JOB ANALYSIS, JOB DESIGN AND JOB EVALUATION

Job Analysis

Job AnalysisJob Analysis is a systematic exploration of the activities within a job.It defines and documents the duties, responsibilities and accountabilities of a job and the conditions under which a job is performed.

DefinitionJob 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- Edwin & Flippo

Continued

Job DescriptionCalled as Position Description

Written statement of what jobholder does, how it is done, under what conditions and why.

Common format: title; duties; distinguishing characteristics; environmental conditions; authority and responsibilities.

Used to describe the job to applicants, to guide new employees, and to evaluate employees.

Job SpecificationAlso known as man or employee specifications.States minimum acceptable qualities and qualifications necessary to perform the job. Used to select employees who have the essential qualifications. Basic Contents: education, experience, age, physical, mental and social characteristics.

Methods of Collecting Job Data

Quantitative Methods Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)194 items each in the questionnaire (done by the job analyst)It provides quantitative score/profile of any job on the basic activities.

Management Position Description Questionnaire (MPDQ)274 items with 15 sections in the questionnaire (mainly to analyze managerial positions)

Functional job analysis (FJA)Worker oriented job analysisMainly used for government jobsIt tries to examine the fundamental components of data, people and things.

Job Design

Job DesignIt is the process of determining the specific tasks and responsibilities to be carried out by each member of the organization and/or teams.It is the deliberate and systematic attempt to structure the technical and social aspects of work.The main objective of Job Design is to integrate:Needs of EmployeesRequirements of OrganizationsIt helps in determining what, how, how many and in which order are the tasks to be done.

Factors Affecting Job DesignOrganizational Factors

Environmental Factors

Behavioral Factors

Organizational FactorsTask Characteristics

Work Flow

Ergonomics

Work Practices

Environmental FactorsTechnological developments

Employee abilities and availability

Social and cultural expectations

Behavioral FactorsFeedback

Autonomy

Use of abilities

Variety

Techniques of Job Design

Job RotationMovement of an employee from one job to another.Jobs are not changed, only employees are rotated among various jobs.Advantages:Reduces boredom and monotony.Broadens employees knowledge and skillsEmployee gets an opportunity to do a variety of work and interact with new peopleDisadvantages:Several monotonous jobs instead of oneDisrupts work routineNot challenging in nature.

Job EngineeringIt focusses on:the tasks to be performed, methods to be used,Workflows among employeesLayout of the workplacePerformance standardsInterdependencies among people and machinesSpecialization of labor is the hallmark of job engineering

Job EnlargementIt is the process of increasing the scope of the job by adding more tasks to it.Also called as horizontal job loading.Advantages:Reduces monotony and boredomTraining and developing more versatile employees.

Job EnrichmentIncreasing the workers control over the planning and performance of a job and participation in setting the organization policy.It is also called vertical job loading.It is based on the assumption that in order to motivate employees, the job itself must provide opportunities for achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement and growth.According to Richard hackman and Greg Oldham, for enriching the jobs, attention should be paid to :Skill VarietyTask identityTask significanceAutonomy and feedback

Work SimplificationBreaking down of jobs into small tasks.Salient features:Work is mechanically pacedEmployee works only on one part of the productTime required to train is drastically reducedNegative Outcomes:Highly specialized and routineBoredomLack of challengeLimited interaction

Self Managing TeamsSelf directed work team

Quality circle

Production cell

Special purpose team

Job Evaluation

Job Evaluation It is a systematic, objective procedure for determining the value of a group of jobs for the organizationSpecify relative value of each job in the organization. Used to design equitable compensation program.

DefinitionJob evaluation is an effort to determine the relative value of every job in a plant to determine what the fair basic wage for such a job should be.-Kimball and Kimball

Objectives of Job EvaluationTo establish impartial judgment

Establish satisfactory wage and salary differentials

To select employees more accurately

To provide management with a basis for proper control

To determine the rate of pay for each job

Advantages of Job evaluationWage StructureScientific base for promotions and transfersImproves relations and reduces grievancesUniformityRates the job not the manExamines different job structuresJob hierarchy

Techniques of Job EvaluationNon quantitative method:Job ranking methodJob classification methodQuantitative method:Factor comparison methodThe point method

Job Ranking MethodJobs are arranged or ranked in their importance i.e from lowest to highest or vice versa.Committee assesses the worth of each job on the basis of its title or on its content, if the latter are available.Job Description can be used for ranking different jobs.Ranked jobs are classified into groups, and jobs under particular groups may receive the same salary or salary range. Paired comparisons is also a technique for job evaluation

Example RankAccountantAccounts clerkPurchase AssistantMachine OperatorTypistOffice BoyMonthly SalariesRs. 3000Rs. 1800Rs.1700Rs. 1400Rs. 900Rs. 600

Job Classification MethodAs in the ranking method, the Job-grading method does not call for a detailed or quantitative analysis of job factors.

