Chapter 2

Job Analysis

2-1. -- Advantages of Job Analysis.

The previous chapter outlined the steps involved in developing a statement of work (SOW) and a quality assurance surveillance plan.  This chapter explains job analysis in greater detail.  This process enables the analyst to pull together all of the essential information needed to write a performance-oriented SOW.  It also helps to build a foundation that will help the government determine the quality of the contractor’s output service.  The steps in job analysis are described below.

2-2. -- Organization.

The starting point in looking at a service function is to see how it is organized and what kind of service it provides.  This is not to say that the SOW will require that a contractor adopt the government style of organization.  Rather, organizational analysis will provide a framework for determining what is done by the organization.

a.       To capture this data, use an organizational analysis sheet as shown in figure 2-1.  The data gathered and placed on the analysis sheet will show a complete picture of the organization.  Of particular importance is the choice of services performed.

b.       These services or outputs become the basis for writing the SOW, development of standards, defining performance indicators, and identifying acceptable quality levels of performance.  Be as specific as possible when making the entries.

Figure 2-1. -- Organizational Analysis

2-3. -- Tree Diagram.

After doing the organizational analysis to find out what kind of services the organization provides, the analyst must now link the services together in a logical flow of activities.  The major tool used is the tree diagram.

a.       An example of a tree diagram for vehicle operations is shown in figure 2-2.  As shown in the figure, the top box states the overall function (in this case, to operate and manage vehicles).  Each of the following levels breaks the job into parts and subparts, to develop a chart that fully describes the job in terms of these parts.

b.       The boxes are numbered to show the relationship of the parts back to the higher level part.  For example, test is numbered “3.1”, because it relates to train and qualify vehicle operators which is numbered, “3”.  These numbers and part boxes provide the start for further analysis.

2-4. -- Activity Analysis.

Prepare a separate activity analysis for each numbered box in the tree diagram.  These sheets are used to define the outputs of the process.  An example of an activity analysis for dispatching taxis is shown in figure 2-3.

a.       The analysis consists of three major sections: input, work and output.

(1)     The steps in the work section that are required to perform the work are numbered in sequence.

(2)     The input section lists those things that are needed to perform the work steps.

(3)     The output section contains those things produced by the work (that is, items or services that the work provides).

b.       In the example, the taxi dispatch begins with the input of a request for taxi service, and with documenting the service.  The output of the process is a documented form and the movement of the passenger to the desired location.

c.       The analyst must complete the analysis in as much detail as is possible.  If the tree diagram has been branched out in enough detail (that is, as many sub-parts as possible) the task will be very easy.  The analysis does nothing more than state what starts a job, what takes place when a job is done, and the results of the job -- that is, input, work, output.  The analysis merely puts this thinking down on paper in a step-by-step fashion.

2-5. -- Classification.

By building the tree diagram and the activity analysis, the analyst knows a great deal about the job.  The analyst must now work with management to decide what jobs will be targeted for inclusion in the SOW.  For example, the government may decide to retain responsibility for the analysis section in a transportation contract.  No further job analysis need be done to jobs not targeted for contract.  Decisions reached in this step are recorded on the activity analysis sheets (see figure 2-3).  Record the decision for each entry in the output block.

2-6. -- Data Gathering.

After the analyst has identified the services to be provided under contract, workload and resource data must be gathered.  The procedure for this is simple.

Figure 2-3. -- Activity Analysis

a.       Workload.  As used here, “workload” refers to the result of the data gathering task which gets information on how often output services are provided.  After the jobs and output services are analyzed, it should be much easier to gather the required data.  As a rule, this information is available from existing management information systems, but it may need to be restructured, so that it is accumulated by a specific output.

(1)     The analyst must find out how often a service will be provided during the proposed contract period.  Use historical information plus projected changes, to estimate the service frequency.  To gather this data, put it on a sheet as shown in figure 2-4.  This sheet shows what service will be provided, and helps in estimating future requirements to be used in sizing the contract effort.

(2)     This data will have eventual use in structuring the government estimate and in analyzing the proposed contractor’s bid price.  This frequency information is also given to bidders so that they understand the true requirements that will have to be met under the contract.  Further, workload data is used in building the surveillance plan.

b.       Resources.  To provide a service, a job requires the use of physical resources (assets and personnel).

(1)     Physical Assets:  To write a SOW, gather data about the physical assets required to perform a contract.  Gather data concerning physical assets at the specific service output level.  (For example, gather data on what physical assets are needed to perform emergency repair service).  Sheets as shown in figures 2-5, 2-6, and 2-7 should be used to gather data on the facilities, materiel, and equipment that will be provided to the contractor.  Since the SOW must list the assets the government provides, take care to avoid listing items that will not be available for the contractor’s use.  The list must show any assets that will be added or deleted during the life of the contract.

(2)     Personnel.  Data on personnel must also be gathered.  For example, a sheet as shown in figure 2-8 can be used for this purpose.  Data for this sheet are available from manpower documents on the organization, but the data may need to be restructured to break it out for the specific services provided.  For example, a manpower document might show how many people and what skill levels are authorized to operate a vehicle, but not how many people are allocated to perform the vehicle dispatch service.  The analyst must extract this data to complete the data analysis (that is, how many government persons would be required if the service remained in-house).

