Job Design Research Paper

The duration of a Job may range from an hour (in the case of odd Jobs) to a lifetime (in the case of some Judges). The activity that requires a person's mental or physical effort is work (as in "a day's work"). If a person is trained for a certain type of Job, they may have a profession.

The series of Jobs a person holds in their life is their career. Types Of Job There are a variety of Jobs: full time, part time, temporary, odd Jobs, seasonal, self- employment. People might have a chosen occupation for which they have achieved training or a degree.Those who do not hold down a steady Job may do odd jobs or be unemployed. Moonlighting is the practice of holding an additional Job or jobs, often at night, in addition to one's main Job, usually to earn extra income.

A person who moonlights may have little time left for sleep or leisure activities. JOB DESIGN Job design (also referred to as work design or task design) is the specification of contents, methods and relationship of Jobs in order to satisfy technological and organizational requirements as well as the social and personal requirements of the job holder. ] Its principles are geared towards how the nature of a person's Job affects their attitudes and behavior at work, particularly relating to characteristics such as skill variety and autonomy. [2] The aim of a Job design is to improve Job satisfaction, to improve through-put, to improve quality and to reduce employee problems (e. G. , grievances, absenteeism).

In simple words, Job design is the consciously planned structuring of work effort performed by an individual or a team of persons.Job Characteristic Theory The Job characteristic theory proposed by Hickman & Lolled (1976)[3] stated that ark should be designed to have five core Job characteristics, which engender three critical psychological states in individuals-?experiencing meaning, feeling responsible for outcomes, and understanding the results of their efforts. In turn, these psychological states were proposed to enhance employees' intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, quality of work and performance, while reducing turnover. Core Job dimensions 1 .

Skill variety -? This refers to the range of skills and activities necessary to complete the Job.The more a person is required to use a wide variety of skills, the more attesting the Job is likely to be. 2. Task identity -? This dimension measures the degree to which the Job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work. Employees who are involved in an activity from start to finish are usually more satisfied.

3. Task significance -? This looks at the impact and influence of a Job. Jobs are more satisfying if people believe that they make a difference, and are adding real value to colleagues, the organization, or the larger community. . Autonomy -? This describes the amount of individual choice and discretion involved in a Job. More autonomy leads to more satisfaction.

For instance, a Job is likely to be more satisfying if people are involved in making decisions, instead of simply being told what to do. 5. Feedback -? This dimension measures the amount of information an employee receives about his or her performance, and the extent to which he or she can see the impact of the work. The more people are told about their performance, the more interested they will be in doing a good Job.So, sharing production figures, customer satisfaction scores etc. Can increase the feedback levels.

Critical psychological tastes The five core Job dimensions listed above result in three different psychological states. Experienced meaningfulness of the work: The extent to which people believe that their Job is meaningful, and that their work is valued and appreciated . Experienced responsibility for the outcomes of work: The extent to which people feel accountable for the results of their work, and for the outcomes they have produced (comes from core dimension 4).Knowledge of the actual results of the work activity: The extent to which people know how well they are doing. PRINCIPALS OF JOB DESIGN 1 .

Form a coherent whole, either independently or with related Jobs. Performance of the Job (or Jobs) should make a significant contribution to the completion of the product or service, a contribution which is visible to the Job holder. 2. Provide some variety of pace, method, location and skill 3. Provide feedback of performance, both directly and through other people 4.

Allow for some discretion and control in the timing, sequence and pace of work efforts 5.The common elements in human relations theory are the beliefs that Performance can be improved by good human relations Managers should consult employees in matters that affect staff Leaders should be democratic rather than authoritarian Employees are motivated by social and psychological rewards and are not Just "economic animals" The work group plays an important part in influencing performance 6. Socio-technical Systems Socio-technical systems aims on Jointly optimizing the operation of the social and technical system; the good or service would then be efficiently produced and psychological needs of the workers fulfilled.Embedded in Socio-technical Systems are motivational assumptions, such as intrinsic and extrinsic rewards 7. Work reform Work reform states about the workplace relation and the changes made which are more suitable to management and employee to encourage increased workforce participation. 8.

Motivational work design The psychological literature on employee motivation contains considerable evidence that Job design can influence satisfaction, motivation and Job performance.It influences them primarily because it affects the relationship between the employee's expectancy that increased performance will lead to rewards and the preference of different rewards for the individual. [13] Hickman and Olden developed the theory that a workplace can be redesigned to greater improve their core Job characteristics. Their overall concept consists of: Making larger work units by combining smaller, more specialized tasks. Mandating worker(s) to be responsible via having direct contact with clients. Having employee evaluations done frequently in order to provide feedback for learning.

Allowing workers to be responsible for their Job by giving them authority and control.N The introduction of teamwork also provides some attractions to those who advocate a better quality of working life and who are seeking ways of enriching Jobs through better design. Whilst accepting that teams choose to operate in different ways, many of the desirable Job characteristics as identified by Hickman and Lolled are capable of being fulfilled through teamwork. These include: 1.

Variety of tasks - requiring the use of several skills. 2. Autonomy - of the operator in deciding the order or pace of work 3.Identity - the task forms a whole Job or larger part of the whole Job 4. Responsibility - individuals accountable to each other for what is produced 5.

Feedback - constant information on how the operator is performing 6. Social contact - constant opportunity (except perhaps in some cell working arrangements where individuals can feel isolated) for interaction with colleagues 7. Balanced workload - team members can help each other to even out peaks and troughs in their work 8. Minimal role ambiguity or conflict - the team has the opportunity to deal swiftly with any problem of 'who does what'.