Job Spicifications and Diagnostic Tests of Job Competency Desigend for the Auditing Division of a Steet Raelway Company
(A PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY IN INDUSTRIAL GUIDANCE) :Author: Morris S. Viteles, Ph.D., Instructor in Psychology, University of Pennsylvania. This study concerns itself with the development of job specifications and diagnostic tests of job competency for the auditing division of a street railway company. The purpose of this study is to outline the general method of procedure in developing specifications and tests of job competency and to discuss their application in the selection and maintenance of an effective working force in one unit of a particular organization.
The Auditing Division.
The Auditing Division, in which the job specifications and tests wTere prepared, is devoted to the auditing of the receipts of the interurban section of the railway, both passenger and express. This division also keeps records of car mileage and calculates the expenses and receipts of operating cars in terms of car miles, passenger miles, car hours and other statistical units.
The daily receipts of cash and tickets of each conductor on the interurban division are audited in this division. At the end of each day each conductor turns in the cash and tickets collected by him during the day, and a book of stubs, each stub representing a receipt issued to a passenger for the fare which has been collected. The passenger interurban railway receipt auditor calculates the value of each receipt, and checks the conductor’s returns in money and tickets against the total value of the torn stubs. The railway receipt auditor does not handle any money. This is counted by a money counter and a statement of the amount turned in by the conductor given to the auditor. The latter, however, does count the tickets and checks them against the stubs.
In addition to the audit of interurban passenger receipts the daily receipts of the city lines are audited in this division. This involves a separation of cash from tickets, the counting of the cash and the weighing of the tickets, etc.
All express business carried on by the interurban line is also handled by this division. Express rates must be calculated, cus(83) 84 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC. tomers charged, statements issued, etc. In addition various statistics concerned with passenger and express business are prepared in this division.
All of the employes in the Auditing Division are called Auditing Clerks both on the pay roll and in a classification of employes prepared by a Wage Equalization Board. The implication in such a designation is that all the employes in the division perform exactly the same duties and that similar competency is required for every job in it. As a matter of fact, it was found during the course of this study that the workers simply called “clerks” were engaged on nineteen different jobs requiring dissimilar competencies on the part of the workers.
There existed, neither in the Employment Office or elsewhere a standard statement of the duties of the jobs in this division (or in any other unit of the organization) and of the qualifications which a worker must possess in order to be proficient on any one of them. Such a statement, known as a job specification, is an essential part of the machinery of effective personnel administration. Such a job specification involves:
1. A description of the job with special reference to its duties and the conditions under which these duties are to be performed. 2. An analysis of the physical qualifications of the job. 3. An analysis of job competency?of the mental qualifications which the individual must possess in order to make a proficient worker on a particular job. A complete analysis of job competency includes a statement of the specific abilities, the knowledge (degree of intellectual attainment with educational material), and the temperamental qualities of the worker. A statement of previous experience is also sometimes involved. The specific items which must be included in such a description of the jobs are as follows: 1. Name of the job. 2. Preferred age. 3. Preferred sex. 4. Physical requirements. 5. The competency factors: (a) Specific abilities. (b) Knowledge (grade of intellectual attainment). (c) Prerequisite experience. (d) Temperamental qualities. 6. Conditions of work: (?) Hours. (?) Advantageous and disadvantageous features. SPECIFICATIONS OF JOB COMPETENCY. 85 7. Wages. 8. Statement of duties?a description of the duties of the job. 9. Analysis of operations?a statement of the units of operation in the job. 10. Time to learn. 11. Nature of training for the job. 12. Opportunities for promotion.
The object of this study was, in part, the preparation of job specifications for the Auditing Division. The method of procedure used in developing them and a discussion of their application in this division is presented below. Plans have been put under way for the preparation of job specifications for other units of this organization and it is expected that a somewhat analogous application of them in the selection and maintenance of an effective working force in these other units of the organization will be made.
Devising Standard Specifications.
According to the analysis of the preliminary job specifications developed in conference with the division head there were being done in this unit of the organization nineteen different jobs, each with its own name. A further analysis of the specifications from the point of view of competency for the job revealed a similarity in the abilities, knowledge and experience essential to proficiency among the jobs. For seven of the jobs, for example, which differ in duties, the preliminary job specifications revealed a similarity of mental requirements. Among six other jobs, likewise differing from one another in duties, a similarity in mental requirements was revealed. Jobs for which the competency requirements are the same can be listed under a single specification, called a Standard Office Job Specification. All the jobs in the Auditing Division, I have grouped under eight such Standard Specifications.
The character of the grouping of the jobs under Standard Specifications depends upon the similarity of the qualifications which make an individual competent to fill any of the jobs covered by a single standard specification. In some cases, in the Auditing Division, the grouping is influenced by the fill-in character of some of the jobs. Applicants must be hired not only according to the qualifications for work of a certain nature which is going to be done by them from day to day, but also in accordance with specifications for jobs in which they are going to fill in. Employes who, for example, do “money counting” and “mileage record” need possess little or no competency in arithmetic or sorting, but since they are required to fill-in on interurban railway receipt auditing, they must be hired according to the specifications of interurban railway receipt auditing, and those jobs are therefore included under the same Standard Office Job Specification as the latter job.
