What is a job analysis? Definition, 7 steps, example and template

Jessica Johnson

Published

Aug 28, 2025

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Contents

What is a job analysis?

A job analysis is a systematic process for collecting and evaluating information about a job: its duties, tasks, responsibilities, required competencies and working conditions. It analyzes the role, not the person doing it. Employers use the results to write job descriptions, recruit, identify training needs and review job classification. You can run one in seven steps, using interviews, questionnaires, observation, work logs or document review.

Key takeaways

A job analysis studies the job, not the person. It’s the evidence base for job descriptions, hiring criteria and training plans.
Job analysis, job description and job evaluation are three different things. The comparison table below shows how.
You can complete one in seven steps. Gather information in more than one way where you can, then validate the findings with the employee and manager.

What information belongs in a job analysis?

A complete job analysis captures two things: the work itself and the requirements of the role. Use this checklist. The worked example and template further down use the same fields.

The work itself

Job purpose
Duties
Tasks, including how often each is done and how important it is
Responsibility and decision-making authority
Reporting relationships
Working conditions and job demands

Role requirements

Knowledge
Skills
Abilities and competencies
Education and certifications
Tools and equipment
Essential and non-essential requirements

Job analysis vs job description vs job evaluation

These three terms are often confused. Each does a different job.

Term	What it does	Typical output
Job analysis	Gathers and evaluates information about the job	Documented findings on the work, its requirements and its working conditions
Job description	Documents the duties, responsibilities and requirements of the job	A written document used for job postings and role clarity
Job evaluation	Assesses the relative value of a job, typically for compensation or classification purposes	A job grade, ranking or classification

In practice, the job analysis comes first. The Government of Canada’s Job Bank calls job analysis the first step in writing or rewriting a job description.

What is job analysis used for?

The findings give you one evidence base to draw on for several HR tasks. These are uses of the analysis, not parts of it:

Writing accurate job descriptions and job postings
Setting selection criteria for recruitment
Planning onboarding and training
Setting performance expectations
Feeding a job evaluation, which can then inform compensation and classification
Planning career development and succession

When should you conduct or update a job analysis?

There’s no set schedule. Run or refresh a job analysis when something changes, such as:

Creating a new role
Hiring for a role whose job description is outdated
Major changes to duties, technology or workflow
Restructuring a team
Reviewing compensation or job classification
Identifying training requirements
Reviewing job requirements or working conditions

If none of these has happened, you don’t need to redo the analysis. Step 7 below covers setting a review date.

How to conduct a job analysis: Seven steps

Infographic titled “How to conduct a job analysis: 7 steps,” listing a clear, practical process from defining the purpose to documenting results and setting a review date.

1. Define why you are conducting the job analysis

Start with the reason. A new hire, a restructure and a training review each need a different level of detail. Write the purpose in one sentence and decide which job, or which group of jobs, you’re analyzing. Also decide who leads it. In most small and mid-sized businesses that’s the HR lead or the hiring manager, with input from the person in the role and their manager.

2. Review the existing job and available information

Collect what already exists before you ask anyone anything: the current job description, any previous job postings, the org chart, performance standards, and any records of the tasks the role handles. Then check outside sources, so you’re not working from internal assumptions alone.

Canadian sources to check

Job Bank (Government of Canada). Its employer guidance treats job analysis as the first step in writing a job description, and lists the National Occupational Classification (NOC) as a secondary source of job information.
National Occupational Classification (NOC) (Employment and Social Development Canada and Statistics Canada). Canada’s national system for describing occupations. Use it to benchmark duties, responsibilities and occupational requirements. Check you’re using the current version.
Occupational and Skills Information System (OaSIS). Built on the NOC. Each occupational profile lists skills, knowledge, abilities, work activities, work context and main duties, which map neatly onto the fields in your analysis.

Competitor job postings, LinkedIn and Indeed are useful as secondary market checks. They show how other employers describe similar roles, but they aren’t an authoritative source for what the job requires.

3. Gather information about the role

Ask the people closest to the work. That means the employee (or employees) doing the job, and their manager. A person who held the role before, or was promoted out of it, can also fill gaps. Use one or more of the methods below. Using two gives you a cross-check.

Job analysis methods: 5 ways to gather information

These are data-collection techniques inside the seven-step method, not a separate process.

Method	What you do	Best used when	Main limitation
Interviews	Ask employees and supervisors a set list of questions, with follow-ups. Ask everyone the same core questions.	You need depth, or the role is professional or knowledge-based	Time-consuming. Relies on what people remember and choose to say
Questionnaires / surveys	Send structured or open-ended questions on paper or online, then combine the answers	Several people do the same role, or time is short	Answers can be incomplete or less than candid. You can’t probe
Direct observation	Watch the work being done and record the tasks	The work is physical, repetitive or follows a set cycle	People can change how they work when watched. Misses rare tasks and mental work
Work diary / log	Ask the employee to record tasks and timing over days or weeks	Day-to-day tasks vary and you need task frequency	Produces a lot of data that can be hard to interpret. Relies on self-reporting
Existing-document or secondary-source review	Review current job descriptions, org charts, performance standards, Job Bank and the NOC	You’re starting out, or the role is new	Can be outdated or generic. Doesn’t show how the role works in your business

Purple-and-white table titled “Job analysis methods: which fits your role?” compares five methods across desk-based, physical, complex, and inconsistent day-to-day work, rating fit from strong to limited. The infographic is clear and practical.

