Job Design

Definition/Concepts
• What an employee actually do on a job
• Development of components (tasks,
responsibilities) to improve productivity and
quality of employee work life
• Job design is process of deciding on the
• Content of job – duties and responsibilities
• Methods to be used – technique, system and procedures
• Relationships – between employee, superior, subordinates,
peers
• Deliberate and systematic attempt to structure
the technical and social aspects of work to
improve technical efficiency and job satisfaction
 Dimensions
• Defining different tasks and manner in
which they are related to complete the job
• Job description
• Job specifications
• Have impact on employee morale –
boredom, increased turnover, low
motivation, low job satisfaction
 Objectives
• To improve productivity, operational
efficiency, quality
• To improve satisfaction, morale and
motivation
• To reduce boredom, turnover
• To increase commitment
• To reduce ambiguity
• To improve QWL
• To improve attitude, behavior and
performance
• To reduce friction
 Importance
• Organizational effectiveness
• Promote a sense of responsibility
• Improved performance
• Defining Critical components of a job
• Reduces dehumanization
• Provides motivation
• Positive affect on attitudes and behaviors
 Process
Environmental
Organizational Scanning External
environment Environment

Job analysis
Motivation

Job
description Higher
Job Performance
Design
Job Job
specification Satisfaction

Job Appraisal
/redesign
 Approaches to JD
• Classical or Scientific Approach
– Based on the work of FW Taylor
– Focuses on planning, standardizing and improving human efforts
to improve productivity
– Principles are
– Task fragmentation
– Optimization of method and technology
– Standardization
– Specialization
– Responsibility
– Training
– Economic incentives and rewards
– Problems
– Narrow specialization or no overall development
– Routineization and boredom leading to frustration
– Mechanization and inhuman
– Lack of job pride
– Overlooking human aspect
– Focusing only economic rewards
– May lead to turnover, absenteeism, low morale, low productivity and
quality
 Approaches to JD
• Behavioral Approach
– Based on findings of Elton Mayo, Hertzberg and other
human relation thinkers
– To design jobs which will not only ensures technical and
operational efficiency but will satisfy social and
physiological needs of workers
– Job characteristics model by Hackman and Oldham
– Defines that three physiological states define one’s
motivation (critical physiological states)
– Experienced meaningfulness – degree to which one experiences his
job as important and worthwhile
– Experienced responsibility – degree to which one feels himself
responsible and accountable for the job
– Knowledge of results – information about his performance
 Approaches to JD
• Behavioral Approach (Contd…)
– These physiological states are generated by ‘core job
dimensions’
• Skill variety – degree to which the job involves variety of tasks and
use no of skills and talents
• Task identity – degree to which the job requires completion of a
recognizable task
• Task significance – the degree to which the job has a significant
impact on the lives of people both inside and outside
• Autonomy – the degree to which a job provides freedom,
independence and power
• Feedback – degree to which the job provide the information about
performance
– The more these dimensions, more motivated/satisfied
and productive employee will be
– These psychological states provides motivation only for
those who have high need for learning and growth
 Critical Psychological states Personal and work
outcome
Core Job Dimensions

Skill variety Experienced

Task identity Meaningfulness High internal
Task significance Of work Work motivation

High quality work

Performance
Experienced
Autonomy Responsibility for
High satisfaction
outcome
With work

Low absenteeism
Knowledge of And turnover
Feedback
Actual results

Strength of
Employee need
For growth
 Other approaches
• Traditional approach
• Duties and responsibilities as per common practices
• Simple to create and implement as it is as per employee’s
expectations
• Biological approach
• Study of body movement and physiology
• Focuses on reducing unnecessary body movements and other
factors that may reduce the productivity such as noise, seating,
breaks, climate
• Perpetual motor approach
• To design the job as per mental capabilities and to reduce
unnecessary information processing
• Reduces the chances of errors and accidents
• Socio-technical system approach
• The jobs are designed by taking ‘system’ view of entire work
• Considers both physical (ergonomical and mental) and social
environment
• Jobs are designed taking into view the work teams and stresses on
motivation instead of task accomplishment
 Other approaches
• Team based approach
• Focuses on giving task or job to a team instead of
and individual and gives them autonomy and
empowerment to accomplish it – self managed team
• Focuses on effective social systems within the team
and provides for motivation and satisfaction by giving
them autonomy and means to control their work
 Techniques of JD

Work simplification

Job Job Enrichment

Job Rotation
Design

Job Enlargement
 Techniques/strategies/Methods
• Work simplification
• Work to be broken down into simple and repetitive tasks to
increase efficiency and specialization and standardization
• Assumes that the thinking part (planning, organizing,
controlling) is to be kept for supervisors
• Time and motion study is used
• Job rotation
• Rotating workers among tasks without disrupting flow of work
• Focuses on eliminating the demotivating factors and boredom
• Focuses on only one factor of job characteristics – skill variety
• Can be linked with job enlargement or enrichment
• Drawbacks
» Increases training cost
» Reduces productivity of both worker and supervisor
» Also disrupts work-groups
» May discourage and de-motivate intelligent and performer
employees
Techniques/strategies/Methods
• Job enlargement
• Expanding horizontal scope of job with additional similar jobs – kind
of de-specialization (horizontal loading)
• More complex and variety of job is expected to satisfy the higher
needs of employee by greater use of his skills and mind
• Increases motivation, satisfaction, variety, challenge and overall
development of employee and reduces tension
• Less economic motivation, layoffs, need of specialization, costly
• Jon enrichment
• Based on assumption that more challenging and interesting work
motivates employees for achievement, recognition, responsibility
and growth (vertical loading)
• Increasing depth and autonomy with less control and greater
freedom of action
• Increases motivation, job satisfaction, performance, and reduces
boredom, dissatisfaction, turnover
• Costly, not for all jobs, not for all people, less economic rewards so
can be resisted, may have negative impact over employees
Individual Design Options Group Design Options

WORK SIMPLIFICATION WORK TEAMS

JOB ROTATION Large task that is completed by

Rotating from job to job a group of specific task
within an organization. Assignments.

JOB ENLARGEMENT
Adding more tasks to the
Job Design AUTONOMOUS WORK
job: Horizontal Loading
Techniques GROUPS

Work teams are given a goal to

JOB ENRICHMENT achieve and the control over
Making jobs more its accomplishment.
meaningful and
Challenging: Vertical
Loading