CAHAPTER-TWO

Job Analysis, Job Design and Organizational Design

The corner stone of any organization is the set of jobs performed by employees. These jobs must
fit together, coordinate and link directly to the mission if an organization is to be successful.
Thus, studying and understanding jobs is a vital part of any Human resource program.

Jobs are very important to individuals. They help to determine standards of living, places of
residence, status and even one’s sense of self worth. Jobs are also important to organizations
because they are the means of accomplishing organizational objectives.

The various definitions of job analysis are the following:

 is the process of collecting and analyzing information about jobs and the employee knowledge or
skills necessary to perform them.
 is the process of defining a job in terms of its components, activities and requirements.
 is a defined data collection and analysis procedure through which information about job tasks and
job requirements are obtained.
 It is a systematic procedure for studying jobs to determine their various elements and requirements.
Job analysis specifies

 What each worker does,

 The working conditions, and
 The qualification requirements.
The information we obtain through job analysis is essential to plan and coordinate nearly all -
human resource management practices, including the following:

 To determine job qualifications for recruitment purposes,

 To choose the most appropriate selection techniques,
 To develop training program,
 To develop performance appraisal rating forms and
 To determine pay rates.

Job analysis is performed in three conditions:

1. When an organization is established / instituted;

2. When new jobs are created; and

3. When jobs are changed significantly as a result of new technology, methods, procedures or
systems.

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 Job Analysis

A process of obtaining all pertinent job facts

Job Description Job specification

It is a statement containing items such as It is a statement of human qualifications

necessary to do a job. Usually contains such
 Job title items as
 Location
 Job summary  Education
 Duties  Experience
 Machines, tools. and equipment  Training
 Materials and forms used  Judgment/decision
 Supervision given or received  Initiative
 Working conditions  Physical effort
 Hazards  Physical skills
 Responsibilities
 Communication skills
 Emotional characteristics
 Unusual sensory demands such as sight,
smell, hearing

The immediate products of job analysis are job descriptions and job specifications.

Job description Vs Job specification

Job descriptions
Job description is a written narrative describing activities performed on a job; includes
information about equipment used and working conditions under which job is performed.

Job description is an important document, which is basically descriptive in nature and contains a
statement of job analysis. It provides both organizational information’s (like location in structure,
authority etc) and functional information (what the work is).

It gives information about the scope of job activities, major responsibilities and positioning of a
job in an organization. This information gives the worker, analyst, and supervisor with a clear
idea of what the worker must do to meet the demand of a job.

Characteristics of good job description

Job description is important for new employees, to learn duties and responsibilities. It can also
act as a basic document used in developing performance standards.

Good job description has the following features:

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 1) A job description should indicate the scope and nature of the work including all important
relationships.
2) A job description should be clear regarding the work of the position, duties etc.
3) More specific words should be selected to show:- a) The kind of work; b) The degree of
complexity; c) The degree of skill required; d) The extent to which problems are
standardized/identified and e) The extent of worker’s responsibility for each phase of the
work
Contents of job description:

Job description is a statement containing items such as job title / job identification / organization
position; location; job summary; duties; machines, tools and equipments to be used; materials
and forms used; supervision given or received; working conditions and hazards

Job identification or Organization Position: This includes a job title, alternative title,
department, division and plant and code number of a job. A job title identifies and designates a
job properly. The department, division etc., indicate the name of the department where it is
situated and the location give the name of the place where a given job is undertaken.

Job Summary: This serves two important purposes. First is, it gives additional identification
information when a job title is not adequate; and secondly it gives a summary about that
particular job.

Job duties and responsibilities: This gives a total listing of duties together with some indication
of the frequency of occurrence or percentage of time devoted to each major duty.

Relation to other jobs: This gives the particular person to locate job in an organization by
indicating a job immediately below or above in a job hierarchy.

Supervision: This will give an idea the number of person to be supervised along with their job
titles and the extent of supervision.

Machine: These will also gives information about the tool, machines and equipment to be used.

Working Conditions: It gives us information about the environment in which a jobholder must
work.

Hazards: It gives us the nature of risks of life and limb/extremity, their possibilities of
occurrence etc.