Below are listed the names and numbers of the Standard Office Job Specifications developed for the Auditing Division. A copy of one standard specification is included in this report. Standard Office Job Specification. Auditing Division).
No. Name. Jobs Covered. 1 Auditing Clerk A Express Audit; Fare Box Register; Interurban Railway Receipt Audit; Mileage Record; Money Counting; Milk and Cream Audit; Transfer Audit. 2 Auditing Clerk B Express Audit B; Fare Box Checking; Mileage Calculation; Shortage Record; Special Interurban Audit; Statistical Clerk. 3 Typist Typist. 4 Stenographer Stenographer. 5 Fare Box Clerk Fare Box Clerk. 6 Supervisor Supervisor. 7 Special Express Clerk Special Express Clerk. 8 General Clerk General Clerk. Advantages of Standard Specifications. The advantages of using such standard specifications, each one covering the qualifications for a number of different jobs, are as follows: (a) The problem of the selection of employes by the Employment Department is simplified, especially when such selection is to be made on the basis of standard psychological tests. One series of tests covers a number of different jobs in which the operations differ, but for which the qualifications essential to properly carrying out the different operations are the same.
Form 1A STANDARD OFFICE JOB SPECIFICATION NO. 1. Name: Auditing Clerk A Dept.: Accts. Div.: Auditing Sex: M…. F X Age Preferred: 17-21 Tests No.: F-100 X-Essential, O-Desirable. F-101 O-Occasional F-102 FGeneral Qualifications:? Schooling English Mathematics Bookkeeping Dictation 5th Grade …. Corresp Addition X Accounting…. Letters 8th Grade X Grammar …. Subtract. X Gen. D. E Reports High Sch. O Spelling …. Multiplic. X S. E. …. Articles College …. Inquiries …. Division X Dr & Cr General Technical …. Telephone …. Percentage…. Technical …. Business Dols.-Cts. X Corresp. Decimals …. Fractions X Machines:? Conditions of Work:? Calculator …. Typewriter: Standing …. Routine X Pay: Adding X Copying…. Sitting X Special …. Min. $50.00 Billing …. Diet Walking …. Exec Aver. $65.00 Bookkeeping …. Stencil …. Reaching X Fill-in X Hours 7.30-12 Money Counting O 12.45-4.47 General Duties:? Balancing …. Filing: Listing …. Transcribing Billing …. Alphabetical O Posting …. Writing Checking X Numerical O Sorting X Computing …. Chronolog. …. Supervising Counting X Topical …. Tabulating X General Description:?Counts, sorts, checks money receipts or waybills. Calculates and tabulates. Worker is assigned to one particular job of those listed on Statement of Duties No. 1, but he may be required to fill in on any other job. See Statement of Duties No. 1. Experience :? Required:?None. Desirable:?General office work. As posting clerk. Handling and counting money and receipts. Training:?Time:?1 month. Nature?On job. Instruction by supervisor assigned to this. Special class drill in mental arithmetic. Special Features:?Use of adding machine taught where needed. Use of money-counting machine also taught. Handling money in money counting is dirty. Honesty essential.
(6) Clerks who are hired on the basis of similar qualifications can be readily transferred from one job to another as the circumstances require. This is especially desirable in such a division as the Auditing, where the nature of the work is essentially “fill-in.” (c) On the basis of a grouping under standard specifications, training courses which cover the fundamental requirements for the different jobs listed under a single standard specification can be established. (d) Lines of promotion within the scope of a single standard specification and among the jobs of different standard specifications can be established. (e) In so far as a standard specification is a statement of the similar qualifications covering a wide variety of jobs, it can be used in equalizing wages on the basis of similar abilities, experience and knowledge brought to different jobs.
Statements of Duties.
It has been explained above that a single standard specification may cover a variety of jobs with different duties. (This is actually the case with Standard Specifications No. 1 and No. 2 for the Auditing Division.) The qualifications for the jobs covered by a standard specification are the same, but the duties are different and the working conditions are different. It is therefore impossible to give in a single standard specification a complete description of the duties of all the jobs which are included in it. In making selection with standard specifications it is important for the employment agent to know the duties of the particular job which is going to be filled and that he be able to furnish the applicant with an accurate description of this job. It is to fulfil these needs that a “Standard of Duties,” covering all the jobs subsumed under a standard specification, was drawn up. The “Statement of Duties” give the details of the duties of the jobs or the statement of qualifications which, together with a general statement of duties, are found on. the Standard Office Job Specification proper. For every standard specification which covers more than one job a Statement of Duties has been drawn up. This form is used in requisitioning and selecting employes in the manner described under Application in Selection. Diagnostic Tests of Job Competency.