Figure 2-4. -- Workload Analysis

2-7. -- Performance Value.

When the government performs a service for itself, it not only generates an output, but it produces that output to meet standards to some acceptable quality level.

a.       Example.  Let us assume that a taxi pickup is to be provided within four (4) minutes of an agreed upon pickup time ninety percent (90%) of the time (10% error rate).  Taxi pickup is the service, four minutes is the standard, and 10 percent is the acceptable quality level.

b.       Minimum Requirements.  By law, the SOW must present the actual minimum requirements of the government.  Hence, the analyst must avoid demanding more of a contractor than the government would provide if it were performing the service.

c.       Performance Output.  Performance values enable the analyst to place realistic demands on contractor performance.  By the same token, performance values permit the writing of a performance-oriented SOW and eases the development of a quality assurance surveillance plan, for example, see the performance value analysis in figure 2-9.  In doing the analysis, the analyst must include each of the output services identified for inclusion in the contract during classification.

d.       Standards.  In the appropriate box, show the standards that pertain to the services.  These standards can be derived from the directives regulating the service, from agency standards, or from work location standards.

e.       Measuring Quality.  Finally, each service must have an acceptable quality level.  This entry can be based on historical records, a poll of managerial desires, or agency imposed acceptable quality levels.  An acceptable quality level should rarely be 0 percent, for this indicates perfect performance which is very expensive and nearly impossible to achieve.  Acceptable quality levels must equal but not exceed the standards met when the government provides the services in-house, that is, how well the government did the job.  However, it must be recognized that some quality levels are purely judgmental, such as appearance, taste, etc.

f.        Assigning Values.  Performance values need not be assigned for outputs that relate strictly to internal contractor management.  For example, work scheduling is required to get the job done; however, the government is interested only in getting the job done, and is not generally concerned with how.  The stress is on performance, not procedures.  Hence, there is normally no need to assign a performance value to work scheduling.  The meaning of each entry is described below.

Figure 2-9. -- Performance Value Analysis

g.       Performance Indicator.  A performance indicator is a characteristic of an output that can be measured.  It may measure quantity a well as quality.  By using a performance indicator and its associated standard, one can know if a process is producing a quality output.  (For example, the major output of taxi operations is passenger movement).

(1)     The question must be asked as to what will allow one to measure how well the process generates that output.  To do this the analyst must review each previously identified job to see what measures can be associated with it.

(2)     The measures are usually stated as rates (that is, a means of expressing something as it relates to a fixed amount of something else).  For example, a rate for taxi service is the cost to run the fleet per mile.  The performance indicators that relate to taxi operation are shown in figure 2-9.  All of these indicators are rates, except average response time.  However, response time is something that can be measured.

(3)     In many cases, agency directives specify the performance indicators that will be used to evaluate the process.  If the indicators are not prescribed, the analyst must work with management to decide what indicators would help to measure the process.  Rates in terms of time and distance and accuracy are particularly useful for this purpose.

(4)     The analyst must be careful to choose performance indicators that are realistic.  The grams of dust per square centimeter on a vehicle may be a measurable performance indicator for vehicle condition, but it is not a realistic indicator for general use.  The analyst may have to use a less satisfactory indicator (such as times washed per month).  Or one may have to resort to an even less satisfactory measure (such as cleanliness) which calls for an individual judgment on the part of the person measuring performance.

(5)     Whenever possible, however, one must choose a performance indicator that measures the service by a number (that is, quantifies it).

h.       Using Standards.  A standard is something against which another thing can be measured.  Nearly everyone is familiar with standards of some sort.  For example, the standard operating speed for automobiles on highways is 55 miles per hour.  In this case the number 55 is the standard, while miles per hour is the performance indicator.

(1)     In looking at the processes and the performance indicators chose, non must ask what kind of yardstick will be used to measure the process.  In some cases the yardstick or standard is provided by agency authorities.

(a)      The standard for average taxi response time of 4 minutes is an example.  However, there is no standard for bus service.

(b)     In this case, the analyst, with management’s help, will have to find a reasonable standard that bears some relation to the criticality of the service to be provided and how well the government does the job in-house.

(2)     A standard for bus service could be stated in terms of timeliness of arrival at a bus stop.  Thus, the standard for bus service would be stated:  Depart the stop no earlier than scheduled time nor later than scheduled time plus five minutes.  An example of the taxi service job and the standard for the performance indicator is shown in figure 2-9.

i.        Acceptable Quality Level.  The acceptable quality level of a standard tells what variation from the standard (that is, error rate) is allowed.  It is used to measure the reliability of the output generating process.

(1)     An acceptable quality level is generally used in referring to a production line that produces a tangible object.  These products can then be measured to see if they meet the standard within an acceptable quality level.

(2)     Service contracts also produce measurable services (even though they are not always tangible) and one can determine how often they meet the standard.

