Atienza, Reymond G.
November 24, 2016
BSBA Financial Management II
Human Resource Management
(3:30 PM - 5:00 PM/TTH/ACD-406)
Profesor Cristina Melo
Common Approaches to Job Design:
JOB ENLARGEMENT
Job enlargement is a job design technique wherein there is an increase in the number of tasks associated
with a certain job. In other words, it means increasing the scope of ones duties and responsibilities. The
increase in scope is quantitative in nature and not qualitative and at the same level.
Job enlargement is a horizontal restructuring method that aims at increase in the workforce flexibility
and at the same time reducing monotony that may creep up over a period of time. It is also known as
horizontal loading in that the responsibilities increase at the same level and not vertically.
Many believe that since the enlargement is horizontal in nature there is not a great need for training!
Contrary to this, job enlargement requires appropriate training especially on time and people
management. Task related training is not required much since the person is already aware of the same or
doing it for some time.
Benefits of Job Enlargement
The following are the major benefits of Job enlargement
1. Reduced Monotony: Howsoever interesting the job may appear in the beginning, sooner or later
people complain of boredom and monotony. Job enlargement if planned carefully can help reduce
boredom and make it more satisfying and fulfilling for the employees.
2. Increased Work Flexibility: There is an addition to the number of tasks an individual performs.
There is thus an increased scope of carrying out tasks that are versatile and yet very similar in
certain aspects.
3. No Skills Training Required: Since the individual has already been performing the task in the
past, there is no great requirement for imparting of new skills. However people and time
management interventions may be required. The job thus gets more motivational for the one
performing it.
JOB ENRICHMENT
Organizations are increasingly facing the heat of attrition, which is not good to health of the same. Lots of
time, money and resources are spent into training an individual for a particular job and when he / she
leaves the return on that investment equals null. Often it is not for the money that people leave; that may
be the reason with the frontline staff but as we move towards the upper levels of organisational hierarchy,
other reasons gain prominence. Many of those who quit their jobs complain of their jobs as uninteresting!
All this has compelled organisations to think of ways to make the job they offer interesting. Lots of efforts
are made to keep monotony at bay; job enrichment is one of them. It is the process of making a job more
interesting, challenging and satisfying for the employees. It can either be in the form of up gradation of
responsibilities, increase in the range of influence and the challenges.
How does an Organisation Enrich a Job
Typically job enrichment involves combining various existing and new tasks into one large module of
work. The work is then handed over to an employee, which means there is an increase in responsibilities
and scope. This increase in responsibility is often vertical. The idea is to group various tasks together
such that natural work units are created.
In addition expanding jobs vertically also gives employee direct control over works units and employees
that were formerly under the jurisdiction of top management only. While on one hand this increases the
ownership of the employees in their work, it also relieves the unnecessary burden from the top
management.
Job enrichment also opens up a feedback channel for the employees. Employees are frequently apprised of
their performance. This keeps them on track and helps them know their weak and strong points.
Performance standards are set for the employees themselves and future performances are matched
against the benchmarks. All this without any serious intervention or involvement of the top management!
In a certain bank that dealt with commercial credit letters for import and export trade, the employees
processed the documents in a sequence with each employee being specialised for certain aspect of
verification. Often it so happened that a mistake at preceding level lead to a series of mistakes at
succeeding level. Errors accumulated at each level and this result in huge loss of productivity.
The organisation decided to go for job enrichment where each employee or clerk was specialised in all
aspects of processing. Each employee was now able to handle a client on his own. After some time it was
found out that the transaction volume increased by 100 percent!
Benefits of Job Enrichment
Research studies on job enrichment found out decreased levels of absenteeism among the employees,
reduced employee turnover and a manifold increase in job satisfaction. There are certain cases however
where job enrichment can lead to a decrease in productivity, especially when the employees have not been
trained properly. Even after the training the process may not show results immediately, it takes time to
reflect in the profit line.
JOB ROTATION
Job Rotation is a management approach where employees are shifted between two or more assignments or
jobs at regular intervals of time in order to expose them to all verticals of an organization. It is a preplanned approach with an objective to test the employee skills and competencies in order to place him or
her at the right place. In addition to it, it reduces the monotony of the job and gives them a wider
experience and helps them gain more insights.
