This is a presentation about basic concepts in Job Design and Quality of Work Life

1. Job Design and Quality
of Work Life
Mubashir Kocheri Kuzhiyil
mubashirkocheri@gmail.com

2. ➔ Job Design
➔ Quality of Work Life
Key Terms

3. Related Terms - Job Analysis
➔ A basic HR activity.
◆ In-depth systematic analysis of a job and gathering information.
◆ What tasks, duties, responsibilities and outcome.
◆ Their relationships to other jobs.
◆ The conditions under which work is performed.
◆ Personal capabilities required.
➔ Provides info about 3 aspects of a job:
◆ Job Content: duties and responsibilities - detailed descriptions of task.
◆ Job Requirements: qualifications, skills, knowledge, personal characteristics etc of the
worker.
◆ Job Context: purpose - scope of financial, material or human resources involved -
consequences of error - supervision provided - working conditions - cultural context.

4. Related Terms - Job Description
➔ Result of Job Analysis
➔ Job descriptions provide a written summary of the duties and
responsibilities of the job.
➔ Edwin B Flippo defined Job Description as, ” The first and immediate
product of job analysis is Job Description. As the title indicates, this
document is basically descriptive in nature and constitutes a record of
existing and pertinent job facts”.

5. Related Terms - Job Specification
➔ Result of Job Analysis
➔ Focus on the personal characteristics and qualifications that an employee
must possess to perform the job successfully.
➔ Educational qualifications, experience, personality traits etc.
➔ Edwin B Flippo defined Job Specification as, ” A Job Specification is a
statement of minimum acceptable human qualities necessary to perform a
job properly”.

6. Job Design
➔ Refers to the way that a set of tasks or an entire job is organized.
➔ Job design identifies what work must be performed, how it will be
performed, where it is to be performed and who will perform it to arrive at
maximum efficiency.
➔ A well-designed job promotes the achievement of the organisation’s
objectives by structuring work so it integrates management requirements
for efficiency and employee needs for satisfaction.
➔ Job Design is tied with productivity, stress and quality of work life.

7. Objectives of Job Design
➔ To meet the requirements of the organization - high productivity, technical
efficiency, quality of work etc.
➔ To satisfy the needs of the individual employees - interest, challenge,
achievement, satisfaction etc.
➔ To integrate the needs of the individual with the requirements of the
organization.

8. ➔ Work overload
➔ Work underload
➔ Repetitiveness
➔ Limited control over work
➔ Isolation
➔ Shift work
➔ Delays in filling vacant
positions
➔ Excessive working hours etc.
Job Design is
helpful - when

9. ➔ Job specialization
➔ Job enlargement
➔ Job rotation
➔ Job enrichment
➔ Autonomous work teams
➔ Flexi time
➔ Telecommuting
Methods of Job
Design

10. Job Specialization
➔ Involves using standardised work procedures and having employees
perform repetitive, precisely defined and simplified tasks.
➔ Advantages:
◆ Fewer errors when the job is simpler and routine.
◆ Minimum on the job training.
◆ Improved operating efficiencies.
➔ Problems:
◆ Boredom - lack of challenge
◆ Mechanical - restricted by speed of the assembly line
◆ No end product - only involved in a portion of the product - less pride
◆ Less employee involvement in decision making.

11. Job Enlargement
➔ Seeks to increase the breadth of the job by adding to the variety of tasks to
be performed.
➔ Especially important when companies are small or when downsize.
➔ Problems:
◆ Advantages of job specialization are reduced
◆ Enlargement is seen as just adding more routine, boring tasks to the job

12. Job Rotation
➔ Increases task variety by periodically shifting employees between jobs
involving different tasks.
➔ Similar to Job Enlargement - but quantity of work is less.
➔ Aims to reduce boredom.
➔ Helps to develop a generalist perspective, increases skills and workforce
flexibility.
➔ Problems:
◆ Decreased productivity in the short run (inefficient worker replaces an efficient worker)

13. Job Enrichment
➔ Builds motivating factors such as achievement, recognition, responsibility
and opportunities for personal growth through providing planning and
decision making responsibilities.
➔ Through vertical loading the employee is given the opportunity to experience
greater achievement, recognition, responsibility and personal growth and
through horizontal loading the complexity of work is increased to promote
interest.
➔ Problems:
◆ Cost of implementation, revision of pay structure,

14. Autonomous Work Teams
➔ Represent job enrichment at the group level.
➔ The employer sets up self-managed work teams who are responsible for
accomplishing defined performance objectives

15. Job Design
Well designed
➔ Increased productivity
➔ Achievement of organizational
goals
➔ Improved satisfaction level of
employees.
Poorly designed
➔ Lower productivity
➔ Absenteeism
➔ Low levels of job enrichment
➔ Poor Quality of Work Life (QWL)
➔ Dissatisfaction with work
➔ Staff turnover
➔ Low motivation

16. Quality of Work Life (QWL)
➔ Quality is the ability of a product or service to consistently meet or exceed
customer expectations. Here - instead of product or service - its workplace.
➔ Work can be defined as the application of discretion and abilities within
limits in order to produce a result
➔ Work life comprises of facility and all the collective feelings, which reside in
the mind of the employee, while he works in the organization, he is in the
office or away from it.
➔ QWL is the degree to which members of a work organization are able to
satisfy important personal and professional needs through their experience
in the organization.
➔ QWL - Defines overall well being of an individual.

17. Quality of Work Life (QWL) - Programs
➔ QWL programs involves comprehensive efforts to improve the quality of the
work environment by integrating employee needs and wellbeing with the
organization’s need for higher productivity.
➔ Objective is enhanced effectiveness of organizations and improved quality
of life of employees.

18. Measurement of Quality of Work Life (QWL)
➔ Job involvement - more involved means higher QWL.
➔ Job satisfaction -
➔ Sense of competence - feeling of confidence in his own abilities
➔ Job performance -
➔ Productivity

19. Approach for improvement of QWL
➔ Job redesign
➔ Adequate remuneration
➔ Growth and security
➔ Participative management
➔ Constitutionalism - suggestions
➔ Organizational justice
➔ Flexible job schedules
➔ Mentoring
➔ Permanent employment
➔ Good supervisor relationships
➔ Adequate resources
➔ Recognition
➔ Social relevance
➔ Work-life balance
➔ Safe and healthy environment
➔ Development of skills

20. Quality Circles
➔ Meaning can vary from organization to organization and country to country.
➔ Quality circles usually consist of small groups of five to ten workers who
meet on a regular basis.
➔ The objective is to identify problems as a group, process suggestions and
examine alternatives for improving productivity, raising product and service
quality, and increasing worker satisfaction.

21. Conclusion
➔ To attract and retain good talent, organizations should have a good Job
Design and high Quality of Work Life.
➔ Job Design has considerable influence on the productivity and job
satisfaction. Poor JD could lead to boredom, increased turnover, job
dissatisfaction, low productivity and an increase in overall costs of the
organization.

22. Thank You!