Job specification

Job specification is a statement of human qualifications necessary to do a job. It contains

education, experience, training required and Knowledge, Attitude and Skills (KAS) needed. In
other words, it outlines specific skills, knowledge, abilities, physical and personal characteristics
necessary to perform a job.
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Job specification tells us, what kind of person to recruit and also under what qualities that person
should be tested. It translates a job description into terms of the human qualifications, which are
required for performance of a job. They are intended to serve as a guide in hiring and job
evaluation.

Therefore, job specification usually developed with the co-operation of personnel department and
various supervisors in the whole organization.

Job Specification Information:

The first step in the program of job specification is to prepare a list of all jobs in an organization
or a company and where they are located. The second step is to secure and write up information
about each of a jobs in an organization or a company. Usually this job specification information
includes:

1. Physical specifications: Physical specifications include the physical qualifications or physical

capacities that vary from job to job. Physical qualifications or capacities include physical
features like height, weight, chest, vision, hearing, ability to lift weight, ability to carry weight,
health, age, capacity to use or operate machines, tools, equipment etc.
2. Mental specifications: Mental specifications include ability to perform, arithmetical
calculations, to interpret data, to read electrical circuits, ability to plan, reading abilities,
scientific abilities, judgment, ability to concentrate, ability to handle variable factors, general
intelligence, memory etc.
3. Emotional and social specifications: Emotional and social specifications are more important
for the post of administrators/managers, supervisors, foremen/bosses etc. These include
emotional stability, flexibility, social adaptability in human relationships, personal appearance
including dress, posture etc.
4. Behavioral Specifications: Behavioral specifications play an important role in selecting the
candidates for higher-level jobs in an organizational hierarchy. This specification seeks to
describe the acts of managers rather than the traits that cause the acts. These specifications
include judgments, research, creativity/being innovative, teaching ability, maturity trial of
conciliation, self-reliance, dominance etc.

The major steps involved in job analysis are as follows:

a. Organizational analysis:
First of all, an overall picture of various jobs in an organization has to be obtained. This is
required to find the linkages between jobs and organizational objectives, interrelationships
between jobs and contribution of various jobs to the efficiency and effectiveness of an
organization.

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b. Selection of representative positions to be analyzed:
It is not possible to analyze all a jobs. A representative sample of jobs to be analyzed has to be
decided keeping the cost and time constraints in mind.
c. Collection of job analysis data:
This step involves the collection of data on the characteristics of a job, the required behavior and
personal qualifications needed to carry out a job effectively. Several techniques are available for
collecting such data. Care should be taken to use only reliable and acceptable techniques in a
given situation.
d. Preparation of job description:
This step involves describing the contents of a job in terms of functions, duties, responsibilities,
operations etc.
e. Preparation of job specification:
This step involves conversion of a job description statement into a job specification. It is a
written statement of personal attributes/qualifications.

Methods of collecting job analysis data

A variety of methods are used to collect information about jobs. None of them, however, is
perfect. In actual practice, a combination of several methods is used for obtaining job analysis
data. These are discussed below:

1. Job performance: In this method, a job analyst actually performs a job in question. The
analyst thus receives firsthand experience of contextual factors on a job including physical
hazards, social demands, emotional pressures and mental requirements. This method is useful for
jobs that can be easily learned.

2. Personal observation: The analyst observes the worker(s) doing a job. The tasks performed,
the pace at which activities are done, the working conditions etc. are observed during a complete
work cycle. During observation, certain precautions should be taken.

3. Critical incidents: This technique is a qualitative approach to job analysis used to obtain
specific behaviorally focused descriptions of work or other activities. Here a job holders are
asked to describe several incidents based on their past experience. The incidents so collected are
analyzed and classified according to job areas they describe.

4. Interview: This method consists of asking questions either an individual or a group of setting.
The reason behind the use of this method is that job holders are most familiar with a job and can
supplement the information obtained through observation. Workers know the specific duties of a
job and the supervisors are aware of a jobs relationship to the rest of an organization.

5. Panel of experts: This method utilizes/involves senior job incumbents and superiors with
extensive knowledge of a job. To get a job analysis information, the analyst conducts an
interview with the group.

