Implementation of Effective Job Design within the Organisation - Coursework Example

? Implementation of Effective Job Design within the Organisation Table of contents Introduction 3 2. Effective job design within the Organisation 3 2(a) The meaning of job design 3 2(b) The variety of possible approaches to improve job design 4 2(c) Key requirements of improved job design 5 2 (d) Benefits arising for the organisation from improved job design 6 3. Conclusion 7 3(a) Summary 7 3(b) Suggestions 7 3(c) Recommendations 7 References 9 1. Introduction The assignment of tasks to employees is a critical challenge for managers in modern organizations. In many cases, employees do not have all the skills required for their role, a problem that may not be revealed during the hiring process. In this context, effective job design becomes critical for securing that employees will be able to respond to the demands of their position. The terms of the implementation of effective job design within modern organizations are explored in this paper. It is proved that job design can highly contribute in the increase of employee performance but only if it is carefully planned and monitored. The use of approaches that have been already tested in practice can limit the risks related to the particular initiative and increase the expected benefits both for the employee and for the organization. 2. Effective job design within the Organisation 2(a) The meaning of job design Different approaches have been used for describing job design According to Randhawa (2007) job design is a term used for showing ‘the synthesis of a series of tasks that are necessary for performing a specific job’ (Randhawa 2007, p.54). From another point of view, job design describes ‘the content, the rewards and the skills related to a particular role’ (Randhawa 2007, p.54). In the last definition, emphasis is given ‘on the needs of the organization but also of the employees’ (Randhawa 2007, p.54). Moreover, Aswathappa (2005) explains that job design is a term used for showing the ‘organization of tasks and duties into a unit of work so that specific objectives are achieved’ (Aswathappa 2005, p.113). A simpler description of job design has been also used in practice. For example, Griffin (2012) describes job design as the identification of the duties of each individual in regard to his role (Griffin 2012). 2(b) The variety of possible approaches to improve job design In the context of modern organizations the improvement of job design is possible but only specific terms. In any case, a variety of approaches has been introduced for securing the improvement of job design. Managers have to choose the approach that is more aligned with the needs of both the organization and the employees. A common approach in job redesign is the motivational approach, which emphasizes on ‘employees’ autonomy and participation in all critical organizational decisions’ (Jex and Britt 2008, p.294). Reference should be also made to the biological approach that is based on the following rule: job design needs to ensure that the health of employees will be not threatened (Jex and Britt 2008, p.294). In the context of the biological approach emphasis is given not only on the safety of employees but also on their health (Jex and Britt 2008, p.294). The measures taken for limiting stress in the workplace are incorporated in the biological approach of job design. The alignment of organizational need for high profits with employees’ need for continuous development can be secured by using one of the following approaches of job design: a) job rotation; when using this approach, managers tend to promote ‘the movement of employees across the organization, from one position to another’ (Griffin 2011, p.160); b) job enlargement; this approach is based on the expansion of the tasks incorporated in each role (Griffin 2011); the employee the job of whose has been set under job enlargement has to respond to more duties usually with no extra compensation, a fact that often leads to conflicts across the workplace (Griffin 2011); c) job enrichment; this approach is similar to job enlargement. The difference between these approaches is the following one: job enlargement reflects ‘the increase of tasks included in a particular role’ (Griffin 2011, p.160) while job enrichment reflects ‘both the increase of tasks and the increase of employees’ power to take initiatives’ (Griffin 2011, p.160); d) ‘job characteristics approach’ (Griffin 2011, p.160); this approach shows the improvement of jobs according to certain criteria, such as the skills of each employee and the importance of each task (Griffin 2011); in regard to this approach, emphasis should be also given to the independency of employee in taking decisions and to the provision by employee of feedback in regard to the tasks assigned to him (Snell and Bohlander 2012); (e) job simplification (French 2011, p.244); this approach is based on the standardization of roles and ‘the assignment to each employee of tasks that are clearly defined’ (French 2011, p.244). 