BATAAN PENINSULA STATE UNIVERSITY

Balanga Campus

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
IST SEMESTER 2021 – 2022

Course Code: BACC 0113

Course Title : HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

LESSON 3
JOB ANALYSIS AND JOB DESIGN

I. LEARNING OUTCOMES

 Define Job Analysis

 Know what it means to work on a flexible schedule
 Know the purpose and importance of job analysis as the foundation of all HR practices
 Explain the job analysis process
 Determine the various motivational approaches to modern job design
 Appreciate the importance of job description and job specifications

II. INTRODUCTION:

Manpower planning is concerned with determination of quantitative and qualitative requirements

of manpower for the organization. Determination of manpower requirements is one of the most
important problems in manpower planning. Job analysis and job design, provide this knowledge.
Before going through the mechanism of job analysis and job design, it is relevant to understand the
terms which are used in job analysis and job design.
Job: A job may be defined as a “collection or aggregation of tasks, duties and responsibilities which
as a whole, are regarded as a regular assignment to individual employees,” and which is different
from other assignments, In other words, when the total work to be done is divided and grouped into
packages, we call it a “job.” Each job has a definite title based upon standardized trade
specifications within a job; two or more grades may be identified, where the work assignment may
be graded according to skill, the difficulty of doing them, or the quality of workmanship. Thus, it
may be noted that a position is a “collection of tasks and responsibilities regularly assigned to one
person;” while a job is a “group of position, which involve essentially the same duties,
responsibilities, skill and knowledge.” A position consists of a particular set of duties assigned to
an individual.

Decenzo and P. Robbins define other terms as follows:

Task: It is a distinct work activity carried out for a distinct purpose.

Duty: It is a number of tasks.

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 Position: It refers to one or more duties performed by one person in an organization, There are at
least as many positions as there are workers in the organization; vacancies may create more
positions than employees.

Job: It is a type of position within the organization.

Job Family: It is group of two or more jobs that either call for similar worker characteristics or
contain parallel work tasks as determined by job analysis.

Occupation: It is a group of similar jobs found across organizations.

Career: It represents a sequence of positions, jobs, or occupations that a person has over his
working life.

III. CONTENT:

JOB ANALYSIS DEFINED

Job analysis is the procedure through which you determine the duties and nature of the jobs and the
kinds of people (in terms of skills and experience) who should be hired for them.’ It provides you
with data on job requirements, which are then used for developing job descriptions (what the job
entails) and job specifications (what kind of people to hire for the job). Some of the definitions of
job analysis ate given as follows, to understand the meaning of the term more clearly:

According to Michael L. Jucius:

“Job analysis refers to the process of studying the operations, duties and organizational aspects of
jobs in order to derive specifications or as they called by some, job descriptions.”

According to DeCenzo and P. Robbins:

“A job analysis is a systematic exploration of the activities within a job. It is a basic technical
procedure, one that is used to define the duties, responsibilities, and accountabilities of a job.”

According to Herbert G Herman:

“A job is a collection of tasks that can be performed by a single employee to contribute to the
production of some product or service provided by the organization. Each job has certain ability
requirements (as well as certain rewards) associated with it. Job analysis process used to identify
these requirements.”

Flippo has offered a more comprehensive definition of job analysis as:

“Job analysis is the process of studying and collecting information relating to the operations and
responsibilities of a specific job. The immediate products of the analysis are job descriptions and
job specifications”
Thus, job analysis involves the process of identifying the nature of a job (job description) and the
qualities of the likely job holder (job specification).

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USES OF JOB ANALYSIS
As summarized in Figure 3.2 the information generated by the job analysis is used as a basis of
several interrelated personnel management activities:

1. Achievement of Goals:
Weather and Davis have stated, “Jobs are at the core of every organization’s productivity, if
they are designed well and done right, the organization makes progress towards its objectives.
Otherwise, productivity suffers, profits fall, and the organization is less able to meet the
demands of society, customer, employees, and other with a stake in its success.”

2. Organizational Design:
Job analysis will be useful in classifying the jobs and the interrelationships among the jobs.
On the basis of information obtained through job analysis, sound decisions regarding
hierarchical positions and functional differentiation can be taken and this will improve
operational efficiency.

3. Organization and Manpower Planning:

It is helpful in organization planning, for it defines labor in concrete terms and co-ordinates
the activities of the work force, and clearly divides duties and responsibilities.