(3)     An acceptable quality level is expressed in terms of a percentage of allowable error in a time period.  Using the performance indicator with its associated standard, the analyst determines what error rate should be allowed, based on agency directives, historical records of how well the government provided the service, or they can be established by management decision.

(4)     Whatever the source of the entry, the analyst must question whether the acceptable quality level is realistic and represents how well the service must be provided under contract.  The example of acceptable quality levels shown in figure 2-9 summarizes all the performance information that is generated by job analysis.  Charts like this are critical for all further decisions about the SOW and the surveillance plan.

(5)     After these charts are filed in, the analyst must cross out the indicators that apply to contractor internal management.  What remains will be the performance indicators, standards, and tolerances (acceptable quality level) that tell how well the contractor must provide the output service.  In the example in figure 2-9 all values would be eliminated except average response time.  All other times under a firm fixed price vehicle operations and maintenance contract relate strictly to internal contractor management indicators.

2-8. -- Governing Directives.

For each of the services to be provided under contract, the following steps are done:

a.       Catalogue.  The analyst needs to catalogue all the manuals, regulations, and other higher government agency and local level guidance that pertain to the services.  (These documents often refer to other regulations, manuals or technical orders which must also be listed).  The list that results should be arranged similar to figure 2-10.  List the title and the date of publication.  If only parts of the directive apply, Note these parts in the directive column.  If the directive has been mentioned in a document previously listed, cite that document in the “Referenced In” column.  This data will be needed later in deciding whether a directive or part of a directive applies to the proposed contract effort.

b.       Applicability.  Each service ordinarily has its basis in some governing directive that tells how the job is to be done, in varying degrees of detail, when it is performed in-house.  In other words, directives often specify procedures.

(1)     At this point, the analyst must decide whether those procedures are to be mandatory on the contractor (that way the government would do it).  To do this, the analyst reviews the list of directives and checks the proper box on the sheet to show whether each directive will be mandatory or advisory upon the contractor.

(2)     When only parts of directives appear to be mandatory, the analyst must decide either to reference that part of the directive, or extract the information and place it in the SOW as a procedure.  If there is no clear directive, the analyst must decide if a procedure is require for if simply stating the activity and its performance value is sufficient.

(3)     As a rule, procedures and directives must not be specified.  Reliance must be placed on stating the desired output with a performance value.  If a regulation is mandatory, reference it only when it is too bulky to extract and include in the SOW in full text.

Figure 2-10. -- Governing Directives Analysis

2-9. -- Deduct Analysis.

Standard clauses in service contracts allow the government to deduct payment in case of non-performance.  In short, if the government doesn’t receive the service, the contractor does not get paid.  The hard question is how much to deduct.

a.       Methodology.  The amount deducted must represent as nearly as possible the cost of the service foregone.

(1)     The information is used to arrive at a figure for each service which tells what percentage it is of the whole service.

(2)     The source of information is the personnel data and the specific service outputs derived during job analysis.  How to determine the percent value of a specific service is explained below.

(3)     Note that other resources and overhead have not been used to determine costs.  Since the contractor automatically spreads these costs in a bid, there is no need to use them in these figures.

b.       Finding the Specific Service.  To obtain a list of services refer to the tree diagram.  When the tree diagram was made, the overall job was broken into smaller and smaller parts.  For example, transportation has as parts vehicle operations, vehicle maintenance, analysis and traffic management.  Vehicle operations, in turn, breaks into many smaller parts, as illustrated in figure 2-2.  The information on the tree diagram is used to begin making the deduct analysis (see figure 2-11).

c.       Personnel.  The next step in filling out the deduct sheet is personnel.  The personnel analysis made during data gathering for resources has the data on how many people are required to provide a specific service.

Figure 2-11. -- Deduct Analysis

(1)     The analyst must adjust this data to reflect decisions made about standards and acceptable quality levels.

(2)     The personnel data may have to be adjusted upwards or downwards, since standards and acceptable quality levels directly affect the number of persons required to do the job.  Further, since this data represents the in-house cost of performing the services in the SOW, the analyst must also adjust the data to show what staff the contractor would probably use to perform the service.

(3)     This data can not be used for making the deduct analysis.  Note that no entry is made on the line of a service that has subparts.  Entries are only made for the subparts, since there are specific services.  (For example, no entry is made for “operate vehicles’ since this service is made up f the specific services of operate taxi, operate scheduled buses, operate unscheduled buses.

d.       Payroll Cost Per Month.  Payroll cost per month is the basis for deciding how much each specific service costs in reference to the total job.  One need not use exact payroll costs.  Rather, use the service contract wage rates appropriate to the service.  Again, do not include costs for the services that have subparts.  These are noted by X’s on figure 2-11.

e.       Percent Of Total.  The percent of total column on the deduct sheet tells how much each specific service or part represents in terms of the service contract.  To arrive at this percentage, add all the payroll costs to get a total and divide each specific service payroll cost by the total cost.  Enter each resulting percentage in the percent of total column.

f.        Negotiated Contracts.  The cost figures created for deduct analysis can be used to evaluate contractor proposals.  The contractor should be asked to make a proposal for each specific service.  Once these costs are negotiated, they can be used to adjust the original deduct estimates.