Week 4

Job analysis, job design and

quality of work life (QWL)

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

Learning objectives

1. Understand the uses of job analysis and describe the

content and format of a job description and a job
specification
2. Discuss the collection of job analysis data and explain the
major job analysis technique
3. Discuss competency profiling
4. Comply with EEO requirements
5. Understand the practical and theoretical problems of job
analysis
6. Understand the major methods of job design
7. Discuss quality of work life

2
 What is a Job?

 A job, employment, work or occupation, is a person's role in

society.
 More specifically, a job is an activity, often regular and often
performed in exchange for payment. Many people have
multiple jobs.
 A person can begin a job by becoming an employee,
volunteering, starting a business, or becoming a parent.
 A task or piece of work, especially one that is paid.
 What about volunteer work?
3
 Job analysis
• Job analysis:
– A systematic investigation of the tasks, duties
and responsibilities of a job and the necessary
knowledge, skills and abilities a person needs
to perform the job adequately.
• Components:
– Job content
– Job requirements
– Job context.
4
 Job analysis
 Jobanalysis is the process of studying a job
to determine which activities and
responsibilities it includes, its relative
importance to other jobs, the qualifications
necessary for performance of the job and the
conditions under which the work is performed.

5
 Job analysis

• Job analysis:
– A systematic investigation of the tasks, duties
and responsibilities of a job and the necessary
knowledge, skills and abilities a person needs
to perform the job adequately.
• Components:
– Job content
– Job requirements
– Job context.
6
Job analysis

7
 Job analysis
• Approaches
– A job orientated or task approach.
– An employee orientated (or behaviour)
approach.
• When to analyse a job
– When the organisation commences.
– When a new job is created.
– When a job is changed significantly.

8
Video – Why Job Analysis is Necessary?

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWRaVp1PJf0&t=46s

9
Job analysis and job design

10
 The uses of job analysis

• Job description
– Defines what a job is by identifying its content,
requirements and context.
• Job specifications
– Focus on the skills, abilities, knowledge, personal
characteristics and formal qualifications needed.
• Job design
– Identifies what work must be performed, how it
will be performed, where it is to be performed
and who will perform it.
11
 The uses of job analysis
• For example:
– To design and implement training programs
– To help create a healthy and safe work
environment
– To ensure legal compliance (next slide)
– To help establish whether a person should be
classified as an employee or as an independent
contractor.

12
 How do we change job structure?
 Job enrichment – Herzberg.

 Hertzberg proposed that some job factors result in job satisfaction.

 He proposed that there are job characteristics that lead to meaningfulness, motivation, and
performance

 Job enrichment is the process of adding motivators to existing jobs to increase satisfaction.

 Job enrichment is a common motivational technique used by organizations to give an employee

greater satisfaction in his work.

 It means giving an employee additional responsibilities previously reserved for his manager or other
higher-ranking positions.

 In essence, an enriched job gives the employee more self-management in their duties.

 Job enlargement is adding additional activities within the same level to an existing role. This means
that a person will do more, different activities in their current job. Job enlargement is a key
technique in job redesign, along with job enrichment, job rotation, and job simplification. 13
Job analysis and legal compliance

14
Job analysis process

15
 Job description

• Job description
– A written statement explaining why a job exists,
what the occupant actually does, how they do it,
and under what conditions. Includes:
• Job identification • Job objective
• Duties and responsibilities • Relationships
• Performance standards • Authority
Accountability • Special circumstances
 Trade union/professional • Problem solving
 Knowledge • Other requirements.

16
 Job description

 Job descriptions (and job specifications, to be discussed

next) must be clear, concise and understandable, to avoid
later disputes.