4. Recruitment and Selection:

Job analysis provides you with information on what the job entails and what human
requirements are required to carry out these activities. This information is the basis on which
you decide what sort of people to recruit and hire.

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5. Placement and Orientation:
Job analysis helps in matching the job requirements with the abilities, interests and aptitudes
of people. Jobs will be assigned to persons on the basis of suitability for the job.
The orientation program will help the employee in learning the activities and understanding
duties that are required to perform a given job more effectively.

6. Employee Training and Management Development:

Job analysis provides the necessary information to the management of training and
development programs. It helps in to determine the content and subject matter of in training
courses. It also helps in checking application information, interviewing test results and in
checking references.

7. Job Evaluation and Compensation:

Job evaluation is the process of determining the relative worth of different jobs in an
organization with a view to link compensation, both basic and supplementary, with the worth
of the jobs. The worth of a job is determined on the basis of job characteristics and job holder
characteristics. Job analysis provides both in the forms of job description and job
specification.

8. Performance Appraisal:
Performance appraisal involves comparing each employee’s actual performance with his or
her desired performance. Through job analysis industrial engineers and other experts
determine standards to be achieved and specific activities to be performed.

9. Health and Safety:

It provides an opportunity for identifying hazardous conditions and unhealthy environmental
factors so that corrective measures may be taken to minimize and avoid the possibility of
accidents.

10. Employee Counselling:

Job analysis provides information about career choices and personal limitation.
Such information is helpful in vocational guidance and rehabilitation counselling. Employees
who are unable to cope with the hazards and demands of given jobs may be advised to opt
for subsidiary jobs or to seek premature retirement

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STEPS IN JOB ANALYSIS
The six steps of job analysis are shown in figure 3.3:

Figure 3.3: Job Analysis Process

1. Determine the Use of the Job Analysis Information:

Start by identifying the use to which the information will be put, since this will determine the
type of data you collect and the technique you use to collect them.

2. Collection of Background Information:

According to Terry, “The make-up of a job, its relation to other jobs, and its requirements for
competent performance are essential information needed for a job evaluation. This information
can be had by reviewing available background information such as organization charts (which
show how the job in question relates to other jobs and where they fit into the overall
organization); class specifications (which describe the general requirements of the class of job
to which the job under analysis belongs); and the existing job descriptions which provide a
starting point from which to build the revised job description”.

3. Selection of Jobs for Analysis:

To do job analysis is a costly and time consuming process. It is hence, necessary to select a
representative sample of jobs for purposes of analysis. Priorities of various jobs can also be
determined. A job may be selected because it has undergone undocumented changes in job
content. The request for analysis of a job may originate with the employee, supervisor, or a
manager.
When the employee requests an analysis it is usually because new job demands have not been
reflected in changes in wages. Employee’s salaries are, in part, based upon the nature of the
work that they perform.

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 Some organizations establish a time cycle for the analysis of each job. For example: A job
analysis may be required for all jobs every three years. New jobs must also be subjected to
analysis.

4. Collection of Job Analysis Data:

Job data on features of the job, requited employee qualification and requirements, should be
collected either from the employees who actually perform a job; or from other employees (such
as foremen or supervisors) who watch the workers doing a job and there by acquire knowledge
about it; or from the outside persons, known as the trade job analysis who are appointed to
watch employees performing a job. The duties of such a trade job analyst are (i) to outline the
complete scope of a job and to consider all the physical and mental activities involved in
determining what the worker does.; (ii) find out why a worker does a job; and for this purpose
he studies why each task is essential for the overall result; and (iii) the skill factor which may
be needed in the worker to differentiate between jobs and establish the extent of the difficulty
of any job.

5. Processing the Information:

Once job analysis information has been collected, the next step is to place it in a form that will
make it useful to those charged with the various personnel functions. Several issues arise with
respect to this. First, how much detail is needed? Second, can the job analysis information be
expressed in quantitative terms? These must be considered properly.

6. Preparing Job Descriptions and Job Classifications:

Job information which has been collected must be processed to prepare the job description
form. It is a statement showing full details of the activities of the job. Separate job description
forms may be used for various activities in the job and may be compiled later on. The job
analysis is made with the help of these description forms. These forms may be used as reference
for the future.

