Like the critical incident technique, the repertory grid can be used to identify the dimensions that distinguish good from poor standards of performance. The technique is based on Kelly’s (1955) personal construct theory. Personal constructs are the ways in which we view the world. They are personal because they are highly individual and they influence the way we behave or view other people’s behaviour. The aspects of the role to which these ‘constructs’ or judgements apply are called ‘elements’.
To elicit judgements, a group of people are asked to concentrate on certain elements, which are the tasks carried out by role holders, and develop constructs about these elements. This enables them to define the qualities that indicate the essential requirements for successful performance
The procedure followed by the analyst is known as the ‘triadic method of elicitation’ (a sort of three-card trick) and involves the following steps:
1. Identify the tasks or elements of the role to be subjected to repertory grid analysis. This is done by one of the other forms of job analysis, eg interviewing.
2. List the tasks on cards.
3. Draw three cards at random from the pack and ask the members of the group to nominate which of the three tasks is the odd one out from the point of view of the qualities and characteristics needed to perform it.
4. Probe to obtain more specific definitions of these qualities or characteristics in the form of expected behaviour. If, for example, a characteristic has been described as the ‘ability to plan and organize’, ask questions such as: ‘What sort of behaviour or actions indicate that someone is planning effectively?’ or, ‘How can we tell if someone is not organizing his or her work particularly well?’
5. Draw three more cards from the pack and repeat steps 3 and 4.
6. Repeat this process until all the cards have been analysed and there do not appear to be any more constructs left to be identified.
7. List the constructs and ask the group members to rate each task on every quality, using a six or seven point scale.
8. Collect and analyse the scores in order to assess their relative importance. This can be done statistically, as described by Markham (1987).
Like the critical-incident technique, repertory grid analysis helps people to articulate their views by reference to specific examples. An additional advantage is that the repertory grid makes it easier for them to identify the behavioural characteristics or competencies required in a job by limiting the area of comparison through the triadic technique.
Although a full statistical analysis of the outcome of a repertory grid exercise is helpful, the most important results that can be obtained are the descriptions of what constitute good or poor performance in each element of the job.
To elicit judgements, a group of people are asked to concentrate on certain elements, which are the tasks carried out by role holders, and develop constructs about these elements. This enables them to define the qualities that indicate the essential requirements for successful performance
The procedure followed by the analyst is known as the ‘triadic method of elicitation’ (a sort of three-card trick) and involves the following steps:
1. Identify the tasks or elements of the role to be subjected to repertory grid analysis. This is done by one of the other forms of job analysis, eg interviewing.
2. List the tasks on cards.
3. Draw three cards at random from the pack and ask the members of the group to nominate which of the three tasks is the odd one out from the point of view of the qualities and characteristics needed to perform it.
4. Probe to obtain more specific definitions of these qualities or characteristics in the form of expected behaviour. If, for example, a characteristic has been described as the ‘ability to plan and organize’, ask questions such as: ‘What sort of behaviour or actions indicate that someone is planning effectively?’ or, ‘How can we tell if someone is not organizing his or her work particularly well?’
5. Draw three more cards from the pack and repeat steps 3 and 4.
6. Repeat this process until all the cards have been analysed and there do not appear to be any more constructs left to be identified.
7. List the constructs and ask the group members to rate each task on every quality, using a six or seven point scale.
8. Collect and analyse the scores in order to assess their relative importance. This can be done statistically, as described by Markham (1987).
Like the critical-incident technique, repertory grid analysis helps people to articulate their views by reference to specific examples. An additional advantage is that the repertory grid makes it easier for them to identify the behavioural characteristics or competencies required in a job by limiting the area of comparison through the triadic technique.
Although a full statistical analysis of the outcome of a repertory grid exercise is helpful, the most important results that can be obtained are the descriptions of what constitute good or poor performance in each element of the job.
Both the repertory grid and the critical incident techniques require a skilled analyst who can probe and draw out the descriptions of job characteristics. They are quite detailed and time-consuming, but even if the full process is not followed, much of the methodology is of use in a less elaborate approach to competency analysis.
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