Job Design And Job Analysis

 

1.0 INTRODUCTION Job design has a great influence on productivity of any organization and the level of satisfaction. Unlike in the past when job designs were merely repetitive, today’s is more educative and creative in nature, demanding interesting, challenging jobs.

One of the most significant concerns of personnel managers in the past years have been the employee productivity and satisfaction. Personnel managers have realized that an important factor influencing these areas is the type of work handled by an employee.  Job design greatly affects how an employee feels about a job, how much authority an employee has over the work, and how much decision making the employee has on the job and how many tasks the employee has to complete.

Managers realized that job design determines their working relationship among employees themselves. Therefore job design is defined as the process of deciding on the content of a job in terms of its duties and responsibilities, on the methods to be used in carrying out the job, in terms of techniques, systems, procedures and on the relationships that should exist between the job holder and his superiors, subordinates and colleagues.   

The two important goals of job design are:

(1) To meet the organizational requirements such as higher productivity, operational efficiency, quality of products and services.

(2) To satisfy the needs of the individual employees like interests challenge achievement and accomplishments. Furthermore it is to integrate the need of the individual within the organizational requirements.

 2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this note, you should be able to:-

· Define job design and job analysis

· State approaches to job design

· Advance what is called the techniques of job analysis

· Differentiate between job description, job specification and employee specification. 

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Approaches to Job Design There are three important approaches to job design:-

 - Engineering Approach - Human Approach - Job Characteristic Approach 

1. Engineering Approach –

 This approach can be attributed to Federick W. Taylor, (1911) on the issue of the Task Idea. According to him “The work of every workman is fully planned out by the management at least on a day in advance and each man receives in most cases complete written instructions, describing in details the task which he is to accomplish….. This task specifies not only what is to be done but how it is to be done and the exact time allowed for doing it.

The principles offered by Scientific Management to job design can be seen as follows 

- Work should be scientifically studied

- Work should be arranged so that workers can be efficient

- Employees selected for work should be matched to the demand’s of the job

- Employees should be trained to perform the job

- Monetary compensation should be used to reward successful performance of the job.

 These principles to job design seem to be quite rational and appealing because they point toward increases in organizational performance. Specialization and routinization over a period of time results in job incumbents’ becoming experts rather quickly, leading to higher levels of output. Despite the assumed gains in efficiency, behavioral scientists have found that some job incumbents dislike specialized and routine jobs. 

2. Human Approach

-The human relations approach recognized the need to design jobs which are interesting and rewarding. Hertzberg’s research popularized the notion of enhancing need satisfaction through what is called job enrichment. One widely publicized approach to job enrichment uses what is called the job characteristics model.

  

According to Hertzberg there are two types of factors:

(i) Motivators like achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, advancement and growth. 

(ii) Hygiene Factors - Which merely maintains the employee on the job and in the organizational policies, interpersonal relations, pay and job security. This Hertzberg asserted that the job designer has to introduce hygienic factors adequately so as to reduce dissatisfaction and build motivating factors. This Hertzberg has laid emphasis on the psychological needs of employees in designing jobs.  

iii) Job Characteristics Approach –

This approach was propounded by Hackman and Oldham which states that employees will work hard when they are rewarded for the work they do and when the work gives them satisfaction. Hence, they suggest that motivation, satisfaction and performance should be integrated in the job design. According to this approach, any job can be described in terms of core job dimensions which are defined as follows: 

- Skill variety - The degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities so that the workers can use a number of different skills and talents. 

- Task Identity - The degree to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work. 

- Task Significance - The degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other people.

- Autonomy - The degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out. 

- Feedback - The degree to which an individual requires direct and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her performance. 

This approach explains that existence of core job characteristic in a job, gives the psychological satisfaction of meaningful work to the job incumbent.

The characteristics of autonomy gives the job incumbent a feeling of personnel responsibility for the result and the characteristics of feedback from job which leads to psychological state of knowledge about their own performance of the job incumbent. The core job dimensions can be combined into a single predictive index called the motivating potential score. Jobs that are high on motivating potentials must be high and lead to meaningful work and they must be high both in autonomy and feedback. 

