Job Design
Slides by Jill Nicholson
Overview
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What is Job Design?
Elements of Job Design
Five Core Job Characteristics
Approaches to Job Design
Tools of Job Design
Current Trends
Summary
What is Job Design?
• The organization of activities to
create the optimum level of
performance.
Elements of Job Design
• Task Analysis
• Worker Analysis
• Environmental Analysis
Task Analysis
• Determines
– What tasks will be done
– How each task will be done
– How the tasks fit together to form
a job
Worker Analysis
• Determines
– Capabilities the worker must
possess
– Responsibilities the worker will
have
Environmental Analysis
• Used to analyze physical
environment including:
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Location
Lighting
Temperature
Noise
Ventilation
Five Core Job
Characteristics
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Skill Variety
Task Identity
Task Significance
Autonomy
Job Feedback
Approaches to Job
Design
• Scientific Management
• Behavioral Approach
– Job Enlargement
– Job Enrichment
– Job Rotation
• Social Technical System
Scientific Management
• Advantages of specialization
– Simplifies training
– High Productivity
– Low wage costs
• Disadvantages of specialization
– Difficult to motivate quality
– Worker dissatisfaction
Job Enlargement
• Advantages
– Increase
scope
• Disadvantages
– No challenge
Job Enrichment
• Advantages
– Lower Staff turnover
– Less absenteeism
Job Rotation
• Advantages
– Reduces Boredom
– Broadens experiences
– Gives broad understanding
Job Rotation continued
• Disadvantages
– Increased training costs
– Reduced productivity
– Demotivates specialists
Social Technical System
• Job should be reasonably
demanding
• Employee should be able to
continue learning on the job
• Employees need recognition in
work place
• Employees need to relate what
they produce to their social life
Tools of Job Design
• Process Flowchart
• Motion Study
• Work measurement
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Stopwatch time study
Standard elemental times
Work Sampling
Learning Curve
Process Flow Chart
Exercise
• Divide into groups of 3 or 4
• Make a flow chart for the
following process
Process Flow Chart
Exercise
QuickCopy Store does copying jobs
for walk-in customers. When a
customer comes in with a copy job, a
desk operator fills out a work order
(name, number of copies, quality of
paper, and so on) and places it in a
box. An operator subsequently picks
up the job, makes the copies, and
returns the completed job to the
cashier, where the job transaction is
completed. (Russell and Taylor,
Operations Management)
Answer
Process Description
Desk Operator fills out work order
Work order placed in "waiting job" box
Job picked up by operator and read
Job carried to appropriate copy machine
Operator waits for machine to vacate
Operator loads paper
Operator sets machine
Operator performs and completes job
Operator inspects job for irregularities
Job filed alphabetically in completed work shelves
Job waits for pickup
Job moved by cashier for pickup
Casheir completes transaction
Cashier packages job (bag, wrap, or box)
Operation
Transportation
Inspection
Delay
Storage
Process Symbols
Current Trends in
Job Design
• Flextime
• Compressed Workweek
• Job Sharing
• Telecommuting
Summary
• Job design can help your firm find
the most efficient way to operate
• Job design can improve the quality of
work life and satisfaction for your
employees.
• This leads to a smoother running,
more profitable business
Bibliography
• Russell, Roberta S. and Bernard W.
Taylor. Operations Management.
Prentice Hall, Inc., 2000.
• Chapter 6-Job Design. Internet
http://www.pittstate.edu/mgmkt/chapt
er6spol.html. 3/7/2001
• Job Design and Motivation. Internet
http://www.shef.ac.uk/uni/companies/
msmu/jobdesignmotivation.htm.
Bibliography continued
• Job Design and Work Arrangements.
Internet.
http://mars.wnec.edu/~achelte/gr
ad7outline.htm.