Work Design
Introduction
This chapter is concerned with work design — creating jobs and work groups that
generate high levels of employee fulfillment and productivity. This technostructural
intervention can be part of a larger employee involvement application, or it can be an
independent change program. This module examines three approaches to work design:
engineering approach, motivational theories, and sociotechnical systems.
Student Learning Objectives (SLO)
• Explain the different approaches to work design
• Describe the stages, barriers, and results of job enrichment
• Discuss how to design work for technical and personal needs
Content
Work Design Approaches
• Engineering: Traditional Jobs & Groups
– High specification and routinization
– Low task variety and autonomy
• Motivational: Enriched Jobs
– High task variety and autonomy
– Feedback of results
• Sociotechnical: Self-Managing Teams
– Control over total task
– Multi-skilled, flexible, and self-regulating
Traditional Jobs & Workgroups
• Based on Scientific Management
– Highly specified behaviors
– Narrow range of skills
– Low levels of authority and discretion
– Highly repetitive
• Benefits
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– Low selection and training costs
– High productivity
– High levels of control
Enriched Jobs
Core Job Dimensions
• Skill Variety - extent to which multiple skills are used
• Task Identity - extent to which an individual works on a “whole” task
• Task Significance - impact of the work on others
• Autonomy - amount of discretion in the work
• Feedback from the Work Itself - extent to which work provides information on
effectiveness
Job Enrichment Application Stages
• Perform a thorough diagnosis
• Form natural work units
• Combine tasks
• Establish client relationships
• Vertical loading
• Opening feedback channels
Sociotechnical Systems Approach
• Sociotechnical systems (STS) theory is based on two basic ideas:
– An organization or work unit is a combined, social-plus-technical system
(sociotechnical)
– The system is open in relation to their environment and must interact with
their environments to survive and develop
• Self-managed work teams is the most prevalent application of STS
Sociotechnical Systems Diagnosis
• Define the Work System
• Conduct an Environmental Analysis
• Conduct a Technical Analysis
• Conduct a Social Analysis
Sociotechnical Systems Design
• Can work system be designed to better fit with the environment?
• Can work system be designed to better operate conversion process and control
variances?
• Can work system be designed to better satisfy members’ needs?
Team Task Design & Development
• Whole and interdependent tasks
• Common mission and goals
• Requisite multi-skills
• Task and boundary control
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• Feedback of results
• Minimum specification design
• Develop from narrow to broad boundaries for discretion
Team Process Intervention
• Promoting healthy interpersonal relationships
• Coordinating efforts
• Weighting member inputs and sharing knowledge
• Making good decisions
• Confronting and resolving conflicts
Organization Support Systems
• Performance management systems
• Training systems
• Information systems
• Selection systems
• Management systems
Self-Managed Teams Application Stages
• Sanction the design effort
• Diagnose the work system
• Generate appropriate designs
• Specify support systems
• Implement and evaluate the work design
• Continual change and improvement
Designing Work for Technical and Personal
• Technical Factors
– Technical interdependence: the extent to which cooperation among
workers is required
– Technical Uncertainty: the amount of information processing and decision
making among workers necessary to do the work
• Personal Need Factors
– Social Needs: the desire for significant social relationships
– Growth Needs: the desire for personal accomplishment, learning, and
development.
Assessment and Evaluation
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Read the module and the reference book with understanding. Feel free to ask
questions. Be ready for graded recitation.
References
Cummings, T. & Worley, C. (2009). Organization Development & Change (9 th ed.).
Cengage Learning
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