Job rotation is a well-planned practice to reduce the boredom of doing same type of job everyday and
explore the hidden potential of an employee. The process serves the purpose of both the management and
the employees. It helps management in discovering the talent of employees and determining what he or
she is best at. On the other hand, it gives an individual a chance to explore his or her own interests and
gain experience in different fields or operations.
Job Rotation Objectives
Reducing Monotony of the Job: The first and foremost objective of job rotation is to reduce the
monotony and repetitiveness involved in a job. It allows employees to experience different type of
jobs and motivates them to perform well at each stage of job replacement.
Succession Planning: The concept of succession planning is Who will replace whom. Its main
function of job rotation is to develop a pool of employees who can be placed at a senior level when
someone gets retired or leaves the organization. The idea is to create an immediate replacement of
a high-worth employee from within the organization.
Creating Right-Employee Job Fit: The success of an organization depends on the on-job
productivity of its employees. If theyre rightly placed, they will be able to give the maximum
output. In case, they are not assigned the job that they are good at, it creates a real big problem for
both employee as well as organization. Therefore, fitting a right person in right vacancy is one of
the main objectives of job rotation.
Exposing Workers to All Verticals of the Company: Another main function of job rotation
process is to exposing workers to all verticals or operations of the organization in order to make
them aware how company operates and how tasks are performed. It gives them a chance to
understand the working of the organization and different issues that crop up while working.
Testing Employee Skills and Competencies: Testing and analyzing employee skills and
competencies and then assigning them the work that they excel at is one of the major functions of
job rotation process. It is done by moving them to different jobs and assignments and determining
their proficiency and aptitude. Placing them what they are best at increases their on-job
productivity.
Developing a Wider Range of Work Experience: Employees, usually dont want to change
their area of operations. Once they start performing a specific task, they dont want to shift from
their comfort zone. Through job rotation, managers prepare them in advance to have a wider range
of work experience and develop different skills and competencies. It is necessary for an overall
development of an individual. Along with this, they understand the problems of various
departments and try to adjust or adapt accordingly.
Job rotation is a well planned management approach that is beneficial both for employees and
management.
JOB SHARING
Job sharing is a special type of part-time employment in which two or more employees share the duties of
a single, full-time position. Job sharers may each work part of a day or work alternate days or weeks.
Heres how it may benefit the employer:
o
Improve recruiting by attracting qualified employees who dont want to work full-time.
Improve retention by offering an alternative that may appeal to many workers.
Reduce absenteeism and tardiness because of the flexibility offered.
Give workers time to deal with family and other personal responsibilities.
Give the employer a pool of workers who can be asked to return to full-time work temporarily
during high demand periods or to fill in for other employees who must be away from their jobs
unexpectedly.
Increase productivity as each partner makes sure to do his or her full share.
Enhance output because of collaboration and exchange of ideas between partners.
Increase engagement especially when a partner goes from full time to part timeinstead of stress
from missing deadlines, there is pride at getting the job done.
However, there may also be several disadvantages to job sharing:
o
Need for additional supervisory time;
Possible disruption of work flow;
Communication; and.
Scheduling challenges for training and meetings.
Job sharing may be appropriate for:
o
Jobs that cannot be split into two part-time positions;
Tedious or high-stress jobs; and
Meeting employee or applicant requests.
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Employers that think that job sharing might suit their needs should outline general procedures and even
try it on a trial basis. For specific job-sharing arrangements, spell out the details in writing, including
each job sharers salary, benefits, work schedule, and accountabilities.
In particular, concentrate on:
o
The pass-off, that is, the system for briefing the other partner on accomplishments,
developments, and ongoing issues;
Time at the beginning of the arrangement for the partners to plan out how they will manage
together, and regular meetings from time to time; and
A clear definition of what, if any, communication is permitted/expected between the two partners.
In many cases, reports say, the two partners morph into one person to clients and coworkersafter an
interaction, the person cant tell which partner was involved in the discussion.
Job sharingjust one more of the numerous wage and hour challenges all comp pros face. Wage and hour
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