7. Developing Job Specifications:

Job specifications are also prepared on the basis of information collected. It is a statement of
minimum acceptable qualities of the person to be placed on the job. It specifies the standard by
which the qualities of the person are measured. Job analyst prepares such statement taking into
consideration the skills required in performing the job properly. Such statement is used in
selecting a person matching with the job.

COMPONENTS OF JOB ANALYSIS

The outcome of job analysis has two components:

JOB JOB
DESCRIPTION SPECIFICATION

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JOB DESCRIPTION
Job description is the immediate product of job analysis process; the data collected through job
analysis provides a basis for job description and job specification.

Job Description:
It is a written record of the duties, responsibilities and requirements of a particular job.
It is concerned with the job itself and not with the job holders. It is a statement describing the job
in such terms as its title, location, duties, working conditions and hazards.

Flippo has Defined Job Description as:

“A job description is an organized, factual statement of duties and responsibilities of a specific
job. In brief, it should tell what is to be done. How it is done why. It is a standard of function, in
that defines the appropriate and authorized content of a job.

According to Pigors and Myres:

“Job description is a pertinent picture (in writing) of the organizational relationships,
responsibilities and specific duties that constitutes a given job or position. It defines a scope of
responsibility and continuing work assignments that are sufficiently different form that of other
jobs to warrant a specific title.”

Importance of Job Descriptions

 Clarifies expectations from employee
 Provide basis of measuring job performance
 Provides clear description of role for job candidates
 Provides a structure for company to understand and structure, all jobs and ensure
necessity activities, duties and responsibilities are covered one job or another
 Provides continuity of role parameters irrespective of manager interpretation
 Enables pay and grading systems to be structured fairly and logically
 Prevents arbitrary interpretation of role content and limit by employee
 Essential reference tool in issues of employee/employer dispute
 Essential reference tool for discipline issues
 Provides important reference points for training and development
 Provides neutral and objective reference points for appraisals, performance reviews and
counseling

“Job description” is different from “performance assessment.” The former concerns such functions
as planning, co-ordination, and assigning responsibility; while the latter concerns the quality of
performance itself. Though job description is not assessment, it provides an important basis
establishing assessment standards and objectives.

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WRITING JOB DESCRIPTION
A Job description is a written statement of what the job holder actually does, how he or she does it,
and under what conditions the job is performed. This information is in turn used to write a job
specification.
This lists the knowledge, abilities, and skills needed to perform the job satisfactorily. While there
is no standard format you must use in writing a job description, most descriptions contain at least
sections on:

1. Job Identification:
It includes the job title, alterative title, department, division, and plant and code number of the
job. The job title identifies and designates the job properly, the department, division, etc.,
indicate the name of the department where it is situated – whether it is the maintenance
department, mechanical shop etc. Location gives the name of the place. This portion of job
description gives answer to two important questions: to what higher level job is this job
accountable. And who is supervised directly?

2. Job Summary:
Job summary describes the contents of the jobs in terms of activities or tasks performed. Job
summary should clear the nature of the job. Primary, secondary and other duties to be
performed on the job should clearly be indicated separately.

3. Duties and Responsibilities:

This is the most important phase of job description and should be prepared very carefully. It
describes the duties to be performed along with frequency of each major duty. Responsibilities
concerning custody of money, supervision and training of staff etc. are also described in this
part.

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 Example of a Job Description:

4. Supervision:
Under it is given number of persons to be supervised along with their job titles, and the extent
of supervision involved –general, intermediate or close supervision.

5. Relation to Other Jobs:

It describes the vertical and horizontal relationships f work flow. It also indicates to whom the
jobholder will report and who will report to him. It gives an idea of channels of promotion.

6. Machine, tools and equipment define each major type or trade name of the machines and tools
and the raw materials used.

7. Working Conditions:
The working environment in terms of heat, light, noise, dust and fumes etc, the job hazards and
possibility of their occurrence and working conditions should also be described. It will be
helpful in job evaluation.

8. Social Environment:
It specifies the social conditions under which the work will be performed. In this part the size
of work group, interpersonal interactions required to perform the job and development facilities
are mentioned.

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JOB SPECIFICATION
The job specification states the minimum acceptable qualifications that the incumbent must possess
to perform the job successfully. Based on the information acquired through job analysis, the job
specification identifies the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to do the job effectively.
Individuals possessing the personal characteristics identified in the job specification should perform
the job more effectively than individuals lacking these personal characteristics. The job
specification, therefore, is an important tool in the selection process, for it keeps the selector’s
attention on the list of qualifications necessary for an incumbent to perform the job and assists in
determining whether candidates are qualified.