Which method should you use? This matrix summarizes the table above. Most analyses combine two methods, such as a questionnaire plus interviews.

Method	Desk-based work	Physical work	Complex or knowledge work	Inconsistent day-to-day tasks
Interviews	Strong fit	Partial fit	Strong fit	Partial fit
Questionnaires / surveys	Strong fit	Partial fit	Partial fit	Limited fit
Direct observation	Limited fit	Strong fit	Limited fit	Limited fit
Work diary / log	Partial fit	Partial fit	Partial fit	Strong fit
Existing-document or secondary-source review	Partial fit	Partial fit	Limited fit	Limited fit

Fit ratings are Employment Hero’s editorial guidance based on the method limitations above, not an official standard.

4. Identify duties, tasks and working conditions

Now organize what you’ve gathered into the work itself. Capture:

Job purpose. Why the role exists, in a sentence or two
Duties. The main areas of responsibility
Tasks. The specific activities within each duty
Task frequency and importance. How often each task happens and how much it matters if it isn’t done well
Responsibility and decision-making authority. What the role decides alone, and what it escalates
Reporting relationships. Who the role reports to, and who it works with
Working conditions and job demands. The environment, schedule and any physical or cognitive demands

Describe the work in terms of results, not just methods. Job Bank gives a useful example: is the essential function moving a box from one part of the lab to another, or is it carrying the box? The first describes the result, so it leaves room for different ways of doing it.

5. Identify required skills, knowledge and essential requirements

Next, capture what someone needs to do the work. Capture:

Knowledge
Skills
Abilities and competencies
Education and certifications
Tools and equipment
Essential vs non-essential requirements

To decide what’s essential, ask which requirements are needed from day one, how often they’re used, and what happens if they’re missing. Job Bank suggests keeping the competency list short, at six to ten for a role, and separating what’s needed on day one from what can be learned on the job. Keep qualifications realistic. Setting them too high can screen out people who could do the work.

Essential duties and accommodation. Canadian human rights law requires employers to accommodate employees’ needs up to the point of undue hardship, and the ability to perform the essential duties of a job is a key consideration. Essential duties are the central or core aspects of the job. Your job analysis can help you separate them from marginal tasks. Rules vary by province and for federally regulated employers, so check with your legal or HR advisor before you rely on a job analysis for accommodation or hiring decisions. See the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s policy on the duty to accommodate for an example of a provincial approach.

6. Validate the findings with the employee and manager

Share your draft with the person in the role and their manager. Ask them to check three things: whether it’s accurate, whether anything is missing and whether the essential requirements are really essential. If they disagree, go back to your sources and resolve it. Validation is also how you catch the gap between what a role is meant to be and what it is in practice.

7. Document the results and set a review date

Write up the findings in one place, using the same fields every time. The template below gives you a ready-made format. Record the sources you used, who validated the analysis and when, and set a next review date. The date is a checkpoint, not a fixed schedule. Update the analysis sooner if any of the triggers listed above happen.

Job analysis example: payroll administrator

Illustrative example only. This role, company and the people in it are fictional.

Context: A 40-person Ontario company with one payroll administrator who handles payroll for the whole team.

Field	Example
Job title	Payroll administrator
Department	Finance and administration
Reports to	Finance manager
Job purpose	Make sure all employees are paid accurately and on time, and that payroll deductions, remittances and year-end slips are handled correctly.
Main duties	Process each pay run. Maintain employee payroll records. Remit payroll deductions to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Prepare Records of Employment (ROEs) and year-end T4 slips. Answer employee pay questions.
Tasks, frequency and importance	Review timesheets and prepare the pay run: every pay period, high. Remit source deductions to the CRA: on the CRA schedule, high. Set up new hires and process changes: as needed, medium. Prepare ROEs: as needed, high. Prepare T4 slips: once a year, high. Answer employee pay questions: most days, medium.
Decision-making authority	Can correct routine pay errors and approve standard adjustments. Escalates pay run sign-off, off-cycle payments, termination pay calculations and anything with legal uncertainty to the finance manager.
Required knowledge	Canadian payroll deductions (CPP, EI and income tax). Ontario employment standards basics for hours of work, overtime, vacation pay and public holiday pay. Payroll record-keeping requirements.
Required skills	Accurate data entry. Reconciliation. Clear written communication.
Required abilities / competencies	Attention to detail. Discretion with confidential information. Working to fixed payroll deadlines. Problem-solving.
Education / certifications	College diploma in accounting or business, or equivalent experience. A payroll designation, such as the Canadian Payroll Association’s Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP), is an asset.
Tools / equipment	Payroll software. Spreadsheet software. CRA My Business Account. Accounting software. Service Canada’s ROE Web.
Working conditions	Office-based, with hybrid work possible. Deadline pressure around pay dates and year-end. Handles sensitive personal and pay information.
Physical / cognitive requirements	Sustained screen work. Sustained concentration on numerical accuracy.
Essential requirements	Pay and remittances are accurate and on time. Information is kept confidential. Working knowledge of Canadian payroll deductions. Ability to use payroll software.
Non-essential requirements	A payroll designation. Experience with a specific payroll platform, which can be learned on the job.
Source(s) consulted	Interviews with the current payroll administrator and the finance manager. Existing job description. Job Bank and NOC occupational information for payroll roles.
Employee validation	Confirmed by the current payroll administrator, 8 October 2026
Manager validation	Confirmed by the finance manager, 8 October 2026
Analysis date	8 October 2026
Next review date	Set a date, or review sooner if duties, systems or reporting lines change

