Assignment No.

2: Job Design and Workforce Planning

Junyi (Jerry) Wu

615153

Trinity Western University

BUSI 352 A

Prof. Jani McKay, Prof. Jeanette Lee

October 17, 2023

 The four strategic design approaches that are commonly used in the job design process

include mechanistic, motivational, biological, and perceptual approach. A manager needs to

consider the trade-offs of adopting these approaches and decide which are the most useful in

designing for the selected position.

The mechanistic approach mainly focuses on making structural changes to simplify

complex work in order to maximize efficiency. The goal is to make the job so simple that

workers can be trained quickly and inexpensively to perform their given task (Noe et al., 2023,

pp 181-182). To use the mechanistic approach in the job design for an accountant at Deloitte, the

manager needs to divide the tasks up in order to simplify the complexity of the job

responsibilities. Accountant is a generic job title that includes a variety of specialized positions

within the accounting realm. While people in the accounting profession are generally required to

possess a wide range of technical knowledge that would enable them to excel in performing their

duties (case in point, accounting staffs are generally required by the firm to obtain their CPA

designation), it is unreasonable to ask an individual employee to cover all the responsibilities of a

variety of accounting roles combined. Therefore, a mechanistic approach would enable the

manager to simplify the complexity involved with the accountant role by dividing it into multiple

categories, such as income tax adviser, internal auditor, financial accountant and many more in

order to maximize operational efficiency.

Rathan than focusing on simplifying complex jobs, the motivational approach seeks to

design the roles in a way that conveys to the employees the meaningfulness of their work and

help them achieve a sense of satisfaction from performing their duties. One of the features that

managers could incorporate into the role of accountants is job empowerment (Noe et al., 2023,

pp 182). This allows individual employees to take part in the decision-making process as well as
having more autonomy over their work and skill developments, while Deloitte would provide the

necessary resources and support to help them grow as professionals. Another feature that

managers could pursue is goal setting. This involves setting clear and challenging goals for its

accounting staff that would both help Deloitte bolster its brand image and propel its accountants’

careers forward. An example of this is requiring its accounting staff to retain their CPA

designation. This requires individual employees to conduct extensive studying outside of work as

well as practice discipline in order to find the work-life balance. Meanwhile, Deloitte should

provide active feedback and support such as online lectures and senior mentors to help its

employees excel on this challenging journey, while recognizing and rewarding them for

achieving the goals (in the forms of pay raise and promotions).

The use of biological approach in job designs would concentrate on ergonomics in the

workplace that focuses on employee health and well-being and aims to minimize physical strains

(Noe et al., 2023, pp 183). To engage in this approach, a manager could provide ergonomically

designed chairs and adjustable standing desk at the office, as well as implementing

recommended guidelines for light activities throughout the day to avoid excessive immobility

associated with the office job. This could help reduce the occurrence of potential health issues

mentioned earlier including fatigue, aches and pain.

The use of perceptual approach aims to ensure that the responsibility that comes with the

accounting role does not exceed employee mental capabilities and limitations by reducing

individual information processing requirement (Noe et al., 2023, pp 185-186). To use the

perceptual approach at Deloitte, managers could ask individuals about their expectations about

the role, what they hope to gain from the role, as well as their preferences on the job. These
information are then used to design the job specific to the individual’s perception by tailoring the

job responsibilities, workplace preferences, tasks and etc, which could help reduce burnout from

overworking.

Based on the assessment of the four approaches described above, the most useful

approaches that Deloitte could use are the mechanistic and motivational approach. The

mechanistic approach is useful because it would enable Deloitte to simplify the complex tasks

that are associated with the accounting responsibilities by delegating specialized tasks to

specialized positions, which maximizes the efficiency of operations at the company to make sure

that clients are taken care of on a timely manner. The motivational approach is also useful

because it would enable Deloitte to help their accountants realize the meaningfulness of work

through features such as job empowerment and goal setting. By effectively motivating their

accountants, Deloitte would help them advance their careers while reinforcing their own brand

image at the same time. While the biological approach is not the most useful approach for

Deloitte, it is still useful to some extent because having an ergonomically friendly work

environment and encouraging light activities throughout the day could help reduce the

occurrence of health problems amongst the accountants. However, the impact of this approach

has been diminished after COVID as hybrid working environment has slowly become the new

norm for office jobs such as accountant. The perceptual approach too is less useful because as

good as the prospects this approach promises, it is quite unrealistic for Deloitte to reduce the

information processing requirement on its accountants due to the demanding nature

of the job.

