The concept behind job task analysis may sound like common sense: if you put the right person in the right job, they won't quit. But human resource analysts offering their services to corrections agencies say that the industry has not fully grasped the importance of such efforts in evaluating job applicants. Some posit that this shortcoming may be a major cause of the recruiting and retention crisis facing corrections agencies today.   

"One thing I often hear is that a lot of recruits drop out of the academy right before graduation," said Janet Echemendia, a job task analyst who will be presenting a workforce development workshop at the ACA summer convention in Baltimore. "They just said, 'This just isn't for me.' It's expensive to put people through that process [corrections training] and have them drop out. We hope to reduce that upfront."

Echemendia and the other job task analysts running the workshop hope to begin their presentation by identifying the root of the problem-the lack of a detailed job analysis in the corrections industry-and will proceed by prescribing employee selection strategies aimed at boosting recruiting and retention rates.

Lance Anderson, another presenter, said that high attrition rates in corrections may be due to a corrections agency's inability to provide new recruits with a "realistic job preview" before they begin working.

"A lot of people we interviewed told us they had no idea what it [being a corrections officer] was all about," said Anderson. "That's not a positive or negative statement because some people said they loved it even though they didn't know what it would be like. But, it isn't a good thing if people don't know what their job is going to be like before they are hired. I think people need to have a more realistic idea of the content of a job in corrections."

When a new recruit with misconceptions is hit with the reality of a life inside a corrections facility, the possibility of a washout becomes much more likely, according to Echemendia. 

Chris Egbert, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections who worked with Anderson last year when his agency conducted a detailed job task analysis, suggested that perhaps corrections agencies have a difficult time giving a preview of the job because they lack uniform standards and may be puzzled themselves about the exact requirements.

"What does it mean to be a certified corrections officer?" asked Egbert. "Some states don't even have certification. The lady who cuts my wife's hair and nails has to go through about 1,500 hours of training. There is no standard for corrections across the board, some places have only 400 hours."

The job analysis, which must be performed by a trained job task analyst, requires in-depth interviews of employees and intricate measurements of their duties and work environment.

"These things can get very specific," said Egbert. "They have tools to measure how many pounds of force are needed to open a cell door, or they measure [the length of] a hallway at a particular facility and how good someone's vision needs to be to see down that hall," he said. "They even have some tests that test for odors people are likely to smell [while on the job]."

The true value of job task analysis, according to Egbert, is that it provides administrators with the data they need to develop minimum standards.

"In order to get standards, you need empirical data," said Egbert. "The only way to get that is through job task analysis. You then can know the knowledge, skills, and abilities an individual needs to be able to function."

After the job task analysis is completed, analysts make recommendations to corrections administrators about what kind of person would succeed in a corrections career and what kind of person is likely to be a washout.

Although Egbert says it is too early to measure the impact Anderson's recommendations had on recruiting and retention in the Missouri DOC, he expects positive results and recommends it to other corrections agencies.

"We want people to refer to corrections as a profession," said Egbert. "We need to do what other professions are doing. Job task analysis helps you get to that level of professionalism."

After the job analysis process is completed, corrections administrators can begin identifying and testing job applicants who fit the requirements.

"You need to know work habits, thinking skills, problem solving skills, physical conditions," said Kathryn Kominars, another analyst and presenter. "And not piecemeal, [it's] all combined at the same time... Somebody might want to be an opera singer but if they only have a good voice, it may not be enough. Do they like to travel? Do they want to work more of a nine to five job? The idea is to get multiple inputs."

The theory is that if administrators conduct these types of tests, they will be able to head off a retention problem before it even starts.

"Using these assessment methods, you know things before you find them out in an exit interview," said Kominars. "If you are lucky enough to even get an exit interview."

Analysts say this concept is still new to corrections, but police departments and other public safety agencies, for example, have been conducting psychological evaluations and personality tests for several years.

"Currently, Missouri is the only DOC in the US, to my knowledge, with a full- blown job task analysis," said Egbert. "It may be because of short terms costs."

Analysts say that a job task analysis must be performed by a professional for it to have any real value and that job selection tests should be administered by a qualified analyst, requirements which may be costly upfront, but worth it in the end.

"In the short run, you've got to buck up," said Egbert. "It [job task analysis] will more than pay for itself in the long run compared to the amount of money we spend trying to train and replace the number of people we lose."