According to Dale Yoder:

“The job specification, as such a summary properly described is thus a specialized job description,
emphasizing personnel requirement and designed especially to facilitate selection and placement.”

Flippo has defined job specification as:

“Job specification is a statement of the minimum acceptable human qualities necessary to perform
a job properly ………….. It is a standard of personnel and designates the qualities required for
acceptable performance.”
In is clear from the above definitions that job specification is a statement of summary of personnel
requirements for a job. It may also be called “standard of personal for the selection”.

A Job Specification should include: (Components of Job Specification)

i. Physical characteristics, which include health, strength, endurance, age, height,
weight, vision, voice, eye, hand and foot co-ordination, motor co-ordination, and color
discrimination.
ii. Psychological and Social Characteristics such as emotional stability, flexibility,
decision making ability, analytical view, mental ability, pleasing manners, initiative,
conversational ability etc.
iii. Mental Characteristics such as general intelligence, memory, judgement, ability to
concentrate, foresight etc.
iv. Personal Characteristics such as sex, education, family background, job experience,
hobbies, extracurricular activities etc.

All these characteristics must be classified into three categories:

 Essential attributes which a person must possess.
 Desirable attributes which a person ought to possess
 Contra indicators which will become a handicap to successful job performance.

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JOB ANALYSIS: A BASIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TOOL

Job Analysis performs an important role in all HR functions and activities.

How and Why?
Job analysis is the foundation of which HR practices ae built. In the absence of a straight-out and
thorough awareness, appreciaion, and discernment as to hows jobs are supposed to be performed,
efective HR practices would be difficult and may even be impossible to accomplish.

When is Job Analysis Used?

 Personnel Selection
 Recruitment – postularing accurate job data
 Management Compliance
 Peformance Appraisal
 Identification of job similarity for easy transfer
 Job Evaluation
 Job Re-design and Reengineering

JOB ANALYSIS: IMPORTANCE AND PURPOSE

The rationale of doing a job analysis is to formulate job description and jb specification which
would facilitate to hire skilled workforce.
Hence, job analysis makes possible for recruiters and employers to have a profound comprehension
of a job and can therefore simply track aspirants posess the expected qualifications and qualities to
perform a job.
Aside from defining duties and tasks required, job analysis share importance on the following:
 Legal validation of employment decisions
 Identification of reporting relationships
 Basis for determing relative worth of jobs
 Identifies redundancy

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Intentions behind job analysis is to answer questions such as:

What? When? Where? How?

WHAT?
 What is the need of the job to exist?
 What the usual mental and physical behaviors that are expected of an employee:
 What the required minimum qualities and qualifications to perform the job?

WHEN?
 When is the job needed?
 When is the right time to hire additional manpower to fill in the gaps?

WHERE?
 Where is the job to be performed?
 Where do we go from here?

HOW?
 How did the employee perform? – Evaluation

PURPOSE OF JOB ANALYSIS:

 Determining qualifications required of jobholders
 Providing guidance in the recruitment and selection process
 Evaluating current employees for transfer or promotion
 Provide a basis for determining training
 Providing clues for work methods simplification and improvement
 Setting compensation and maintaining fairness in wage and salary administration
 Judging the merits of grievances that question assignments and compensation
 Establishing responsibility, accountability, and authority
 Providing essential guidance for performance management in the establishment of
standards of performance an performance appraisal
 Strategic Planning

OBJECTIVES OF JOB ANALYSIS

 To bring about the most applicable methods and techniques in carrying out a job
 To accumulate and intensify employee job satisfaction
 To ascertain fundamental areas for giving training to employees and to find out the best
methods of training
 Development of performance measurement systems

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  To match job specifications with employee specifications while within the selection stage.

