What then is the next step in conducting a job analysis?
Using the agreed-upon list of competencies, a set of measures that tap these competencies needs to be selected. These typically include measures of cognitive ability, of specific job skills, and of personality. What we always look for are cost-effective ways of measuring the most critical competencies that are seen to be associated with on-the-job success. The Gold Standard of job analyses is benchmarking, where a small group of highly successful job incumbents is compared with an equal number of average employees on these carefully selected measures. Those measures that differentiate the two groups are then used to set a template for selection. In other words, what the job analysis has provided for us is a list of specific characteristics in order of importance that are most likely to lead to on-the-job success; in other words, to set a pattern against which we can measure candidates. It is no wonder that the job analysis is regarded as the keystone of successful hiring.
