HRM A: Work process design Overview

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HRM A Work process designOverview
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Assumptions underlying work and organizational
design (from Ulich, 1998)
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Assumptions underlying work and organizational
design (from Ulich, 1998)
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The five principles of Taylorism

• Separation of planning and doing
• Responsibility for planning at management level
  implementation as sole shopfloor responsibility
• "one best way" of task execution
• Definition of the more efficient way of task
  execution based on scientific methods every
  worker executes only one step in the overall task
• Selection of the best person
• Definition of qualification profile for each task
  step, selection of the appropriate person
• Reduction of training
• Training for the more efficient way of executing
  each task step, workers are easily replaced
• Control
• Surveillance of adherence to the prescribed work
  methods and of achievement of required results

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Assumptions underlying work and organizational
design (from Ulich, 1998)
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Discovery of social man Human Relations movement

• Hawthorne Studies
• Study on the relationship between lighting and
  performance based on tayloristic rationalization
  -gt performance increases throughout the study,
  even when lighting is reduced again to "moon
  light quality"
• Study on the relationship between breaks and
  performance based on tayloristic
  rationalization-gt Performance increases
  independent of design of breaks
• Hawthorne effect Social factors are crucial
  for behavior, e.g. social attention through being
  studied
• (3) Systematic support for group cohesion
  influences performance through formation of group
  norms

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Assumptions underlying work and organizational
design (from Ulich, 1998)
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Criteria for humane work tasks (from Ulich, 1998)
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Objectives of job design

• AutonomySelf-determination regarding goals and
  rules for goal achievement.
• ControlInfluence on situations in order to
  achieve goals which can be self-determined or
  determined by others.
• Prerequisite for effective use of control
  Transparency and predictability of work situation.

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Assumptions underlying work and organizational
design (from Ulich, 1998)
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Considering individual differences in job design

• Participative und differential-dynamic job
  design
• Involvement in organizational change decisions
  and offer of choices regarding job design options
  allows for consideration of indiviual needs and
  competencies
• Job crafting
• Opportunities for self-determined adaption of
  work tasks according to changing individual needs
  and competencies
• Management by Objectives (MbO)Systematic
  furthering of individual motivation through
  tailored goals and ways for goal achievement
• General objective no fixation of individual
  differences, but individually tailored support

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Assumptions about human nature (Schein, 1988)
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Case Work organization in an insurance company
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Goal setting theory

• Motivation through self-determined achievement of
  goals.
• Goals have to be...
• ... clear and specific,
• ... very difficult without being unrealistic
• ... accepted and longer-term.
• There hase to be continuous feedback on goal
  achievement.

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Practical implementation of goal setting theory
Management by objectives (Drucker, 1954)

• Systematic alignment of individual and
  organizational goals
• Breaking down strategic goals to each level of
  the organization
• Spezific, measurable, achievable, realistic goals
  for each employee
• Participative decision making
• Clearly definied time frame for goal achievement
• performance evaluation and feedback
• But MbO is just another tool, it is not the
  great cure for management inefficiency. It works
  if you know the objectives, 90 of the time you
  dont.

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Legal and psychological contracts
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Flexible working Change from a tradtional to a
new contract? (Raeder Grote, 2001)
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Fit between expectations and offers Employee
perspective
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(Non-)Fit of employer offers and employee
expectations (Wittekind, Raeder Grote, 2005)
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(Non-)Fit of employee offers and employer
expectations (Wittekind, Raeder Grote, 2005)
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Career orientations in Switzerland (Swiss
HR-Barometer 2006, Grote Staffelbach)
Traditional career Independent career
Disengaged career
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Career orientations in Switzerland (Swiss
HR-Barometer 2006, Grote Staffelbach)

• Traditional career - 39
• more men, lower education level, longer tenure
• more participation, more personnel development
• more employer offers (especially job security,
  loyalty, career opportunities)
• higher commitment, higher life satisfaction,
  higher work-life balance
• Independent career - 36
• younger, higher education level, higher income,
  shorter tenure, more in insurance and banking,
  higher employability
• more work flexibility, less personnel
  development
• more expectations regarding interesting work,
  learning opportunities, and taking on
  responsibility
• lower commitment, lower job satisfaction, higher
  intention to quit
• Disengaged career - 13
• more women, older, lower education level, lower
  income
• less participation, less personnel development
• lower expectations
• lower motivation, lower job satisfaction, lower
  life satisfaction

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Swiss HR-Barometer 2006Factors influencing
intention to quit
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Psychological contract as leadership instrument

• Psychological contracts ...
• complement and super-impose legal contracts.
• contain reciprocal, though not necessarily
  correspon-ding expectations and offers between
  employee and employer.
• are derived from verbal agreements as well as
  from behaviors of contract partners and other
  members of the organization.

• The more corresponding
• and
• the more explicit the agreement
• the sounder the psychological contract.