JOB ANALYSIS: FOUNDATION OF ALL HR PRACTICES

HR Planning Work design

Required skills
Staffing Advertising in the Labor Market
Selection Criterion
Selection Methods
Succession Planning
Training Training Needs for New Employees
Training Program Content
Performance Management Performance Standards
Evaluation Criterion
Appraisal Forms and Methods
Feedback & Communication with Employees
Safety and Health Required Training
Required Protective Guidelines
Hazard Communications
Accommodations for Medical Impairments
Rewards Value of each job for compensation purposes
Pay adjustments
Employee Relations Work Rules, Policies & Procedures
Clear Lines of Responsibility & Authority
Union Work Settings
Legal Compliance Recordkeeping
Accommodations
Trainings
Compensation Practices
Equal Employment & Affirmative Action

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APPROACHES TO JOB ANALYSIS

 The central focus is on the actual task involved in a job

WORK
ORIENTED  Generally concentrates on duties, functions and
APPROACH responsibilities involved in a job

 The focus is on examining of human attributes needed

EMPLOYEE to perform the job accordingly.
ORIENTED  Human attributes have been classified into knowledge,
APPROACH skills, attitude and other characteristics.

 Knowledge is the information people need in order to perform the job

 Skills are the proficiencies needed to perform each task
 Abilities are the attributes that are relatively stable over time
 Other Characteristics are all other attributes, usually personality factors

JOB DESIGN

Job design is of comparatively recent origin. The human resource managers have realized that the
design of a job has considerable influence on the productivity and job satisfaction; poorly designed
jobs often result in boredom to the employees, increased turnover, job dissatisfaction, low
productivity and an increase in overall costs of the organization. All these negative consequences
can be avoided with the help of proper job design.

Job Design
 A systematic attempt to organize tasks, duties, and responsibilities into a unit of work to
achieve a certain objectives
 Determining job tasks and responsibilities employees are expected to perform

Job design is the process of:

 Deciding the contents of the job
 Deciding methods to carry out the job
 Deciding the relationship which exists in the organization

KEYS TO CONSIDER
 Which tasks should be highlighted?
 How minimal or intricate are these tasks?
 How many tasks can employees realistically perform?
 How flexibility is given to employees?

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WHY PERFORM JOB DESIGN:
 From employees’ perspective
 How employees will accomplish their jobs will affect employees’ contributions.
 Determine if design approach will be in favor toward attaining employee efficiency
or employee motivation.
 From company’s perspective
 Establish whether organizations will realize objectives by designing jobs in
suitable ways.

PRINCIPLES OF JOB DESIGN:

Principles are the bases of the approach used in job design. Robertson and Smith (1985) have
suggested the following five principles of job design:
 To influence skill variety, provide opportunities for people to do several tasks and combine
tasks.
 To influence task identity, combine tasks and from natural work units.
 To influence task significance, form natural work units and inform people of the
importance of their work.
 To influence autonomy, give people responsibility for determining their own working
systems.
 To influence feedback; establish good relationship and open feedback channels.

APPROACHES TO MODERN JOB DESIGN: MOTIVATIONAL APPROACH

1. CHANGING JOB TASKS

Ways on how to modify jobs to make it less boring and more satisfying

1. Job Simplification:
In job simplification, the complete job is broken down into small subparts; this is done so
that employee can do these jobs without much specialized training. Moreover, small
operations of the job can also be performed simultaneously so that the complete operation
can be done more quickly.
For job simplification, generally time and motion studies are used.

2. Job Rotation:
Another technique designed to enhance employee motivation is job rotation, or periodically
assigning employees to alternating jobs or tasks. For example, an employee may spend two
weeks attaching bumpers to vehicles and the following two weeks making final checks of
the chassis. During the next month, the same employee may be assigned to two different
jobs. Therefore, the employee would be rotated among four jobs. The advantage of job
rotation is that employees do not have the same routine job day after day. Job rotation only
addresses the problem of assigning employees to jobs of limited scope; the depth of the job

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 does not change. The job cycle of the actual daily work performed has not been lengthened
or changed. Instead, employees are simply assigned to different jobs with different cycles.
Because job rotation does not change the basic nature of jobs, it is criticized as nothing
more than having an employee perform several boring and monotonous jobs rather than
one. Some employees dislike job rotation more than being assigned to one boring job
because when they are assigned to one job they know exactly where to report and what
work to expect each day. Workers quickly realize that job rotation does not increase their
interest in their work.
Although it seldom addresses the lack of employee motivation, it give manages a means of
coping with frequent absenteeism and high turnover. Thus when absenteeism or turnover
occurs in the work force, managers can quickly fill the vacated position because each
employee can perform several jobs.
Job rotation is often effectively used as a training technique for new, inexperienced
employees. At higher organizational levels, rotation also helps to develop managerial
generalists because it exposes them to several different operations.

