Learning Objectives

• Discuss workflow analysis and business process re-engineering as

approaches to organizational work.
• Define job design and identify five design characteristics for jobs.
• Explain how work schedules and telework are affecting jobs and
work.
• Describe job analysis, and the stages in and methods used in the job
analysis process.
• Indicate how job analysis has both behavioral and legal aspects.
• Identify the components of job descriptions.

6–1

HR Management and Jobs

• Dividing Work into Jobs

• Work
• Effort directed toward producing or accomplishing results.
• Job
• A grouping of tasks, duties, and responsibilities that constitutes the total work
assignment for an employee.
• Approaches to Understanding Jobs
• Workflow analysis
• Re-engineering
• Job design
• Job analysis
• Job descriptions and job specifications

6–2

1
 Influences Affecting
Jobs, People, and
Related HR Policies

Figure 6–1
6–3

Workflow Analysis

• Workflow Analysis
• A study of the way work (inputs, activities, and outputs) moves through an
organization.

Inputs
Activities Outputs
People
Tasks and Goods and
Materials
Jobs Services
Equipment

Evaluation

6–4

2
Business Process Re-engineering

• Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)

• Measures for improving such activities as product development, customer
service, and service delivery.
• Phases of Reengineering
• Rethink
• Redesign
• Retool

6–5

Importance Of Job Design

• Job Design
• Organizing tasks, duties, and responsibilities into a productive unit of work.
• Person/job Fit
• Matching characteristics of people with characteristics of jobs.

Job Design

Job Job Physical and

Performance Satisfaction Mental Health

6–6

3
Person/Job Fit

Figure 6–2
6–7

Nature of Job Design

• Job Enlargement
• Broadening the scope of a job by expanding the number of different tasks to
be performed.
• Job Enrichment
• Increasing the depth of a job by adding the responsibility for planning,
organizing , controlling, and evaluating the job.
• Job Rotation
• The process of shifting a person from job to job.

6–8

4
Characteristics of Jobs

• Skill Variety
• The extent to which the work requires several different activities for
successful completion.
• Task Identity
• The extent to which the job includes a “whole” identifiable unit of work that
is carried out from start to finish and that results in a visible outcome.
• Task Significance
• The impact the job has on other people.

6–9

Characteristics of Jobs

• Autonomy
• The extent of individual freedom and discretion in the work and its
scheduling.
• Feedback
• Amount of information employees receive about how well or how poorly
they have performed.

6–10

5
Job Characteristics Model

Figure 6–3
6–11

Using Teams in Jobs

• Types of Teams
• Special-Purpose Team
• Organizational team formed to address specific problems, improve work processes, and
enhance product and service quality.
• Self-directed Work Team
• A team composed of individuals assigned a cluster of tasks, duties, and responsibilities
to be accomplished.
• Virtual Team
• Organizational team composed of individuals who are geographically separated but
linked by communications technology.

6–12

6
Factors Affecting Virtual Team Success

Figure 6–4
6–13

Team Jobs
• Advantages • Disadvantages
• Improved productivity • Requires employees to be “group
• Increased employee involvement oriented”
• More widespread employee • Not appropriate for most work in
learning organizations
• Greater employee ownership of • Can be overused
problems • Difficult to measure team
performance
• Individual compensation interferes
with team concept

6–14

7
Work Schedules

• Global Work Schedule Differences

• The number of work hours in a week varies from country to country.
• Work Schedule Alternatives
• Longer daily hours (e.g., 4-day, 40 hours)
• Shift Work
• Shift differentials for evening or night shift work
• Compressed Work Week
• A work schedule in which a full week’s work is accomplished in fewer than
five days.

6–15

Work Schedules

• Flextime
• A work scheduling arrangement in which employees work a set number of
hours per day but vary their starting and ending times.
• Job Sharing
• A scheduling arrangement in which two employees perform the work of one
full-time job.

