CHAPTER 6

 Jobs, from Design to Appraisal

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 What Is a Job?
 Job — a collection of tasks.
 * Employment at will — people are
hired and retained according to the will
(or whim) of the employer.
 Wrongful discharge — someone fired
for illegal or improper reasons.

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 What Is a Job?

 Plenty of work, but no jobs?

 Will the latest, headline-grabbing
trends be the way of the future for
everyone?
 What about the way for large
Japanese firms, lifetime
employment?
cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 What Is a Job?
 What are the top five job
characteristics desired by American
workers?
 Health insurance and benefits.
 Interesting work.
 Job security.
 The chance to learn new skills.
 Yearly vacations.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Current Job Trends

 Flexible work hours.

 Telecommuting.
 Computer usage.
 Self-management.
 Educational
requirements.
 * Outsourcing.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Current Job Trends

 * Downsizing – Cutting staff and

reshaping an organization to reduce
the size of the workforce; firing people
 Reengineering – redesigning the way
work is performed; often accompanied
by restructuring the formal
organization

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Career Management
 * Technical and business
skills – skills needed to
perform the tasks in a job
 * Interpersonal skills - the
ability to communicate and
work cooperatively with
others
 Reading, writing, and
arithmetic skills.
 Listening skills.
 Problem-solving skills.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Job Design
 Job design — the process of defining
the work that needs to be done,
dividing the work into jobs, describing
the jobs, and describing the people
capable of performing the jobs.
 Job analysis — creating a list of tasks
that need to be performed in order to
complete a job.

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Job Design
 Task variety — the assortment of
skills a person needs in order to
perform the tasks in a job.
 Task identity — how closely the
work is related to a finished product.
 Task significance — the effect one
person’s work has on the work of
others.

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Job Design
 Autonomy — the freedom workers
have to perform tasks and control
their work.
 Feedback — the direct reception of
job information.
 Task interdependence — the lack
of barriers between departments or
tasks.
 CPOS model — a job-design model.
cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Job Design

 Cognitive demands — the mental

requirements of the job.
 Production responsibility — for
expensive equipment and
increased productivity.
 Operator control — over timing,
methods, and boundaries.
cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Job Design
 Boundary control — a worker’s
responsibility for primary and
secondary tasks needed to complete
work.
 Social interaction — social contacts
and support involved in a job.
 Social contacts — the quantity of
on-the-job interactions.

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Job Design

 * Social support — the quality of

on-the-job interactions.
 Work effectiveness — the
integration of tasks and jobs in
order to carry out the mission of the
company in meeting the needs of
the customer.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Specialization
 Can compress time.
 Makes large jobs
possible.
 Decreases training
time.
 Creates expertise.
 Increases efficiency.

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Specialization

 Too much specialization can increase

boredom.
 Job enlargement may counteract
boredom by adding more tasks to a job
that are at the current difficulty level.
 * Job enrichment may counteract
boredom by increasing worker
involvement.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 * Job Description
 A written outline of the tasks that
constitute a job; a depiction of the job.
 Responsibilities — duties carrying
added significance, to be completed
without guidance.
 Duties — the tasks in a job.
 Tools and equipment; working
conditions.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Job Specification
 A written description of the type of
person able to perform a job;
describes a person.
 Experience.
 Education.
 Skills — learned capabilities.
 Abilities — inherent aptitudes.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 The Interview
 Styles of interviewing:
 * Structured or directive — follows a
predetermined pattern.
 Unstructured or nondirective —
attempts to avoid influencing the
interviewee’s remarks.
 Group — a committee does the
interview.
 Stress — placing high level of tension or
abuse on the interviewee.
Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e
 The Interview
 * Principal types of interviews
1. Employment – to observe applicants for
job openings
2. Appraisal – to review an employee’s
performance
3. Counseling – to aid employees with
personal problems
4. Disciplinary – to discuss an employee’s
substandard behavior or performance
5. Grievance – to discuss an employee’s
complaints

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Types of Interviewers

 The Investigator.
 The Shopper.
 The Adjudicator.
 * The Talker.
 The Skeptic.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Interviewing Guidelines
 Plan ahead.
 Know something about the
interviewee beforehand.
 Be aware of your own biases.
 Try to help the interviewee relax.
 Don’t do all the talking.
 Practice good listening skills.