Advantages of Job Rotation Technique:

 The employee experiences variety of work, workplace and peer group.
 Job rotation helps to broaden the knowledge and skills of an employee.
 The main advantage of job rotation is that it relieves the employee from the boredom
and monotony of doing the same job.
 With the help of this method, people become more flexible. They are prepared to
assume responsibility especially at other positions.
 Job rotation broadens the work experience of employees and turns specialists into
generalists.
 It is beneficial for the management also as the management gets employees who can
perform a variety of tasks to meet the contingencies.
 This method improves the self-image and personal worth of the employee.

Disadvantages of Job Rotation Technique:

 Job rotation also creates disruptions. Members of the work group have to adjust to the
new employee.
 Productivity is reduced by moving a worker into new position just when his efficiency
at the prior job was creating organizational economies.
 Training costs are increased.
 The supervisor may also have to spend more time answering question and monitoring
the work of the recently rotated employee.
 It can demotivate intelligent and ambitious trainees who seek specific responsibilities
in their chosen specialty.

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3. Job Enlargement:
Another means of increasing employee’s satisfaction with routine jobs is job enlargement,
or increasing the number of tasks performed (i.e. increasing the scope of the job). Job
enlargement, like job rotation, tries to eliminate short job cycles that create boredom.
Unlike job rotation, job enlargement actually increases the job cycle. When a job is
enlarged, either the tasks being performed are enlarged or several short tasks are given to
one worker. Thus, the scope of the job is increased because there are many tasks to be
performed by the same worker. Job enlargement programs change many methods of
operation- in contrast to job rotation, in which the same work procedures are used by
workers who rotate through work stations. Although job enlargement actually changes the
pace of the work and the operation by reallocating tasks and responsibilities, it does not
increase the depth of a job.
The focus of designing work for job enlargement is the exact opposite of that for job
specialization.
Instead of designing jobs to be divided up into the fewest of tasks per employee, a job is
designed to have many tasks for the employee to perform. An enlarged job requires a longer
training period because there are more tasks to be learned. Worker satisfaction should
increase because is reduced as the job scope is expanded. However, job enlargement
programs are successful with jobs what have increased scope; such workers are less prone
to resort to absenteeism, grievances, slowdowns and other means of displaying job
dissatisfaction.
Enlargement is done only on the horizontal level. Thus, the job remains the same, but
becomes of a larger scale than before. In the words of George Strauss and L.R. Sayles “Job
enlargement implies that instead of assigning one man to each job, a group of men can be
assigned to a group of jobs and then allowed to decide for themselves how to organize the
work. Such changes permit more social contacts and control over the work process.”

Job enlargement has the following advantages:

 Increase in diversity of job
 Job satisfaction
 Provides wholeness and identity with the task and increases the knowledge necessary
to perform it.
 Provides variety of skills.
 Reduces tension and boredom.
 Trains and develops more versatile employees.

4. Job Enrichment:
The concept of job enrichment has been derived from Herzberg’s two-factor theory of
motivation in which he has suggested that job content is one of the basic factors of
motivation. If the job is designed in such a manner that it becomes more interesting and
challenging to the job performer and provides him opportunities for achievement,

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recognition, responsibility, advancement and growth, the job itself becomes a source of
motivation to the individual.

According to Richard W. Beatty and Graig Eric. Schneider:

“Job enrichment is a motivational technique which emphasizes the need for challenging
and interesting work. It suggests that jobs be redesigned so that intrinsic satisfaction is
derived from doing the job. In its best applications it leads to a vertically enhanced job by
adding function from other organizational levels, making it contain more variety and
challenge and offer autonomy and pride to the employee.”

According to P. Robbins:
“Job enrichment refers to the vertical expansion of the jobs. It increases the degree to
which the worker controls the planning, execution and evaluation of his work.”

Rebert Ford:
 who was associated with designing of jobs to make them more enriched, has provided
some bases (though not exhaustive) for job enrichment as shown in Table 3.3.

Advantages of Job Enrichment:

The advantages of job enrichment are as follows:
 It enriches the role.
 Job enrichment is the most widely used of job design as it provides a meaningful
learning to employees.
 It makes the work interesting and employee get motivated.
 It helps in reducing the rate of labor turnover and absenteeism.
 It increases skills of the employees.
 It increases morale and performance.
 Reduce Boredom and dissatisfaction.
 Increase in output both qualitative and quantitative.

