Write the various concepts and approaches to Job Design.
Write the various concepts and approaches to Job Design.
Ans.
Various Concepts and Approaches to Job Design
A good job design enables a good job feedback. Employees have the option to vary tasks as per their personal and social needs, habits and circumstances in the workplace. Job training offers good work and rest schedule by clearly defining the number of hours. An individual has to spend in his job and alongwith these things a good job design offers good work and allows for adjustment for physically demanding jobs by minimising the energy spent in doing the job and by the manpower requirements for the same.
Job redesign options are available for managers. Approaches for designing or redesigning or groups include forming work teams. The options are as following:
1. Job Rotation: Job rotation means the systematic movement of workers from one job to another in an attempt to minimize monotony and boredom. It does not change the actual job content but it rotates employees from one job to another after a specified period of time. Thus, job rotation occurs the rotation of worker’s job after a specified period. It is the practice of periodically shifting workers through a set of jobs in a planned sequence.
2. Job Enlargement: Job enlargement refers to an increase in the number of tasks an employee performs. It is the allocation of a wider variety of similar tasks to a job in order to make it more challenging. Horizontal job loading increases the number of tasks an individual performs. Thereby increasing the diversity of a job.
3. Job Enrichment: Job enrichment is an increase in the meaningfulness of the work and the responsibilities of an employee. This process upgrading the job task mix in order to increase significantly the potential for growth, achievement, responsibility and recognition. It increases job depth, the degree to which individuals can play and control the work involved in their jobs. It also increases the depth of a job by expanding it vertically. Managers must add meaningfulness to the job and allow workers more control over their work if the job is to be perceived as enriched.
4. Work Team: Work team is a group of employees who have been assigned a large task to complete. To create a team work, group of workers is given a large task to complete and the team members are responsible for deciding an specific task, assignments, solving production problems, creating their own schedules and deadlines and continually improving work activities.
5. Autonomous Work Groups: Autonomous work groups refer the work groups that have been assigned complex tasks and the authority to decide the best way to let the job done. Autonomy is the amount of discretion allowed in determining schedules and work methods for achieving the required output. An autonomous work group is responsible for achieving a complex goal and is given a considerable amount of control over work assignment, rest breaks prioritizing, inspection procedures.
6. Job Simplification- Job simplification is the process of configuring, or designing the job so that job holders have only a small number of narrow activities to perform. It also helps in maintaining the variety of skills of the employees. Job simplification involves the extent to which the job entails a number of activities that require different skills to simplify the job.
7. Quality Circle: Quality circle is regular meetings of a group of employees and supervisors to discuss quality problems and solutions. The concept of quality circle primarily focuses on maintaining and enhancing the quality of product.
8. Human Approach: The human approach of job design laid emphasis on designing a job around the people or employees and not around the organizational processes. According to this approach jobs should gratify an individual’s needs for recognition, respect and growth as well as on responsibility. Motivators include factors like achievement, work nature, responsibility, learning and growth etc. that can motivate an individual to perform better at the workplace.
9. Engineering Approach: According to engineering approach the work or task of each employee is planned by the management in advance. This approach is based on the application of scientific principles. Job design work should be scientifically analyzed and fragmented into logical tasks. This approach lays due emphasis on compensating employees appropriately and train them continuously for the efficiency.
10. The Job Characteristics Approach: In this approach there is a direct relationship between job satisfaction and rewards. According to this approach employees will give their best when they rewarded appropriately for their work. In this approach there are following five core dimensions that can be used to describe any job:
(i) Skill variety,
(ii) Task identity,
(iii) Task significance,
(iv) Autonomy, and
(v) Feedback.
