AN ASSIGNMENT ON

JOB DESIGN AND JOB EVALUATION

SUB: DESIGN OF OPERATING SYSTEMS

JOB DESIGN
Job Design is the process of putting together various elements to form a job, bearing in mind organizational and individual worker requirements, as well as considerations of health, safety, and ergonomics. Job design is integral to the organizations overall operational philosophy, policy and procedure. It sets both range and limits of workforce boundaries and determines the degree of flexibility that may be appropriately accommodated. Good job design incorporates the relationship with organizational goals and values and should be well understood in order to align and prioritize the jobs responsibilities. The design of job should reflect both technological and human considerations. A good job design should ensure the following features: a). It should provide a sense of accomplishment among employees. b). It should allow employee input i.e. employees should have the option of varying activities according to personal needs, work habits and circumstances in the workplace. Dell ltd. is very flexible in its timings of working hours of employees and it even allows employees to work from home. c). It should provide training requirements which can fulfill the tasks assigned to employees. d). It should provide feedback to employees on regular basis and they should be known the expected performance. e). It should provide good work schedules. Job design is not an easy task as various kinds of jobs demand various types of responsibilities based on organizations, places they work. Production workers in North American companies do not repair any machine breakdowns and leave that work to specialists. Whereas Japanese production workers repair such breakdowns on their own. APPROACHES TO JOB DESIGN: There are various methods of designing job. Some of them are discussed below. 1. Human Approach: It laid emphasis on people or employees and not on organizational processes. It recognizes the need of designing the jobs that are rewarding and interesting at the same time. As per this model, jobs should be designed in such a way that they should gratify individuals need for respect, recognition, growth, responsibility and satisfaction. Job enrichment as popularized by Herzbergs research is one of the ways of human approach of job design. According to Herzberg, there are two kinds of factors a).Hygiene factors b). Motivation factors. Motivators include factors like achievement, work nature, responsibility, learning and growth etc that can motivate an individual to perform better at the work place. Hygiene factor on the other hand include things like working conditions, organizational policies, salary etc that may not motivate directly but the absence of which can lead to dissatisfaction at the work place. 2. Engineering Approach: The engineering approach was devised by FW Taylors et al. They introduced the idea of the task that gained prominence in due course of time. According to this approach the work or task of each employee is planned by the management a day in advance. The instructions for the same are
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sent to each employee describing the tasks with details. The details include things like what, how and when of the task along with the time deadlines. This approach is based on the application of scientific principles to job design. Work, according to this approach should be scientifically analyzed and fragmented into logical tasks. Due emphasis is then laid on organizing the tasks so that a certain logical sequence is followed for efficient execution of the same. The approach also lays due emphasis on compensating employees appropriately and training them continuously for work efficiency. 3. The Job Characteristics Approach: The job characteristics approach was popularized by Hackman and Oldham. According to this approach there is a direct relationship between job satisfaction and rewards. They said that employees will be their productive best and committed when they are rewarded appropriately for their work. They laid down five core dimensions that can be used to describe any job - skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. These are different approaches but all of them point to more or less the same factors that need to be taken into consideration like interest, efficiency, productivity, motivation etc. All these are crucial to effective job design. FACTORS AFFECTING JOB DESIGN: If job is designed interesting and appealing to an employee, he will produce more results than expected and if job is appalling, his productivity will definitely come down. There are various factors which affect job design. They are classified under three main headings. a).Organizational factors b).Environmental factors and c). Behavioral factors a).Organizational factors: Organizational factors that affect job design can be work nature or characteristics, work flow, organizational practices and ergonomics. Work Nature: There are various elements of a job and job design is required to classify various tasks into a job or a coherent set of jobs. The various tasks may be planning, executing, monitoring, controlling etc and all these are to be taken into consideration while designing a job. Ergonomics: Ergonomics aims at designing jobs in such a way that the physical abilities and individual traits of employees are taken into consideration so as to ensure efficiency and productivity. Workflow: Product and service type often determines the sequence of work flow. A balance is required between various product or service processes and a job design ensures this. Culture: Organizational culture determines the way tasks are carried out at the work places. Practices are methods or standards laid out for carrying out a certain task. These practices often affect the job design especially when the practices are not aligned to the interests of the unions. b).Environmental Factors: Environmental factors affect the job design to a considerable extent. These factors include both the internal as well as external factors. They include factors like employee skills and abilities, their availability, and their socio economic and cultural prospects. Employee availability and abilities: Employee skills, abilities and time of availability play a
