Final answer:
The job classification method involves writing class descriptions for jobs and categorizing individual jobs accordingly. It's crucial for effective job matching and is influenced by research and techniques applied by industrial and organizational psychologists.
Step-by-step explanation:
The job classification method is the focus of the student's question. In this method, descriptions are written for each class of jobs, and individual jobs are subsequently placed into the grade that aligns most closely with their written class description.
This is part of a wider job analysis process crucial for matching individuals with job roles effectively. Research by Dierdorff & Wilson indicates that job analyses based on incumbent descriptions tend to be less reliable, presumably due to subjective biases inherent when employees describe their roles.
Nevertheless, other methods like observation, surveys, and interviews are also employed, which aim to obtain a more objective and comprehensive picture of job requirements. Industrial and organizational (I-O) psychologists aid in creating job descriptions and specifications that ultimately contribute to accurate job classification as well as to approaches for employee selection, training, and performance appraisal.