People, jobs and organization

Operations management is often presented as a subject the main focus of which is on technology, systems, procedures and facilities in other words the non-human parts of the organization. The manner in which an organizations human resources are managed has a profound impact on the effectiveness of its operations function. In this chapter we look especially at the elements of human resource management which are traditionally seen as being directly within the sphere of operations management. These are, how operations managers contribute to human resource strategy, organization design, designing the working environment, job design, and the allocation of work times to operations activities.

Work-related stress: The idea that there is a link between human

resource strategy and the incidence of stress at work is not new. Even some of the early scientific management pioneers accepted that working arrangements should not result in conditions that promoted stress. Now it is generally accepted that stress can seriously undermine the quality of peoples working lives and, in turn, their effectiveness of the workplace. Here stress is defined as the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them. In addition to the obvious ethical reasons for avoiding work-related stress, there are also business-related benefits, such as the following. Staff feel happier at work, their quality of working life is improved and they perform better. Introducing improvements is easier when stress is managed effectively. Employment relations: problems can be resolved more easily. Attendance levels increase and sickness absence reduces. Table 9.2 illustrates some of the causes of stress at work and what operations managers can do about it.

Job design is about how we structure each individuals jobs, the team to which they belong (if any), their workplace and their interface with the technology they use. It involves a number of separate yet related elements. What tasks are to be allocated to each person in the operation? Producing goods and services involves a whole range of different tasks which need to be divided between the people who staff the operation. Different approaches to the division of labour will lead to different task allocations. What is the best method of performing each job? Every job should have an approved (or best) method of completion. And although there are different ideas of what is best, it is generally the most efficient method but that fits the task, and does not unduly interfere with other tasks. How long will it take and how many people will be needed? Work measurement helps us calculate the time required to do a job, and therefore how many people will be needed.

 How do we maintain commitment? Understanding how we can encourage people and maintain job commitment is, arguably, the most important of the issues in job design. This is why behavioral approaches, including empowerment, teamwork and flexible working are at the core of job design. What technology is available and how will it be used? Many operational tasks require the use of technology. Not only does the technology need to be appropriately designed, but also so does the interface between the people and the hardware. What are the environmental conditions of the workplace? The conditions under which jobs are performed will have a significant impact on peoples effectiveness, Although often considered a part of job design, we treat it separately in this chapter.

Task allocation the division of labour: Any operation must decide on the balance between using specialists or generalists. This idea is related to the division of labour dividing the total task down into smaller parts, each of which is accomplished by a single person or team. There are some real advantages in division of labour: It promotes faster learning. It is obviously easier to learn how to do a relatively short and simple task than a long and complex one. This means that new members of staff can be quickly trained and assigned to their tasks when they are short and simple. Automation becomes easier. Dividing a total task into small parts raises the possibility of automating some of those small tasks. Substituting technology for labour is considerably easier for short and simple tasks than for long and complex ones. Reduced non-productive work. This is probably the most important benefit of division of labour. In large, complex tasks the proportion of time spent picking up tools and materials, putting them down again and generally finding, positioning and searching can be very high indeed.

There are also serious drawbacks to highly divided jobs: Monotony. The shorter the task, the more often operators will need to repeat it. Repeating the same task, for example every 30 seconds, eight hours a day and five days a week, can hardly be called a fulfilling job. As well as any ethical objections, there are other, more obviously practical objections to jobs which induce such boredom. These include the increased likelihood of absenteeism and staff turnover, the increased likelihood of error and even the deliberate sabotage of the job. Physical injury. The continued repetition of a very narrow range of movements can, in extreme cases, lead to physical injury. The over-use of some parts of the body (especially the arms, hands and wrists) can result in pain and a reduction in physical capability. This is sometimes called repetitive strain injury (RSI).

 Low flexibility. Dividing a task up into many small parts

often gives the job design a rigidity which is difficult to change under changing circumstances. For example, if an assembly line has been designed to make one particular product but then has to change to manufacture a quite different product, the whole line will need redesigning. This will probably involve changing every operators set of tasks, which can be a long and difficult procedure. Poor robustness. Highly divided jobs imply materials (or information) passing between several stages. If one of these stages is not working correctly, for example because some equipment is faulty, the whole operation is affected. On the other hand, if each person is performing the whole of the job, any problems will only affect that one persons output.

Designing job methods scientific management: The term scientific management became established in 1911 with the publication of the book of the same name by Fredrick Taylor. In this work he identified what he saw as the basic tenets of scientific management: All aspects of work should be investigated on a scientific basis to establish the laws, rules and formulae governing the best methods of working. Such an investigative approach to the study of work is necessary to establish what constitutes a fair days work. Workers should be selected, trained and developed methodically to perform their tasks. Managers should act as the planners of the work (analysing jobs and standardizing the best method of doing the job) while workers should be responsible for carrying out the jobs to the standards laid down. Cooperation should be achieved between management and workers based on the maximum prosperity of both.

Designing for job commitment behavioral approaches to: job design: Jobs which are designed purely on division of labour, scientific management or even purely ergonomic principles can alienate the people performing them. Job design should also take into account the desire of individuals to fulfill their needs for self-esteem and personal development. This is where motivation theory and its contribution to the behavioral approach to job design is important. Job rotation: If increasing the number of related tasks in the job is constrained in some way, for example by the technology of the process, one approach may be to encourage job rotation. Job enlargement: The most obvious method of achieving at least some of the objectives of behavioral job design is by allocating a larger number of tasks to individuals. If these extra tasks are broadly of the same type as those in the original job, the change is called job enlargement.

Job enrichment: Job enrichment, not only means increasing the number of tasks, but also allocating extra tasks which involve more decision making, greater autonomy and greater control over the job.

Empowerment: Empowerment is an extension of the autonomy job characteristic prominent in the behavioural approach to job design. However, it is usually taken to mean more than autonomy. Whereas autonomy means giving staff the ability to change how they do their jobs, empowerment means giving staff the authority to make changes to the job itself, as well as how it is performed. Team-working: A development in job design which is closely linked to the empowerment concept is that of team-based work organization. The benefits of teamwork can be summarized as: improving productivity through enhanced motivation and flexibility; improving quality and encouraging innovation; increasing satisfaction by allowing individuals to contribute more effectively; making it easier to implement technological changes in the workplace because teams are willing to share the challenges this brings.