Chapter 6 Job Design

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Chapter 6-- Job Design

• A major cause of effective job performance is job
  design.

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Job Design

• Job design process by which managers decide
  individual job tasks and authority
• Job redesign process by which managers
  reconsider what employees are expected to do
• Why? Because it increases organization
  effectiveness, efficiency and worker motivation

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Initial Step--Job Analysis

• Determines
• Job Specification KSAs, experience, education,
  i.e. qualifications
• Job Description Tasks and responsibilities
• Job Range
• Job Depth
• Job Relationships

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Job Design and Quality of Work Life (QWL)

• Quality of work life (QWL) Studies
• Believed that satisfied workers would be more
  productive
• Tested in the coal mines
• Attempted to enhance the dignity (physical and
  emotional well-being) of all workers by
  eliminating dissatisfiers
• Productivity increases were not significant.
  Why??

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Job Design and Quality of Work Life (QWL)

• Indicators of quality of work life include
• Accident rates
• Sick leave usage
• Employee turnover
• Number of grievances filed
• Improvement was noted in these indicators, but it
  didnt make the workers work harder. However,
  they were more satisfied

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Job Design and Quality of Work Life (QWL)

• The continuing challenge to management is to
  provide for QWL and to improve production,
  quality, and efficiency through revitalization of
  business and industry

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Conceptual Model of Job Design and Job Performance
Social setting differences
Job context
Job Description
Job performance
Perceived job content
Job content
Job analysis
Job design
Job requirements
Individual differences
Job Specification
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Job Design

• Job design attempts to
• identify the needs of employees and the
  organization
• remove obstacles in the workplace that frustrate
  those needs
• Job range
• Number of tasks a person is expected to perform
  while doing a job
• The more tasks required, the greater the job
  range
• Job depth
• Degree of influence or discretion that an
  individual possesses to choose how a job will be
  performed

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Designing Job Range

• Job Rotation
• Moving individuals from one job to another
• Individual completes more job activities because
  each job includes different tasks
• Involves increasing the range of jobs and the
  perception of variety in job content

• Job Enlargement
• Increasing the number of tasks for which an
  individual is responsible
• Increases job range, but not depth

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Designing Job Depth Job Enrichment

• The practice of increasing discretion individuals
  can use to select activities and outcomes
• Increases job depth and accordingly fulfills
  growth and autonomy needs
• Herzbergs two-factor theory of motivation is the
  impetus for designing job depth (job enrichment)

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Designing Job Depth Job Enrichment

• Managers can provide employees with greater
  opportunities to exercise discretion by making
  the following changes
• Direct feedback
• New learning
• Scheduling
• Uniqueness
• Control over resources
• Personal accountability

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Job Characteristic Theory

• Hackman Oldham How can we design a job that
  motivates people?
• Asked people that were clearly motivated by a
  job, what were the motivating characteristics
• What do you think are the motivating
  characteristics? Are they all equal?

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The Job Characteristics Model
Personal and Work Outcomes
Job Characteristics
Critical Psychological States
Experienced Meaningfulness of Work
Skill Variety Task Identity Task Significance
High Internal Work Motivation High-quality Work
Performance High Satisfaction with Work Low
Absenteeism and Turnover
Experienced Responsibility for Outcomes of Work
Autonomy
Knowledge of Actual Results of Work Activities
Feedback
Employees Growth Need Strength
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Job Characteristics Theory
Job Motivation Potential equals
Task Variety Task Identity Task Significance
3
X
X
Autonomy
Feedback
The higher the score, the higher the motivating
potential and therefore the higher the
productivity
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Key Characteristics to Address

• Task variety. The extent to which you or your
  team members are given the opportunity to perform
  a variety of tasks and use different skills
• Task significance. The degree to which your or
  your teams work is valued and has significance
  for both internal and external stakeholders of
  the organization

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Key Characteristics to Address

• Task identity. The degree to which your or your
  team completes a whole and separate piece of work
  and has control over most of the resources
  necessary to accomplish its objectives
• Autonomy. The degree to which you or your team
  are allowed to make your own decisions

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Key Characteristics to Address

• Feedback. Extend to which you or your team
  receives feedback from the job or the supervisor
• Growth Need Strength. Extend to which an
  individual

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Problems associated with job design

• Unless lower-level needs are satisfied, people
  will not respond to opportunities to satisfy
  upper-level needs
• Job design programs may raise employees
  expectations beyond what is possible
• Job design may be resisted by labor unions who
  see the effort as an attempt to get more work for
  the same pay
• Job design efforts may not produce tangible
  improvements for some time after the beginning of
  the effort

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Job DesignKey Characteristics to Address

• Self-management. Refers to the teams ability to
• set its own objectives
• coordinate its own activities
• resolve its own internal conflicts
• Participation. The degree to which all members of
  the team are encouraged and allowed to
  participate in decisions
• How do teams provide an opportunity to improve
  motivation? Hint Use the Job Characteristics
  Theory

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Alternative Work Arrangements

• Flexible work arrangements include
• Job sharing
• Flextime
• Telecommuting
• Virtual teams

• Benefits to companies of flexible work programs
• Higher recruitment and retention rates
• Improved morale
• Lower absenteeism and tardiness
• Higher levels of employee productivity