1. MGT 430 CLASS 5 - CHAPTER 4
Analyzing work and describing jobs

2. Work Flow In Organizations
Work Flow Design
Process of analyzing tasks necessary for production of a product or service.
Position
Set of job duties performed by a particular person.
Job
Set of related duties.
Informed decisions about jobs take place in the context of the organization’s overall work flow. Work Flow Design - The process of analyzing the tasks necessary for the production of a product or service.
Job - A set of related duties.
Position - The set of duties (job) performed by a particular person. Basing these decisions on work flow design can lead to better results than the more traditional practice of looking at jobs individually.
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3. Developing a Work Flow Analysis
As shown in Figure 4.1, inputs fall into three categories: raw inputs (materials and information), equipment, and human resources (knowledge, skills, and abilities). Work flow analysis next considers the work processes used to generate the outputs identified. Work processes are the activities that a work unit’s members engage in to produce a given output. They are described in terms of operating procedures for every task performed by each employee at each stage of the process. Specifying the processes helps HRM professionals design efficient work systems by clarifying which tasks are necessary. Knowledge of work processes also can guide staffing changes when work is automated, outsourced, or restructured. Work flow analysis identifies the inputs required to carry out the work processes. Work flow takes place in the context of an organization’s structure. It requires the cooperation of individuals and groups. Ideally, the organization’s structure brings together the people who must collaborate to create the desired outputs efficiently.
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4. Firefighters work as a team
Firefighters work as a team. They and their equipment are the inputs and the output is an extinguished fire and the rescue of people and pets and preservation of property. In any organization or team, workers need to be cross- trained in several skills to create an effective team.
If these firefighters are trained to do any part of of the job, the chief can deploy them rapidly as needed.
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5. JOB ANALYSIS
This is the systematic study of the tasks, duties and responsibilities that are expected to be performed in a single job. Typically done for a new job or a greatly re-defined job

6. Job Analysis Job Analysis Job Descriptions Job Specifications
Process of getting detailed information about jobs.
To achieve high-quality performance, organizations have to understand and match job requirements and people. Analyzing jobs and understanding what is required to carry out a job provide essential knowledge for staffing, training, performance appraisal, and many other HR activities. Job Description - A list of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities (TDRs) that a particular job entails. Job analysis: the process of getting detailed information about jobs. Preparation of a job description begins with gathering information about the job from
people already performing the task, the position’s supervisor, or the managers creating the position. Based on that information, the writer of the job description identifies the essential duties of the job, including mental and physical tasks and any methods and resources required. The output of a job analysis are job descriptions and job specifications. whereas the job description focuses on the activities involved in carrying out a job, a job specification looks at the qualities or requirements the person performing the job must possess. It is a list of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteritics (KSAOs) that an individual must have to perform the job. Knowledge refers to factual or procedural information that is necessary for successfully performing a task.
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7. Job Specifications
A list of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAO) needed to perform a particular job.
Knowledge: factual or procedural information necessary for successfully performing a task.
Skill: an individual’s level of proficiency at performing a particular task.
Ability: a general enduring capability that an individual possesses.
Other Characteristics: job-related licensing, certifications, or personality traits.
Whereas the job description focuses on the activities involved in carrying out a job, a job specification looks at the qualities of the person performing the job. KSAOs are characteristics of people and are not directly observable. They are observable only when individuals are carrying out the TDRs of the job—and afterward, if they can show the product of their labor. Thus, if someone applied for a job as a news photographer, you could not simply look at the individual to determine whether he or she can spot and take effective photographs. However, you could draw conclusions later about the person’s skills by looking at examples of his or her photographs
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8. PURPOSE OF THE PAYROLL CLERK FUNCTION
Paychecks delivered on time
Correctly
Make timely payroll changes
Tabulate data for payroll analysis
Onboarding new employees
Terminating employees
Other

9. Sources of Job Information
The incumbents – people who currently hold the position in the organization.
Managers or Supervisors of the employee
Customers, employees, stakeholders of the job deliverables.
There are several sources of job information. The incumbents, or people who currently perform the job are a good source. This source should be supplemented by observations, when applicable, or supervisor input. Supervisors may have a clearer vision of what is expected from that job.
Two other sources are provided by the Department of Labor. The dictionary of occupational titles and the Occupational information network which is an online job description database.
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10. Importance of Job Analysis
Job analysis is so important to HR managers that it has been called the building block of all HRM functions. Almost every HRM program requires some type of information determined by job analysis.
Work redesign
HR planning
Selection
Training
Performance appraisal
Career planning
Job evaluation
Job analysis is also important from a legal standpoint.
It helps determines essential job requirements and job-related duties as required by the EEO laws and regulations.
Job analysis also helps supervisors and other managers carry out their duties.
Identify types of work in their units
Information about work flow process
Information that supports hiring decisions, performance review, and compensation
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11. Job Analysis Practical Exercise
You are asked to analyze the position of counter person at McDonalds. What is this person supposed to be doing or know in order to complete the tasks successfully? Do Know

12. PRACTICAL EXERCISE You are the shift manager (8:00 am – 4:00 pm) for
McDonalds. You are to identify 10 areas of your work
that will make the difference between a successful shift
and an unsuccessful shift.

