Workers, Jobs, and Job Analysis After you have read this chapter, you should be able to:

• Explain how
the diversity of the workforce affects HR management functions. • Identify components of work flow
analysis that must be considered. • Define job design and identify common approaches to varying job
design. • Describe different types of work teams and HR facets that must be considered. • Discuss how
telework and work flexibility are linked to work-life balancing efforts. • Describe job analysis and the
stages and methods used in the process. • List the components of job description

J obs must be balanced with work-life issues. Workforce demographics of employees by racial/ethnic
background, age, and gender, indicate that organizations must adjust to the fact that employees want to
increase flexibility in their work schedules to accommodate the life outside the job. A comprehensive
study of more than 500 organizations and their employees by the Institute for Corporate Productivity
identified two reasons employees want flexible work: (1) much of their work does not require being in
the office all of the time, or (2) they have long commutes. Using occupational groups, the study
identified that approximately threefourths of professional employees and half of administrative
employees wanted flexible schedules. Women were another group that wanted more flexibility. A
change that has affected work is the growth in telecommuting. Through greater use of technology, more
employees are working outside of the workplace. For instance, managers and other employees may
work from home, an elder parent’s apartment, a client’s facility, an airport conference room, a work
suite in a hotel resort, or even a vacation location. Thus, balancing workers and jobs with technology and
flexibility in work schedules and location is likely to increase in importance, affecting both organizational
and individual performance.1 W