Chapter 4

Work flow design

the process of analyzing the tasks necessary for the production of a product or service

Job Analysis

the process of getting detailed information about jobs

Position

the set of duties (job) performed by a particular person

Ergonomics

the study of the interface between individuals' physiology and the characteristics of the physical work environment

Compressed Work Week

a schedule in which full-time workers complete their weekly hours in fewer than five days

Flextime

a scheduling policy in which full-time employees may choose starting and ending times within guidelines specified by the organization

Job

a set of related duties

Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)

a standardized job analysis questionnaire containing 194 questions about work behaviors, work conditions, and job characteristics that apply to a wide variety of jobs -helps in comparing hobs, even when they are dissimilar

Skill

an individual's level of proficiency at performing a particular task

Decentralized

authority spread among many people

Job Enlargement

broadening the types of tasks performed in a job

Fastest growth of telework occurs in...

computer, engineering and science jobs

Centralized authority

concentrated in a few people at the top of the organization

How has downsizing changed the nature of jobs?

usually have a broader scope of responsibilities coupled with less supervision

Jobs that involve teamwork or broad responsibility...

tend to require a structure based on divisions other than functions

job redesign

involves changing an existing job

Work Processes

- the activities that a work unit's members engage in to produce a given output -used to generate the outputs identified -specifying these helps HRM professionals design efficient work systems by clarifying which tasks are necessary

job description

-A list of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities (TDRs) that a particular job entails -TDRs are observable actions -begins with gathering information about the job from people already performing the task, the position's supervisors or the managers creating the position

PAQ organizes into 6 sections concerning different aspects of the job

-Information Input: where and how a worker gets info needed to perform the job -Mental Processes: the reasoning, decision making, planning and info processing activities involved in performing the job -Work Output-the physical activities, tools, and devices used by the worker to perform the job -Relationships with other persons- the relationships w other people required in performing the job -Job context- the physical and social contexts where the work is performed -Other Characteristics- the activities, conditions, and characteristics other than those previously described that are relevant to the job

Competency

-an area of personal capability that enables employees to perform their work successfully -models help HR professionals ensure that all aspects of talent management are aligned with the organization's strategy

Occupational Information Network (O*NET)

-created by the Labor Department -uses a common language that generalizes across jobs to describe the abilities, work styles, work activities and work context required for 1000 broadly defined occupations

Information for analyzing an existing job often comes from incumbents...

-people who currently hold that position -disadvantage: may have incentive to exaggerate what they do to make themselves appear more valuable to the organization -more accurate in reporting information about the actual time spent performing job tasks and safety-related risk factors while SUPERVISORS provide most accurate estimates of the importance of job duties

Inputs

-required to carry out the work processes -3 categories: raw inputs (materials and information), equipment, and human resources (knowledge, skills and abilities)

Self-Managing Work Teams

-team members have authority to schedule work, hire team members, resolve problems related to the team's performance and perform other duties traditionally handled by management -jobs are usually defined broadly and include sharing of work assignments -when teams are self-managed and members are highly involved in decision making, teams are more productive, employees more satisfied and managers more pleased with performance

Telework

-the broad term for doing one's work away from a centrally located office -for employers, advantages include less need for office space and the ability to offer greater flexibility to employees who are disabled or need to be available for children or elderly relatives -easiest to implement for people in managerial, professional, or sales jobs

Job Design

-the process of defining the way work will be performed and the tasks that a given job requires -to do this effectively, a person must thoroughly understand the job itself (through job analysis) and its place in the larger work unit's work flow process

Outputs

-the products of any work unit -may be tangible or intangible -gives HRM professionals a clearer view of how to increase each work unit's effectiveness

Industrial Engineering

-the study of jobs to find the simplest way to structure work in order to maximize efficiency -find the one best way to perform a job by performing time-and-motion studies to identify the most effective movements for workers to make

Recovery time

-the time it takes a person's thinking to switch back from an interruption to the task at hand -10 to 20 times the length of the interruption

OSHA has a four pronged strategy for encoring ergonomic design:

1) issue guidelines for specific industries 2) enforces violations of its requirement that employers have a general duty to protect workers from hazards, including ergonomic hazards 3) works with industry groups to advise employers in those industries 4) established a National Advisory Committee on Ergonomics to define needs for further research

three dimensions that are most critical to analyzing team work:

1) skill differentiation- the degree to which team members have specialized knowledge or functional capabilities 2) authority differentiation- the allocation of decision-making authority among individuals, subgroups, and the team as a whole 3) temporal (time) stability- the length of time over which team members must work together

A model that shows how to make jobs more motivating is the Job Characteristics Model; this model describes jobs in terms of 5 characteristics:

1) skill variety- the extent to which a job require a variety of skills to carry out the tasks involved 2) task identify- the degree to which a job requires completing a "whole" piece of work from beginning to end 3) task significance- the extent to which the job has an important impact on the lives of other people 4) autonomy- the degree to which the job allows an individual to make decisions about the way the work will be carried out 5)feedback- the extent to which a person receives clear information about performance effectiveness from the work itself

Job Specification

A list of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) that an individual must have to perform a particular job -KSAOs are not directly observable

Job Sharing

A work option in which two part-time employees carry out the tasks associated with a single job. -include the ability to work cooperatively and coordinate the details of one's job with another person

Ways to Simplify a Job's Mental Demands

Limit amount of information and memorization that the job requires. Organizations can provide: - adequate lighting - easy-to-read gauges and displays - simple-to-operate equipment - clear instructions

Other Characteristics

Might be personality traits such as someone's persistence or motivation to achieve

Most beneficial to simplify jobs when:

employees will most appreciate having the mental demands reduced (as in a job that is extremely challenging) or where the costs of errors are severe (as in the job of a surgeon or air-traffic controller)

job enrichment

empowering workers by adding more decision-making authority to jobs -Herzberg's two factor theory- individuals are motivated by more by the intrinsic aspects of work than by extrinsic rewards -five factors associated with motivating jobs: achievement, recognition, growth, regsonsibilit, and performance -best suited for workers who are flexible and responsive to others

job rotation

empowering workers by moving employees among several different jobs

Job Extension

enlarging jobs by combining several relatively simple jobs to form a job with a wider range of tasks

Work Flow Analysis

identifies the output of the process, the activities involved and the three categories of inputs (materials and information, equipment, and human resources)

Fleishman Job Analysis System

job analysis technique that asks subject-matter experts (usually job incumbents) to evaluate a job in terms of the abilities required to perform the job -52 categories of abilities

Goals of Ergonomics

minimize physical strain on the worker by structuring the physical work environment around the way the human body works

Ability

refers to a more general enduring capability that an individual possesses

Knowledge

refers to factual or procedural information that is necessary for successfully performing a task

a recent ergonomic challenge comes from the popularity of mobile devices; as workers find more and more uses for these devices, they are at risk for...

repetitive-stress injuries

Importance of Job Analysis

work redesign, human resource planning, selection, training, performance appraisal, career planning, job evaluation

if the structure is strongly based on function...

workers tend to have low authority and to work alone at highly specialized jobs