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6. Questionnaire: This is a widely used method of analyzing jobs and work. Here, job holders
are given a properly designed questionnaire aimed at eliciting relevant job related information.
After completion the questionnaires are handed over to supervisors. The supervisors can seek
further clarifications on various items by talking to a job holders directly. After everything is
finalized, the data is given to a job analyst.

7. Diary method: Several job incumbents are asked to keep diaries to note daily activities and
record the amount of time spent on each activity. By analyzing these activities over a specified
period of time, a job analyst is able to record jobs essential characteristics. However, it is a time
consuming and costly exercise.

Potential Problems of Job Analysis

Certain problems may be faced while conducting job analysis. The major ones are below

1. Lack of support from top management: In most cases top management support is missing.
The top management should make it clear to all employees that their full and honest participation
is extremely important for the process. This message often not communicated.
2. Single means and source: This relates to the defects in the process of job analysis. There are
many proven methods and sources of collecting data. All too often analysts relay on only one of
the methods when a combination of two methods might provide a better data.
3. No training or motivation: This also relates to the defects in a job analysis process. Job
holders are a great source of information about a job. But they are not trained or motivated to
generate quality data for job analysis.
4. Activities may be distorted: Where training and preparedness do not exist, job holders tend
to submit distorted data either intentionally or inadvertently. For example employees are likely to
speed up if they know they are being watched.
5. Resistance to change: When jobs change in tune with changes in technology, there is an
urgent need to revise job descriptions and job specifications-to make them more meaningful.
This would have a significant impact on the safe and secure job worlds, employees used to live
comfortably. Employees resist such changes because when jobs are redefined, they may have to
handle difficult tasks and shoulder painful responsibilities.
6. Employees are not given sufficient time to complete the analysis: Usually a job analysis is
conducted as if it was a crash program and employees are not given sufficient time to do a
thorough job analysis.

Job Design
Job design is the logical sequence to job analysis. The information provided by job analysis,
job descriptions, and job specifications can be very useful in designing jobs. Job design refers
to the structuring of job elements, duties, and tasks in a manner to achieve optimal performance
and satisfaction. It is the process of deciding

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  On the content of a job in terms of its duties and responsibilities
 On the methods to be used in carrying out a job, in terms of techniques, systems and
procedures, and
 On the relationships that should exist between a jobholder and his superiors,
subordinates and colleagues.
Job design specifies the tasks to be performed by individuals and groups within an organization
and establishes the rules, schedules and working conditions under which people perform those
tasks.

Job design has two aims:

 to satisfy the requirements of an organization for productivity, operational efficiency and

quality of product or service , and
 to satisfy the needs of an individual for interest, challenge and accomplishment.
The overall objective of job design is to integrate the needs of individual with those of an
organization

Job analysis as was explained earlier provides job related data as well as the skills and
knowledge expected of the incumbent to discharge a job. Job design then involves conscious
efforts to organize tasks, duties and responsibilities into a unit of work to achieve certain
objectives.

A clear definition of job design is: --- it integrates work content (tasks, functions and
relationships), the rewards (extrinsic and intrinsic), and the qualifications required (skills,
knowledge and abilities) for each job in a way that meets the needs of employees and an
organizations.

Techniques/methods of Job Design:

There is no one best way to design any job. Different situations call for different arrangements of
job characteristics. There are different techniques of job design. They are

a. Work Simplification:
In this technique, a job is simplified or specialized. A given job is broken down into small sub
parts (making a car for example) and each part is assigned to one individual. However, this
technique has led to boredom, dissatisfaction, alienation, and frustration.
b. Job Rotation:
One answer to the problem of boredom is job rotation which implies movement of employees
from job to job. Jobs remain unchanged, but incumbents shift. With job rotation, a given
employee performs different jobs but more or less jobs are same nature. On the positive side job
rotation is likely to increase intrinsic reward potential of a job because of different skills and
abilities needed to perform it. An organization stands to benefit because workers become

