Corné Barnardt
Occupational Therapy
Functional Job Analysis
Who requires Functional Job Analysis?
A Functional Job Analysis (FJA) assists companies and organisations to create accurate job descriptions and finding the most suitable candidates when evaluating applicants or current employees.
What it entails:
FJAs enable us to define mandatory skills or abilities, like minimum strength for physically demanding work, compared to preferred or optional qualities. Modern occupations require a combination of many skills, abilities, and qualities that are difficult to define without a comprehensive assessment,such as an FJA. This makes an FJA, an essential process for companies and organisations who want to optimise overall performance of their employees, throughout their organisation.
An FJA is an analysis used to evaluate occupational roles within an organiation. It is an in-depth evaluation of an individual’s abilities and overall qualifications, compared to the critical demands and expectations of a specific position within a larger structure. This type of job analysis is used in both the private and public sectors, to ensure that applicants or current employees are able to meet the
critical demands of the job and fill their occupational roles and responsibilities in a safe and productive manner. The evaluation is based on the WorkWell FJA protocol, and helps with the assessment of physical,cognitive as well as mental health functions. Conducting assessments from this perspective, allow companies and organisations to scrutinise virtually every aspect of a job, and how an individual’s unique set of physical, mental and social abilities, impact their performance in that capacity.
What to expect:
The evaluation takes place at our practice in George, Western Cape. The evaluation may take several hours and may be done over more than one day, depending on the individual’s capacity and the requirement from the company or organisation. A site visit may be required, depending on the scope of work. We offer remote services to clients who are unable to travel to George.
There are many ways to conduct functional job analysis, but all of them measure workplace roles, through established scales. These scales are typically divided into seven categories: data, people, things, instruction, reasoning, math, and language. Some of these scales, such as reasoning and language skills, evaluate personal intellectual demands placed on a worker. Others, like data and instruction, focus more on resources that the employer supplies to employees, to help them do their job. Physical fitness, technical skills, and other specific qualifications may also be measured depending on the demands of the position. All of these scales define and influence an individual’s ability to fill a specific role within their organisation.
The comprehensive FJA includes:
There are many ways to conduct functional job analysis, but all of them measure workplace roles, through established scales. These scales are typically divided into seven categories: data, people, things, instruction, reasoning, math, and language. Some of these scales, such as reasoning and language skills, evaluate personal intellectual demands placed on a worker. Others, like data and instruction, focus more on resources that the employer supplies to employees, to help them do their job. Physical fitness, technical skills, and other specific qualifications may also be measured depending on the demands of the position. All of these scales define and influence an individual’s ability to fill a specific role within their organisation.
The comprehensive FJA includes:
- A comprehensive report with information on the individual’s physical, cognitive or mental health function, and ability for work.
- An in-depth analysis and description of the critical demands of the identified job.
- An in-depth definition and description of mandatory skills or abilities required from employees for optimal performance in a specific job/position.
- Recommendations to assist existing employees who show potential to meet the critical demands set for a specific position.
