What Is a Job Demands Analysis — and Why Should It Come Before Every Hire?
Most hiring processes begin with a job description. A list of responsibilities, skills, experience, and reporting structure. While useful for attracting candidates, job descriptions often fall short in one critical area. They may not fully define the behavioral demands required for success in the role.
The Gap in Traditional Job Descriptions
A job description outlines what needs to be done. It rarely defines the behavioral requirements necessary to perform the role effectively.
From an AVA perspective, behavior is influenced by how an individual perceives and responds to their environment. This means success in a role is not just about skills or experience. It is also about how well an individual’s natural behavioral tendencies align with the demands of that specific work environment.
Questions that are often left unanswered include:
Does the role require a high level of assertiveness or a more cautious and analytical approach?
Is success driven by strong interaction with people or independent problem solving?
Does the role require adaptability and change, or consistency and predictability?
How much structure, detail, and adherence to process is expected?
These behavioral requirements are real, measurable, and specific to each role. However, they are often undefined in traditional hiring processes.
What a Job Demands Analysis Is
A Job Demands Analysis (JDA) defines the behavioral demands of a position, not the behavior of the person in it.
Within the AVA framework, a JDA is developed through a structured process using input from individuals who are deeply familiar with the role. These may include successful employees, managers, and key stakeholders. Their input is combined to establish a consensus based behavioral profile of what the job requires.
One of the most important distinctions in this process is that there is no such thing as a standard or stock JDA.
Even when roles share the same title, industry, and job description, the behavioral demands of the position may differ. This is because behavior is shaped by the environment as it is perceived, and each organization creates a different environment.
Factors such as leadership style, team dynamics, pace of the business, and expectations for decision making can all influence what behaviors are required for success.
For example, two organizations may be hiring for the same role with nearly identical responsibilities. In one environment, success may require a high level of assertiveness and rapid decision making. In another, the same role may require more patience, collaboration, and attention to detail.
Because of these differences, a JDA must be built specifically for the role within that organization. Using a generic profile may not accurately reflect the true behavioral demands of the job.
This JDA profile can then be compared to an individual’s AVA assessment to better understand behavioral alignment. It is not used as a pass or fail decision, but as a tool to inform hiring, coaching, and development.
Why the JDA Should Come First
A common mistake in hiring is defining success after someone is already in the role or modeling the role after a single high performer. Both approaches may be influenced by individual perspectives and may not fully reflect the true demands of the job.
In some organizations, there may only be one person currently performing the role. In these situations, it can be tempting to define the job based solely on that individual’s approach.
While their input is valuable, it is still important to distinguish between the person and the role. The way one individual performs a job may reflect their personal style as much as the actual demands of the position.
When organizations take the time to define the behavioral demands of the role before evaluating candidates, they create greater clarity in the hiring process.
Establishing a Job Demands Analysis at the outset allows organizations to:
Define the role independently of any one individual
Create a consistent and objective behavioral profile
Evaluate all candidates against the same role requirements
Align hiring decisions with actual job demands rather than preferences
This approach supports more structured, job-related decision making and provides a clearer standard for evaluating fit.
What a JDA Reveals
One of the most valuable outcomes of a JDA is a clearer understanding of what a role actually requires.
The JDA process is designed to gather input from individuals who are familiar with the position, with particular emphasis on those who are successfully performing the role. Their day-to-day experience often provides the most direct insight into the behavioral demands of the job.
Direct experience in the role is prioritized, as it reflects how the job is actually performed.
Additional input may also come from managers and other stakeholders who interact with the role. These perspectives can add important context around expectations, outcomes, and how the role fits within the broader organization.
However, no single perspective fully defines the role.
Those performing the job may best understand its day-to-day demands, while others may interpret the role based on expectations or indirect experience. These differences are not incorrect, but they can be incomplete.
Without a structured process, these varying perspectives may lead to a distorted or inconsistent understanding of the role.
A JDA brings these viewpoints together and works toward consensus, while giving appropriate weight to those with direct experience in the position.
The goal is to combine perspectives in a way that creates a more accurate and reliable view of the role’s behavioral demands.
This shared understanding helps clarify expectations and provides a more consistent foundation for hiring, coaching, and development.
Beyond Hiring Using JDA Across the Employee Lifecycle
A JDA is not just a hiring tool. It can be used across multiple areas:
Development by comparing an individual’s behavioral tendencies to the role
Role transitions by identifying how an individual’s behavioral style may align with the demands of a different position
Role design as business needs change and behavioral expectations shift
Succession planning by providing additional insight into how individuals may align with future role requirements
Because AVA focuses on probable behavior under perceived environmental conditions, these insights extend beyond hiring into performance and engagement.
Building JDAs Into Your Process
Organizations that define behavioral job requirements before they begin hiring operate with a meaningful structural advantage.
Instead of asking “Do they feel like a fit?” the question becomes “How does this person’s behavior align with what the role requires?”
This often leads to better hiring conversations, clearer onboarding expectations, more focused development, and stronger retention.
A Critical Distinction
The AVA assessment provides insight into an individual’s behavioral tendencies. A JDA defines the behavioral demands of the role.
Both are necessary.
It is also important to note that AVA is designed to inform understanding, not to serve as a pass or fail or go or no-go hiring decision tool.
The goal is not to eliminate candidates, but to better understand how they may align with the role and what support may help them succeed.
Interested in understanding how the behavioral demands of a role may inform your hiring process?
Request a demo at ava-assessment.com or click the button below.