workflow

96 PART 1 The Human Resource Environment

L*'l Summarize the elements of work flow

analysis.

Wotk Flow 0esign

The process of

analyzing the tasks

necessarY for the

production of a

product or service.

.!ob

A set of related duties

Position The set of duties (iob) performed bY a

particular Person.

This cl-ra;.,ter rliscr.rsses the analysis and clesign of r'vork antf in cloing so' lays out

some c.nsiclerarions that go into making.rt-fotlri.d deci'sions about ho*' to create and

link jobs. The chaprer;'""g;.;trh n lolk atthe big-picrure issues related to analyz-

;;ffi ii;,; ;.i,.r;;;;;t.;n1 ,trr,.t.,r.. The discussion rl-ren tllrns to the more

sr.ccific issues ol ,,,.'r'r;;t;;;]..[tit"'"t ioh"' Traditionalll" job arrallsis ha" ernpha-

:H i;- ,*,';i.;;:i;;';jub, ,n o'i., to rnake clecistotis sttch rs er'plo1'ee selccriorr'

rrainir-rg, and compen;il.;;-rrrasr, job.design has emphasized rnaking jobs more

e{ficient or rl1ore *"ri.;ri;^Ho.""r,.r, u, d-rl, .hup,.t sho'uvs, the lrvo aclivities are

interreiated.

W*rk F[*w *r: *ngeffi€sm*t*rts

3 ::.

ii ;

:

r ? vq 'q Lte co.text of the organization's o'erall

lnformed decisions about jobs take place- in t

.--..^-"^ .-.^^l-,..- rhA rcsLs ,li:i?'.L: TiTilf il"'; '"* ;; ; ik' 1' ;t de s i g n' *u'n9'"ll i:::': :'.* : i:l : HJIJjT ti;1",:5.J t..rl.l "' '*' '.."

ivt'r"' 'r'''"t:'r*'li':::l'

i*"f:::i:i1:','#::: :i il:ff :. i:i:'""a ti"*;;,. ( n i o P is,a se;,or':111-:1 j::';:: :^f#: H *n"ito speclllc JoL')b z'ru PUi t-'-^t laas rnany teaching posidons; the persotl of duties performed by one pcrsoll :A

scnool, t , -r---.-^L.-- \ R-.i,rrr thoqe r-lecisions ;l'l,TJ'::.T:ilil::: ;H'*f il'il""*n'r'" 1?Tr.l:::::l i,::lX":*':,*:::':;filling eacn oI ttlose P()stltulrr ro l''Lrrvr!rrr-^b ,;;h"" the inore traditio'al practice of ""

.*tf. florv design car-r lead to better result looking at jobs inclivicluallY'

Work Ftow AnalYsis r L -.-. -,. Belore clesiglrilrg its rr,ork fl.lrv, rlre orgatrizatitltr,.

plantrers need ro anaIyze \\,har lVorK

needs ro be done. Fig.,; 4. f ;lro*, ,i-rJ "i",,'.r-,t, of

^ ruork flo*' analysis' For each type

of u,ork, such as proa..Jr'rg u p.od.,., line or providing a slrpport set'ice

(accounting'

legal support, and sc.r ;:-rh.';;;ftoir iJ..rtii., th" o,.,tpr.,t of the process' the activi-

ries involr.ecl, ancl three categolies of inputs: ,u* ir-,ptt" (materials and inforilration)'

"-H["il.,, lf rl:Tl::T:,"J 1?""",,r.'u",0,nir, whe rher a de p ar r mellr, re am' or ir.rcl i -

'idr_ral. An ourpur .; #';r';;i11, id.,',t f

' le as a .o,opitttd purchase order' an

ernp toy rne't *, r, :,, -"' i;, i" - *-i:'::i*,"

"iL,Tl :n#Hiirll lT; Jt

i::uil:l::ii':i:T.T5i:J'"i:ilti:-;'::., s,rch as col''pure'[s, *u"v

"'''plov".' proc]ttceotheroutputs,sl.tchascolllponentsoftlreComputers,marketingplarrs,and tuilcling sec*riry. \y";t t1;;; ur'r"iy.l, identifies t6e

outpr-tts r:rf particular rvork *nlts'

The ar-ralysis considers .ot only the a'rount ;L";"' bttt al'o ti.'?lt): sta.dards' This

arrer-rtion ro ourpurs l;;;i;'t".entiy gained artenrio'r among HRM professiouals'

Horr,ever, it gir,es u .t.o'",. vier,r, of lrow ,o i,',.,.n," the e{fectil.erress of each u'ork unit.