13. Practical Exercise Possible Responses
Physical facility Equipment Staff Food materials Customer service Maintenance Cleanliness Supplies Cash on hand Cash control Safety Security Deliveries Customer complaints

14. Trends Impacting Job Analysis
Organizations are being viewed as a field of work needing to be done, rather than as a set series of jobs held by individuals
Downsizing
Exploring technology opportunities
Outsourcing
Focus on the delivery of work outcomes
Because the work can change rapidly and it is impossible to rewrite job descriptions every week, job descriptions and specifications need to be flexible. Research suggests that successful downsizing efforts almost always entail changes in the nature of jobs, not just their number. Jobs that have survived the downsizing of the most recent recession tend to have a broader scope of responsibilities coupled with less supervision. These changes in the nature of work and the expanded use of “project-based” organizational structures require the type of broader understanding that comes from an analysis of work flows. Because the work can change rapidly and it is impossible to rewrite job descriptions every week, job descriptions and specifications need to balance flexibility with the need for legal documentation.
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15. JOB DESIGN
Consider the impact on technology & globalization on manufacturing, e.g. Outsourcing Digitization International trade & politics Economics Make it where the customers are Logistics Sourcing

16. Job Function and Linkage to Corporate Success:
Task: Install automobile transmissions on an assembly line
Technical instructions … KSA
Job linkage:
1. How does the proper assembly of a transmission affect the performance of the vehicle?
2. How does the performance of the automobile affect the sales and profitability of the vehicle?
3. How does the performance of the vehicle affect the financial health of the organization?

17. Some Approaches to Job Design
As shown in Figure 4.5, the available approaches to job design emphasize different aspects of the job:
The mechanics of doing a job efficiently.
The job’s impact on motivation.
The use of safe work practices.
The mental demands of the job.
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18. Job Descriptions
Job Description: A list of tasks, duties, and responsibilities and
deliverables that a particular job entails.
Key components:
Job justification (why does this job exist?)
Linkage to department/company/business plan
List/description of essential duties or accountabilities;
Performance standards against which the employee will be measured.
Whenever the organization creates a new job, it needs to prepare a job description.
Job descriptions should be reviewed periodically:
Once per year
Performance appraisals are a good opportunity to review the job description. Preparation of a job description begins with gathering information about the job from people already performing the task, the position’s supervisor, or the managers creating the position. Based on that information, the writer of the job description identifies the essential duties of the job, including mental and physical tasks and any methods and resources required.
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19. WHY ARE JOB DESCRIPTIONS SO IMPORTANT
Clear linkage between job performance & organizational success
Visible or measureable and desired outcomes
Justification for pay
Criteria for hiring, management and employee development decisions

20. Job Description Format
Narrative description justifying the existence of the position – linkage to organizational success – justifies wage or salary for position
Description of critical duties, responsibilities, and deliverables
How is performance to be measured
Required and desired KSA qualifications
Administration, e.g.
Title
Direct reports
Position reports to
FLSA category, etc.
Salary/wage range

21. Preferred Job Description - Handout
Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless

22. Designing Efficient Jobs
Industrial Engineering: study of jobs to find the simplest way to structure work to maximize efficiency.
Reduces complexity of work.
Allows almost anyone to be trained quickly and easily perform the job.
Used for highly specialized and repetitive jobs.
CAD/CAM
If workers perform tasks as efficiently as possible, not only does the organization benefit from lower costs and greater output per worker, but workers should be less fatigued. Industrial engineering provides measurable and practical benefits. However, a focus on efficiency alone can create jobs that are so simple and repetitive that workers get bored. Industrial engineering is usually combined with other approaches to job design.
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23. Designing Jobs That Motivate: The Job Characteristics Model
Skill variety – extent to which a job requires a variety of skills to carry out tasks involved.
Task identity – degree to which a job requires completing a “whole” piece of work from beginning to end.
Task significance – extent to which the job has an important impact on lives of other people.
Employers also need to ensure that workers have a positive attitude toward their jobs so that they show up at work with enthusiasm, commitment, and creativity. A model that shows how to make jobs more motivating is the Job Characteristics Model, developed by Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham. This model describes jobs in terms of five characteristics:
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24. Designing Jobs that Motivate: Job Characteristics Model
Autonomy – degree to which the job allows an individual to make decisions about the way work will be carried out.
Feedback - extent to which a person receives clear information about performance effectiveness from the work itself.
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25. Figure 4.6: Characteristics of a Motivating Job
As shown in Figure 4.6, the more of each of these characteristics a job has, the more motivating the job will be, according to the Job Characteristics Model. Applications of the job characteristics approach to job design include job enlargement,
job en
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26. Designing Jobs That Motivate
Job Enlargement - Broadening types of tasks performed in a job.
Job Extension –
Enlarging jobs by combining several relatively simple jobs to form a job with a wider range of tasks.
Job Rotation –
Enlarging jobs by moving employees among several different jobs.
In a job design, job enlargement refers to a broadening of the types of tasks performed.
The objective of job enlargement is to make jobs less repetitive and more interesting.
Methods of job enlargement include:
Job extension
Job rotation
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27. Designing Jobs That Motivate
Job Enrichment
Self-Managing Work Teams
Empowering workers by adding more decision-making authority to jobs.
Based on Herzberg’s theory of motivation.
Individuals motivated more by intrinsic aspects of work.
Have authority for an entire work process or segment Team members - motivated by autonomy, skill variety, and task identity.
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28. Frederick Herzberg 1923 - 2000 Motivation Factors Hygiene Factors
Achievement Policies & administration
Recognition Supervision - technical
Work itself Supervision - personal
Responsibility Working conditions
Promotion
Growth
What motivates you?

