LESSON 2

THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF WORK

1. What are the possible trade-offs among the various approaches to designing jobs?

In the mechanistic approach, its advantage is it helps the company to have more efficiency of
the workers since it makes the work uncomplicated. However, it will stop the career and
psychological growth of the workers. There will be no development; Therefore, their characters
will become stagnant.

In the motivational approach, the advantage is it makes the workers satisfied with their job. It
also shows the career and psychological growth of the workers. However, it does not account for
the physical and mental limitations of the workers. It might affect their work in the long run.

The biological approach considers the physical capabilities of the workers. Thus, it makes the
worker maximize their physical health without affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of their
work. However, it does not account for the mental limitations of the workers and might affect
their work in the future. In addition, it can also hinder the career growth of the workers because
of the restrictions implied.

Lastly, the perceptual-motor approach has an advantage of mental capabilities limitations. It

makes the jobs of workers more reliable and high quality. This approach also can hinder the
growth of the workers because of the restrictions and it does not consider the physical
capabilities of the workers.

Overall, Minimizing the disadvantages is one of the goals of job design. The HR
professional should design their job based on the nature of their business to lessen these
disadvantages. For example, if the business is more on the physical power, like construction
workers, the company should adopt the biological approach to design their jobs. Also, companies
can use a combination of these methods. An example is giving a less tiring job; without
sacrificing their psychological growth. It is a combination of biological and motivational
approaches.