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 Disadvantages of Job Enrichment:
Dunham and Newstrom state, “Even the strongest supporters of job enrichment readily
admit that there are limitations in its application.” Newstrom and Keith Davis also write,
“Employees are the final judges of what enriches their jobs. All that management can do is
to gather information about what tends to enrich jobs, try these changes in the job system,
and then determine whether employees feel that enrichment has occurred.”
A few limitations of or problems with job enrichment are as follows:
 Increase cost
 Need more employee counseling, training, and guidance.
 Not applicable to all jobs.
 Negative impact on personnel.
 Imposed on people.
 Objected by unions
 Pay dissatisfaction

2. INCREASING RESPONSIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION

Ways on how to build up responsibility and participation:
 Empowerment
Employees have involvement and mandated authority over how they function and
take part in decisions and resolutions.
 Participation
Allowing employees to partake in decisions that may affect them in their respective
jobs.
 Voice
Granting employees a certain degree to ace to formal channel within the firm to
articulate concerns about matters relating to their work condition.

3. EMPLOYEE TEAMS
These groups are to work collaboratively toward a collective goal.
 Work Teams
Composed of well defined, stable, full-time members
 Parallel Teams
Comprised of cross functional group to address problem or issue whose members
normally retain their formal position as well.
 Project Teams
They exist for limited time to accomplish an objective.
 Self-Managed Teams
Made up of members who are expected to work collaboratively to do task that may
include the following:
o Making Decisions
o Hiring

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 o Planning
o Scheduling of work activities
o Accomplishing goals

JOB REDESIGN
A process of “restructuring” the elements of a job such as tasks, duties and responsibilities.

This is normally done to make the job more….

Interesting Exciting Encouragin Inspiring

g

KEY STEPS IN JOB REDESIGN

KEY STEPS IN JOB REDESIGN

Revising the Job Content

Analyzing Job-related Information

Altering Job Elements

Reformation of Job Description and

Job Specification

Reshuffling the Job-related Tasks and

Duties

ADVANTAGES OF JOB REDESIGNING

 Enhancing the quality of work-life
 Increasing organization’s and employees’ productivity
 Bringing the sense of belongingness in employees
 Creating a right person-job-fit

JOB DESIGN FACTORS

 Complexity of the work
 Work processes involve
 Nature of the people currently employed in the organization

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  Timescales – where immediate responses are required.
 Geographical scattering of the organization’s activities
 Effect of information technology
 Growth level of an organization and available expertise needed to perform a task
 Level of resources available
 Availability of human resource in/labor force in the environment

FIVE CORE JOB DIMENSIONS:

1. Skill Variety
The extent to which the job compels workers to use a variation of several
 Activities
 Talents with the aim of successfully fulfilling the job requirements
 Skills
2. Task Identity
The extent to which the job permits is staff to accomplish the entire mission from beginning to
end, instead of fragmented portions of the job.
3. Task Significance
The extent to which the job substantially impacts the lives of others both within and outside
the workplace.
4. Autonomy
The extent to which the job grants employees a certain level of freedom to participate in various
aspects such as:
 Planning
 Scheduling
 Methods used to complete the job
5. Feedback
The extent to which the job itself offer staffs with well-defined, straightforward and
comprehensive knowledge of their performance.

FLEXIBLE WORK SCHEDULE

Allow employees to vary their arrival and departure times from work, or choose the days that they
work. For example, an employee might be allowed to come in any time between 9 am and 11 am,
and leave any time between 5 am and 7 pm. Or, they might be allowed to take off Friday if they
agree to work Sunday.