For the oLrrpr.lrs i.r".irri"i, u,ork flo.uv analysis then. examines the rvork pfocesses

rised to generate '1t";;;;;;'-wo'k prot;""; ale the activities that meinbers of

a rvot'k rrtrit eLrgage irr ro l'rocluce a given otrtpttt' Ever'1' process consists ol opelar-

irg prucedtrr.cs thar spe.ifi, lr.r' t6ings ,tto..,iJ'U" J'-'n"'oi eac6 stage of tler,eloping

rhe orrrpr.rt. Th.r. n;::.;lr.r'i;i;;;;ii ;h. rasks thar r'usr be perfo'rne'1 in pr.-

'lucing tl're output' i;;;11;' il^""*'ti' breaks down the

tasks into those perfor*re'l

b' eacl-r Lrerson "-, ,i.," *,.,ri. unir. Ti-,is "'rfir..h;lps

rvit' desig. of efficie't work

sistems bv clarifying 'uhitl-' tasks are,nett"t*' iit"]tl' tnhtt o tinit's work

load

increases' the unit irdcls people' and rvhen ti''" 'i"t(

f""tl i"ttt^st'' some members o{

16c rrrrir .r.^. l.rrs\.,n.,.,-rr.lrf, *'it6 u.r'elar...irrJtl" an elfort to appeilr hrtsy' with-

or-rr k.o*,ledse of *,ork processes, it is ,norl J'fft"t' to iclentify s'hethet rl-re rvork

,lrr

rl

CHAPTER 4 Analyzing Work and Designing Jobs 97

Fig*r* 4" 1 Developing a Work Flow

Analysis

ra- )n,

)re

lIe

Raw lnputs

What materials, data, and information are needed?

Equipment

What special equipment, facilities, and systems are needed?

Oqtp$t.i:'':r'..lt: , .,, : -.,:..,.. ::..:., .l:. .:,' What prodgct;, ', , information, <ir r', :a1l

-1_ _-\) _t _ ) i\:

set

Llll )11S

r-rf

di- an

rch rat ees

urd its. his als.

elt. ises

;of :at- ing )ro-

red ork :ad sof th- ork

lacrlttres, ano ; ;- systems are : I needed? ; I_***r

I

I

Human Resources i Ill What knowledge, i I skills, and abilhies

rrk 'pe

rlgl vi- n),

are needed by t those performing I the tasks? :

t

unit is properly staffed. Knowiedge of work p{ocesses also can guide staffing changes ,,,har', ,"o.k is automated, outsourced, of restrllctured. At some companies, so mttch effort has gone into analyzing and refining work processes to improve efficiency that rvhen demand plummeted in the fecent recession, layoffs*as great as they rvere- were less than rvhat the decline in sales would have predicted. For example, the South

Carolina manufacturing plant of Parker Hannifin Corporation needs so few people to run rhe facility and each person is so knorvledgeable that the colnpany cannot oper- are rhe piant if it lays off any workers. In addition, at companies like surgical-device maker Conmed, rvork processes have become so flexibie that the conpanies adjust to changes in demand gradually as rhey occur, rather than piling up inrrentory and then halting and later resuming production.2

The final stage in r.l'ork flow anaiysis is to identify the inputs used in the developrnent

of the rvork unit's product. As shou,n in Figr:re 4.1 , these inputs can be broken dor'vn inro the ral,inputs (rnaterials andknowledge), equipment, andhuman skills needed to perforn-r the tasks. In the mortgage banking industry, the inputs required for servicing ioans increased drarnatically after the financial crisis and econotnic recession made repayrnenf impossible for a rvave of borrowers. The federal governfient launched the Horne Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), ir-r which loan servicers-who traditionally handled just the routine tlansactions of paying off a home loan*were expected to work with borrou'ers to arrange ner.v deals they could afford. Loan servicers sLrddenly needed many more people, and these people needed skills in working rvith the public as well as technical knor.viedge for determining rvhat borrowers can afford to pay, u'hat their home is rvorth, and what documents are required to modify a loan