A job specification is a schedule of the operations and qualifications of the job. The essential feature of the job specification, from the point of view of the personnel worker in industry, is the description of job competency?the statement of the abilities, knowledge, personality and experience prerequisite to the attainment of proficiency on the job. The specification of the competency required for a particular job is, however, of little value unless means for determining whether the applicant for the job possesses such competency are provided. There must be standards for determining whether the applicant fills the specification. Such standards are represented by psychological tests. The test is a diagnostic measure to be used in determining whether or not the human material comes up to the specifications which have been established for employment. By means of it the examiner can make a diagnosis of an applicant’s competency and a prediction of his probable success or failure on the job for which he is making application. It is a definite, quantitative method of determining the presence or absence of job competency, to replace the inaccurate, unscientific method of mere observation. 1. Development of Tests for the Auditing Division.
A series of such psychological tests have been prepared for use, together with the job specifications, in the selection and in the maintenance of an effective working force in the Auditing Division. The procedure used in the preparation of these tests is as follows: 1. A number of tests, involving in their performance the same abilities which appeared to be involved in the jobs in the Auditing Division were given to all the workers in this division. The method of making the analysis of these abilities is discussed in another section of this report. 2. The scores made by the employes in this division on the individual lists were correlated with their proficiency ranks as workers. The Pearson rank difference formula was used in making these correlations. Proficiency rank is the status of a worker in comparison with other employes doing exactly the same kind of work in this case, as established by the division head and supervisor. In the computation of the co-efficients of correlation, only the scores of workers engaged in exactly the same job were used in any one correlation. The test scores of workers doing interurban railway receipt auditing were correlated with their rank orders in proficiency; the test scores of workers doing express auditing were correlated with their rank orders in proficiency. In a few jobs, such as. stenography, “shortage record” and “statistical clerk” no co-efficient of correlation could be computed because of the small number of employes on the job. In these cases a direct comparison between the scores of the individual on the tests and the scores of employes in jobs covered by the same specifications was made. Moreover, in such cases, the procedure was adopted of retaining for the selection of these employes the series of tests assigned, to the standard specification covering the particular job under consideration. On the basis of correlations obtained between the test scores and proficiency ranks of individuals doing particular kinds of work certain of the tests given in the Auditing Dvision were discarded, and ten were retained for use in guiding applicants toward positions in this division on the basis of specific job competency. The names of the tests to be used for selection and in other ways indicated in the section on applications are as follows:
Arithmetic A.
Arithmetic B.
Mental Arithmetic.
Number checking.
Copy checking.
Tabulating.
Typist Test.
Stenographical Test.
Alphabetical Filing.
Language Test.
A “critical level” or the lowest score which could be considered a passing score was established for each test by distributing the scores on the tests, calculating significant measures and computing the percentage of successes and failures above and below a given measure.
Grouping into Batteries.
The tests, on the basis of the co-efficients of correlation between scores and proficiency ranks were grouped into batteries. Each “battery” of tests is to be used in selecting workers for jobs covered by some one standard Job Specification. Tests correlating uniformly high with the proficiency ranks of jobs covered by a single standard specification were given a place in the battery of tests for that standard specification. The batteries are tabulated below and the standard job specification which a particular battery covers is indicated in each case. The co-efficient of correlation between the battery and job proficiency is also given in each case except where the number of employes covered by the Standard Office Job Specification is less than ten. In calculating these co-efficients of correlation the rank order ratings of workers on all jobs covered by a single Standard Office Job Specification were used. The following information is given about each test:
Name of Test.
Method of Scoring.
Time allowed.
Critical level.
Since there are a number of tests in each battery, it has been necessary to work out some method by which a combined score representing a combination of the scores of the individual tests in the battery could be computed. Such a combined score, called the ” Total Score,” can be computed for each complete battery of tests. The Total Score represents a pro-rating of each test in direct proportion to the significance of its co-efficient of correlation with industrial proficiency. The co-efficients of the tests in Battery No.
1, for example, are: Mental Arithmetic [-0.60 Number checking 1-0.52 Arithmetic A h 0.40 The relative value of these co-efficients is 6, 5, 4. The relative value of the score of each test in the Total Score is exactly the same. The score for Arithmetic A is 21, for Number Checking is 25, and Mental Arithmetic, 30, in a Total Score of 75.
The Total Score is the criterion for selection. Applicants who obtain a Total Score lower than the one which is indicated as the Lowest Acceptable Score?determined empirically except where otherwise indicated?are not to be hired for the job for which they are being tested.
3. Tests for Selection of Clerks for Auditing Division. Battery 1. Standard Job Specification No. 1. Auditing Clerk A. Test. Name Scobing. Time Allowed. Critical Level. F-100. Arithmetic Number right.. .6 minutes 14 F-101 Mental Arith Number right… 3 minutes 30 F-102 Number checking Number right… 2 minutes 8 In each case by “number right” is meant the total number of correct answers.