3.1.1 Job Design Process

 Job design process has to start from what activity needs to be done in order to achieve organizational goals. It requires the use of techniques like process planning, organizational methods and organizational analysis. The other aspect of job design involves the technical aspect of job design which has to do with structural engineering. 

3.1.2 Job Design Methods

 This is a scientifically structured job design which motivates the employees for higher efficiency, productivity and generates job satisfaction than the one designed on the basis of specification which should be introduced in job design so that the needs of the employees for accomplishment, recognition , psychological growth can be satisfied. Personnel departments use a variety of methods to improve job rotation. Job Enlargement and Job enrichment. 

3.1.3 Job Rotation

This is a form of accelerated experience to the normal working situation aimed at developing existing knowledge and skills or acquiring new experiences. It also comprises of movement of employees from one job to another in order to reduce monotony by increasing variety. Job rotation on its own, do not have a prolonged motivational effect on the job holder but the mere fact of doing something new often times exact a worker especially that which is dynamic, this allows the worker to be more meticulous.

However, frequent job rotations are not advisable in view of their negative impact on the organization and the employee. Nevertheless, job rotation may prove to be useful to managers in that it helps managers to become generalists through exposure to several different operations.

 3.1.4 Job Enlargement

When a job is enlarged, the tasks being performed by the same worker expands. Although it actually changes the pace of work and the operation by reallocating tasks and responsibilities, job enlargement does not increase the depth of a job. Enlarged jobs require longer training period because there are more tasks to be learnt.

Worker satisfaction should increase because boredom is reduced as the job scope is expanded. However, job enlargement programmes would be successful only if workers are more satisfied with jobs which have a longer scope. 

3.1.5 Job Enrichment

This is an addition of a greater task to a job with increase in autonomy and responsibility. It involves increases in skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. This is also known as verified restructuring because it involves the inclusion of some responsibilities previously performed by a higher authority in the hierarchy of the organization, thus the employee need additional skills to perform the enriched job. Under job enrichment there is a conscious effort to build into jobs a higher sense of challenge and achievement.

 An enriched job has the following characteristics:

 - It is a complete piece of work. This means that at the end of the task processes, the worker can identify a definite product emanating from his or her effort.

- It affords the employee as much variety, decision-makings, responsibility and control as much as possible in performing the task.

- It provides direct feedback through the work itself on how well the employee is performing his job. 

3.1.6 Factors Affecting Job Design

The two major factors affecting job design are the job content and intrusive motivation. Job content is the first component of job design. This consists of a number of interrelated elements on functions. In complex jobs, individuals may carry out a variety of connected tasks with a number of functions. The complexity in a job maybe a reflection of the number and variety of task to be carried out.

The different skills or competence to be used, the range and scope of the decision that have to be made. The second factor affecting job design is the characteristics of the task structure. Job content is the first component of job design, the job content may consists of number of interrelated elements on functions.  In complex jobs, individuals may carry out a variety of connected tasks each with a number of functions.

The complexity in a job maybe a reflection of the number and variety of task to be carried out, the difference skills or competence to be used, the range and scope of decision that have to be made. In certain professions the methodology of accomplishing a task is left to the discretion of the job holder, referred to as the internal structure of a task which consist of three basic elements of planning, executing and controlling.

 The planning stages entails deciding on the course of action, the resources to be used, the time and methodology. The executive stage consists of operationalizing the plan to achieve result. The controlling stage entails monitoring the progress and performance evaluation and taking of remedial action when necessary.

 In the course of planning, executing and controlling the task, the job holder strive towards organizational productivity and individual satisfaction by way of accomplishment, which is occasioned by the quantum of decision taken by the individual worker and the outcome of that decision. 

3.2 Job Analysis

It is from job design that a job analysis is derived. Job analysis is the process of describing and recording several job aspect including the purposes, task characteristics, task duties, behaviors and requisite skills in a given organizational setting. It is also a systematic investigation of job content, the physical circumstances in which the job is carried out and the qualifications needed to carry out the job responsibilities. Job analysis is considered to be the foundation or building block for most human resource system.