98 PART 1 The Human Resource Environment

under HAMP. The servicers aiso needed colnputer softwale and hardware for processing ail the data and docurnents' The challenge of quickly providing these new inputs is so great that

some servicers are simply outsourcing the whole process to specialists.3

Work Flow Design and an Organization's structure Besides iooklng at the work florv of each process' it is important

Firefighters work as a team. They and their to see how the work fits within the context of the organization's equipment are the "inputs" (thev do the work), and structure. Within an organization, units and individuals must the "output" is an extinguished l'::y ]lt]:t" cooperare to create outpurs. Ideally, the organization's strLrcture

*iff:'::#,:T::::l-ilHil'il:il.:1:i?'l' brings together the people who must collaborate to erricientlv to create an elfective leam. lf these firefighters prod,rc. the desired outputs' The sti'ucture may do this in a way are rrained to do anypart of the job, theihief can lhat is highiy cenffalized (that is, u,ith authority concentrated deploy them rapidly as needed. in a few p"ople at the top of the organization) or decentralized

(with auihority spread among many people)' The organization

LGf Describe how may group jobs according to functions (ior example' welding' painting' packaging)' or

work flow is related it may set up divisions to focus on products or customer groups'

to an organization,s Altho.,gh there are an infinite number of ways to combine the erements of an

structure. organizationt structure, we can make some general observations about structure and

*&k d.rig.r. If the strucrure is srrongly based on function, rvorkers tend to have lorv r.rtho.ity?.rd to work alone at highly specialized jobs' Jobs that involve tearnwork or

broad responsibiliry ter-rd to ,.q.ilr. .u

,trrr.,u." based on divisions other than func'

ii*r. Wh"" the goal is to empolver employees, companies therefore need to set up ,iru.r.,r", and job] that enableiroad ,erpontibility, such as jobs tha.t i.volve ernploy'

ees i1 serving a particular gtoup of customers or producing a particular product, rather

than performir-rg a narrowiy d&".d function- The organizalion's structure also affects *urug.rr' jobs. Managing a diyision responsibie for a product or customer group tends

,o ,"q*ri.. more experie.,".. ur-rd cognitive (thinking) abiiity than rnanaging a depart-

ment that handles a particular function'4 \york desig., ofte., emphasizes the analysis and design of iobs, as described in the

remainder of Ini, .hupt... Ahhough all of these approaches can zucceed, each focuses

or. or-r. isolated job ai a time. The"se approaches do not necessarily consider how that

,^gi" i.U fits into the overall *ork flo* or structure of the organization. To use these

;;;iliU,"., effectively, human resource personnel should also understand their orga- nizarion as a whole. As rhe "HR Oopsl" emphasizes, without this big'picture appre'

ciation, they mighr redesign a job in u *uy ,hu, makes sense for the particular job but

l"*3 Define the elements of a 1ob analysis, and discuss their signi{icance for human resource

management.

Job Analysis The process of getting

detailed information

about iobs.

is out of line with the organization's work flow, strllcture, or strategy.

Jsb ,Analysis To achier,e high-quality performance, organizations have to understand and match

irll".irir.*.i* u.,d p.opi.. This understanding requires iob analysis, the process tf;;;rfu Jetailed ir-,formatior-, about jobs. Analyzing jobs and understanding what is required to carry out a job provide essenrial knowledge for staffing, training,

perfor-

,rl"-a.. Upp.Uisal, and tlrur-ry oth", HR activities. For iustance, a supervisor's evaluation

.i"" .*pf"Vee's rvork should be based on performance relative to job requiremer'lts' ln very ,*uli orgurlzarions, li'e managers may 1-rerform a job analysis' but usually the

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