2(c) Key requirements of improved job design In order for improved job design to be successful, in terms of the performance of employees in regard to the tasks assigned to them, certain requirements need to be met. These requirements can be different for each of the approaches related to job design, as presented in the previous section. For example, job enrichment has to be followed by enhancement of the employee’s responsibility, compared to the past (DuBrin 2011). In addition, job simplification has to be based on the following rule: only particular tasks need to be assigned to each employee (DuBrin 2011); alternating the tasks assigned to employees can destroy the efforts of a firm’s managers to promote job specialization (DuBrin 2011). The job simplification model also requires that the employee involved is appropriately skilled for performing the tasks assigned to him (French 2011). Finally, when using the job characteristics model a manager need to ensure that all the aspects of the particular model, as described earlier, are incorporated in each position (Snell and Bohlander 2012). If one of these aspects is not included in the job assigned to an employee, then the expected benefits from using this model would be significantly reduced (Snell and Bohlander 2012). 2 (d) Benefits arising for the organisation from improved job design. Promoting the improvement of job design can result to a series of important benefits for the organization involved. These benefits would be described as follows, as related to each one of the approaches used for the improvement of job design: a) job simplification results to the limitation of the complexity of tasks assigned to each employee (Daft 2009); this means that the chances for the high performance of employees in regard to their position are increased (Daft 2009); b) job enrichment leads to the significant increase of employee motivation (Daft 2009); as explained earlier, this approach is based on the increase of employee’ responsibility, a fact that leads to the increase of ‘chances for personal development of employees’ (Daft 2009, p.283). Such perspective would lead to increase of employee productivity, a fact that could be followed by the increase of organizational profits (Daft 2009); c) job rotation offers to employees the chance ‘to acquire experience in regard to a variety of tasks’ (Daft 2009, p.283). In general, job design has been related to the reduction of organizational costs, the increase of organizational profitability and the increase of employee motivation (Al Araimi 2011). At the same time, improved job design can lead to the improvement of communication and cooperation within the organization at the level that employees are satisfied with the employer’s efforts for improving job design (Lewis et al. 2006). 3. Conclusion 3(a) Summary Job design is a critical strategy for achieving organizational objectives. Still, the modes of job design introduced in each organization are often inappropriate, in terms of the needs of organization or the needs of employees. Promoting the improvement of job design can help managers to secure organizational growth. However, in practice, the attempts for improving job design are led to failure either because of lack of skills of the manager involved or because of lack of resources to support the relevant plans. 3(b) Suggestions Managers who have to support plans focusing on the improvement of job design should be appropriately skilled. In fact, the plan promoting the improvement of job design should be developed by managers at high levels of the organizational hierarchy who are fully aware of organizational objectives and of the potentials of their organization to respond to the needs of such plan. Also, the resources required for the completion of such plan should be identified in advance; lack of adequate resources for promoting a plan focusing on the improvement of job design could result to conflicts in the workplace. Indeed, if employees wait for changes in regard to their roles and the organization fails in proceeding with these changes then the relationship between employer and employees would be severely harmed. 3(c) Recommendations Before implementing a plan for the improvement of job design managers should ensure that the chosen approach is appropriate for the particular organization. In addition, the following fact should be taken into consideration: the benefits related to such initiative may not be clear in the short term. Also, the various terms of the plan would be explained to employees before the beginning of the plan’s implementation. In this case, the chances for potential resistance would be eliminated. Finally, as with all organizational plans, the improvement of job design requires the review, in advance, of the expected benefits. If benefits are found to be less than the resources and time required for the plan’s completion then an alternative strategy should be preferred for securing organizational growth. References Al Araimi, F., 2011. Power of Human Resources. Bloomington: AuthorHouse. Aswathappa, K., 2005. Human Resource and Personnel Management. 4th ed. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Daft, R., 2009. Organization Theory and Design. 10th ed. Belmont: Cengage Learning. DuBrin, A., 2011. Essentials of Management. 9th ed. Belmont: Cengage Learning. French, R., 2011. Organizational Behaviour. 2nd ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Griffin, R., 2012. Management. 11th ed. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Griffin, R., 2011. Fundamentals of Management. 6th ed. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Jex, S. and Britt, T., 2008. Organizational Psychology: A Scientist-Practitioner Approach. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Lewis, P., Goodman, S., Frandt, P. And Mishlitsch, J., 2006. Management: Changes for Tomorrow's Leaders. 5th ed. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Randhawa, G., 2007. Human Resource Management. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Dist. Snell, S. and Bohlander, G., 2012. Managing Human Resources. 16th ed. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Read More