Job Design

Job design is of comparatively recent origin. The human resource managers have realized that the design of a job has considerable influence on the productivity and job satisfaction; poorly designed jobs often result in boredom to the employees, increased turnover, job dissatisfaction, low productivity and an increase in overall costs of the organization. All these negative consequences can be avoided with the help of proper job design.

According to Jon Werner and DeSimone, “Job design is the development and alteration of the components of a job (such as the tasks one performs, and the scope of one’s responsibilities) to improve productivity and the quality of the employees’ work life.”

Job design has been defined by Davis (1966) as: “The specification of the contents, methods, and relationships of jobs in order to satisfy technological and organizational requirements as well as the social and personal requirements of the job-holder.”

Milkovich and Boudreau defined job design as, “Job design integrates work content (tasks, functions, and relationships), the rewards (extrinsic and intrinsic) and the qualifications required (skills, knowledge, abilities) for each job in a way that meets the needs of employees and the organization.”

Michael Armstrong has defined job design as “the process of deciding on the content of a job in terms of its duties and responsibilities, on the methods to be used in carrying out the job, in terms of techniques, systems and procedures, and on the relationships that should exist between the job holder and his superiors, subordinates and colleagues.”

Job design is an attempt to create a match between job requirements and human attributes. It involves organizing the components of the job and the interaction patterns among the members of a work group. It helps in developing appropriate design of job to improve efficiency and satisfaction.