6–16

8
 Alternative Work Locations

• Telecommuting
• The process of going to work via electronic computing and
telecommunications equipment.
• Temporary Locations
• Office nomads
• Virtual office
• Effects of Alternative Work Arrangements
• A shift to evaluating employees on results
• Greater trust, less direct supervision
• Lack of direct contact (visibility)

6–17

Telework Concerns of Management

and Employees

Source: “Telework Concerns of Management and Employees,” HR Executive Series: Focus on Telecommunicating
Executive Summary, Bureau of National Affairs, Winter 2002, 2. For more information about this publication and
other HR solutions visit http://hrcenter.bna.com or call 800-372–1033. Used with permission. Figure 6–5
6–18

9
The Nature of Job Analysis

• Job Analysis
• A systematic way of gathering and analyzing information about the content,
context, and the human requirements of jobs.
• Work activities and behaviors
• Interactions with others
• Performance standards
• Financial and budgeting impact
• Machines and equipment used
• Working conditions
• Supervision given and received
• Knowledge, skills, and abilities needed

6–19

Job analysis

• Methods
• Questionnaire
• Interviews
• Observation
• Logs/Diaries
• Sources
• Employees
• Supervisors
• Managers
• Job analyst
• Conducted
• Job analyst
• Outside consultant
• Supervisors/Managers

6–20

10
Task-Based Job Analysis

• Task
• A distinct, identifiable work activity composed of motions
• Duty
• A larger work segment composed of several tasks that are performed by an
individual
• Responsibilities
• Obligations to perform certain tasks and duties

6–21

Competency-Based Job Analysis

• Competencies
• Individual capabilities that can be linked to enhanced performance by
individuals or teams.
• Technical competencies
• Behavioral competencies
• Reasons for using a competency approach:
• To communicate valued behaviors within the organization
• To raise competency levels throughout the organization
• To emphasize people’s capabilities for enhancing the competitive advantage
of the organization

6–22

11
Competency Analysis Methodology

• Identify future performance results areas critical to the

organization.
• Assemble panel groups familiar with the company.
• Interview panel members to get examples of job behaviors.
• Develop detailed descriptions of competencies.
• Rate competencies and levels need to meet them.
• Standards of performance are identified and tied to jobs.

6–23

Stages in the Job

Analysis Process

Figure 6–8
6–24

12
 Job Analysis Methods
Job Analysis
Methods

Observation Specialized
Job Analysis Computerized
Interviewing Questionnaires
Work Sampling Methods Job Analysis
Diary/Log

6–25

Typical Areas Covered in a Job Analysis Questionnaire

Figure 6–9
6–26

13
Job Analysis

• Functional Job Analysis (FJA)

• Goals of the organization
• What workers do to achieve goals
• Level and orientation of what workers do
• Performance standards
• Training content
• O*Net Online
• Online information on skills, abilities, knowledge, work activities, and interests
associated with a wide range of jobs and occupations

6–27

Behavioral Aspects of Job Analysis

“Inflation” of Jobs and Titles

Behavioral Managerial Anxieties

Aspects of
Job
Analysis Current Incumbent Emphasis

Employee Fears and Anxieties

6–28

14
 Legal Aspects of Job Analysis

• Essential job functions—fundamental duties of the job that are performed

regularly, require significant amounts of time, cannot be easily assigned to
another employee, and are necessary to accomplish the job.
• Marginal job functions—duties that are part of the job but are incidental or
ancillary to the purpose and nature of the job.
• Wage/Hours Regulation

6–29

Determining Essential and Marginal Job Functions

Figure 6–10
6–30

15
 Job Descriptions and Job Specifications

• Job Description
• Identification of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job
• Performance Standards
• Indicator of what the job accomplishes and how performance is measured in
key areas of the job description.
• Job Specification
• The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) an individual needs to perform a
job satisfactorily.

6–31

Sample Job Duty Statements and Performance Standards

Figure 6–11
6–32

16
 Job Description Components
• Identification • Essential Functions and
• Job title Duties
• Reporting relationships • Lists major tasks, duties and
• Department responsibilities
• Location • Job Specifications
• Date of analysis • Knowledge, skills, and abilities
• General Summary • Education and experience
• Describes the job’s • Physical requirements
distinguishing responsibilities • Disclaimer
and components
• Of implied contract
• Signature of approvals

6–33

Sample Job Description

Figure 6–12
6–34

17
Sample Job Description (cont’d)

Figure 6–12 cont’d

6–35

Sample Job Description (cont’d)

Figure 6–12 cont’d

6–36

18