Facts about the job are collected and matched with the grades which have been established by the raters (Committee)

Grades are arranged in the order of their importance .

Lowest grade may cover jobs requiring greater physical work under close supervision, but carrying little responsibility.

ExampleClass I: Executives: Further classification under this method may be Office manager, Deputy office manager, office superintendent, etc.

Class II: Skilled workers: Under this category may come cashier, receipts clerk, etc.

Class III: Semiskilled workers: Under this category may come machine operators, switchboard operators, etc.

Class IV: Unskilled workers: File clerks, office boys, etc.

Factor Comparison MethodUnder this method, one begins with selection of factors.Key jobs are selected and compared in terms of common factors.Each factor is ranked individually with other jobs.Procedure:Select and define the factorsSelect key jobsRank key jobs by factorsDecide rates for key jobsApportion the wage rateEvaluate remaining jobs

ContinuedE.g.:- Each job is ranked several times like,Skill requirements,Physical exertion, Responsibility, and Job conditions

Point Ranking MethodPRM is one of the most widely used JE Plan.It involves identifying number of factors ,sub factors and degree to which these factors are present in JobPoints are assigned for degree of importance of each factorGrand Total of these points ,classify the Job WorthProcedure:Determine job to be evaluatedSelect the factorsDefine the factorsDetermine the degreesDetermine the relative values of job factorsAssign point values of the job Assign money value

ExampleDegree of Factor

Job

Factor

Weight

1

2

3

4

5

1. Education

50%

100

200

300

400

500

2. Respon-sibility

30%

75

150

225

300

3. Physical effort

12%

24

48

72

96

120

4. Working conditions

8%

25

51

80

Process of Job evaluationGaining acceptanceConstituting Job Evaluation committeeSelecting key jobs for evaluationJob analysis and Job descriptionSelecting method of evaluationClassifying jobsInstalling the programmePeriodic review

CASE STUDY

Case 1Name of the organization APOLLO HOSPITAL Apollo Hospital has been growing in size as it offers quality, prompt-caring services to the patients. Dr. Chandrashekar the Administrator is a person with good medical knowledge but lacks knowledge and skills involved in human resources management. The hospital has large quantities of medicine, equipment, spare parts of important machines installed in the hospital. As usual, the Hospital has employed a storekeeper with no previous experience of Hospital Stores. Mr. Ramakant the storekeeper was working earlier in an engineering firm and had sufficient knowledge of such stores. Ramakant reports to the purchase Executive whose job is to order requisite materials for requirements of the entire Hospital, Dr. Chandrashekhar has been receiving various complaints from the staff and doctors of non-availability of medicines, drugs, spares of equipment and other consumables required in the Hospital having 500 beds. Since the hospital so far did not employ a qualified Personnel Manager, the administrators are not aware of the job analysis procedures, nor do they have job description and job specification of any of the jobs being performed. Questions: (1) Write down the job analysis, job description and job specification of a storekeepers job. (2) How would you go about in developing a standard job description and specification? (3) Which are the staff members from whom you would collect useful information and requirements of this job?

Case Study 2In August 2004, tropical storm Charley hit North Carolina and the Optima Air Filter Company. Many employees homes were devastated and the firm found that it had to hire almost 3completely new crews, one for each of its shifts. The problem was that the Old-timers had known their jobs so well that no one had ever bothered to draw up job descriptions for them.When about 30 new employees began taking their places, there was general confusion aboutwhat they should do and how they should do it. The storm quickly became old news to the firms out-of state customers- who wanted filters, not excuses. Phil Mann, the firms President, was at his wits end. He had about 30 new employees,10 old-timers, and his original factory supervisor, Maybelline. He decided to meet with Linda Lowe, a consultant from the local universities business school. She immediately had the old-timers fill out a job questionnaire that listed all their tasks, duties & responsibilities. Arguments ensued almost at once- Both Phil & Maybelline thought the old-timers were exaggerating to make themselves look more important, and the old-timers instead that the list faithfullyreflected their duties. Meanwhile, the customers clamored for their filters.Questions:Should Phil & Linda ignore that old-timers protests and write up the job descriptions as they see fit? Why? Why not?How would you go about resolving the differences?How would you have conducted the job analysis? What should Phil do now?

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