Analysis points way to future

By Flt-Lt Andy Diggle
Directorate of Strategic Personnel Planning and Research
Volume 11, No. 38, March 8, 2006

SOLDIERS who want to advance professionally, who think their trade is worth more money or who want to improve their training but lacked evidence in support of their case can now use Occupational Analysis (OA).

OA can identify and classify the work done by individuals and groups within a trade, category or specialisation in surveys using the Task Inventory (TI) approach.

Analysis works for single service or tri-service and is used to measure the time spent by those individuals or groups (officers and other ranks) performing those jobs.

OA can establish precisely what people are doing in their job and who performs those functions within the workgroup with highly specific task data. The process can also be used to collect information from members on a range of other issues assisting in the validation of occupational structures, employment specifications, training and any other related issues.

Managers can see what is taking people’s time, identifying tasks that are being performed that are not workgroup related, or tasks no longer performed that training still covers. OA can also help determine whether tasks are appropriate for a given location or rank, or provide detailed information about how restructuring can improve efficiency.

The OA section can help with pay cases and retention issues. OA projects can support organisation related decisions based on fact rather than “a gut feeling” or educated guess.

OA section has recently completed single service studies on the Navy Electronic and Marine Technician categories, the Army Linguist special duties trade, and the Army Psychology Examiner trade.

The Army Linguist Special Duties OA was in support of a trade restructure and established baseline tasks performed by members of the trade by rank and any overlap in tasks performed between ranks. The OA section is part of the Directorate of Strategic Personnel Planning and Research within the Workforce Planning, Research and Retention Branch in DPE.

For more information contact Ken Dowrick on (02) 6266 2977 or email: ken.dowrick@defence.gov.au, or visit the DSPPR DRN web site at http://aurora/DSPPR/default.shtml and click on Occupational Analysis in the menu.