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For a small company with an organic structure, there may be little in the way of job design as a formalized process. Job descriptions may only be written when they need to hire a new person and broadly outline their needs, perhaps stressing that any worker must be flexible. But as an organization grows, structures evolve to have more defined roles and organize departments around functions. Among the considerations of more advanced job design is how the person fits in the organization—who they report to, their own direct reports, and who they need to collaborate with the most. There are different approaches to taking this next step to writing job descriptions and considering not only what each person will do, but how their role connects to others.
To understand job design, it is helpful to identify some key elements and their relationship with job design processes.
The first phase of designing a job is to evaluate the process on a broader scale, though this not need be done every time a new position is posted. Rather, organizations should do a job design process periodically to ensure current job designs are consistent with what employees are actually doing and what the organization needs.
Job roles can change, either due to a specific person gradually taking on different tasks, or across the organization due to technological changes. Organizations can maintain accuracy by revising all descriptions as part of the annual performance review process.
EXAMPLE
In the late 1980s, office work was radically transformed by adoption of computers at every workstation. Position descriptions needed to be redesigned around skills with word processing and spreadsheet software instead of typewriters or calculators. Work was more radically transformed by widespread adoption of the internet.EXAMPLE
The first generation of organizational websites and email use in the 1990s had many staff who learned the technology on the fly, growing into roles that hadn’t existed 10 years earlier.For new positions, an organization must decide who will write the job description, who will oversee the process, who will vet applicants, who will do interviews, etc. Many organizations will have key decisions to make about hiring internally or externally, and how to make the process as fair as possible, particularly if the organization commits to DEI initiatives. Larger organizations have HR (Human Resources) departments, but the onus of work will still be on the department doing the hiring to justify the new position and follow protocols for posting the position.
Gordon’s business is growing quickly, and he needs to hire new people in the production department. He reviews the welders' current job design and job description to start the process. Because he does not yet have an HR department, he decides he will manage the job design, job description, and hiring processes—of course, with feedback from management and employees.
If the job is a vacancy, organizations often see it as an opportunity to reconsider the position, identify gaps they need filled, and assess the workload the previous person at the job held. They may change the job description or even the title accordingly. They may decide the job description they last used is fine, or even that they do not need to fill a vacant position.
If the job is a new addition to an existing team, the assessment is likely to be done around the weaknesses or gaps in the existing team. If it is a new job, even in a new role, an organization is likely to look to similar roles at other organizations to better understand the usual requirements and expectations for the person in that role.
Gordon looks at all of the roles on the production team, such as welders. He then gathers information about the role through talking with the employees and observing the work. He breaks the job down into specific tasks and responsibilities. Tasks include welding fenders, keeping the tool area clean, and following safety protocols, to name a few. He then evaluates the tasks, such as looking at the time required, complexity, and frequency, along with the skills needed to be successful at the role. Once this is done, he can design the job based on specific data he’s gathered.
With an understanding of their needs, the organization can write the job description; this will describe the requirements for a potential hire and the tasks they will perform and may have estimates of percentages at each task.
This is where the consideration of psychological effects is important:
Gordon now has useful information about the position of welder and can finally write the job description. Based on all of the tasks required when he analyzed the job, he can more easily understand what skills are required for the job. He would look at how the job might be simplified, look at potential training needs, review how he might provide more ergonomic tools, and account for other elements that consider the psychological effects of the job.
Once the person is hired, the job design continues as the organization ensures the work area and equipment suits their needs, that they are given appropriate training, etc. Implementation is best done gradually, so a person can get used to one set of tasks before learning another.
As a person acclimates to their job, it is important for the organization to continue adapting to their needs and give feedback on performance and expectations, providing any necessary support. Much like continuous improvement, creating a job design and not revisiting it is important. The job design should be reviewed at least yearly, so it can be redesigned or tweaked as needed to meet the needs of the organization and of the employees.
Gordon has implemented a job design and made changes to enhance productivity and processes with the other production team members. Now, it is important for Gordon to talk with the welders and team members to identify what is working and what isn’t. Gordon will want to follow up often to ensure the job design, skills, and process make sense not only for higher productivity, but for motivation.
Job rotation is a process by which employees laterally mobilize and serve their tasks in different organizational levels or departments; when an individual experiences different posts and responsibilities in an organization, they have their psychological needs for job variety and autonomy met. But this also helps an organization evaluate performance and determine the best fit and trajectory for employees.
Job enlargement is the process of allowing individual workers to determine their own pace (within limits), to serve as their own inspectors by giving them responsibility for quality control, to repair their own mistakes, to maintain their own work area, and to attain choice of method. This is also called horizontal job loading. Strategically, job enlargement is more than simply adding more responsibilities to an existing job but allowing for expansion and ownership of an existing role.
Job enrichment increases the employees’ autonomy over the planning and execution of their own work. Job enrichment has the same motivational advantages of job enlargement; however, it has the added benefit of granting workers autonomy. Frederick Herzberg viewed job enrichment as “vertical job loading” because it also includes tasks formerly performed by someone at a higher level where planning and control are involved.
Job simplification is the process of removing tasks from existing roles to make them more focused. This can reduce burnout for employees and be useful in motivation and efficiency.
Job crafting is the ability of employees to shape or mold their role and can involve an employee creating informal or formal tasks as part of the job description. The advantages to this method include employee growth, motivation, and job satisfaction. Job crafting consists of three parts: changing responsibilities, changing interactions, and changing a mindset.
EXAMPLE
Chen is a chef at a high-end restaurant. While Chen’s job is solely to make food, he also creates beautiful plate designs with the sauces he makes. This is an example of changing responsibilities. Chen, who usually doesn’t interact much with the servers, decides to meet with them for feedback casually; this would be an example of changing interactions. Finally, changing a mindset is up to Chen and can be done by instead of thinking, “another day of making sauces and food for rich people,” he thinks, “I get to create memories for people so they can spend time with family.” Job crafting often is up to the employee; however, they must have the freedom or autonomy to do so within the job design.Job design is the first element of ensuring positive performance management, to create high performing teams and work systems, which will be the topic of our next tutorial.
Gordon realizes that in his manufacturing facility, the current role of operations manager involves managing the production of bikes, quality control, and supply chain management. As Gordon’s company has grown, his operations manager must balance these tasks. As a result, she is working very long hours and is facing issues with burnout. Gordon talks with her and determines she really enjoys the production and quality control part of the job. Gordon, then, decides to engage in job simplification, and the current operations manager is now responsible for production and quality control, and someone new is hired to engage in supply chain management. Gordon also simplifies his own job—realizing how complex this process has been, he posts a job for an HR manager to take over hiring and onboarding new employees. As companies grow and change, adjustments to each job design should be made along the way.
Source: This tutorial has been adapted from Saylor Academy and NSCC “Operations Management”. Access for free at https://pressbooks.nscc.ca/operationsmanagement2/. License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