REASONS FOR WORK FLEXIBILITY

1. Role of Technology
A. Communication
B. Information access
2. Generations Priority
a. Baby Boomers
b. Generation Y

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ADVANTAGES
Productivity increases.
There are several reasons for increased productivity through the offering of flexible work programs.
Not only are employees given more control over how they put their time in, they are also provided
with an environment of trust and autonomy. With happier employees and a more trusting
environment, productivity increases. And factor in a reduced (or completely eliminated) daily
commute, and employees can focus more of their time on work—and less on having to get to work.
Employees are less stressed.
Stress is one of the biggest complaints in the workforce. With only so many hours in a day, a
flexible schedule creates an environment for better management of life’s demands. After all, if your
workers are stressed, they won’t be able to perform at their peak. When they don’t have to juggle
all of life’s demands all at once, employees have less stress and more positive feelings about their
job.
Absenteeism decreases.
When workers are forced to fit both work and personal demands within the confines of a structured
9-to-5 job, it doesn’t always work out. Through flexible schedules, however, employees have the
ability to maintain their required hours while working around activities that would normally
necessitate time away from the office. Rather than take paid time off (or worse, call in sick when
they’re really not), employees utilize their flexible schedule to move their hours around to
accommodate appointments or other events—while still staying on top of their workload.
Employees are healthier—and happier.
In a University of Minnesota study, even more evidence to support flexible schedules was found.
Its results cited that employees were able to get more (and better) sleep, have higher energy levels,
and allowed for ill employees to take care of their health and return to work faster. Additionally,
through flexible policies employees were able to reduce their psychological distress, work-life
conflict, and emotional exhaustion. How does this help employers? By having employees who are
both mentally and physically healthy, the quantity and quality of work produced far surpasses that
of workers who are stressed and unhappy.
It saves money.
Sure, employees who telecommute can save around $6,000 annually. As for employers, that
number almost doubles. Yes, for each remote or telecommuting person on your workforce,
employers save around $11,000 each year. These savings come in the form of eliminated overhead
like office space, utilities, and other expenses associated with having your workers report to the
office.
Plus, in addition to saving money from having happier and healthier employees, employers are able
to attract and retain top-notch professionals, resulting in less turnover and training costs. Having
to replace workers comes at a price, to the tune of 33% of a worker’s annual salary.
It builds trust.
Many workplace environments strive to be a place of trust and mutual respect. Through flexible
work policies, like flexible schedules and telecommute options, companies can build trust for both

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the employee and the company. Employees feel autonomous when given the freedom to work a
flexible schedule, and in return, employers are able to benefit from loyal employees.

ALTERNATE
SCHEDULES

CATEGORIES OF FLEXIBLE REDUCED HOUR

WORK OPTIONS ALTERNATIVES

TELE
COMMUNICATING

ALTERNATE SCHEDULES – employees work full-time

 Flextime
Employees still need to work full time. However, instead of the usual 8am to 5pm work
schedule (as the usual practice), employees may opt to start earlier (7am to 4pm) or later
(9am to 6pm)
 Flexible Schedule
Employees working on a flexible schedules set their working hour on a daily or weekly
basis.
 Compressed Workweek
This setup provides an alternative to the traditional 8-hour per day for a five-day workweek.
In this arrangement, employees work longer hours in fewer days. An example would be to
work for only four day a week but to render services or 10 hours a day instead of 8 hours
a day. In both cases, employees would still have to render the expected standard 40 hours
a week work time.

REDUCED HOUR ALTERNATIVES allow employees to work less. Options include the
following:
 Part-Time Work
It refers to any work schedule that is less than full-time in a workweek (meaning less than
the usual 40 hours a week)
 Job Sharing
In a job share, two individuals share the same job. The particular pair share one job
description and one workspace. They mutually agree to divide the workload. This is
typically done to ensure coverage at all times either by the day, week or month.
 Project Work
Some organizations engage workers for short-term contract assignments, a project venture
involves a contract with a termination period.

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  Seasonal Work
Seasonal employment applies “where the work or service to be performed is seasonal in
nature and the employment is for the duration of the season.

TELECOMMUTING
A work arrangement in which the employees works outside the office, often working from home or
a location closer to home including, but not limited to a place such as coffee shops and libraries.
Other terms associated to telecommuting are the following:
 E-Commuting
 Telework
 Teleworking
 Working from Home
 Mobile Work
 Remote Work

IV. SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS:

1. Discuss the purpose and importance of job analysis as the foundation of all HR practices
2. Explain the job analysis process
3. Determine the various motivational approaches to modern job design
4. What is job analysis? What steps are involved in the preparation of job analysis?
5. Discuss the steps in job redesign.
6. Distinguish between :
a) Job description and job specification
b) Job enlargement and job enrichment
7. Clearly define and discuss the relationship among job analysis, job description and job
specification.
8. Define flexible work schedule and explain its advantages.
9. Discuss the different categories of work options

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