Chapter 4: Job Design and Job Analysis

1. Chapter 4: Job Design andJob Analysis

2. Objectives After reading this chapter, you should be able to: • Explain the importance of job design. • Describe how managers use efficiency and motivational approaches to design jobs. • Explain the trade-offs between the efficiency and motivational job design approaches. • Understand the importance of job descriptions and job specifications. • Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different sources of data for job analysis. • Understand how organizational demands influence job design. • Discuss how environmental challenges affect job design. • Explain the importance of job design and job analysis for legal compliance.

4. Job Design • Determining job tasks and responsibilities employees are expected to perform • Key issues to consider: • Which tasks should be emphasized? • How simple or complex are these tasks? • How many tasks can employees perform? • How much flexibility is given to employees?

5. Job Analysis Definition: Systematically identifying tasks, duties and responsibilities expected to be performed in a job as well as competencies to be successful • Job descriptions—written summaries of the specific tasks, responsibilities, and working conditions of a job • Job specifications—specific competencies required by a jobholder to be able to perform the job successfully

7. Job Design: Efficiency Approach Key goal is to maximize efficiency; emphasizes standardization of production processes • Time and motion studies • Job specialization focused on breaking jobs down into core elements • Repetition increased skill and speed • Job simplification removed decision-making authority from employees and placed it with a supervisor

8. Job Design: Motivational Approach Maximizes employee’s drive to work as hard as possible Focuses on making jobs more interesting, challenging and complex Job characteristics model—identified 5 job dimensions and 3 psychological states that affect motivation and satisfaction

11. Job Descriptions • A written summary of specific tasks, responsibilities and working conditions of a job • Includes the following: • Job title • Job identification specifying important aspects of job • Essential duties and responsibilities • Job specifications—the competencies that are required (knowledge, skills, abilities)

15. Performing a Job Analysis • Job Information • Observation: job analyst observes and documents activities performed while employee works • Diary: employee keeps log of tasks and activities • Interview: job analyst conducts structured interviews of jobholder and supervisor (time-consuming and may be inaccurate) • Questionnaire: standard questionnaire administered to large number of employees performing the job (requires considerable time up-front, doesn’t offer opportunity for follow-up)

16. Job Analysis Identifying tasks, duties and responsibilities expected to be performed in a job as well as competencies to be successful. Involves several steps: • Collecting Job Information • Analyzing Job Information

20. Department of Labor version of FJA

21. Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) • Information Input– Where and how employees get the information they need in performing their job? • Mental processes– What reasoning, decision making, planning, and information processing activities are performed by an employee in their job? • Work output– What physical activities are required to perform the job and what tools are used? • Relationships with other persons– What relationships with other people are required to perform the job? • Job Context– What are the physical and social aspects of the work environment in which the job is performed? • Other characteristics– What activities, conditions, or characteristics, other than the previous five are relevant for the job?

24. Job Design in Practice: Organizational Demands • Strategy • Managerial choices of job design tactics • Employee acceptance of job design decisions • Company characteristics • Perception of fairness of job duties • Need for flexible work arrangements

25. Job Design in Practice: Organizational Demands (continued) • Culture • Job Design Approach Adopted • Breadth of tasks, duties, and responsibilities performed • Employee concerns • Formalization of jobs • Breath and depth of tasks

26. Job Design in Practice: Environmental Demands • Labor force • Skill availability to perform tasks • Job design decisions for the aging labor force • Technology • Telecommuting • Virtual teams

27. Job Design in Practice: Environmental Demands (continued) • Globalization • Need to address cross-cultural issues • Relevant labor market • Ethics/social responsibility • Concerns about types of tasks required • Attitudes toward physical conditions of job design

29. Job Design in Practice: Regulatory Issues • Importance of understanding essential and non-essential job duties • Job design and employee safety

30. Appendix:Standardized and Customized Approaches to Job Analysis • Standardized Approaches • Functional Job Analysis (FJA) • Dictionary of Occupational Titles • O*Net • Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)

34. Appendix:Standardized and Customized Approaches to Job Analysis • Customized Approaches • Critical Incidents Approach • Task Inventory Approach • Job Element Approach