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crucial role while designing of the jobs. The above mentioned factors of employees who will actually perform the job are taken into consideration. Designing a job that is more demanding and above their skill set will lead to decreased productivity and employee dissatisfaction. Socio economic and cultural expectations: Jobs are nowadays becoming more employee centered rather than process centered. They are therefore designed keeping the employees into consideration. In addition the literacy level among the employees is also on the rise. They now demand jobs that are to their liking and competency and which they can perform the best. c). Behavioral Factors: Behavioral factors or human factors are those that pertain to the human need and that need to be satisfied for ensuring productivity at workplace. They include the elements like autonomy, diversity, feedback etc. A brief explanation of some is given below: Autonomy: Employees should work in an open environment rather than one that contains fear. It promotes creativity, independence and leads to increased efficiency. Feedback: Feedback should be an integral part of work. Each employee should receive proper feedback about his work performance. Diversity: Repetitive jobs often make work monotonous which leads to boredom. A job should carry sufficient diversity and variety so that it remains as interesting with every passing day. Job variety / diversity should be given due importance while designing a job. Use of Skills and abilities: Jobs should be employee rather than process centered. Though due emphasis needs to be given to the latter but jobs should be designed in a manner such that an employee is able to make full use of his abilities and perform the job effectively. BENEFITS OF JOB DESIGN: The following are the benefits of a good job design: Employee Input: 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. Employee Training: Training is an integral part of job design. Contrary to the philosophy of leave them alone job design lays due emphasis on training people so that are well aware of what their job demands and how it is to be done. Work / Rest Schedules: Job design offers good work and rest schedule by clearly defining the number of hours an individual has to spend in his/her job. Adjustments: A good job designs allows for adjustments for physically demanding jobs by minimizing the energy spent doing the job and by aligning the manpower requirements for the same. Job design is a continuous and ever evolving process that is aimed at helping employees make adjustments with the changes in the workplace. The end goal is reducing dissatisfaction, enhancing motivation and employee engagement at the workplace.

JOB EVALUATION
Job evaluation is a process of determining the relative worth of a job. It is a process which is helpful even for framing compensation plans by the personnel manager. Job evaluation as a process is advantageous to a company in many ways. The purpose of job evaluation is to objectively determine the relative value of jobs within the organization through a systematic study and detailed analysis of job duties, relationships and requirements. Job evaluation is an ongoing joint process between the organization and various employee groups. OBJECTIVES OF JOB EVALUATION a). It is a method to eliminate inequalities. b). It provides a sound base for wage differentials for different jobs. c). It eliminates personal grudges in fixing of wage rates. Under job evaluation job is rated and not the merit of the worker, hence personal prejudices take back seat. d). Job evaluation provides appropriate salary structure. e). It facilitates wage survey and comparison of different wage structures. It also helps the management to usher sound salary administration by evaluating the employee in terms of job and to prepare the guidelines for promotion. It provides objectivity in salary administration. f). It forms a basis for fixing incentives and different bonus plans. g). Job evaluation assists in specifying functions, authority and responsibility. h). It serves as a useful reference for setting individual grievances regarding wage rates. i). It helps in eliminating the drawbacks from the salary and wage administration for instance the persons holing high position and drawing high salaries where equivalent skill is not required or giving increased salary to unworthy employees or wage differentials in closely related jobs etc. j). It provides a benchmark for comparing job structures and facilitates career planning. PRINCIPLES OF JOB EVALUATION Definition: Jobs must be clearly defined such that they are identifiable and easily distinguishable. These jobs must then be part of the job description. Evaluation: A job evaluation scheme must be arrived upon and used as a standard and all jobs in the organization must be evaluated as per that scheme only. Job Understanding: Job evaluators need to have deep insights into the job design process. They must have a methodical understanding of various tasks involved. Concern: Job evaluation must be concerned with the job and not with the person. i.e. it is the job that has to be evaluated and not the person Assessment: The assessment has to be carried out in an acceptable manner and by competent people. Further, it is based on judgment and is not scientific but can however be used to make objective judgments if used correctly. With organizations changing continuously in every sphere of operations, be it the way they conduct their business, the way they hire and manage people, there is a huge change in the processes that drive this change. Job evaluation and its technique are not immune to it. The
