Job Design

Prof.S.C.gupta18/20/20118 January 2012

 Job design is defined as a process of deciding the contents of a job in terms of duties and responsibilities of job holders; on the methods to be used in carrying out the jobs; in terms of techniques, systems and procedures and on the relationships that should exist between the job holders and superiors, subordinates and colleagues. The factors affecting job design include: 1- organizational factors, environmental factors and behavioral factors. Two important goals of job design are: 1. To meet organizational requirements such as higher productivity, operational efficiency, quality of product/services etc. 2. To satisfy the needs of individual employees in terms of like interests, challenge or achievement or accomplishment. 3. To integrate the needs of individuals with organizational requirements.

 Job/work design is concerned with creating high level of employee involvement; high employee job satisfaction or fulfillment and hence high productivity, customer service, quality output and commitment to teams and organization goals. It is undertaken with other interventions like job analysis, structural changes, performance improvement, reward system and improving quality of work-life and organization performance. There are three approaches to job design: 1. Engineering approach - pioneered by Taylor. It focuses on efficiency and simplification and standardization of various activities in a job it is used in traditional jobs which are routine and repetitive in nature where little interaction among people is needed to produce a service or product. 2. Call centers, postman, data entry positions, etc. here member interactions are controlled by supervisors, rigidworkflow and schedules.

 The Engineering approach scientifically analyzes worker s tasks to discover those procedures by time and motion studies that produce maximum output with minimum input of energy and resources. This generally results in job design with high levels of specialization and specification. Such designs have several benefits: 1. They allow the worker to learn tasks rapidly 2. They permit short work cycles so performance can take place with little mental effort. 3. They reduce costs because lower skilled workers can be hired and trained easily with low paid jobs. 4. Incentives are designed easily. Most commonly used in assembly line jobs like automobiles, machine parts etc.

 However, it ignores worker s social and psychological needs. With rising education levels of workers require more challenging jobs hence it does not lead to involvement and job satisfaction. It is monotonous and boring repeating same activities again and again. It leads to workers high stress and frustration. 2- The Human approach or motivational approach attempts to enrich the work experience based on motivational theories. It views the effectiveness of organization as a function of member s needs and satisfaction. (Hertzberg, Hackman & Oldham). The motivational approach provides people with opportunities for autonomy, responsibility and closure and performance feedback. The Core Dimensions of job are: 5 core dimensions of work affect theree critical psychological states, which in turn produce personal satisfaction and job outcomes.

 Skill variety, Task identity and Significance 3 of 5 core dimensions influence the extent to which work/job is perceived as meaningful. Skill variety refers to number and type of skills used to perform a particular job. The more tasks an individual performs the more meaningful the job becomes. When skill variety is improved by moving a worker from one job to another JOB rotation is accomplished. Task significance represents the impact that the work has on others. In jobs with high task significance like, nursing, teaching, consulting and manufacturing parts for health or space; completion creates meaningfulness in the worker. Experienced meaningfulness is expressed as an average of these three dimensions. Thus any one factor present in high level can increase the meaningfulness which results in high internal motivation in the worker.

 Job enlargement is another form of job enrichment that combines skill variety with task identity, blends several narrow jobs into one larger, expanded job. For example, separate machine setup, machining and inspection jobs might be combined into one. This method can increase meaningfulness, job satisfaction and motivation when employees comprehend and like the greater task complexity. It improves overall efficiency of organization and quality. It is known as horizontal loading of job. Autonomy refers to the amount of independence, freedom and discretion that the employees has to schedule and perform tasks. When autonomy is given or increased, employees experience responsibility for their work outcome. Feedback from the work itself this core dimension represents the information the worker receives about the effectiveness of their work. It can come from work itself or from external sources boss or customers. Feedback from work is direct and immediate so more effective.

1. Skill Variety Experienced Meaningfulness Of the work design Job high internal work motivation low absenteeism/turnove r

2. Task identity 3. Task significance 4. Autonomy

experienced responsibility For outcomes of the work Knowledge of the actual results Employee growth need strength

high quality work performance high satisfaction with the work

5. Feedback

 The core dimensions can be combined into a single predictable index called the motivating potential score. SKILL
SKILL VARIETY + TASK SIGNIFICANCE + TASK IDENTITY

MPS = _______________________ X AUTONOM X FEEDBACK 3 Individual Differences Not all people react in similar ways to job enrichment interventions. It depends upon their skill level and intrinsic motivation and need for growth etc. Job band width another approach to job design can be narrow or broad narrow jobs are designed with few tasks and responsibilities. And broad jobs deal with wide variety of tasks and responsibilities. Narrow jobs create many grades, specialization and levels and tightly held relationships and narrow authority. Broad jobs result in employee motivation, job satisfaction, empowerment, high productivity and less differences amongst workers.

 Vertical Loading or job enrichment the intent of vertical loading is to decrease the gap between doing the job and controlling the job. Vertical loading is most crucial aspect of job design. Autonomy is invariably increased. This leads to feeling of more accountability and responsibility. It is also necessary to open feedback channels so that workers know that their performance is constant or increasing or decreasing. Steps for Job enrichment 1. select those jobs which permit close relationship between motivation and job performance. 2- select a pilot scheme 3- starting with the assumption that the job can be changed. 4. brainstorm a list of changes that may enrich the job; 5. concentrate on motivation factors such as achievement, responsibility, self-control; 6- try to change the job rather than employee. 7- provide training; 8 discuss with unions or introduce it with incentives. 9- prepare the specific program for each project and ensure to control information; 10 Monitor.