29. Designing Jobs That Motivate Flexible Work Schedules
Flextime
Job Sharing
A scheduling policy in which full-time employees may choose starting and ending times within guidelines specified by the organization. A work schedule that allows time for community and family interests can be extremely motivating.
A work option in which two part-time employees carry out the tasks associated with a single job. Enables an organization to attract or retain valued employees who want more time to attend school or take care of family matters.
One way in which an organization can give employees some say in how their work is structured is to offer flexible work schedules. Two approaches include flextime and job sharing
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30. Figure 4.7: Alternatives to 8-to-5 Job
Figure 4.7 illustrates alternatives to the traditional 40-hour workweek. Flextime- A scheduling policy in which full-time employees may choose starting and ending times within guidelines specified by the organization. A flextime policy also may enable workers to adjust a particular day’s hours in order to make time for doctor’s appointments, children’s activities, hobbies, or vol- unteer work. A work schedule that allows time for community and family interests can be extremely motivating for some employees.
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31. Designing Jobs That Motivate Telework
Telework – the broad term for doing one’s work away from a centrally located office.
Advantages to employers include:
less need for office space
greater flexibility to employees with special needs
Easiest to implement for managerial, professional, or sales jobs.
Difficult to set up for manufacturing workers.
Flexibility can extend to work locations as well as work schedules. For employers, advantages of telework include less need for office space and the abil- ity to offer greater flexibility to employees who are disabled or need to be available for children or elderly relatives. The employees using telework arrangements may have less absences from work than employees with similar demands who must commute to work. Telecommuting can also support a strategy of corporate social responsibility because these employees do not produce the greenhouse gas emissions that result from com- muting by car.
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32. Designing Ergonomic Jobs
Ergonomics – study of interface between individuals’ physiology and characteristics of physical work environment.
Goal is to minimize physical strain on the worker by structuring physical work environment around the way the human body works.
Redesigning work to make it more worker- friendly can lead to increased efficiencies.
The way people use their bodies when they work affects their physical well-being and may affect how long they can work. The goal of ergonomics is to minimize physical strain on the worker by structuring the physical work environment around the way the human body works. Ergonomic design may involve modifying equipment to reduce the physical demands of per- forming certain jobs or redesigning the jobs them- selves to reduce strain. Ergonomic design may target work practices associated with injuries
A recent ergonomic challenge comes from the popularity of mobile devices. As workers
find more and more uses for these devices, they are at risk from repetitive-stress injuries (RSIs). Heavy users of these devices must therefore trade off eyestrain against physical strain to wrists, unless they can hook up their device to an extra, properly positioned keyboard or monitor. When using mobile devices or any computer, workers can protect themselves by taking frequent breaks and paying attention to their posture while they work.
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33. Designing Jobs That Meet Mental Capabilities and Limitations
Work is designed to reduce information- processing requirements of the job.
Workers may be less likely to make mistakes or have accidents.
Simpler jobs may be less motivating.
Technology tools may be distracting employees from their primary task resulting in increased mistakes and accidents.
Just as the human body has capabilities and limitations, addressed by ergonomics, the mind, too, has capabilities and limitations. Employers may seek to reduce mental as well as physical strain. The job design may limit the amount of information and memorization involved. Adequate lighting, easy-to-read gauges and displays, simple-to-operate equipment, and clear instructions also can minimize mental strain. Computer soft- ware can simplify jobs—for example, by performing calculations or filtering out spam from important . Finally, organizations can select employees with the necessary abilities to handle a job’s mental demands.
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34. In Your Job Can You
Describe the value that you add from the customer’s perspective
Describe a direct line of sight between your work and the consumers of your product
Justify the wage/salary that you receive
Go home at night feeling that you have done something productive and beneficial

35. After you graduate from SUNY, consider your ideal first job:
DISCUSSION QUESTION
After you graduate from SUNY, consider your ideal first job:
Specifically what would you like to be doing
What are the job characteristics that you need to have in order to do your job successfully?
What are the job characteristic s that motivate you.