Job analysis template

Copy and paste this into a document or spreadsheet and fill it in. It uses the same fields as the example above.

JOB ANALYSIS TEMPLATE

Job title:

Department:

Reports to:

THE WORK

Job purpose:

Main duties:

Tasks (with frequency and importance):

Decision-making authority:

Reporting relationships:

Working conditions:

Physical / cognitive requirements (where relevant):

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

Required knowledge:

Required skills:

Required abilities / competencies:

Education / certifications:

Tools / equipment:

Essential requirements:

Non-essential requirements:

VALIDATION

Source(s) consulted:

Employee validation (name, date):

Manager validation (name, date):

Analysis date:

Next review date:

Job analysis questionnaire

Use these questions with the employee, their supervisor, or both. They map to the template fields, so the answers drop straight in.

What is the main purpose of this role?
What are the main duties of the role?
Which tasks do you do most often?
Which tasks have the biggest impact on the business if they go well, or badly?
What decisions does this role make, and which does it pass to someone else?
What skills and knowledge does someone need on their first day?
What can someone learn on the job?
Which tools and systems does the role use?
What are the working conditions and demands, such as environment, schedule or physical and mental demands?
Which duties are essential to doing the job well?

Validation question: Is anything important about this role missing from the analysis above?

Learn more

A job analysis is a systematic process for collecting and evaluating information about a job, including its duties, tasks, responsibilities, required competencies and working conditions. It analyzes the job, not the person doing it. Employers use the results to write job descriptions, hire and plan training.

There are five common ways to gather information: interviews, questionnaires or surveys, direct observation, work diaries or logs, and review of existing documents or secondary sources such as Job Bank and the NOC. Most analyses use two or more. These are data-collection techniques inside the seven-step process.

Usually the HR lead or the hiring manager, with input from the employee in the role and their manager. In a small business that may be the owner or office manager. Whoever leads it should validate the findings with both the employee and the manager.

Update it when something changes, rather than on a fixed schedule. Common triggers are a new role, an outdated job description, major changes to duties, technology or workflow, restructuring, a compensation or classification review, and new training needs. Set a next review date when you finish, and revisit sooner if a trigger happens

A job analysis gathers and evaluates information about the job. A job description documents the duties, responsibilities and requirements of the job, and is usually written from the job analysis. A job evaluation is different again. It assesses a job’s relative value, typically for compensation or classification

Put your job analysis to work

Once your analysis is done, you can turn it into a job post and track applicants in one place. See how Employment Hero’s applicant tracking system helps you hire.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Employment rules vary by province and for federally regulated employers.

Sources

Job Bank: Hire employees (Job analysis and writing job descriptions), Government of Canada
National Occupational Classification (NOC), Employment and Social Development Canada
Occupational and Skills Information System (OaSIS), Employment and Social Development Canada
National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 Version 1.0, Statistics Canada
Job analysis process, Recruitment and Selection, eCampusOntario (adapted from Introduction to Human Resource Management, First Canadian Edition, and Human Resources Management, 3rd Edition)
Policy statement on the duty to accommodate under the Ontario Human Rights Code, Ontario Human Rights Commission

Disclaimer: The information in this article is current as at 12/10/26, and has been prepared by Employment Hero Pty Ltd (ABN 11 160 047 709) and its affiliates (Employment Hero). The views expressed in this article are general information only, are provided in good faith to assist employers and their employees, and should not be relied on as professional advice. Some information is based on data supplied by third parties. While such data is believed to be accurate, it has not been independently verified and no warranties are given that it is complete, accurate, up to date or fit for the purpose for which it is required. Employment Hero does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracy in such data and is not liable for any loss or damages arising directly or indirectly as a result of reliance on, use of or inability to use any information provided in this article. You should undertake your own research and seek professional advice before making any decisions or relying on the information in this article.