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Interviewing Guidelines
 Avoid questions that might lead to
biased answers.
 Don’t fight the clock.
 Control the interview; keep on track.
 Never argue.
 Look beyond the interviewee’s words.
 Stay alert throughout the interview.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Guidelines for Being
Interviewed
 Be prepared.
 Be prompt.
 Maintain correct appearance.
 Bring something to do in case you
must wait.
 Give complete, but brief, answers;
don’t ramble.
cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Guidelines for Being
Interviewed
 Listen carefully.
 Don’t overact.
 Bring any support material you may
need with you.
 Be polite and courteous throughout
the interview.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Performance Appraisal
 A measurement to determine how
well the person described in the job
specification is performing the work in
the job description.
 Rater — a person who evaluates
others.
 Ratee — the person being evaluated.

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Performance Appraisal

 Attitude — a person’s disposition,

especially toward work.
 Compatibility — the ability to work
well with others.
 Dependability — being present for
work and completing work reliably
and on time.
cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Performance Appraisal
 Job knowledge.
 Efficiency.
 Organization.
 Efficient people are often
organized, but organized people
may not be efficient (if they spend
all of their time getting organized!).

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Performance Appraisal

 Prepare for
appraisals.
 Evaluate your own
performance; use
your last
evaluation.
 Identify areas that
are improved and
those that need
more work.
cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Performance Appraisal

 Learn from
the past.
 State your current
position in relation to
your last evaluation,
your employment,
and your career.
 Show progress and
improvement.

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Performance Appraisal
 Plan your
future goals
and objectives.
 Identify growth and
improvement
opportunities.
 Revise your goals.
 Prepare for the
evaluation interview.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Appraisal Threats
 The halo effect — current performance
is rated good because the past
evaluations were good.
 * The Hawthorne effect — observation
can cause changes in behavior.
 Recency — evaluating only on the
short time just before the evaluation is
due.

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Appraisal Threats

 Uniformity — rating everyone the

same; has a de-motivating effect.
 Vagueness — not being specific.
 Conflict avoidance — giving a
higher rating to avoid an argument.
 Distance — rating someone that
you have not directly observed.
cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Appraisal Threats
 Trait measurement — evaluating a
person’s personality instead of his or
her performance.
 Personal bias — allowing the personal
likes and dislikes of the rater to
influence the evaluation.
 Cost concerns — rating to save
money rather than reflect performance.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Appraisal Responses

 Respond to
inaccurate
evaluations.
 What can be
done to correct
them.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Contesting an Evaluation

 Consider the politics.  It is best to start with

 Is the gain worth the
possible price?
 You will need
 Remember, the rater
has the initial
advantage.
 Do you use a formal
or an informal path?
a question, rather
than a statement.
PROOF, not just
your opinion (and it
is best to collect the
proof before you
have a problem!).

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Contesting an Evaluation
 Once you have your proof and are
presenting it:
 Practice your presentation.
 Remain calm and rational during it.
 Avoid accusations so no one becomes
defensive.
 Use conflict management guidelines
 Remain calm and rational.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 * Contesting an Evaluation
Recommended Order
1. Decide on the costs and benefits
of contesting the evaluation
2. Find evidence to support your
claims
3. Practice your statement
4. Make an informal inquiry
5. File a formal appeal of your
evaluation
Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e
 Losing a Job

 Your three
choices:
 Give up working.
 Find another job.
 Find another
career.

cont.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e

 Losing a Job
 Before leaving, try for a severance
package, negotiating one just for
you rather than taking what they
offer everyone else, if possible.
 Use all outplacement assistance
that is offered.
 Try to go from your current job right
to another, with no gaps in between.

Parts taken from THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANIZATIONS, 10/e