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techniques are changing very fast. There are organizations still that stick to existing schemes of job evaluation. Evaluations based upon old existent standards are time consuming in many cases. Organizations do not want to spend time on writing new jobs and making evaluations afresh. JOB EVALUATION METHODS There are five basic methods of job evaluation. They are: i). Ranking method, ii). Grading method, iii).Point method, iv).Factor comparison method and v). Computerized method Out of these five methods, the first two i.e. ranking and grading methods are non quantitative methods and the other two methods i.e. point and factor comparison methods are quantitative or analytical methods. Non quantitative methods do not use detailed classified data of job factors. They are quite simple in evaluating. These methods utilize job specification for rating of jobs. Point method and factor comparison method used more detailed information as a basic tool and not only job description. Under these methods job factors are chosen and measured. 1. RANKING METHOD It is a simple method of job evaluation. Under ranking method a committee is constituted, which is composed of executives and representatives of employees. The committee evaluates the job and ranks them according to their relative importance. Attempts are not made to break the jobs by specific criteria. Jobs are rated as a whole. Jobs are compared as difficult and simple and then they are ranked and arranged in the ascending order of sequence. Ranking of the jobs takes place in the way given here. Each rater is given the job description for each job separately. Rater studies the job description and makes analysis and then he notes down the point of differences between each job compare them and rank them in ascending order to their importance. The committee of raters sits together and discusses the ranking of jobs. Differences are resolved and final ranking of jobs is prepared. It may be decided by majority votes or taking averages of rankings. For comparing jobs rater take into consideration some of the factors as supervision of subordinates, cooperation with the staff of other departments, minimum educational qualifications, experience and training and likelihood of errors while doing job. There are several steps in the job ranking method. Obtain job information: Job analysis is the first step. Job descriptions for each job are prepared, and the information they contain about the jobs duties is usually the basis for ranking jobs. The ranking method usually ranks jobs according to the whole job, rather than a number of compensable factors. Therefore, job specifications which list the jobs demands in terms of problem solving, decision making, and skill, for instance are not as necessary with this method as they are for other job evaluation methods. Select and group jobs: It is often not practical to make a single ranking for all jobs in an organization. The usual procedure is to rank jobs by department or in clusters (such as factory
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workers or clerical workers). This eliminates the need for direct comparison of, say, factory jobs and clerical jobs. Select compensable factors: In the ranking method, it is common to use just one factor (such as job difficulty) and to rank jobs based on the whole job. Regardless of the number of factors you choose, it is advisable to explain the definition of the factor(s) to the evaluators carefully so that they evaluate the jobs consistently. Rank jobs: For example, give each rater a set of index cards, each of which contains a brief description of a job. Then they rank these cards from lowest to highest. Some manages use an alternation ranking method for making the procedure more accurate. Here the cards are taken in an orderly fashion, first choosing the highest and the lowest, then the next highest and lowest, and so forth until you all the cards have been ranked. 2. GRADING METHOD Grading method is also a non-quantitative method. It is also known as job classification. This method is improvement over ranking method. This system of job evaluation is quite simple. Under this method predetermined scale or grade is provided. These grades or classification determined in advance by an authorized body or a committee appointed for the purpose. Grades or scale are determined on the basis of information supplied by job analysis. The committee after studying the job description carefully compares each job and weigh in the light of skill, competence, knowledge, and experience required. The committee then assigns class or grade to each job. The classification is used as a standard for fixing pay scales. Jobs can be classified into several grades or classes such as skilled, unskilled, general clerk, accounts clerk, clerk cum typist, steno typist, office superintendent, laboratory assistant, foreman, workshop superintendent etc. or class I, II, III, IV etc. 3. POINT METHOD This is widely used method of job evaluation. Under this system a manual is prepared highlighting the various factors such as education, skill, competence, knowledge, training responsibility, job conditions, complexity, hazards, coordination, physical and mental efforts, mechanical ability etc. The jobs are rated on the basis of these factors which work as yardstick for evaluation. In all the jobs some of these factors are inherent. The comparative weighing of these factors against each other determines the degree of their importance. The suitable point value is then assigned to each factor. The job is then evaluated on the basis of sum total of these points contained in it. The point value is assigned to each degree. The mechanism of the system works in the following manner. Determination of jobs to be evaluated: The first step in the process is that all the jobs right from top executives to the peons in the organization that are to be evaluated should be determined. Each job requires some skill, technical, managerial, conceptual, physical etc. All these jobs are grouped or clustered according to functions, characteristics or the same kind of work. There can be separate evaluation for executive jobs, professional, technical and non technical jobs.