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competent in several jobs rather than only one. On the negative side, job rotation may not have
much impact on employee enthusiasm and efficiency.
c. Job Enlargement:
It involves giving employees more responsibility, authority, and control in their jobs. It also
involves expanding the number of tasks or duties assigned to a given job or it involves
combining previously fragmented tasks into one. It is naturally opposite to work simplification.
Adding more tasks or duties to a job does not mean that new skills and abilities are needed to
perform it. For example if a professor who is teaching 12 hours per week has agreed to teach 2
hours more it does not make any significant change in his/her career.
d. Job Enrichment:
It seeks to improve task efficiency and human satisfaction by building into people’s jobs, greater
scope for personal achievement and recognition, more challenging and responsible work, more
opportunity per individual advancement and growth. An enriched job will have more
responsibility and autonomy (vertical enrichment), more variety of tasks (horizontal enrichment)
and more growth opportunities. The employee does more planning and controlling with less
supervision but more self evaluation.
e. Autonomous or Self-directed Teams:
As was stated above, job enrichment necessitates empowerment. Empowerment results in self-
directed work teams. A self-directed work team is an intact group of employees who are
responsible for a whole work process or segment that delivers a product or service to an internal
or external customer. To varying degrees, team members’ work together to improve their
operations, handle day-to-day problems, and plan and control their work. Highly effective teams
are composed of groups of committed individuals who trust each other; have a clear sense of
purpose about their work; are effective communicators within and outside the team; make sure
that everyone in the team is involved in decisions affecting the groups; and follow a process that
helps them plan, make decisions and ensure the quality of their work.

f. High-Performance Work Design :

It is a means of improving performance in an environment where positive and demanding goals
are set. It starts from the principle of autonomous group working and develops an approach
which enables groups to work effectively together in situations where the rate of innovation is
high. Operational flexibility is important and there is, therefore, the need for employees to gain
and apply new skills quickly with minimum supervision.

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What is organizational design/structure?

By design/structure, we mean the framework around which the group is organized, the
underpinnings which keep the coalition/organization functioning. It's the operating manual that
tells members how an organization is put together and how it works. More specifically, structure
describes how members are accepted, how leadership is chosen, and how decisions are made.
Organizational design is the way an organization is to be structured and operated by its members.

An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination and
supervision are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. It can also be
considered as the viewing glass or perspective through which individuals see their organization
and its environment.
An organization can be structured in many different ways, depending on their objectives. The
structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it operates and performs.
Organizational structure allows the expressed allocation of responsibilities for different functions
and processes to different entities such as the branch, department, workgroup and individual.
Organizational structure affects organizational action in two big ways. First, it provides the
foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest. Second, it determines
which individuals get to participate in which decision-making processes, and thus to what extent
their views shape an organization’s actions.

Organizational structures developed from the ancient times of hunters and collectors in tribal
organizations through highly royal and clerical power structures to industrial structures and
today's post-industrial structures.

As pointed out by L. B. Mohr, the early theorists of organizational structure, Taylor, Fayol, and
Weber "saw the importance of structure for effectiveness and efficiency and assumed without the
slightest question that whatever structure was needed, people could fashion/act accordingly.

Why should you develop a structure for your organization?

 Structure gives members clear guidelines for how to proceed. A clearly-established

structure gives the group a means to maintain order and resolve disagreements.
 Structure binds members together. It gives meaning and identity to the people who join
the group, as well as to the group itself.
 Structure in any organization is inevitable -- an organization, by definition, implies a
structure. Your group is going to have some structure whether it chooses to or not. It might as
well be the structure which best matches up with what kind of organization you have, what
kind of people are in it, and what you see yourself doing.

When should you develop a structure for your organization?

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It is important to deal with structure early in an organization's development. Structural
development can occur in proportion to other work an organization is doing, so that it does not
crowd out that work. And it can occur in parallel with, at the same time as, your organization's
growing accomplishments, so they take place in tandem, side by side. This means that you
should think about structure from the beginning of your organization's life. As your group grows
and changes, so should your thinking on the group's structure.

Elements of Organizational Structure

While the need for structure is clear, the best structure for a particular organization is harder to
determine. The best structure for any organization will depend upon who its members are, what
the setting is, and how far an organization has come in its development.

