Job analysis by incumbents and laypersons

Abstract

Although research has tried to lessen the cognitive burden for job analysts by decomposing the decision process, findings have been ambiguous. This ambiguity may stem from overlooking the idea that analyzing jobs involves intuitive processes that decomposing hinders, at least if the job analysts have much job experience (i.e., job incumbents). Furthermore, job incumbents’ intuition might be particularly advantageous if complex items are used. Focusing on the job of paramedics, we found that incumbents’ ratings were more accurate than laypersons’ ratings if the job was presented holistically, whereas laypersons were more accurate when the job was decomposed. Results also showed an analogous Job Experience × Item Complexity interaction. These findings indicate that the role of intuition for analyzing jobs deserves more attention.