To obtain the Total Score for this battery, the score of the applicant in test F-100 is multiplied by 1.5 and the score in test F-102 by 3. The scores so obtained is added to the score in test F-101. 92 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC. Example. Test. Score. F-100 14 x 1.5 equals 21 F-102 8x3 equals 24 F-101 30 30 Total score % 75 The Lowest Acceptable Score for this battery is 75. The co-efficient of correlation between these results and job proficiency in this case is +0.68? .07. Battery 2. Standard Job Specification No. 2. Auditing Clerk B. Test. Name. Scoring. Time Allowed. Critical Level. F-100. Arithmetic Number right.. .6 minutes 14 F-100-A Arithmetic Number right… 3 minutes 8 F-103 Copy checking Number right.. .3 minutes 40 Note.?All items correctly checked and copied, including the samples, constitute the “Number Right” for test F-103. To obtain the Total Score the applicant’s score in test F-100 is multiplied by 2; the score in test F-100-A is multiplied by 5; the score so obtained is added to the score in test F-103. The Lowest Acceptable Score for this battery is 108. The co-efficient of correlation between this test results and job proficiency is +0.72?.09 Battery 3. Standard Job Specification No. 3. Typist. Test. Name. Scoring. Time Allowed. Critical Level. F-100 Arithmetic Number Right… .6 minutes 10 F-105 Typing Time and Errors * F-105 C F-105 D F-110 Filing Number Right. .. .3 minutes 21 The Critical Level for the test in arithmetic for typists in this division is 10.
The typing tests are scored in terms of time taken to finish and number of errors. Mistakes in spelling, spacing and punctuation constitute errors. The standards are such that all applicants may be divided into three classes on the basis of the proficiency of each in this test. Different divisions can use typists of different degrees of proficiency and to each division will be sent such typists as best * Test F-105, F-105 C, F-105 D are tests of the applicant’s ability to typewrite. The first is a test of the ability to copy uncorrected material; the second a test of the ability to copy corrected material, and the third a test of the ability to tabulate rough copy. In so far as possible, the applicant is tested on the same type of machine to which she is accustomed. If this is not possible, a time allowance is made by reason of the applicant’s unfamiliarity with the type of machine on which she is required to take the test.
meets their needs. The actual needs of the Auditing Division are being ascertained in the course of standardizing this test. The following is a tentative classification of typists on the basis of this test: ? Time. Errors. Class A 6 min 8 Class B 8 min 8 Class C Ab. 9 min. No Total Score has been compiled for this battery of tests. In order to be considered for employment in the Auditing Division, the applicant must receive a Class B classification in F-105, F-105 C, and F-105D and a passing score in F-100 and F-110. Battery 4- Standard Specification No. 4. Stenographer. Test. Name. Scoring. Time Allowed. Critical Level. F-106 b} ‘ ” Stenographer Time and errors * F-110 Filing .Number Right… .3 min 21 f F-109 Language Number Right… .3 min 25 F-12 Technical Spelling… .Number Right… .3 min * F-13 Sentence Construction Number Right… .5 min * No adequate standards have been prepared for the stenographical test but the discussion of standards, their application and wages which was given in describing the test for typists (F-105) is applicable equally well to this test. F-12 is a Spelling Test and F-13 a Sentence Construction Test which have not yet been fully standardized. Battery 5. Standard Job Specification No. 6, Supervisor. Standard Job Specification No. 7. Express Clerk. Test. Name. Scoring. Time Allowed. Critical Level. F-100 Arithmetic Number Right 6 min?…… 14 F-100 A Arithmetic Number Right… .3 min 8 F-103J Copy Checking Number Right… .3 min 40 F-110 Filing Number Right 3 min 21 To obtain the Total Score the applicant’s score in test F-100 is multiplied by 2; the score in test F-100 A by 5; the score so obtained is added to the scores in test F-103 and F-110. The Lowest Acceptable Score for this battery of tests is 130. The co-efficient of correlation between the results of this battery of tests and job proficiency is +0.65?.12 * Test F-106 and F-106 B are tests of the applicant’s ability to take and transcribe notes of a general nature. t The Filing Test is included in this battery by reason of the fact that the stenographers m this division are required to do alphabetical filing. t All items correctly checked and copied, including the samples, constitute the score for Test F-103.
Battery 6. Standard Job Specification No. 8. General Clerk. Test. Name. Scoring. Time Allowed. Critical Level. F-100 Arithmetic Number Right… .6 min 14 F-101 Number Checking. .. .Number Right… .2 min 7 To obtain the Total Score, the score in test F-101 is multiplied by 2; the score so obtained added to the score of the applicant in test F-100. The Lowest Acceptable Score is 28. These tests can readily be given and graded by a clerk in the employment office. Each individual test in a battery is given separately, graded by the clerk and the score entered on the employment application, to be used for selection in the manner described elsewhere in this report.