Different parties who should take part in the job analysis process of the accountant role at

Deloitte include human resource personnel, accountants currently working the role,
manager/partner overseeing the accounting department, as well as other stakeholders such as

clients and prospective customers. Together, there are two primary methods for them to collect

the KSAO details for the accountant position at Deloitte. The first method is Position Analysis

Questionnaire (PAQ), which is a standardized job analysis questionnaire containing 193 items

that measures 12 overall dimensions of jobs. Each of these items are rated on six scales, which

are then plugged into a computer system to find a given job’s scores. These scores are able to

provide the manager with the information on what types of abilities are necessary to perform the

job (Noe et al., 2023, pp 177). The second method is the Occupational Information Network

(O*NET), which is a database provided by the U.S. Department of Labor that uses a common

language that generalizes across jobs to describe the abilities, work style, work activities, and

work context required across 1,000 broadly defined occupations (Noe et al., 2023, pp 178). The

Canadian equivalent version of the O*NET is the National Occupational Classification (NOC).

With that said, for the position of an accountant at Deloitte, the knowledge required

include accounting standards such as GAAP and IFRS, general business practices (Ottawa

University, 2021), micro and macroeconomics, financial accounting, managerial accounting,

quantitative methods and analysis, and financial management (American InterContinental

University, 2022). Skills required include financial statements preparation, data analytics, system

analytics (Ottawa University, 2021), as well as proficiency in a wide range of software including,

accounting, compliance, spreadsheet, project management, enterprise resource planning, and

database reporting software. Ability required include critical thinking, time management, strong

written and oral communication, active learning, and analytical and problem-solving skills

(American InterContinental University, 2022). Other requirements likely include: 1. accounting

certifications such as chartered professional accountants, chartered accountants, certified general

accountants, and certified management accountant; 2. education degree such as university

degree or MBA; and 3. experience needed that could range from 1 to many years of experience

working in relevant fields.

The last area to examine for the accounting position at Deloitte is the potential workforce

imbalances that could take place in the next five years. There is an existing quantitative

imbalance in Deloitte’s work force, and it will likely continue in the future as the number of

people Deloitte needs to achieve its goal is less than the amount that it has. This has resulted in

overworked and fatigued staff, as well as missed deadlines in some of Deloitte’s operations

(Wootton, 2022). This ties into qualitative imbalance too, since position requirements for various

accounting roles are more demanding than incumbent’s qualifications, which has resulted in poor

quality of work and auditing negligence as demonstrated through the recently penalized Deloitte

China auditing department (Reuters, 2023). It is also possible for Deloitte to see environmental

imbalance in its future operations. This brings us back to the penalized Deloitte China once

again. Because Deloitte failed to perform its duty in assessing the asset quality of a Chinese asset

management firm (as they presented findings favorable in the Chinese firm’s perspective which

eventually led to risk control failure), Deloitte China was fined $30.8 million by the Chinese

Finance Ministry and its Beijing office’s operations was suspended for three months (Reuters,

2023). This auditing negligence reflects a lack of equality between the firm’s corporate values

and demands of legislation, which is damaging to the company’s brand image. While similar

situations had happened multiple times in the past, this environmental imbalance will likely

continue to occur in Deloitte’s future operations. Lastly, structural imbalance is another concern
Deloitte is already facing, and will continue to face in the future. This is largely due to their

aging workforce. At Deloitte Australia, the lack of replacement for the retired partners in the past

two years had posted challenges to audit quality, and it also increased the occurrence of

employee fatigue and attrition issues (Wootton, 2022). With that said, Deloitte needs to closely

monitor its accounting operations to minimize the occurrence of these imbalances and actively

prepare themselves to respond to these issues aptly when they do occur in the future.

In conclusion, Deloitte should lean towards the mechanistic and motivational approach in

the job design process for the position of accountant and hire candidates that are able to meet its

KSAO requirements, while being mindful of the existing/potential workforce balances that could

take place in the next five years.

Works Cited:

Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2023). Human Resource Management:
Gaining a Competitive Advantage (13e ed.). McGraw Hill Education.

American InterContinental University. (2022, January 10). The top skills you need for a career
in accounting. American Intercontinental University - A member of the American
InterContinental University System. https://www.aiuniv.edu/degrees/business/articles/top-
skills-for-career-in-accounting#:~:text=Accountants%20and%20auditors%20work
%20with,(GAAP)%20and%20accounting%20processes.

10 best accounting skills. Ottawa University - Prepare for a Life of Significance. (2021, July).
https://www.ottawa.edu/online-and-evening/blog/july-2021/10-best-accounting-skills

Wootton, H. (2022, October 25). Deloitte calls Crisis Meeting, blames staff turnover for poor
audit results. Australian Financial Review. https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-
services/deloitte-calls-crisis-meeting-blames-staff-turnover-for-poor-audit-results-
20221025-p5bsn8#:~:text=Senior%20leaders%20at%20Deloitte%20have,a%20crisis
%20meeting%20on%20Monday

Thomson Reuters. (2023, March 18). China fines Deloitte $31 million for auditing negligence.
Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/china-fines-deloitte-31-mln-auditing-
negligence-2023-03-18/