Corporate restructuring quality improvement programmes human resource planning, recruitment, selection, training, career development, performance appraisal, and compensation are among the system which is based on information derived from the job analysis. 

Job Terminologies:

 Task - This is a distinct work activity which has an identifiable beginning and end.

 Duty - Several tasks which are related by some sequence of event.

Position - A collection of tasks and duties which are performed by one person.

Job - One or more positions within an organization.

Job Family - Several jobs of a similar nature which may come into direct contact with each other or maybe spread out throughout the organization performing similar functions.

Job Analysis - A systematic investigation into tasks, duties. Responsibilities of a job.

Job Specification - The minimum skills, education, and experience necessary for an individual to perform a job.

Job Evaluation - The determination of the worth of a job to an organization. Job evaluation is usually a combination of an internal equity comparison of jobs and external job market comparison.

Job Classification - The grouping or categorizing of jobs on some specified basis such as the nature of the work performed or the level of pay. Classification is often utilized as a simplified method of job analysis.

 3.2.1 Techniques of Job Analysis

There are several techniques that can be used for the purpose of collection of date.

 - Interviews

- Direct observations

- Maintenance of long records

- Questionnaires

- Critical incident technique

Though in practice, these techniques maybe used individually or in combination. 

Interviews - There are two types of interviews which can be used for data collection for job analysis. These may be individual interviews with groups of employees who do the same job and supervisory interview with one or more superiors who are thoroughly knowledgeable about the job being analyzed. The interviewer has to collect accurate and complete data and information by creating favorable attitude among employees and supervisors.

There are several basic attitudes and techniques that will serve to secure maximum of accurate and complete information. These attitudes and techniques will also help to reduce the natural suspicion of both the employee and the superiors towards the interviewer.  The purpose of such an interview is to obtain information such as

- The job title of the holder

- The job title of the job holder’s manager or team leader

- Job title and numbers of people reporting to the job holder.

- A brief description of the purpose of the job.

- A list of the main task or duties that the job holder must carry out. 

Direct Observations - This is particularly useful in jobs that consist primarily of observable physical activity. One approach to this method is by observing the worker on the job during a complete work cycle. The other approach is to observe and interview simultaneously.

Maintenance of Long Records - Maintenance of long records. Here the workers are asked to maintain and keep daily records or lists of activities they are doing on that day. For every activity he engages in, the employee records the activity in the list given. These techniques provide comprehensive job information and it is much useful when it is supplemented with subsequent interviews.

Questionnaires

- Here job analysis questionnaires are used to secure information on job requirement relating to typical duties and tasks, tools and equipments used.

Critical Incident Technique

- This technique is useful for scientific analysis and selection research. Incidents here are short examples of successful or unsuccessful job behavior. After the collection of successful or unsuccessful job behavior categories, these categories describe specific desired job behavior which can be useful in recruitment and selection decisions.

Furthermore, the categories also include behaviors that make the difference between effective and ineffective performance on the job. They therefore, specify precisely what kinds of performance should be appraised. It is also useful for testing the effectiveness of the job description and job specification. 

3.2.2 Process of Job Analysis

Jobs can be analysed through a process which consists of six basic steps. These steps consist of collection of background information, selection of job to be analysed, collection of job analysis data, developing a job description, job specification and employee specification.

 - Collection of Background Information:

Background information consists of organization charts, class specifications and existing job descriptions. Organization charts show the relation of the job with other jobs in the overall organization. Class specifications describe the general requirements of the class of job to which this particular job belongs. The existing job description provides a good starting point for job analysis. 

- Selection of Representative Positions to be Analysed:

 It would be highly difficult and time consuming to analyze all the jobs. So, the job analysis has to select some of the representative positions in order to analyze them.

- Collective of Job Analysis Date:

This step involves actually analyzing a job by collecting data on features of the job, required employee behavior and human resources requirements.

- Developing a Job Description:

 This step involves describing the contents of the job, in terms of functions, duties responsibilities operations. The incumbent of the job is expected to discharge the duties and responsibilities and perform the functions and operations listed in job description.