4. Follow-Up. It has been generally agreed that the psychological test used in industry can only be properly evaluated by following up the workers who are hired with the use of tests. It is necessary to ascertain whether the applicant who is hired and turns out to be an able, efficient worker is the one who makes a satisfactory score on the test, and, on the other hand, whether the worker who does poorly in the tests is necessarily the one who does not make an efficient worker on the job for which she is selected. It has therefore been provided that the tests presented here be tested, and the standards refined by following up at regular intervals all workers hired and finding out whether the work is satisfactory, and if unsatisfactory, the reason. Provision has also been made that for a period of from three to six months the employment agent send to the division head for interview and employment some or all of the applicants whose scores in the tests are belov the Lowest Acceptable Score, and that the work of these so employed be even more closely followed up.
The Psychologist and Job Specifications.
It has been indicated throughout this report that the job specification is made up of three parts: (1) a description of the duties of the job; (2) an analysis of the physical requirements of the job; (3) an analysis of job competency, of the mental qualifications which the individual must possess in order to make a proficient worker upon a particular job. The psychologist is especially concerned with the last aspect of the job specification?with the statement of the mental qualifications which constitute competency for the job. There are two contributions which the psychologist can make in the analysis of job competency.
1. He makes an analysis of competency or qualifications for the jobs, in terms of specific abilities. He can substitute for such vague mental qualities as dependability, alertness, force, good habits and other vague terms of mental characteristics a category of the specific abilities which go into each performance?into each job. 2. The psychologist can provide quantitative methods for testing individuals for the possession of the competency which a particular job demands. These standards are psychological tests The method of procedure to be used in developing such tests are presented in the section on Diagnostic Tests.
The most important contribution which it is the aim of the psychologist to make to the theory and practice of job analysis is a more accurate and scientific formulation of what constitutes competency for the job. Competency for the job consists of four factors?knowledge, experience, temperamental traits and specific mental abilities. Prerequisite knowledge can be described largely in terms of school contents and processes, as?for example, in the specifications presented in this report. Experience can be expressed in terms of a simple statement such as the ones given in these specifications. For the specific abilities there is not in use an adequate category, and a full description of the job depends upon a delineation of the specific mental abilities which the individual must possess in order to attain proficiency on the job. Psychological tests, which are used to measure job competency are measures of the specific abilities of individuals. The description of the job, at least that part of the description which concerns itself with the human being who is going to fill the job, should, therefore, be largely in terms of specific abilities. It is very essential that these abilities be named, even though the psychological tests, involving these abilities, are being developed by the psychologist.* Link contrasts the older method of “describing jobs in terms of personal qualities” with the “newer or psychological method.” To being with, he writes, “it makes a thoroughgoing analysis of one job and then, on the basis of this, selects a set of tests which seem to involve the same ability as that required by the job. These tests are then tried out on a large number of workers whose ability is known in order to find those tests which do this to the highest degree. When tests which are sufficiently significant are found, the results are a standard and scientifically accurate measurement of those specific abilities which are required by that specific job. It is unnecessary to name these abilities even.” In my opinion, it is extremely important to name these abilities od the job specification for the following reasons: * Link, Henry C., “Employment Psychology.”
1. It is a record, in a definite form, of the analysis made by the psychologist, for his own use and for use by others working in the same field. The actual accomplishment in industrial testing in developing job specifications and diagnostic tests have outdistanced the formulation of the principle of scientific procedure and the development of a background of theory. The formulation of such theoretic background and a set of principles to guide the psychologist in the work is esssential to its ultimate success. The most important feature in such a formulation of theory is, in my opinion, the analysis and recording of the specific abilities which establish competency for a particular job.
2. The employment agent and the operating executive should know what, in the opinion of the psychologist, constitutes competency for the job in which they are interested, and such competency can only be fully expressed in terms of specific abilities. The industrial executive will quickly agree to use concepts of specific abilities in describing workers under him if a set of terms are provided for him. The greatest difficulty lies in providing a set of terms which will be acceptable as an analysis of the specific abilities and which will be so defined that they can be understood, by the industrial layman as well as by the industrial psychologist. The terms which have generally been used in place of terms denoting specific ability are vague concepts of mental qualities which have in them very little which is actually related to job competency.
. A great variety of such terms have been used in various job specifications in an attempt to describe job competency.* In the Description of Occupations of Office Employes prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the qualifications of the File Clerk are described as keen observation, quick thinking, good memory and a mind for detail. Conscientiousness, accuracy and alertness are also necessary. The qualifications of the Mail Clerk are described as carefulness, accuracy and honesty and those of the Messenger, as responsibility, tact and trustworthiness. Other qualities which are often used in the statement of job competency are, ambition, intelligence, sincerity, patience, loyalty, impulsiveness, reliability, creative ability, manual or motor ability, willingness, thoroughness, and so on ad infinitum.
Schneiderf gives a list of sixteen classifications which can often be applied to the individual in a description of the competency demands of jobs.