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Number of factors: The number of factors used to evaluate job is a difficult exercise as they vary according to the job, rater and organization. The factors are many to perform a job. They include skill, competence, education, physical ability, mental ability, responsibility, job condition, hazards, mechanical ability, complexity of experience, training etc. For evaluating job some of the factors are taken into account that are sufficient for better judgement. Using too many factors becomes burdensome, using too less factors will be unfair. The rater must take into account a sufficient number of factors that are essential to make fair job evaluation which will fulfill the needs of the organization. Division of factors into degrees: The factors are broken down into degrees and point value is assigned to each degree. Assigning point values degree: Assigning point values to degree is the job to be carried out by a committee appointed for the purpose. It weighs the factors in terms of percentage. The percentage of the factor becomes the points to be distributed among the degrees of the factor according to their relative importance. The scale is now prepared and jobs can be evaluated. Job evaluation: Jobs can now be evaluated after going through job analysis thoroughly and assigning the points and taking the sum total of them. This gives us relative worth of jobs. 4. FACTOR COMPARISON METHOD This method is mostly used in evaluating professional and managerial practices. It is a combination of ranking and point methods. It rates the jobs by comparing them like that in ranking method and it makes analysis by subdividing jobs into compensable factors like that in point method. The relative rank of the jobs is evaluated assigning money value. Under this method each job is ranked for each compensable factor separately. Each job factor is broadly defined. The most common factors used in job evaluation include skills, physical and mental requirements, working conditions and responsibilities. The mechanism for evaluating jobs under this system involves following procedure. The job factors are selected and defined precisely. Key jobs are selected for evaluation. Key jobs include those which belong to the range of jobs under consideration. These jobs are the standard jobs against which all jobs are evaluated. The selection of key jobs is made to cover the entire range including low and high level and paid jobs. The care is also taken that range does not include disputed jobs or those jobs over which there is disagreement between employees and management. Members of the committee rank the jobs on each factor. Factors are five, viz, skill, physical requirement, mental requirement, work conditions and responsibility. Wages are fixed for various compensable factors of each key job. All the jobs are compared with key jobs and evaluated factor by factor. A wage structure is prepared, designed and implemented. 5. COMPUTERIZED METHOD Using quantitative job evaluation methods such as the point or factor comparison plans can be time consuming. Accumulating the information about how much of each compensable factor the job contains traditionally involves a tedious process in which evaluation committees debate the level of each compensable factor in a job. They then write down their consensus judgments
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and manually compute each jobs point values. Computer-aided job evaluation (CAJE) can streamline this process. Computer aided job evaluation, can simplify job analysis, helps keep job descriptions up to date, increase evaluation objectivity, reduce the time spent in committee meetings, and ease the burden of system maintenance. CAJE includes electronic data entry, computerized checking of compensable factor questionnaire responses, and automated output of job evaluations and of a variety of compensation reports. BENEFITS OF JOB EVALUATION: Reduction in inequalities in salary structure: It is found that people and their motivation is dependent upon how well they are being paid. Therefore the main objective of job evaluation is to have external and internal consistency in salary structure so that inequalities in salaries are reduced. Specialization: Because of division of labor and thereby specialization, a large number of enterprises have got hundred jobs and many employees to perform them. Therefore, an attempt should be made to define a job and thereby fix salaries for it. This is possible only through job evaluation. Helps in selection of employees: The job evaluation information can be helpful at the time of selection of candidates. The factors that are determined for job evaluation can be taken into account while selecting the employees. Harmonious relationship between employees and manager: Through job evaluation, harmonious and congenial relations can be maintained between employees and management, so that all kinds of salaries controversies can be minimized. Standardization: The process of determining the salary differentials for different jobs become standardized through job evaluation. This helps in bringing uniformity into salary structure. Relevance of new jobs: Through job evaluation, one can understand the relative value of new jobs in a concern.