- Developing Employee Specification:

This final step involves conversion of specification of human qualities under job specification into an employee specification. Employee specification describes physical qualifications, educational qualifications, experience requirements which specify that the candidate with these qualities possess the minimum human qualities listed in the job specification.

 3.2.3 Sources of Job Analysis Information

 Information about job analysis may be obtained from three principal sources that include: -

From the employees who actually perform the job.

From other employee such as the supervisors and foremen who watch the workers while doing a job and thereby acquire knowledge about it

From outside observers specially appointed to watch employees performing a job. Such outside persons are called trade job analysts. Sometimes special job reviewing committees are also established.

 Job analysis provides the following information.

- Job identification: Its title, including the code number. Significant characteristics of a job. Its location, physical setting, supervision union, jurisdiction, hazard and discomforts.

- What the typical worker does? This includes collection of information on specific operations and tasks to be performed by the typical worker, including their relative timing and importance their simplicity, routine or complexity the responsibility for others.

- Job Duties. A detailed list of duties along with the probable frequency of occurrence of each duty. - What materials and the equipment the worker uses. Metals, plastics, grains, yam or lathes milling machineries testers, punch presses and micrometers

- How a job is performed. Here emphasis is on the nature of operations like lifting, handling, cleaning, washing, feeding, removing, drilling, droning, setting-up and the like.

 - Required personal attributes. This includes experience, training undertaken apprenticeship, physical strength, co-ordination or dexterity, physical demands, mental capabilities, aptitudes, social skills etc.

 - Job relationship. This includes opportunities for advancement, patterns of promotions, essential co-operation. Job analysis also provides the information relating to mental skills, working conditions, hazards, education, and vocational preparation.  

3.2.4 Job Description
Job description is written summaries of the basic tasks associated with a particular job. They provide the basic information about the job under the headings of the job title reporting relationship, overall purpose and principal accountabilities or main task.

This may also include the nature and scope of the job. Job description is an important document which is basically descriptive in nature and contains a statement of job analysis. As noted earlier, job description is essentially a description of the job itself and not the individual performing the job. How to prepare a job description

- Job Title: Every job or the job-Holder must have a title or description. The job title should reveal the functions inherent in a job. E.g. Account manager performs accounting functions.

- Whom to Report: It is an assumption that the final authority in work-delegated organization does not rely on any individual but in the board of directors. Consequently, any employee in work organization must report to some other persons. In stating the reporting relationship of the job holder, existing network of relationship, the jobholder may have other functional heads that must be ignored i.e. Job description does not state a multiple reporting relationship. It simply identifies and states the job holder’s immediate boss.

 - Reporting to the Job-Holder: The job holder may have a number of subordinates under him, in the absence of subordinates; the numbers of employees on the same job with job holder are stated.

- Job Purpose and Scope: Here an attempt is made to describe as precisely as possible the purpose of the job. This is to give a mental picture of the job, which distinguishes it from other jobs. The purpose of the job will naturally lead to the activities or task to be performed by the Jobholder in actualizing that purpose.

- Description of Duties: The task required to be carried out by the job holder in accomplishing the purpose of the job are spelt out.

- Nature and Scope: Selection of the Job Description, gives an analysis of the job holders role within the context of the organization. It highlights the significance of the task and the implication of non-performance in certain organizations. Such as that used as specimen the nature and the scope of the task is divided into three aspects.

 - Human Relations

 - Management Content,

- Financial and Human Implications.

Job description actually ends with the financial and human implication and what follows next is job specification. 

3.2.5 Job Specification This represents the final, stage in a job analysis. It is focused or aimed at identifying the right person to perform the job as described in the job description. Job Specification is a written statement of qualifications, traits physical and mental characteristics that an individual must possess to perform the job duties and discharge responsibilities effectively.

Job Specification Information The first step in a programme of job specification is to prepare a list of all jobs in the company and where they are located. The second step is to secure and write-up information about each of the jobs in a company. 

This information usually includes:

 - Physical specification

 - Mental Specification

 - Emotional and Social Specification

– Behavioral Specification

Under physical specification we have physical features like height, weight, chest vision, hearing, etc.  For mental specification includes ability to perform, arithmetical calculations to interpret data, informational blue prints, to read electrical faults, ability to plan, reading and scientific ability, judgment, ability to concentrate, ability to handle variable factors and general intelligence and good memory.