Discription of Occupations?U. S. Department of Labor; Office Employes.
t H. L. Hollingsworth, “Vocational Psychology,” p. 105 ff. SPECIFICATIONS OF JOB COMPETENCY. 97 These are as follows: (?) Physical strength; physical weakness. (?) Mental; manual. (c) Settled; roving. (d) Indoor; outdoor. (e) Directive; dependent. (/) Original (creative) initiative. (g) Small scope; large scope. (h) Adaptable; self-control. (i) Deliberate; impulsive. (j) Music sense. (k) Color sense. (I) Mental accuracy; mental inaccuracy. (m) Mental accuracy (logic); mental inaccuracy. (n) Concentration (mental focus); diffusion. (o) Rapid mental co-ordination; slow mental co-ordination. (p) Dynamic; static.
The terms listed here are somewhat different in general import. Some of them are concepts of motivation. Loyalty, sincerity, patience, impulsiveness are related to the drives, the impulses leading to certain types of performances. The motive concepts also include such terms as responsible, irresponsible, phlegmatic, deliberative, which are ordinarily subsumed under the head of temperament. Some of the terms are concerned with the physical welfare of the individual; dynamic, nervously quick, are examples of these. Only a few of these terms are really concerned with the abilities of individuals; mechanical ability, creative ability, energy, manual are examples of these, but the terms here used, and they are very fair examples of those used in the majority of job specifications, are not at all accurately descriptive or representative of specific mental abilities.
This study is presented as a preliminary one which merely serves to open up the problem of the analysis, in terms of specific mental abilities, of the operations involved in a particular task. Posting, sorting, checking, tabulating, etc., are patterns of behavior, the mechanisms of response of which are the individual specific abilities. An analysis of these abilities, similar to the one made by Young for the performance of the Witmer Form Board, will have to be made for all operations in every job if an accurate description of job competencies in psychological terms is to be obtained. A list of terms which can be used for such a purpose, is presented below.
These terms are descriptions of the specific mental abilities necessary for success on a given job. They are adapted from the “Analytical Diagnosis Chart,” used in the Psychological Clinic of the University of Pennsylvania in the examination diagnosis of the cases which come into that clinic. The terms were originally established by Lightner Witmer, Director of the Psychological Clinic, and later modified by Young* and Humpstone.f In this report is indicated a method of applying these terms in job analysis. They have already been so applied in the analysis of the jobs discussed in this report.
It is not only necessary to indicate the specific mental abilities which are required on a given job, but it is necessary to indicate the extent to which each job calls for a specific ability. In many cases, the difference in competency between two jobs consists not of a difference in number and kind of specific mental abilities for which the job calls, but in the extent to which each is called forth in the job. The difference is not one of content, but of pattern?an emphasis in one job of certain specific mental abilities, which, by reason of a difference in the operations of the other job, are not emphasized in the second job. It is therefore necessary to give a quantitative rating to each ability with reference to the extent to which it is required for success on a given job. For this purpose, in the analysis of the jobs discussed in this report, a 5-point scale, in which each of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, represents a degree to which each specific mental ability is essential for success upon the job, was used. The meaning of each numerical rating is given below.
Negligible.
Barely significant.
Significant
Of great importance.
Of utmost importance.
In other words, thinking in terms of the mental abilities which are called for a given job, 1 means that the importance of the ability so rated is practically negligible in job success; 2 means that this ability is called for to such a slight extent on the job that a deficiency in it on the part of the worker interferes only slightly with the capacity of the worker to perform efficiently the duties of that job; 3 means that the ability is significant, but that it is not one which particularly distinguishes this job from other similar jobs; 4 means that the ability is essential and that it is called for to such a great * W. H. Young, “Physical and Mental Factors Involved in the Formboard Test,” Psychological Clinic, Nov. 15, 1916. tH. J. Humpstone, “The Analytic Diagnosis,” Psychological Clinic, May 15, 1919. degree that a deficiency in it on the part of the worker engaged on the job would interfere seriously with the efficiency on the job; 5 means that the job requires this ability to such an extent that a deficiency in it on the part of the worker would make him absolutely incompetent to fill the job. The specific mental abilities used in this investigation and suggested for use in job analysis are as follows:
1. Energy. By energy is meant the degree of physical force necessary for success on the job. It is perhaps illustrated by the difference between the job of laborer, in which the amount of energy would be rated as 5 on a five-point scale, and the crossing watchman at a country crossroad on a railroad in which there are just a few trains a day, in which case the amount of energy to be expended would be rated as 1.
2. Rate of Discharge. By this is meant the speed with which energy is called forth by the job. On some jobs much energy may be called forth, but this energy is called forth slowly, while on other jobs it must be expended with great speed. The reverse is also true; that is, there are jobs in which the amount of energy demanded is low, but it may be required that this be expended either at great speed or slow speed.
3. Endurance. By endurance is meant the degree to which the ability to resist fatigue is required by the job. It is equivalent to what is ordinarily called “stamina” and refers to the degree to which the job demands -the ability to discharge energy beyond the limit of physical fatigue.
