Human Resources Management Chapter 5 JOB ANALYSIS, JOB DESIGN AND QUALITY OF WORK LIFE

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Objectives

• Explain what is meant by job analysis and job design.

• Understand the uses of job analysis.

• Describe the content of a job description and a job specification.

• Discuss the collection of job analysis data.

• Explain the major methods of job analysis.

• Discuss competency profiling.

• Understand the major approaches to job design.

• Discuss quality of work life, employee participation and industrial democracy.

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Defining Job Analysis

• Obtaining information about jobs by determining their

essential duties

,

tasks, responsibilities and requirements .

• Information includes: the end result, behaviours required to do the job, equipment that must be used to do the job, environmental factors relevant to performance, personal factors relevant to job performance.

• Including

JOB DESCRIPTIONS, JOB SPECIFICATIONS and JOB DESIGN

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When do we need a job analysis?

• When a new job is created • When a job is changed significantly as a result of new methods, procedures or technology • A long period since the last job analysis was undertaken • Disagreement between a supervisor and job holder on the work to be perform • Increasing grievances regarding job content/working conditions • Reorganization, restructuring or downsizing 4

Job-oriented and Employee Oriented Approach

• Job-oriented : job content:

task, duties

and

responsibilities

• Employee oriented : job requirement : human behaviour required to perform the job, including

knowledge, skills, abilities

. Only include relevant factors like aptitudes, abilities etc. but not details like sex, age marital status, ethnic background.

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Defining Job Analysis

• Why does the job exist?

• What physical and mental activities does the worker undertake?

• When is the job to be performed? • What qualifications are needed to perform the job?

• What are the working conditions (i.e. temperature, light, offensive fumes and noise) of the job?

• What machinery or equipment is used in the job?

• What constitutes successful performance?

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Reasons for Job Analysis

• Job description • Job specifications • Recruitment • Selection • Training and development • Performance appraisal • Job evaluations • Salary & benefits • Enterprise bargaining • Working conditions • Authority relationships • Standards expected • Fringe benefits 7

JOB ANALYSIS OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the job analysis is to collect information for: • •

job description



selection job specification



job design HR planning



recruitment TYPE OF INFORMATION

• • • • •

TO BE COLLECTED What is performed?

Where is it performed?

How is it performed?

Why is it performed?

When is it performed?

• • • •

Sources of data Job incumbent



Supervisor



Job analyst



Experts

Source: Asia Pacific Management Co Ltd. 2001

Records/files/manuals Plans and blueprints HR information systems

• • • •

Methods of data collection Observation



Diaries/log Interviews Questionnaire Critical incident report

• •

Form of data analysis Qualitative Quantitative

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Job Descriptions

• Identify job content, requirements and context • Provide a written summary of the duties and responsibilities of the job • Help managers and employees understand what the job is and how it is to be performed.

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Components of Job Descriptions

• Job identification – (Job title,department) • Job summary – (objective of the position) • Duties and responsibilities – (list of duties of responsibility) • Relationships – (relationship with other positions) • Know-how – (knowledge, skills, experience) • Problem solving – (environment:dynamic, creative or unstable) • Accountability – (Impact of job in terms of sales, assets or payroll) • Authority – (Decision making authority) • Special circumstances – (Special/hazardous about job) • Performance standards – (required standard performance) • Trade union/association 10

Job Specification

• A written statement of the qualifications, skills, experience, ability and know-how a person needs to perform a given job successfully 11

Data Collection Methods for job analysis

• Interviews • Job analysis questionnaires • Observation • Diaries and logs • Critical incidents • Focus and consultative groups • Combination 12

Methods of Job analysis

1.

2.

3.

4.

• Functional job analysis (FJA) Use standardised statements and terminology to describe nature of job and prepare job descriptions and specifications • Position analysis questionnaire (PAQ) Use a structured questionnaire for quantitatively assessing jobs.

