Job Design

Job design- Job Design forms a basic pillar of a well-designed compensation management system. Job design is the result of a carefully conducted job analysis and is a holistic representation of all the elements of a job such as duties, tasks, responsibilities, skills, working environment, and performance expectations. It also defines the processes and relationships that are essential for the success of the job. A well-defined job not only makes the job interesting and satisfying for the employee but also results in increased performance and productivity.

Factors affecting Job Design

The three main factors that affect job design are:

• Organizational Factors: The nature of the work, the characteristics of the job, workflow, management practices and ergonomics are all organizational factors. The nature or characteristics of the work refer to the specific tasks and duties that must be carried out in order to successfully complete that job. For example, the nature of an architect’s job is necessarily very different from that of the civil engineer in charge of executing the architect’s design. The very nature of the work that they both carry out influences how their jobs are designed. Workflow refers to the organizational processes that must be completed to achieve the end result. A specific job has a designated place in an organization’s workflow, which again influences job design. Ergonomics, which we will look at later in the chapter in more detail, take into account the physical conditions of a specific job in terms of the effect on employee well being and the ability to do the job without sustaining an injury or long-term damage. Thus, providing employees with the right tools and/or conditions in which to perform the job becomes an important consideration in job design. Lastly, management practices also influence job design by outlining what the organization places importance on. For example, an organization that promotes a culture of collaboration may be more inclined to design jobs that require team work and networking across departments.
• Environmental Factors: The internal environment of the organization as well factors external to the organization both affect job design to a large extent. Some internal factors may be how technologically advanced the organization is, organizational structure, organizational values and leadership style. External factors like labor market fluctuations, economic uncertainty and availability of technology will also affect job design. Keeping the relevant internal and external factors in mind when designing jobs allows organization to minimize the effects of disruptive factors and maximize the effect of positive factors. For example, a scarce external labor market in a particular industry may motivate an organization to structure training and development into the job design for a key role. Similarly, positive organizational values like a culture that values innovation may design jobs in such a way that employees feel empowered to suggest improvements.
• Behavioral Factors: Behavioral or human factors are related to the needs of the employees who are in the job. Behavioral factors are influenced by the need for continuous feedback, the feeling of autonomy or control over the job, the use of the worker’s abilities and the range or variety of the job. Employees will not be able to gauge how they are doing at a particular job without receiving feedback. Continuous, relevant feedback is an effective mechanism for improving performance and enhancing productivity. The amount of control that an employee can exert over his/her job also determines job satisfaction. For example, providing front-line customer service executives with the autonomy to make decisions to resolve customer complaints without having to first check in with supervisors has been shown to improve performance dramatically and increase customer satisfaction. Job design should also take into account how the skills and abilities of the employee will be fully used in the execution of the job duties. A poor match between an employee’s skills/abilities and a job will almost always result in dissatisfaction. Lastly, where possible job design should allow for some variety in the execution of the job duties so that the worker feels challenged by doing new tasks rather than repeating the same tasks over and over again.

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