JOB DESIGN THEORY

Job design involves systematic attempt to organize tasks, duties and responsibilities into a unit of work to achieve certain objectives. The process by which managers decide individual job tasks and authority.

Job design is the process of                

a)    Deciding the contents of the job.

b)   Deciding method to carry out the job.                               

c)    Deciding the relationship which exists in the organization.   

Job Design provokes an insight to understand behavioral pattern of individuals and to adjust job accordingly so that individuals could be more productive.

Goal/objective of job design theory:

·      To Meet the organizational requirements such as higher productivity, operational efficiency, quality of product/service

·         To satisfy the needs of the individual employees like interests, challenges, achievement or accomplishment.

·         Integrate the needs of the individual with the organizational requirements.

Main characteristics of job design

Herzberg's suggestions, J. Richard Hackman offered a model of how to design jobs that provide motivation based on five core job characteristics:

1.  Skill variety: allowing workers to use different skills and talents to do a number of different activities.

2.  Task identity: workers are able to see a completed product or project or some visible outcome that creates a sense of accomplishment.

3.  Task significance: the tasks performed have some meaningful impact on the organization, or the external environment.

4.   Autonomy: worker has some control over the job.

5.        Feedback: the job includes some opportunity to show the worker if the tasks are done properly.

Not everyone will be motivated if all five characteristics are present, but they set the stage for employees who understand that their work is meaningful, feel responsible for the output, and actually know the results of their efforts.

Importance of Job design:

·         Job design is important for an organization to perform the organizational activities in the most efficient and effective manner. Job design serves to improve performance and motivation

·         Job design is also play an important role in function of staffing. If the jobs are designed properly, then highly efficient managers will join the organization. They will be motivated to improve the productivity and profitability of the organization. However, if the jobs are designed badly, then it will result, in absenteeism, hi• h labor turnover, conflicts, and of other labor problems.

·         Job Design provokes an insight to understand behavioral pattern of individuals and to adjust job accordingly so that individuals could be more productive.

JOB DESIGN THEORY