- Emotional and Social Specifications:

These specifications are more important for the post of managers and superiors.

- Behavioral Specifications:

Behavioral specifications play an important role in selecting the candidates for higher level jobs in the organizational hierarchy. This specification seeks to describe the acts of managers rather than the traits that cause the acts. These specifications include judgements research, creativity, teaching ability etc. 

3.2.6 Job/Employee Specifications

Job specifications information must be corrected into employee specification information in order to know what kind of person is needed to fill the job. Employee specification is like a brand – name which spells that the candidate with a particular employee specification generally possesses the qualities specified under job specification. 

Employee specification information includes the following:

Age

Sex

Educational Qualifications

 Experience

Physical Specification

Social Background

Family Background

Extra-Curricular Activities

Hobbies. 

Some items of employee specification information are target criticism of the employee maybe, affected if the information like social background and family background is asked and taken into consideration to judge whether a candidate possess certain traits, behavioral specifications and social specifications. 

3.2.7 Impact of Recent Development on Job Design and Analysis

 Recent developments that have a bearing on job design and job analysis are:

Quality of Work Life (QWL)

Quality of work life means simply how good the working life is. In the search for improved productivity, manager and executives alike are discovering the importance that quality work life has to offer. QWL entails the design of work systems that enhances the working life experiences of organizational members, thereby improving commitment to a motivation for achieving organizational goals. Most often, this has been implemented through the design of jobs that afford workers more direct control over their immediate work environment.

Quality of work life is the degree to which members of a work organization are able to satisfy important personal need through their experiences in the organization. It is operationalized in terms of employees’ perception of their physical and psychological well-being at work. It includes virtually every major issue that labor has fought for during the last two decades. Quality Work Life must be built around pay, employee benefits, job security, alternative work schedules occupational stress, participation and democracy in the work place. 

Pay - QWL must be built around an equitable pay programme

Benefits - Since workers are now better organized, educated and more and demand more from the employees.

Job Security -The creation of conditions which give all employees who are doing jobs without the fear of losing it, and the creation of a system in which there are healthy working conditions.

Alternative Work schedule, with a view to tackle job boredom. Modern organizations have been experimenting with several forms of alternative work schedules as four-days work week, flexible time and part-time work. 

Compressed work week is a work schedule in which a trade is made between the number of hours worked per day and the numbers of days worked per week. Managers of large manufacturing organizations report substantial savings by reducing start-up time and increasing energy conservation as well as the savings typically gained from increased employee morale where the alternative work schedule is employed. Flexible working hours or flexitime schedule gives such control to the employee.

 Occupational Stress:

 An individual suffering from an uncomfortable amount of job related stress cannot enjoy a high quality for work life. Broadly viewed stress occurs whenever environmental forces know the bodily and mental functions of a person out of equilibrium. A person who does not feel comfortable with his work environment is what psychologists usually refer to as in a state of disequilibrium. The person who does fit with the work environment.

The lack of it in person can be many: Subjective (Feeling fatigue) behavioral (accident prone) cognitive (a mental block) physiological (elevated blood pressure) organizational (higher absence rate). In an effort to combat stress, many organizations have recently instigated training programme designed to help reduce employee stress. This means changing policies, the structure, the work requirements or whatever is necessary.   

The second approach is to deal with stress individually or at the organizational level.

Organizations can take a number of steps to reduce occupational stress. Among the possibilities are; the practice of good management, create meaningful jobs, modify organizational design, the use of shared decision-making, investigate potential stressors(s) that is the causative factors of the stress. Work Participation: In recent times there has been a clear demand for more participation in the decision-making process at the workplace. Employees want to be involved in organizational work, involved in making decisions and implementing changes.  

4.0 CONCLUSION

Many of the functions and activities of Human Resource Management and the behavior and attitude of employees have their root at the interference of employees and their jobs. 

5.0 SUMMARY

We have been able to see the important features of job design and job analysis and how it can contribute to efficiency in a work organization.   



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