2 Weekly Summary and 2 Discussions

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Chapter 4 Job Analysis and Job Design

Learning Outcomes

Explain what a job analysis is, and how the information it generates is used in conjunction with a firm’s HRM functions

Explain how the information for a job analysis typically is collected and incorporated into various sections of a job’s description

Identify and explain the various sections of job descriptions

Learning Outcomes

Provide examples illustrating the various factors that must be taken into account when designing a job, including what motivates employees

Describe the different group techniques and types of work schedules used to broaden a firm’s job functions and maximize the contributions of employees

Job Analysis

Job: Activity people do and get paid, particularly as part of the trade or occupation they occupy

Job analysis: Process of obtaining information about jobs by determining their duties, tasks, or activities

Basic responsibilities

Behaviors

Skills

Physical and mental requirements of the individuals

Job Analysis

Tools needed to do the job

Environment and times at which the job needs to be done

Individuals required to the job

Required outcome or performance level

Major Parts of Job Analysis

Job description: Statement of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job to be performed

Job specification: Statement of the specific knowledge, skills, abilities, and other attributes (KSAO) of a person required to perform the job

Figure 4.1 - Job Analysis: The Cornerstone of HRM Functions

Sources of Job Analysis Information

Interviews

Job analyst interviews individual employees and their managers about the parameters of the job

Questionnaires

Job analyst circulates questionnaires to be filled out individually by employees without assistance

Observation

Job analyst learns about the job by observing and recording the activities associated on a standardized form

Sources of Job Analysis Information

Dairies

Employees are asked to keep diaries of their work activities for an entire work cycle

Filled out at specific times of the work shift and maintained for a two- to four-week period

Figure 4.2 - The Job Analysis Process

Controlling the Accuracy of the Job Data Collected

Job analyst should look for any responses of disagreement with other facts or impressions received about the job

Information should be collected from all individuals doing the same job, instead of one or two jobholders

After job analysis is done, it should be checked for accuracy by the jobholders and their managers

Other Sources of Job Analysis Information

Functional job analysis

Approach utilizing an inventory of the various types of work activities constituting in any job

Basic activities called worker functions describe what workers do with regard to information, people, and things

Each job function is assigned a percentage in terms of its importance to the job

Other Sources of Job Analysis Information

Position analysis system

Questionnaire identifying approximately 200 different worker tasks using a five-point scale

Seeks to determine the degree, if any to which the different tasks, or job elements, are involved in performing a particular job

Results obtained are quantitative and can be subjected to statistical analysis

Permits jobs to be grouped on the basis of common characteristics

Other Sources of Job Analysis Information

Critical incident method: Method by which important job tasks are identified for job success

Identifies critical job tasks

Responsibilities and behaviors performed by the job holder

Used to identify positive and negative behaviors

Combination of which shows the path to effectiveness

Information can be collected through interviews with employees or managers or through self-report statements written by employees

Other Sources of Job Analysis Information

Task inventory analysis: Organizing specific list of tasks and their descriptions used as a basis to identify components of jobs

Uses a standardized form to analyze jobs in different organizations

List of tasks and their descriptions for different jobs are developed and rated on their importance

Goal - To produce a comprehensive list of task statements applicable to all jobs

Listed on task inventory survey form to be completed by the individual analyzing the job under review

Other Sources of Job Analysis Information

Competency-based approach

Looks into the competencies or capabilities and adaptability to new job challenges

Identifies key competencies for the organization’s success

Figure 4.3 - Form Used to Gather Information for a Competency-Based Job Analysis

Parts of a Job Description

Job title

Provides status to the employee

Indicates what the duties of the job entail

Indicates the level of the job in the organization

Job identification

Contains administration information

Numerical code for the job, reporting authority, and wage information, number of employees in the department, job location

Distinguishes the job from other jobs in the organization

Parts of a Job Description

Job duties

Arranged in order of importance in statements covering them

Indicating the weight or value of each duty

Employers need to show that the job criteria relates specifically to the duties of the job in selecting employees

Duties must be essential functions for success on the job

Job Specifications

Areas of qualifications

Skills required to perform the job

Physical demands the job places on the employee doing it

Includes interpersonal skills if a competency-based job analysis approach is used

Problems Associated with Job Descriptions

Provide little guidance to the jobholder if written poorly, using vague rather than specific terms

Not updated as per the changes in job duties or specifications

Violating the law by containing specifications not related to job success

Limit the scope of activities of the jobholder, reducing an organization’s flexibility