– Management position description questionnaire Use a behaviourally oriented, structured questionnaire to describe, compare, classify and evaluate management positions • Position classification inventory (PCI) Use to classify occupations and assess person 13

The Hay Guide Chart Profile Method

• Widely used in job evaluation, the

Hay Guide Chart Profile Method

is commercially available through Hay Group.

• Job content is analysed in terms of three major factors which are present to some degree in every job.

– Know how => specialized knowledge, managerial skills, human relations – Problem solving => environment and challenges – Accountability => answerability for actions, freedom to act, job impact etc 14

New Multi-method Approaches

• Based on computer technology. Sophisticated quantitative techniques are now coming into use. • Use multidimensional perspectives on the source of job information, the type of data analysed and the response scale formats. • Designed to concurrently support multiple HR applications.

• They are structured questionnaires to be completed by employees, supervisors and/or subject-matter experts.

• They use computer-friendly computer systems which may perform complex multivariate statistical procedures and provide graphical, quality reports for data interpretation.

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Evaluation of Job Analysis

Competency profiling

• Job analysis method that focuses on the skills and behaviour needed to successfully perform a job.

• Specifically a competency ‘is an underlying characteristic of a person that leads to or causes superior or effective performance’.

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Competency Characteristics

• Motives — what drives, directs and selects behaviour towards certain actions or goals and away from others. • Traits — physical characteristics and consistent responses to situations or information. • Self-concept — a person’s attitudes, values or self image. • Knowledge — information a person has in specific content areas. • Skill — the ability to perform a certain physical or mental task. 17

The Behavioural Event Interview(BEI)

• BEI is a development of critical incident reporting. • It generates information about the job and what the job holder thinks, feels and hopes to achieve in the job.

• Helps the HR manager identify and measure competencies such as achievement motivation and logical problem solving .

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Job Analysis and Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO)

• There should be no obvious or disguised violations of EEO requirements. • Avoid listing lengthy experience requirements (for example, 10–15 years) unless no-one with less experience could satisfactorily perform the job.

• Job specifications and job descriptions should not be based on opinion without a proper job analysis being undertaken.

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Job Design

• Specification of the content of a job • The material and equipment required to do the job • The relation of the job to other jobs.

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Methods of Job Design

• Job specialisation • Job enlargement - horizontal • Job rotation • Job enrichment - vertical • Autonomous work teams • Compressed work week • Flexitime • Job sharing • Part - or fractional time • Telecommuting 21

A) Job Specialization

– Using standardized work procedures – Employees perform repetitive, precisely defined task – Usually used by industrial engineers and analysts Adv: • Improve operating efficiencies through use of low-skill and low cost labour • Minimum on-job-training • Easy control of production quantities • Fewer errors Disadv: • Boredom and lack of challenge • Employees are restricted by the speed of assembly line • No end product • Limited social interaction • Employees have no decision making involvement 22

Job Enlargement

– Horizontal expansion of a job by adding similar level responsibilities – By adding multiple skilling, task varieties or increasing work interests

Job Rotation

– Increase task variety by moving employees from one task to another function/geography – Typical in Japanese company – Adv: higher satisfaction, develop general perspective, increase skills – Disadv: increase training costs, lower productivity, disruption, lower specialty 23

Job Enrichment

– Vertical expansion of a job by adding planning and decision making responsibilities – Employees may have greater achievement, recognition, responsibility and personal growth and motivation – By combing tasks, establishing client relationships, expanding jobs vertically (increase employees’ autonomy and control ability), and opening feedback channels 24

Quality of Work Life

• Adequate remuneration • Development of human capabilities • Growth and security • Constitutionalism • Total life space • Social relevance 25

Quality Circles

• Quality circles usually consist of small groups of five to ten workers who meet on a regular basis. • Meetings generally involve the group’s supervisor • The objective is to identify problems as a group, process suggestions and examine alternatives for improving productivity, raising product and service quality, and increasing worker satisfaction. 26

Employee Participation and Industrial Democracy

• Industrial democracy is often confused with the less emotive term ‘employee participation’.

• Industrial democracy and employee participation have been described as different aspects of the same concept. • Industrial democracy implies at least the ‘redistribution of decision making power’.

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