Regardless of what type of structure your organization decides upon, three elements will always
be there. They are inherent in the very idea of an organizational structure. They are:

1. Governance: The first element of structure is governance-some person or group has to

make the decisions within an organization.
2. Rules by which an organization operates: Another important part of structure is having
rules by which an organization operates. Many of these rules may be explicitly stated,
while others may be implicit and unstated, though not necessarily any less powerful.
3. Distribution of work: Inherent in any organizational structure also is a distribution of
work. The distribution can be formal or informal, temporary or enduring, but every
organization will have some type of division of labor.

Types & Theories of Organization Designs/Structures

You will find that there is no one theory of organizational design. Some major theories you will
run across include the following.

Weber's Bureaucratic Model: This is a classic model of organizational design that is still in use
today. It involves structuring an organization hierarchically with formal rules and procedures that
govern an organization and its members.

M-form, u-form and matrix form describe different ways an organization may structure itself.
A u-form, or unitary form, is an organization structured around units divided by functions and is
centrally managed. An m-form, or multidimensional form, of organization attempts to create
quasi-independent businesses within the larger organization. Matrix form attempts to use the
advantages of both u-form and m-form design by having each organizational unit answerable to
different organizational leaders for different aspects of the work performed by the unit. However,

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the matrix form does have a disadvantage of having units and members answerable to more than
one boss, which can create conflict and confusion.

Mechanistic and organic form are two general ways organizations can be designed. An organic
structure is identified by little job specialization, few layers of management, decentralized
decision-making and not much direct supervision. Characteristics of a mechanistic organization
include a high degree of organizational complexity, formalization and centralization.

In addition to what has been discussed above, structures of organizations can be seen in the
following ways

Pre-bureaucratic structures: Pre-bureaucratic is most common in smaller organizations and is

best used to solve simple tasks. The structure is totally centralized. The strategic leader makes all
key decisions and most communication is done by one on one conversations. It is particularly
useful for new (entrepreneurial) business as it enables the founder to control growth and
development.

Bureaucratic structures: Weber gives the analogy/similarity that “the fully developed
bureaucratic mechanism compares with other organizations exactly as does the machine compare
with the non-mechanical modes of production. Precision, speed, unambiguity, … strict
subordination, reduction of friction and of material and personal costs- these are raised to the
optimum point in the strictly bureaucratic administration. Bureaucratic structures have a certain
degree of standardization. They are better suited for more complex or larger scale organizations,
usually adopting a tall structure.

The Weberian characteristics of bureaucracy are: Clearly defined roles and responsibilities, a
hierarchical structure, and respect for merit

Some disadvantages in bureaucratic structures are it can discourage creativity and innovation in
an organization. This can make it hard for an organization/ a company to adapt to changing
conditions in its service delivery or in the market place.

Post-bureaucratic structures: The theory of the Post-Bureaucratic Organization, provide a

detailed discussion which attempts to describe an organization that is fundamentally not
bureaucratic. Charles Heckscher has developed an ideal type, the post-bureaucratic
organization, in which decisions are based on dialogue and consensus rather than authority and
command, an organization is a network rather than a hierarchy, open at the boundaries. This sort
of horizontal decision making by consensus model is often used in cooperatives and when
running a non-profit or community organization. It is used in order to encourage participation
and help to empower people who normally experience oppression in groups.

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Functional structures: A functional organizational structure is a structure that consists of
activities such as coordination, supervision and task allocation. An organizational structure
determines how an organization performs or operates. The term organizational structure refers to
how the people in an organization are grouped and to whom they report. One traditional way of
organizing people is by function. Some common functions within an organization include
production, marketing, human resources, and accounting.

This organizing of specialization leads to operational efficiency where employees become

specialists within their own realm of expertise. The most typical problem with a functional
organizational structure is however that communication within an organization/ a company can
be rather rigid, making an organization slow and inflexible. Therefore, lateral communication
between functions becomes very important, so that information is disseminated, not only
vertically, but also horizontally within an organization. Communication in organizations with
functional organizational structures can be rigid because of the standardized ways of operation
and the high degree of formalization.

Divisional structures: The Divisional structure or product structure is a configuration of an

organization, which breaks down an organization/ a company into divisions that are self-
contained. A division is self-contained and consists of a collection of functions which work to
produce a product. It also utilizes a plan to compete and operate as a separate business or profit
center.

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