8 Methods of Job Design | Human Resource Management

8 Methods of job design!

Job design is the method of determining the content of the job and methods of doing the job. Its aim is to make the job simple, standard, interesting and challenging.
Different methods for designing the job are available of which following are the common methods:
1. Work Simplification
2. Job Rotation
3. Job Enlargement
4. Job Enrichment
5. Socio-technical Method
6. Job Characteristics Model
7. Autonomous Work Team
8. Modified Work Schedule

 1. Work Simplification

The work simplification is based on the classical approach of scientific management developed by F.W Taylor. It is based on time and motion study. It involves breaking a job into different small, standard and meaningful components or task and assigning each task to different human resources based on their specialization. This means a job which is done by an employee would be done by several employee after the simplification. It aims to make the job specific, standard and interesting.

Advantages of work simplification

● It promotes specialization.
● It requires low training cost.
● It contributes for better productivity.

Disadvantages of work simplification

● It makes the job monotonous.
● It will increase frustration on employees.
● It is suitable only assembly line workers.
● It will prevent employees from new opportunities.

 2. Job Rotation 

When the employees are creative and they want to gain different skill and knowledge about the accomplish the task. Therefore, they are shifted from one job to another job which are more or less similar in nature that is known as job rotation. In other words, job rotation is a method by which human resources are moved from one job to another job or from one department to another department at shorten interval.

Advantages of job rotation

● It provides opportunity to generate more skill and knowledge.
● Human resources can utilize their off efficiency.
● It helps to make the work flexible.
● It promotes to coordination among departments of human resources.

Disadvantages of job rotation

● It makes human resources always learner.
● It does not promote specialization in the organization.
● It can lead frustration on employees.

 3. Job Enlargement

It is also called horizontal loading of a job. It is a method by which jobs are designed by adding new tasks which can be performed using the current skill, ability and efficiency of human resources. In other words, it is a method which design the job by expanding duties, responsibilities of employees without any changes in incentives and compensation. For example; in university a teacher has to teach two period for a day. After having the job design, if teacher has to teach three period per day that is known as job enlargement.

Advantages of job enlargement

● It helps to utilize full capacity of human resources.
● It reduces cost of organization due to the addition of task.
● It helps to utilize deserve skill and knowledge of human resources.

Disadvantages job enlargement

● It may be resisted by employees.
● It does not make new things but only makes task boring.
● It may create frustration on employees.

 4. Job Enrichment

It is a method which is developed by Fredric Herzberg. It is also called vertical loading of job. Job Enrichment is a method  which makes the job more interesting and challenging by providing additional responsibility, authorities, accountability and autonomy to human resources. Under this method, human resources are given authorities and responsibilities for planning, scheduling and controlling the job. So that, the work done by the supervisor will be done by the employees after the enrichment.

Advantages of job enrichment

● It makes job interesting and challenging.
● It provides motivation and increase satisfaction.
● It helps to increase productivity.

Disadvantages of job enrichment

● Employees may misuse their opportunity.
● Managers may not be ready to delegate their authority.
● Employees may resist it.

 5. Socio-technical Method

It is a modern method of job design. It involves the combination of social expectation and technical needs of the job. Under this method, the job designer identifies different social factors such as needs, interest, expectations and technical factors such as skill, ability, knowledge, efficiency and combined between these two factors to design the job.

Advantages of socio-technical method

● It is a scientific method.
● It increases motivation.
● It improves productivity.

Disadvantages of socio-technical method

● Difficult to balance between social and technical forces.
● High cost and unrealistic.

 6. Job Characteristics Model

It is a method which is developed by Oldham and Hackman in 1975. It considers the major job characteristics such as skill verify, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback and outcome of the organizations such as job satisfaction, productivity, absenteeism, etc while designing the job. Under this method following characteristics are incorporated while designing the job:

Characteristics of job characteristics model

● Skill variety
● The job should be designed in such a way that opportunities to use a variety of skill to human resources.
● Task identity
● It refers the opportunity for the accomplishment of whole or complete task but not only a part of it.
● Task significance
● It refers making task meaningful, challenging and important to human resources and the society as well.
● Autonomy
● It given freedom to human resources to perform the assigned task to extent frequent interference of supervisor will detail the performance.
● It provides information to human resources regarding this performances.

Advantages of job characteristics model

● It is a modern method.
● It provides autonomy.
● It increases motivation, satisfaction and productivity.

Disadvantages of job characteristics model

● It is a complex method.
● It is very difficult to balance between all factors.
● Possibility of misusing high autonomy.
● It is unsuitable for lower level employees.

 7. Autonomous Work Team 

The autonomous work team is based on the principle that collective effort will be greater than the sum of individual effort. Under this method a team is formed with complementary skills of members. Members are taken from diverse background where each members are free to select their other members. They are given freedom for planning, scheduling and controlling their work. All team members are highly devoted, discipline and involved in self supervision. There is no interference of top management and authority is delegated to team.

Advantages of autonomous work team

● High motivation
● High satisfaction
● Increase productivity
● Less supervision cost

Disadvantages of autonomous work team

● Resisted by employees
● Possibility of conflict
● Difficult to coordinate team members.

 8. Modified Work Schedule

Under this method a job is designed without changing total hours to be worked by employees. It includes following methods:

a. Shorter work week

It reduces the number of working days in a week by increasing works hour per day. For eg: five days in a week with ten hours per day.

b. Job sharing

It refers to performing a job by two or more employees. It is suitable to part-time workers.

c. Flexible time

It is the method of determining working schedule according to the expectation of workers.

d. Homework

It is a method which provides opportunity to employees to accomplish task setting at home. It makes possible by the use of computers network and suitable for physically disabled employees.