Job Design

Outgrowth of job analysis

Focuses on restructuring jobs to capture

Talents of employees, improve their work satisfaction, and enhance an organization’s performance

Figure 4.4 - Top-Down versus Bottom-Down Job Design Approaches

Top-down Approaches

Industrial engineering: Field of study concerned with analyzing work methods and establishing time standards

Ergonomics

Process of studying and designing equipment and systems for easy and efficient use by employees to:

Safeguard their physical well-being

Get work done more efficiently

Bottom-up Approaches

Enrichment

Designed to fulfill high motivational needs of employees

Aims to enrich a job for the intrinsic motivation of employees versus extrinsic motivation

Job characteristics model

Proposes that psychological states of a jobholder result in:

Improved work performance

Internal motivation

Lower absenteeism

Turnover

Bottom-up Approaches

Psychological states of a jobholder

Experiencing meaningfulness of the work performed

Responsibility for work outcomes

Knowledge of the results of the work performed

Techniques used enrich jobs

Job enlargement: Process of adding variety of tasks to a job

Job rotation: Process whereby employees rotate in and out of different jobs

Figure 4.5 - Job Characteristics Model

Bottom-Up Approaches

Empowerment: Granting employees power to initiate change and encouraging them to take charge of what they do

Encourages workers to become innovators and managers of their own work

By involving in their jobs in ways that give control and autonomous decision-making capabilities

Objective - To develop adaptable jobs and basic work units to thrive in a world of high-velocity change

Empowerment Techniques

Participation

Innovation

Access to information

Accountability

Job crafting: Employees mold their tasks to fit their individual strengths, passions, and motives better

Employee Teams

Employee team: Group of individuals working together toward a common purpose where members:

Have complementary skills

Are mutually dependent

Have discretion over tasks performed

Share responsibility and accountability for performance

Benifits

Solves unique and complex problems

Improves collaboration among workers and their morale

Creates better goods and services

Employee Teams

Forms of teams

Cross-functional

Project

Self-directed

Task-force

Process-improvement

Virtual

Dejobbing: Process of structuring organizations around constantly changing projects having different team members

Characteristics of Successful Teams

Commitment to shared goals and objectives

Motivated and energetic team members

Open and honest communication

Shared leadership

Clear role assignments

Climate of cooperation, collaboration, trust, and accountability

Recognition of conflict and its positive resolution

Flexible Work Schedules

Flextime

Gives the option of employees choosing daily start and quit times, provided they work a certain number of hours per day or week

Advantages

Allows employees greater flexibility in work scheduling

reduces causes of tardiness and absenteeism

Accommodates individuals lifestyles

Gaining greater job satisfaction

Can schedule work hours based on productivity

Flexible Work Schedules

Compressed workweek

Process of shortening days in the workweek by lengthening the hours of work per day

Advantages

Recruitment and retention of employees

Coordinates employee work schedules with production schedules

Accommodates employees leisure time activities facilitating personal appointments

Improves employee job satisfaction and morale

Flexible Work Schedules

Disadvantages

Involving federal laws regarding overtime

Increases stress experienced due to exhausting long workdays

Job sharing

Arrangement where two part-time employees perform a job which otherwise is held by one full-time employee

Flexible Work Schedules

Advantages

Suits to families where one or both spouses desire to work only part-time

Suits older workers willing to phase into retirement by shortening workweek

Work of part-time employees can be scheduled:

To conform peaks in the daily workload

Limits layoffs in hard economic times

Flexible Work Schedules

Disadvantages

Time required to orient and train a second employee constitutes an added burden

Difficulty in supervising job sharers cannot effectively work together

Telecommuting

Use of smart phones, tablets, personal computers, and other communications technology to do work traditionally done in the workplace

Flexible Work Schedules

Advantages

Increased flexibility for employees

Reduced absenteeism

Retention of valued employees who might otherwise quit

Reduced carbon footprints through minimizing daily commuting

Increased productivity in terms of reduced wasted office time

Lower overhead costs and reduced office space

Flexible Work Schedules

Disadvantages

Employees lack the self-discipline to work at home

Employees lack of face to face interaction with one another on a regular basis

Doesn’t work as well as working at least one or two days a week in the office

Employers must comply with all federal EEO regulations

Employees who are denied telecommuting feel discriminated and resent telecommuters

Figure 4.7 - Keys for Successful Telecommuting