Concept of Job Analysis

Concept of Job Analysis

Job analysis forms an intensive, direct technique for identifying the crucial information regarding the job. It is the process of determining the tasks involves in the job and personnel qualities of the individuals required to involve in the job. According to Flipper, “Job analysis is the process of studying and collecting information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job.” Job analysis provides information both for the job and jobholder. It involves the breaking up of a job into its basic elements and studying them in detail to obtain all pertinent facts about the job. It provides information about job contents, job duties personnel qualities required for the job.

Uses/ Advantages/ Benefits of Job Analysis:

1. It helps in proper placement of employees by matching job requirements and personnel case of units and misfits are reduced.
2. It helps to improve efficiency due to better placement and frequently suggests method for improvements.
3. Job analysis helps in improving the design of job and work methods. It aids in analyzing work processes and work simplification. It also serves as the basis for time and motion studies conducted to lay down work standards for incentive plans.
4. It provides a basis for manpower planning and for intelligent recruitment and selection of personnel. It reveals the nature and qualities of people for employees.
5. Job analysis helps in devising the training and development programmes for employees.
6. It facilities job evaluation and performance appraisal, which are necessary for wage determination, for appraising the working conditions and promotions and transfers.
7. By facilitating the matching of employee skills with job requirements, job analysis helps to improve job satisfaction, motivation and morale of employees. Absenteeism and turnover of the personnel can be reduced. 
8. It assists management are the proper allocation of authority and responsibility by describing the duties of each job and the interrelationships among jobs.

Procedure of Job Analysis

The job analysis process involves the following steps.

Step – I Collection of Background Information

Step – II Selection of Representative Position to be analyzed

Step – III Collection of Job Analysis Data

Step – IV Developing a Job Description

Step – V Developing a Job Specification

Step – VI Developing Employee Specification

Job Analysis Information

The job analysis provides the following information:

• Job identification which includes job title.
• Significant characteristics of a job including location, physical setting, union jurisdiction hazards etc.
• What the typical worker will do?
• What materials and equipments the workers use.
• Performa of job duties.
• Required personnel attribute.
• How the job are performed.
• Job relationship.

Behavioral Approach of Job Design

Behavioral Approach

This approach considers behavioral factors in job design. Employee needs in terms of autonomy, variety, task identify, task significance, and feedback are considered. The methods are:

a) Job Enrichment: It adds new sources of satisfaction to jobs. Jobs are made challenging and meaningful by increasing responsibilities are added to the job, usually with less supervision and more self-evaluation. workers get greater autonomy in planning and controlling their performance. It is also known as "vertical loading" of job. The steps in job environment are

• Select jobs, which are suitable for enrichment; identify changes needed.
• Change contents of the job to provide autonomy, control responsibility, achievement, and advancement.
• Train and guide employees.
• Integrate enriched jobs into work schedule.

Advantages

Disadvantages

- It leads to increased motivation and job satisfaction. - It satisfies higher level needs of the employees; job outcomes improve; job status increases. - It stimulates improvements in other areas of the organization. - It empowers employees; provides feedback to correct performances. - It leads to reduce turnover and lower absenteeism; employee development is facilitated.

- Unions may resist job enrichment; employees may refuse to accept enriched jobs with new responsibilities. - The costs of design and implementation are high for job enrichment; training costs can be high. - It focuses on the job only and ignores other variables that contribute to quality of work life (QWL). - Managers may be unwilling to delegate authority; supportive work environment may be lacking. - Job enrichment is only a tool; it is not universally applicable, it is situation specific.

b) Autonomous Teams (Self-directed Team): Autonomous teams are a group of employees with widely defined jobs and responsibilities to achieve specific goal. Team members are: highly committed; decide collectively; interact continuously; work closely, determine work assignments and working methods and practice self-supervision.

Advantages	Disadvantages
- Autonomous teams generally achieve high productivity and quality. - Supervision costs are reduced. - Team spirit with employee empowerment is realized. - Greater involvement of employees in decision making; greater employees commitment.	- Employees, managers and unions resist autonomous teams. - Cooperation among team members may be difficult. - Efficiency of the team may be low.

c) Modified Works Schedules: The work schedule is modified. The techniques can be

• Shorter work week; worker work ten hours each day for four days. It provides mere leisure to employees. Turnover and reduced absenteeism.
• Flexible time
• Job sharing
• Homework

Classical Approach of Job Design

Classical Approach of Job Design

It is based on the principles of scientific management. Standardization and simplification are used in job design to ensure specialization. The popular methods are:

a) Work simplifications: The job is simplified by breaking down the tasks of the job. The task contained in one job may be assigned to tow jobs. The outcome of work simplification is more specialization. 

Advantages	Disadvantages
- Work simplification, promotes efficiency through specialization. - Less trained and low paid employees can perform the jobs.	- Overspecialization results in boredom: Boredom results in fatigue and high labour. - Cost go up. - Routinized mechanical pacing provides little opportunity for interaction.

b) Job Rotation: Employees are allowed to move from job to job. The jobs are not changed; only the employees are rotated.

