HRMLecture 6:Job DesignInstructor: Shawn Komar, PhDOffice: P2022Office Hours: Mon & Wed, 2:30-3:30Email: skomar@wlu.ca

How to make a pinOne man draws out the wire, another straights it, a third cuts, a fourth points it, a fifth grinds it at the top for receiving the head: To make the head requires two or three distinct operations: to put it on is a peculiar business, to whiten the pins is another; it is even a trade by itself to put them into the paper; and the important business of making a pin is, in this manner, divided into about eighteen distinct operations, which in some manufactories, are all performed by distinct hands, though in others the same man will sometime perform two or three of them

(Adam Smith, 1850, p. 3)

Job Design• The process of systematically organizing

work into tasks that are required to perform a specific job

•Goals of effective job design:• Enhance performance• Efficiency, work-flow• Increase employee engagement

Job Design: Challenge!Well-defined jobs continue to exist, but consider:

Individuals who telecommuteMembers of temporary teams whose membership shifts as work requirements change ~~~↔Independent contractors working with multiple companies

Project teams with members from multiple companies↘↙? Employees who must market their services within their own organizations – no single boss, no home organizational unit,

no assurance of long-term employment

What exactly is the “Job” we’re designing in these contexts?

Job Crafting: Bottom-up Job Design• Job design: generally top-down• Managers and consultants assess the content of jobs• Based on that assessment, introduce changes to foster

internal motivation and well-being

• Job Crafting: bottom-up• Employees may have considerable latitude to

customize, modify, and “craft” their own jobs• or at least discuss with their managers how the work

might be restructured• Requires a degree of freedom and a job that isn’t

interdependent

Other Job (re)Design Trends• Job enlargement and job rotation

• Job enrichment

• Team-based job design• “Surgical” teams• Coacting teams• Face-to-face teams• Distributed teams

Job Characteristics Model• Psychological goals: Meaningfulness, Responsibility,

& Knowledge of Outcomes• Performance goals: Motivation, Job Satisfaction, &

Productivity

• Characteristics• Autonomy• Variety• Task Identity• Feedback• Task Significance

Self Determination Theory•Motivational theory tied to self-mastery

and personal growth

•Needs:•Autonomy•Competence•Relatedness

Cooperative RelationshipsBased on Trust Willingness

to be Vulnerable

(Based on positive expectations of organizational actions)

Trustworthiness:AbilityBenevolenceIntegrity(of a trustee)Mayer et al., 1995

Trustworthiness• Trustworthiness is a judgment based on:• Ability – can the other person help me?• (knowledge and skills)

• Benevolence – does the other person want good outcomes for me?• Loyalty, openness, caring, supportiveness

• Integrity – does the other person have consistent morals or principles?• Fairness, justice, consistency, promise

fulfillment

Trust is Critical•Organizations – people working together

to accomplish great things•People must rely on (be vulnerable to)

one another

• Flat organizations don’t enforce trustworthiness with structure• Trust is critical to effective performance

Job Design & Trust

SDT Needs Trustworthiness

• Competence

• Relatedness

• Autonomy

• Ability

• Benevolence

• Integrity

Position:Stockholder Correspondent• Duties: A stockholder correspondent will answer letter inquiries received from

stockholders requesting information on such things as stock transfer procedures, dividend policies, purchases, or dispositions, and so on. The correspondent will

• Receive inquiries assigned by the supervisor in a quantity sufficient to meet the standard daily production quota.

• Match each inquiry with standardized responses catalogued in a loose-leaf binder according to type of request.

• Draft letter responses to the inquiries based on the standardized format.

• Submit completed letter drafts to the supervisor for proofreading, signature, and mailing.

• Correct any letters previously drafted and found inappropriate or incorrect by the supervisor.

• Refer back to the supervisor, for assignment to a specialist, those unique inquiries that fail to fit a standardized response.

• Ask the supervisor for assistance on any especially difficult inquiries.

• Perform additional duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Job Analysis?

http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/43-4021.00