Job Design (Blog 5)

What is job designing?

Job design has been defined by Davis (1966) as ‘The specification of the contents, methods, and relationships of jobs in order to satisfy technological and organizational requirements as well as the social and personal requirements of the job holder’. Job design is in fact a combination of job content and the work method which has been adopted in the performance of the job (Durai, 2010). Job design has been one of the most effective tools used for optimizing an employee's performance. It can be defined as changing the content and processes of a job to increase an employee’s satisfaction, motivation and productivity (Knapp and Mujtaba, 2010). 

(Video 1: Job Design)

Robertson and Smith (1985) suggest the following five principles of job design:

• To influence skill variety, provide opportunities for people to do several tasks and combine tasks.

• To influence task identity, combine tasks and form natural work units.

• To influence task significance, form natural work units and inform people of the importance of their work.

• To influence autonomy, give people responsibility for determining their own working systems.

• To influence feedback, establish good relationships and open feedback channels.

Job Analysis, Job description and Job Specification as explained in Management Study Guide (2008), 

                                                                   

                                                                        

                                                                            (Figure 1: Analysis of job) 

As explained in Management Study Guide (2008), Job Analysis is a primary tool in collecting and recording two data sets including job description and job specification. Job description includes basic job-related data such as job title, job location, job summary, nature and objectives of a job, tasks and duties to be performed, working conditions, machines, tools and equipment to be used by a prospective worker involved in it.

Job specification is a written statement of educational qualifications, specific qualities, level of experience, physical, emotional, technical and communication skills required to perform a job, responsibilities involved in a job and other unusual sensory demands. Job description and job specification are two integral parts of job analysis. Both data sets are extremely relevant for creating a right fit between job and talent, evaluate performance and analyze training needs and measuring the worth of a particular job.

(Video 2: Job Analysis | How to Define Job Description and Job Specification)

Schuler (1996) explains Advantages and Disadvantages of Job design Approaches

Advantages,

• Ensures predictability and provides clarity.
• Can be efficient productive.
• Satisfies needs for responsibility, provides growth opportunities and knowledge.
• Reduces boredom and increases the morale.
• Lowers turnover
• Provides social interaction, support and variety

Disadvantages,

• May be boring and it may result in absenteeism and turnover
• Some people prefer routine predictability
• May need to pay more, since more skills needed
• Hard to enrich some jobs and may be costly to design some jobs
• Everyone don’t wants to rotate and interaction
• Requires training in interpersonal skills

References

• Davis, L. E. (1966) ‘The design of jobs’, Industrial Relations, p. 6.

• Durai, P. (2010) ‘Human Resource Management’, New Delhi: Pearson Education.

• Knapp, P. R. and Mujtaba, B. G. (2010) ‘Designing, Administering, and Utilizing an Employee Attitude Survey’, Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business, vol.2(1), pp. 1-14.

• MaNAGEMENT STUDY GUIDE (2008) ManagementStudyGuide.com, [Online] available at: https://www.managementstudyguide.com/job-description-specification.htm [Accessed on: 02 September 2018].

• Robertson, I. T. and Smith, M. (1985) ‘Motivation and Job Design’, Institute of Personnel Management, London.

• Schuler, R.S. and Jackson, S.E. (1996) ‘Human Resource Management’, Min/St. Paul : West Publishing, p. 166.

• Figure 1: MANAGEMENT STUDY GUIDE (2008) Analysis of Job: , ManagementStudyGuide.com, [Online] available at: https://www.managementstudyguide.com/job-description-specification.htm [Accessed on: 02 September 2018].

• Video 1: Job Design. [Online] Available at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XCrFQOL6KY [Accessed on: 02 September 2018].

• Video 2: Job Analysis | How to Define Job Description and Job Specification. [Online] Available at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVO8G7YxlZA [Accessed 02 September 2018].