few classifications and they are quite thorough. In addition, they include many details which we may not always attend to using the WRIPAC method. Check it out: http://www.metrokc.gov/ohrm/kcjabank/ 

3. Motivated by the outstanding free session on job analysis taught by Shelley Langan (she didn't pay me to say that, I swear), I revisited a court case that I think has direct relevance for us all--Green v. State of Washington (1997). Some of you already know about it, some of you may have read it, but if not, I highly recommend taking a peek at it, especially pages 7+. I think it's a real eye-opener in terms of going from job analysis to exam, and how courts see these issues. The decision can be found (starting on page 2) in Adobe Acrobat at http://www.ipmaac.org/files/seberhagen.pdf 

4. One of the hardest things for new job analysts is figuring out where to start. I've put together a "project log" for my co-workers that hopefully will be helpful--I thought I would share it. I'm sure many of you have something similar. I've attached the most recent version (I keep revising it) in Word.

5. In the coming months I hope to put our (DOJ) job analysis task and KSAs on our intranet for managers and supervisors to view, but I'd eventually like to put this on our website a la CDC. Stay tuned.

*** Issues ***

1. ...now what?

Related to a point I made last month, I think we need to, as a group, have some discussion about measuring certain KSAs. Specifically, KSAs that are "constructs" or abstract concepts, such as "critical thinking ability" or "creativity." Those types of KSAs are often identified in job analysis, but I personally feel it has not been adequately emphasized that content validity established through job analysis is NOT sufficient to justify measuring these KSAs, per the Uniform Guidelines. I would love to see another ESF (or similar forum) devoted to "Okay, we did the job analysis...now what?"

2. Skill, ability, or just a modified task?

One of the most frustrating aspects of a job analysis can be trying to understand the difference between skills and abilities (I hope I'm not alone on this one). Abilities, as I've always understood it, are more "micro" and often (but not always) related to observable physical competencies (e.g., cognitive ability and upper body strength could both be abilities). Skills, on the other hand, are "learned" competencies. However, you'll often see (e.g., WRIPAC manual, O*NET) abilities that LOOK like they should be skills (e.g., "Ability to read") and visa-versa (I don't know about you, but I wasn't brought into this world knowing how to read). Another challenge is wording skills and abilities so they aren't just a task with "Skill to..." or "Ability to..." added to the beginning.

To some extent these concerns are academic, but they raise their heads more than I would like. My current thinking on this is that it's okay to have, say, a "Writing skill" as well as a "Writing ability", when the skill refers to writing particular types of documents of a certain complexity, and the ability refers more to an overall basic competency. Is this how you see it? Have you encountered this issue? Bueller?

3. ...now get $5000 cash back!

Another challenge we all face is "selling" job analysis--to managers, to SMEs, to our own staff. Here are some observations that may help you. I'd love to hear similar "positive" spins...

a. A good job analysis makes it easier to develop the exam. It's much easier to provide your test-developers with well-worded KSAs (and some ideas) than throwing the spec K&As at them and tell them to go forth and conquer.

b. Going through a job analysis allows SMEs to be part of something bigger than just this exam administration. It gives them a chance to really think about the classification and have some meaningful input. I find that usually once they've done the job analysis they want to keep being involved in the exam development to 'see it through'.

c. As long as the KSAs are broadly included in the spec K&As, they can be placed on the exam announcement (our first exam bulletin in this format is coming out as we speak--cross your fingers). This makes our requirements clearer and hopefully makes it MUCH easier for candidates to prepare.

*** Until next time ***

That's all for this month! I look forward to hearing from everyone!

Take care-

Bryan Baldwin

JA project plan

KSA rating form