4. Control. By control is meant the ability which is demanded in the direction and execution of large bodily movements. Walking, for example, involves control to a very great degree. In the realm of occupations, shoveling dirt from a sand car out on the street would require control to the extent of 5 on a five-point scale. This would be contrasted with, let us say, comptometer operating, in which the emphasis would be more upon co-ordination than upon control. Control would be rated 5, for example, in the job of running
a street car.
5. Co-ordination. (A) This refers to the job requirement in the combination of fine muscular movements; in the establishment of finer adjustments among these movements. The importance of this ability rates high in such jobs as fine instrument making, comptometer operating, and in fine armature winding. 6. Co-ordination. (B) This refers to the harmonious combination of eye and muscle action demanded by the job. It is movement controlled by sight. It is important in such a job as telephone operating, in which the operator is required to get the plug into a hole of small diameter, the location of which is perceived through the eye.
7. Initiative. This refers to the self-starting aspect of the job demand. It is the ability of the individual to begin a new operation without instruction. It is required to some extent in running the trolley car, exhibiting itself when trouble arises in the mechanism of the trolley car or on the road. It is found to a much less degree in, for example, the job of interurban railway receipt audit, and to a much greater degree in that of “shooting trouble.”
8. Concentration. This refers to the attention which the job requires to be given to one unit, or one small part, in contrast to the distribution of attention over a number of parts. For example, a man who is feeding an automatic punch press uses concentration of attention to the extent of 5, inasmuch as he attends only to one single operation, to one single thing. It is attention to individual, single component parts of a complex operation or object in contrast to attention spread over a number of parts of a complex operation or object.
9. Distribution. This refers to the distribution of attention which the job requires over a number of different operations or things at the same time. For example, the motorman distributes his attention over the street, the control apparatus which he is handling and the signals which come from the conductor at the same time. A man who is starting a lathe distributes his attention over a number of levers in starting the lathe. The sub-station operator may be required to distribute his attention over a number of switches simultaneously. Distribution is contrasted with concentration. In some jobs one is exemplified and in some jobs the other. It is possible that in certain jobs both may be required to approximately the same degree. 10. Persistence. This refers to the stick-to-it-iveness demanded by the job. ‘ It is the ability which the job calls for of giving entire attention to the matter at hand until it is completed. It is the opposite of fluctuation of attention, in which attention wanders from the matter at hand.
11. Alertness. This is the readiness which the individual must show on the job in meeting changing situations. It is wide-awakeness. It should be rated as an important requirement on the job of motorman and relatively of less importance in the job of running a mimeographing machine. 12. Associability. This refers to the number of discrete units which must be associated in one moment of consciousness on the job. Some jobs require that the individual be able to hold in conSPECIFICATIONS OF JOB COMPETENCY. 101 sciousness only two or three things at once, and others that they be able to hold as many as six or seven. In running a street car the individual will need a memory span of at least four in order to be successful on the job. In a job such as that of listing clerk a long memory span will be of great help. In still other jobs, such as feeding a drill press, a memory span of three and possibly less is sufficient for efficiency.
13. Discriminability. This refers to the ability required by the job of recognizing differences in size, shape, sound, taste, etc. The smallness of the difference it is necessary to recognize on a given job is a measure of the degree of discrimination required by the job.
Discriminability is employed in each of the several realms, and we therefore have:
(?) Visual discriminability. (?) Auditory discriminability. (c) Tactile discriminability (touch). id) Kinesthetic discriminability (differences in movement). (e) Olfactory discriminability. (/) Gustatory discriminability. It is necessary to differentiate the kinds of discriminability which is to be rated in making ratings on different jobs. In order to bring into relief the discriminability complexes which it will most often be necessary to rate, the following two items are provided. A. Form Perception, or the degree to which the ability to discriminate differences in shape, is demanded on the job. 1. Visual. By means of sight. 2. Tactile-Motor. By means of touch and movement. B. Space Perception, or the degree to which the ability to discriminate differences in distance, is required. 1. Visual.?By means of sight. 2. Tactile-Motor.?By means of touch and kinesthesia, i. e., the recognition of small differences in movement through space. For example, in creeping out on a ledge, etc. 14. Accuracy. This refers to the degree to which the complex of abilities (Attention, Discrimination, etc.), which makes it possible for an individual to do with exactness the work to which he is assigned 102 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC. is demanded by the job. Important in meter reading and in manyclerical jobs, and less important in laboring jobs, gross repair work, etc. 15. Memory. This refers to the ease of learning and the persistence of retention required on the job. There are three specific types of memory, in three specific sense fields, to be considered in giving a rating on Memory. These are: A. Visual, or the memory of visual material. B. Auditory, or the memory of auditory material. C. Kinesthetic. This refers to motor memory, or the ability to recall movements. 16. Understanding. This refers to ability to understand directions as part of the job qualifications. It is the degree of comprehension of verbal or written directions demanded. This is probably involved in all jobs, but the degree of its importance will vary from job to job. 17. Understanding Q. This refers to the readiness or quickness with which directions must be understood on a given job. On some jobs the directions can be read at a pace established by the worker and plenty of time taken to interpret them. On other jobs it is essential that the directions be grasped and understood readily. Trouble shooting is an example of a job in which quickness of understanding would be rated high. 18 Observation. This refers to the ability which is called forth by the job of employing attention so that no detail of the performance remains unnoticed. The individual must always be aware of what he is doing and keep accurate tab on minute details of the job which he is doing. The job of proof-reading, for example, would have to be rated high on observation because it is necessary for the proofreader to notice every minute detail of the proof. A typist, copying from rough draft, would also be rated high on observation, although not quite as high as a proof-reader. And in such a job as shoveling coal, observation would be rated low. 19! Planfulness. This refers to the ability to look ahead, to forsee the general plan of the work, and to methodically plan or form a scheme for the method of doing the work as part of the job requirements. The job of supervising would be rated high in planfulness. The job of comptometer operating would probably be rated low. 20. Intelligence. This is the ability of the individual to solve a new problem. In most jobs new problems are not presented. They may occasionally arise in the process of running a street car, very often in “shooting trouble,” but very rarely in clerical jobs, and in most of the other jobs of a producing nature.