17
 Job specification (person specification)
• The job specification is derived from the job description.
It identifies aspects necessary for job success, including:
– Experience, skills, abilities and knowledge
– Personal characteristics
– Special requirements
– Ideal industry background, ideal current organisation,
ideal current position
– Route up: What would be the ideal career path for the
candidate to have followed as preparation for this
position?
– Remuneration.
18
BREAK
19
 Collection of job analysis
information
• The five most common methods are:
– Observation
– Interviews
– Job analysis questionnaire
– Diaries/logs
– Critical incident reports (snapshots of effective
or ineffective performance).
• A combination of data collection methods can
also be used.
20
Job analysis techniques

• Job analysis techniques include:

– The Australian and New Zealand Classification of
Occupations (ANZSCO).
– Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ).
– Management Position Description Questionnaire
(MPDQ).
– Position Classification Inventory (PCI).

21
Competency profiling

• Competency profiling
– A job analysis method that focuses on the skills
and behaviours needed to perform a job
successfully.
– A competency is an underlying characteristics of
a person that leads to or causes superior or
effective performance.

22
What is the Difference between a Skill
and a Competence?
A skill is something you can do. Such as using a
computer.
 How many skills do you have?
A competence is how well you perform that skill.
 How many competencies do you have?

23
 Competency profiling
• Competency characteristics:

– Motives: What drives, directs & selects behaviour

towards certain actions or goals & away from others?
– Traits: Physical characteristics & consistent responses
to situations or information.
– Self-concept: A person’s attitudes, values or self-
image.
– Knowledge: Information a person has in specific
content area.
– Skills: The ability to perform a certain physical or
mental task.
24
Competencies of today’s HR professional

25
Central and surface competencies

26
Criticisms of competency profiling

• The ambiguous meaning of competency.

• Its generic ‘off-the-shelf’ nature.

• Its focus on the past rather than the present.

• The emphasis on ‘technical’ competencies.

• The assumption of rationality.

27
 Job analysis and EEO
• To guarantee compliance with EEO requirements,
managers must ‘know the job’. It is necessary to
avoid the following:
– No obvious or disguised violations of EEO
requirements
– Avoid listing unnecessary lengthy experience
requirements
– Job specifications and description should not be
based on personal opinion, rather based on job
analysis.
28
Practical problems with job analysis
• Lack of top management support

• Use of only one method

• Use of single source of data only

• Lack of participation of all stakeholders

• Lack of training of the analyst

• Employees’ lack of awareness of importance

• Process seen as a threat to employee

• Lack of reward for providing quality information

• Insufficient time allowed for the process

• Intentional or unintentional distortion

• Absence of a review. 29
 Job design
• There is no one best way to design a job. Methods can
include:
– Job specialisation or simplification
– Job enlargement
– Job rotation
– Job enrichment
• Socio-technical enrichment
• Autonomous work teams.

30
Job design methods

31
Job design implications of job characteristics theory

32
 Quality of Work-Life - QWL

 Quality of work life is a process (QWL) of work organisations which enables its
members at all levels to participate actively and efficiently in shaping the
organisation’s environment, methods and outcomes.

 Quality of Work-Life is a value based process, which is aimed towards meeting the
twin goals of enhanced effectiveness of the organisation and improved quality of life at
work for the employees.

 Quality of Work-Life is a generic (non-specific) phrase that covers a person’s feelings

about every dimension of work including economic rewards and benefits, security,
working conditions, organisational and interpersonal relationships and its intrinsic
meaning in a person’s life.

33
 Quality of work life (QWL)
 Involves the implementation of HRM policies and practices designed to promote
organisational performance and employee wellbeing, including:
 Management style
 Freedom to make decisions
 Pay and benefits
 Working conditions
 Safety
 Meaningful work.

34
 Criteria for improving QWL

• Criteria can include:

– Adequate remuneration
– Safe and healthy environment
– Development of human capabilities
– Growth and security
– Social integration
– Constitutionalism
– Total life space
– Social relevance.
35
Video - Amazon employee work-life balance | Jeff
Bezos, CEO Amazon

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfGbyW6fs5w

36

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

 Summary

• Job analysis is a fundamental HRM activity.

• A proper match between work and employee capability is an

economic necessity.

• Work itself is in a constant state of change.

• Changes affect not only how work is performed but also the skills,
knowledge and attitudes required by workers.

• HR managers therefore need a good understanding of work and

how it is organised.
37
38
THANK
YOU

39