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF JOB DESIGN OPTION

JOB DESIGN APPROACHES 1 WORK SIMPLIFICATION joPOSITIVE OUTCOMES Job is highly specialized. So many people can do the job Inter-departmental cooperation increases EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION Employee empowerment NEGATIVE OUTCOMES Results in boredom due to oversimplification. Workers feel alienated Adding one zero to other zero Employees resist new responsibilities Employees resist

2 3 4

JOB ROTATION JOB ENLARGEMENT JOB ENRICHMENT

Autonomous work teams

EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT in decision making High productivity due to team work

BROAD JOB WIDTHS

Employees resist

Challenges to job analysis -Redesign of work systems- the most radical change taking place from HR perspective. Traditional work systems that stresses individualised jobs that were specialized and hierarchical have inhibited organizations and hindered performance. Current and future work systems are much more broadly defined and focus designing jobs not around technical measures for efficiency but around strategic choices made by management. The greater the volatility in the organization s environment, the greater the need for more flexible, adaptive work systems. In fact new models of organization effectiveness requires organization to be agile or infinite adaptable to cope with change Jobs are changing faster than they have ever before particularly in the light of information processing technology is impacting the nature of work..

 Success storey of teams Working

P& G manufacturing -30% to 50% lower manufacture cost. Federal Express- cut the services glitches by 10% in a year. Shenandoah Life insurance- case handling time reduced 27 to 2 days. Tektronix Portable- moved from least profitable to most profitable business with in 2 years . Rohm and Haas Knoxville- productivity up 60%. Westinghouse- reduced cycle time from 17 weeks to 1 week. Tavistock Coal Mine- production 25% up accidents and absenteeism down 50% Xerox- Teams at least 30% more productive than conventional operations.s
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 The bold team approach to manage old problems and seize new opportunities is the primary strategy by which MNCs are striving to succeed. GM s Delco-Remy plant is organized into 25 operations teams and 5 technical support teams reporting to an executive team made up o the plant manager and head supervisors. The operations team arrange and monitor their own equipment, recruit new team members, and prepare and administer their own budgets. All quality control in the plant is the responsibility of these teams. Each team takes his or her turn as a team leader. Teams provide that nimbleness. They are at the forefront of management thinking. More money is spent on team building than any other HR intervention. The challenges are globalization, competition, diversity, customer, and TQM

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A true team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed o a common purpose, set of performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

Difference between working group and TEAM Working group Team 1 strong focused leader 1-Shred leadership roles 2 individual accountability- 2- Individual & mutual accountability 3 Group s purpose is same 3-Specific team purpose. As broader org. mission that the team itself sets 4 individual work products - 4- Collective work products 5 runs efficient meetings -- 5- encourages open ended discussions and active problem solving meetings

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A high performance team 6- Discusses , decides delegates and does real work together. 7 measures its effectiveness Indirectly by its influence on Financial performance of business. 8- measures performance directly by assessing collective workproducts demands of management self-imposed demands 9 - sets common goals and commitment to goals 10- the atmosphere tends to be relaxed, comfortable and informal. 11- the members listen well to each other, there is a lot of task related discussion in which most members participate. 12- conflict, disagreements are present but are centered around ideas and methods, not personalies and people.

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What are the elements of a dynamic team? Dynamic team is highperforming team, confident one whose members are aware of strengths of each other and rely on each other for assistance, feedback and motivation.

Clearly states its mission and goal Operates creatively Focuses on results Focuses on results Clarifies roles and responsibilities Is well organized Builds upon individual strengths Supports leadership and each other Develops team climate Resolves disagreements Communicates openly Makes objective decisions Evaluates its own effectiveness
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 Decisions are usually based on consensus, not through majority vote. When actions are decided upon, clear assignments are made and accepted by members. Team has style diversity The team pays attention to developing outside relations, resources and credibility. Self-assessment periodically team stops to examine how well it is functioning. High degree of enthusiasm and initiative taking including risktaking. Devotes large block of uninturrpted time.

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what are the Drivers and barriers to effective team building? Professionally interesting and challenging work. Recognition of accomplishment Experienced technical management personnel Proper technical direction and leadership Professional growth prospects. Barriers1 unclear project objective and changing goals and prioriy. 2 lack of team definition, structure and environment 3-communication problems 4-power struggle and conflicts in terms of roles, personnel selection 5- lack of commitment from team members. 6- uninvolved, disinterested top management.
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 THE CHANGING WORKPLACE

The design of work systems must also consider what 21st century workers (knowledge workers) need and want in order to carry out their job responsibility? Certainly all employees do not work for same reasons, nor do they expect the same thing from their employers. The workplace today is characterised with increasing diversity with wide differences in age, gender, race, and culture and family backgrounds. Organisations must realise that employees no longer have generic needs. They expect their employers to understand their needs and respect them. This theme is discussed in this book separately in chapter, Diversity Management .

What workers need and want to carry out their job responsibilities to be productive, happy and motivated? Flex time Job Sharing Telecommuting Self directed Teams Competency Alignment Process-CAP-involves the systematic study, analysis and assessment of jobs and skills needed to perform them in the reengineered organization. First it determines the current level of skills in order to identify the skill-gap then eliminating it through redeployment, outsourcing, and training. Employee voice Employee safety & health Finding meaning to ones life.

 The issue of work-life balance has acquired much significance. Employers who design work systems that do not allow employees to have the balance they desire in their life activities will find workers who not only are less committed to the work but also suffer from burnout and perform at less than optimal levels. Many forward looking employers are establishing stress management programmes and physical health and wellness programmes with the help of eternal agencies to ensure that employees retain an essential balance among their life activities. Preventing burnout at work is major corporate responsibility. There is another important area of employing both husband and wife, particularly in overseas assignments and the education of their children.