Advantages	Disadvantages
- Job rotation provides variety; employees can use different skills and abilities; monotony of specialized jobs are broken. - Employees become competent in several jobs. This results in employee development. - Worker’s self image is improved, provides for employee’s personal growth and improves task significance. - Organizations get flexibility in scheduling work.	- Job rotation does not improve the jobs; job relationships remain unchanged. - Costs are high, especially the training costs. - Job disruptions may be created. - Employees may feel alienated.

c. Job Enlargement: The tasks assigned to a job are increased by adding similar tasks. The scope of the job is enlarged horizontally. It is also known as “Horizontal loading” of job.

Advantages	Disadvantages
- It provides variety; reduces monotony by expanding the job cycle; draws on a wider range of employee skills. - Job satisfaction increases; motivation may also increases higher needs of employees may get satisfied.	- It requires longer training period; cost is high. - It does not reduce monotony of job; adds one more boring job to another. - It is resisted by employees.

Concept of Job Design

Concept of Job Design

As we know, organizations are human association for achieving goals. In an organization, different types of activities are to be performed to achieve organizational goal. Activities may be of different types and nature requiring different skills to perform it. So, to perform the activities smoothly, it should be organized or managed. The process of organizing and managing activities can be known as job design.

Job design engineer performs the test of job design. Job is the vehicles through which the organizational works are accomplished so, while designing the job the designer should meet the psychological and behavioral feeling of jobholders. Otherwise jobholder won’t be motivated towards the job.

Hence in the conclusion, job design is the overall structure of the job, that explains about the nature of job, contents of the job, skill required to perform the job, method of performing the job, so that organizational and technological requirements as well as psychological and social requirement of the job holder will be fulfilled. A well-designed job leads the organization rising in the Apex.

Basis of Job Design

The factors affecting job design are:
1. Job Analysis Factors: Job analysis forms an intensive, direct technique for identifying the crucial information regarding the job. It is the process of determining the tasks involves in the job and personnel qualities of the individuals required to perform the job. It defines duties, responsibilities and accomplish of a job. The components of job analysis are job and description and job specifications. Job analysis is used as an important input in job design to determine the contents of the job.

2. Organizational Factor: These factors are concerned with efficiency aspect in the job design. They focus on specialization. The factors are:

• Job Cycle: Job cycle is time allotted to complete every task in the job. Every task in the job are arranged to minimize the time and effort of worker on the basis of time and motion studies. Specialized jobs lead to short job cycles. Assembly lines present an example of short job cycle.
• Work Flow: The nature of the product influences work flow. Job design is based on determining the sequence of jobs and establishing balance between the jobs.
• Work Practices: They are set ways of performing jobs. They arise from tradition or the collective wishes of the employees. Job design is based on work practices.
• Ergonomics: It is the study of how human beings physically interface with their job. The job design is based on physically relationship between the worker and the work. Handling of the job is the prime consideration in job design.

3. Environmental Factors: The external environmental factors are considered for job design. The factors are:

• Employee Abilities and Availability: Efficiency considerations for job design are balanced against the abilities and availability of employees. The focus is on who will actually do the job. 
• Socio-cultural Expectations: Jobs are designed to meet the socio-cultural expectations of the workers. Expectation of worker may differ as to hours of work, holidays, attitudes, religious beliefs and management styles.

4. Behavioral Factors: Behavioral factors are concerned with satisfactions of human needs especially higher level of need. The factors are:

• Autonomy: It is having responsibility for what one does. Job design is based on autonomy factors, especially for decision making and responding to environment.
• Variety: It refers to variety in the use of different skills and abilities. Lack of variety leads to boredom. Boredom leads to fatigue. Variety is injected in job design.
• Task Identity: It refers to doing the whole piece of work to get a sense of accomplishment. Job design is done to provide task identity.
• Task Significance: It is the feeling of does anyone cares. Job design is based on task significance to give a feeling that the work has meaning to people inside and outside the organization.
• Feedback: It refers to information on performance. Job design incorporates feedback aspect to tell workers feedback aspect to tell workers how well they are doing.

Value of Written Job Requirement

Value of Written Job Requirement

Job requirements are the demand of the jobs to be performed by the job incumbents. Job description and job specification constitute written job requirement in an organization. Written job requirements are used as criteria for the evaluation of individual jobs. These requirements play an important role in the process of preparing job description, job specification, job evaluation, and job design. For an organization, written job requirements are valued criteria for making HRM policy. Job requirements are an important input for conducting the following human resource management activities.

• Developing a compensation package based on job evaluation.
• Welfare safety and health schemes for employed retention.
• Grievance handling
• Preparation of human resource, inventory, development of human resource information systems, formulation of human resource plan. Job requirement provide a deeper understanding of the behavioral requirements of jobs. It plays an important role in the defense of employment practices. However, for some jobs it is difficult to describe their job requirements. Especially for top level executive managers who are performing multi-skilled jobs, it is difficult to describe their job requirements. For them, a broad scope of the job will be provided so that they can work according in different areas under different working conditions and challenges.