21. Intellect. This refers specifically to the ability to put the kind of knowledge that is ordinarily obtained in the schools to use on the job. A job in which no knowledge of school work is at all required, not even reading and writing, should not be checked at all. A job in which simply the ability to carry numbers or spell out words slowly should be rated as 1. A job in which reading and writing and little more of an intellectual nature would be required would receive a rating of 2. A job requiring the ability to use knowledge of about sixth grade standing, a rating of 3. A job of the intellectual level of the high school graduate would be 4, and a job which required collegiate or technical training would be given a rating of 5.
22. Judgment. This is the exercise of choice on a job. It is the job demand for the selection for a best response from among a number of possible satisfactory responses, e. g., train dispatching. 23. Logical Analysis. The ability called for by a job for the consideration in an impartial, rational way of the problems presented by the job. This ability is employed to any great extent only in relatively few jobs. A research assistance in a Research Department is a job which would be rated high with reference to this ability.
24. Language Ability. The extent to which the use of written and spoken language is an essential requirement for job proficiency. Information clerk, correspondence clerk would be jobs rating high in the requirement of this ability. Listing clerk, laborer would rate low.
25. Executive. This refers to the capacity for leadership required on the job. This is a complex, unanalyzed mental ability which can only be rated in a very superficial way. This is probably a complex of personality as much as it is one of specific ability, but it is tentatively included in this list.
In order to facilitate the use of these terms in making job analysis, Form M. Q. 1 was provided. A copy of this form, giving an analysis of one of the jobs studied in this investigation, is included in this report. It will be seen that on the left-hand side of the form are given the specific mental abilities. To the right of these are five columns numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, respectively. Each specific mental ability which is required by the job is checked with an X. The X is placed in one of the columns marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, with reference to the degree to which it is significant on the job. The three specific mental abilities which most definitely distinguish the job, that is, which represent the specific mental abilities of greatest importance for success on the job are checked with XX.
Form M. Q. 1 Name of Job:?Interurban Railway Receipt S. J. S. No. 1 Tests No. F-100 Auditor. S. O. J. S. No. 1 F-101 Department:? Accounting Division:?Auditing F-108 1. Energy 2. Rate of Discharge 3. Endurance 4. Control 5. Co-Ordination A 6. Co-Ordination B 7. Initiative 8. Concentration 9. Distribution 10. Persistence 11. Alertness 12. Associability 13. Discriminability: a/V b/A c/T d e A. Space Perception B. Form Perception 14. Accuracy 15. Memory: a/V b/A c/K 16. Understanding 17. Understanding 18. Observation 19. Planfulness 20. Intelligence 21. Intellect 22. Judgment 23. Logical Analysis 24. Language Ability 25. Executive Remarks.
A line connecting the X’s on the chart gives what might be called a “job psychograph.” If the form is held so that the specific abilities come at the bottom of the sheet and the curve strikes horizontally across the page/ fthe peaks of the curve reveal at a glance the specific mental abilities, which, in the opinion of the one who is making the job analysis, are the ones Which are most essential in job success, These abilities can be called the “keystone” specific mental abilities of the job and they are correlated to the “keystone” operations of the job or the activities which most clearly distinguish this job from other similar jobs. In providing tests of job competency, the aim should be to test particularly these keystone mental abilities, for it is the possession of these abilities to the extent required by the job which makes the worker most competent to fill the job. The tests should be such as to pick individuals whose vocational psychograph coincides with the job psychograph. The problem in both vocational guidance, in which the job is selected for the individual, and industrial guidance, in which the individual is selected for the job, is to make the vocational psychograph and job psychograph coincide.
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