Chapter Seven Job Design

Learning Objectives Define job design and how to establish job content Identify the goal of job enrichment, and describe some of the positive and negative results associated with individual and team approaches Describe self-managed teams and how they are utilized Describe reengineering and its impact on job design

Learning Objectives (cont’d) List the purposes of job analysis Indicate the importance of accurate job descriptions and of appropriate job specifications Describe the responsibilities and opportunities of the human resources department with respect to job design and job analysis

JOB DESIGN Job design establishes the responsibilities assigned to each member of the organization/team and the physical circumstances in which each employee carries out those responsibilities. Two major categories of responsibilities are established through job design: JOB CONTENT, ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSABILITIES

JOB CONTENT Job content is the set of activities to be performed on the job. (1) The duties, tasks, and job responsibilities to be carried out (2) The equipment, machines, and tools to be used (3) The required interactions with others

ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSABILITIES Organizational responsibilities are those responsibilities that all employees are expected to carry out, such as complying with rules and work schedules. Working conditions, or physical circumstances surrounding the job, are also part of the design of the job.

Job Enrichment A planned program for enhancing job characteristics (to increase worker motivation) productivity, and satisfaction, including Skill variety Task identity Task significance Autonomy Job feedback

Job Enrichment (cont’d) Individual Approaches Team Approaches

Job enrichment efforts Some job enrichment efforts focus on the jobs of individual workers. a. The assumption is that job challenge, independence, and responsibility are powerful motivators. b. Typically, employees are assigned broader, more complete jobs with greater responsibility for planning and control. Other job enrichment efforts focus on the tasks and responsibilities of work groups, with special emphasis on the interactions among group members. a. The assumption is that more planning, more controlling, and more team participation by work groups can improve productivity, satisfaction, and performance.

Self-Managed Teams A work group that essentially manages itself with minimal supervision. Since the early Tavistock institute (it work across public, private, community and voluntary sectors and with research organizations and industry in Britain, Europe and further afield) and Swedish experiments, the use of self-managed teams has spread widely in American industry.

Self-managed teams: characteristics Self‑managed teams are free to plan and allocate work assignments for team members, screen applicants for vacancies, and suggest improvements in equipment, methods, or products. a. The supervisor tends to serve as a consultant and a teacher rather than as a boss. b. A cross‑functional team brings together specialists from different functions such as accounting, engineering, manufacturing, or marketing.

Figure 7.2 Traditional worker group versus self-managed team

Figure 7.3 Responsibilities delegated to self-managing teams

Organization Development A conscious effort to examine beliefs, values, norms, and goals of an organization to see which are useful and which need to be changed and to include feelings as legitimate areas for expression. This includes: Quality circles Total Quality Management (TQM)

Quality circles A quality circle is a group of employees from the same unit who voluntarily meet together regularly to identify, analyze, and make recommendations about quality and other production problems in their area.

Total Quality Management Sometimes called continuous quality improvement, is a combination of a number of organization improvement techniques and approaches, including statistical quality and process control, quality circles, self-managed teams and task forces, and extensive participatory management.

Reengineering Focuses on visualizing, then streamlining, any or all business processes in the organization If top management has bought into reengineering, human resources people and organization development specialists can argue for making the process as humane as possible.

Role of the HR Department Unless the human resources department includes job design specialists on its staff, that department will usually play indirect, supporting roles in job design. B. Nonetheless, this indirect involvement is important to the success of job enrichment efforts. 1. The human resources department may diagnose—through questionnaires, interviews, and discussions with employees and supervisors—organizational problems that suggest a need for job redesign. 2. It may incorporate information on job design from internal and external specialists into training and management development programs. 3. The department can help plan and implement job redesign programs to ensure that sound human resources policies and practices are followed. 4. The human resources department may need to modify job descriptions, job specifications, recruitment practices, and compensation policies with job redesign programs. 5. Where the self‑managed team is utilized, a great deal of training is needed in such matters as effective team functioning, problem solving, and leading meetings.

Job Analysis It is the systematic investigation of job content, working conditions, and job qualifications. 1. This investigation usually focuses on several major categories of information. a. What activities are performed and how, when, and why b. The machines, tools, or equipment used c. The interactions with others that are required d. The physical and social working conditions e. The training, skills, and abilities needed to perform the job 2. This information can be used to develop written job descriptions.

The importance of Job Analysis 1. To comply with Equal Employment Opportunity Act (EEOC) regulations, the organization must be able to verify the job‑relatedness of all personnel devices and techniques. 2. Careful job analysis is good management in itself if results are used to improve effectiveness and efficiency of staffing, appraisal, rewards, and other practices.

Who is the job analyst? The job analyst may be a member of the human resources staff, an employee, or an outside specialist. 1. Job analysis techniques include observation, interviews, questionnaires, and critical incidents (worker behaviors that characterize either very good or very poor performance). 2. The Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ), which requires the analyst to rate each job on a scale against approximately 190 job elements, can be used to determine salary ranges for particular jobs.

Job Descriptions or position specifications Are written summaries of the basic tasks associated with a particular job. 1. These summaries usually have a label called a job title. 2. They frequently include a section describing the qualifications needed to perform the job, which are called job specifications. If accurately prepared and up-to-date, job descriptions and specifications serve a number of useful purposes. 1. They provide the recruiter, the selection interviewer, and the interviewee with a basic outline of the job for which there is a vacancy. 2. They are useful to supervisors and training staff in orienting and training new employees. 3. They are useful in developing performance appraisal forms and standards. 4. They provide basic information needed for job evaluation, the process of determining the relative worth of jobs within an organization to establish wages and salaries. 5. They can help the supervisor and subordinate clarify and renegotiate roles through discussion and dialogue. 6. They can be used to develop career progression ladders, which depict possible career paths and advancement opportunities for individual employees.

Performance Standards Are statements that specify the quantity and/or quality of performance expected in a particular job. 1. Performance standards for production jobs that specify the number of units to be produced in a certain period have been fairly common since the turn of the century. 2. The use of performance standards for managerial and professional positions is of more recent origin. 3. Management by objectives (MBO) is a system involving the writing of goals or objectives leading to higher levels of performance by specified target dates.

Role of the HRD in Job Analysis, Descriptions and Performance Standards Because the preparation and use of job descriptions, specifications, and performance standards have a major impact on motivation, morale, and performance, the human resources department has to be especially concerned with their development, accuracy, and relevance. The human resources department usually plans and coordinates the systems to be used in job analysis and in developing job descriptions, specifications, and performance standards. 2. Internal or external specialists may be assigned to conduct job analyses and to write job descriptions in cooperation with managers, supervisors, and employees. The human resources department is not involved in the actual writing of performance standards, but it can play a diagnostic, training, and monitoring role in the process.

Key Terms Job design Job content Organizational responsibilities Job enrichment Job enlargement Self-managed team Reengineering Job analysis Critical incidents Position analysis questionnaire (PAQ) Job descriptions Job specifications Job evaluations Career progression ladders Performance standards