Chapter 13

JOB DESIGN, WORK SCHEDULING AND MOTIVATION

EXCEL BOOKS

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Chapter

ANNOTATED OUTLINE13-2

INTRODUCTION Job design is a way of organising tasks, duties and responsibilities into a productive unit of the work. The early emphasis in HRM was to design jobs around high specialisation and standardisation

The engineering approach

The engineering approach, developed by F.W.Taylor, was built around certain well-known principles

Job Design, Work Scheduling And Motivation

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Principles of scientific management

Work should be scientifically studied

Work should be arranged so that workers can be efficient

Employees selected for work should be matched to the demands of the job

Employees should be trained to perform the job

Monetary compensation should be used to reward successful completion of the job


Problems with the engineering approach Repetition

Mechanical pacing

No end product

Little social interaction

No input

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The human relations approach

The human relations approach recognised the need to design jobs in an interesting manner. According to Herzberg, employees will be more satisfied with their jobs, if motivators such as achievement, recognition, autonomy, growth etc are introduced into the job content.

The job characteristics approach

According to Hackman and Oldham, employees will work hard when they are rewarded for the work they do and when the work gives them satisfaction. Hence, they suggested that motivation, satisfaction and performance should be integrated into the job design.

INTRODUCTION

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Core job dimension

According to Hack and Oldham, any job can be described in terms of five core job dimensions:

Skill variety

Task identity

Task significance

Autonomy

Feedback

The model states that core job dimensions are more rewarding when individuals experience three psychological states in response to job design.

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Job characteristics model


Core Job Critical Core JobDimension Psychological Dimension

States

Skill Variety Meaningfulness High internalTask Identity o f w o rk work motivation

Task SignificanceHigh qualityw ork performance

Autonom y Responsibility for High satisfactionoutcomes of the work w ith w o rk

Feedback Knowledge of the Highactual results of the w ork effec tiveness

w ork activitiesLow absenteeism

Employee grow th and turnoverneeds strength

Socio-technical approach

According to this approach, jobs should be designed by taking a systems view of the entire job situation, including physical and social environment.

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Work Scheduling


Companies now a days have realised the importance of organising work in a flexible manner, so that employees (especially those possessing critical skills, knowledge and experience,) can come and do their work depending on their own convenience. The following alternatives are currently in use to facilitate this approach

Compressed work week: scheduling of work that allows a full time job to be completed in fewer than the standard five days

Flexible working hours: Flexitime may be defined as any work schedule that gives employees daily choice in the timing between work and non work activities.

Job sharing: This occurs when one full time job is assigned to two persons who then divide the work according to the agreements made between themselves and the employer.

Part time work: part time work is done on a schedule that classifies any employee as temporary and requires less than the standard 40-hour work week.

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Techniques For Designing Jobs


Job simplification: Here jobs are divided into smaller components and subsequently assigned to workers as whole jobs

Job enlargement: it increases task variety by adding new tasks of similar difficulty to a job:

Job rotation: systematic shifting of employees among jobs involving tasks of similar difficulty;

Job enrichment: enhancing a job by adding more meaningful tasks and duties to make the work more rewarding or satisfying.

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Quality Circles, Work Teams and Total Quality Management


Quality circle: It is a small group of employees who meet periodically to identify, analyse and solve quality and work related problems in their area

Work team: It is a small group of people with complementary skills, who work actively together to achieve a common purpose for which they hold themselves collectively accountable.

Total quality management: This is another work design approach that was quite popular in USA in mid-1080s and that continues to have a major influence over organisations all over the world now. Simply stated, TQM is a set of principles and practices whose core ideas include understanding customer needs, doing things right the first time, and striving for continuous improvement.

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Motivation

Motivation is a process of stimulating people to action to accomplish desired results. Generally speaking, motivation results from a felt need. It is goal-directed. It persists until the satisfaction or reduction of a particular need. Moreover, it is a personal and internal feeling.

Multiple causes: different people may have different visions for behaving in the same manner

Multiple behaviour: Another important characteristic of motivation is that the same motive or drive may lead to different behaviour

Complex and difficult to explain: Motivation is a complex subject as it is not easy to explain and predict the behaviour of employees.

Determinants of Motivation

Three types of forces generally influence human behaviour;

The individual

The organisation

The environment


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Theories of Motivation

A. Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory: According to Maslow, human needs can be arranged into five levels. He felt that there is a fairly definite order to human needs and until the more basic needs are adequately fulfilled a person will not strive to meet higher order needs


Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

needs (that areEsteem satisfied internally)Needs

ManSeeks Social N eedsG row th Low er-o rde r

Safety Needs needs (that are

satisfied externally)Physiological Needs

Self Actualisation Needs Higher-order

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Evaluation

It is an unstable theory

The classification scheme is somewhat superfluous

The chain of causation in the hierarchy is also questionable


B. Herzberg”s Two Factor Theory: According to Herzberg, if managers wish to increase motivation and performance above the average level, they must enrich the job by concentrating on motivators (such as achievement, recognition, responsibility, interesting work, advancement, growth etc) and not the hygiene factors (mostly environment related factors)


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Variables affecting motivation in an organisational setting


Evaluation

The critical incident method applied on a small sample is being questioned

The assumption that the two sets of factors work in only one direction is also attacked severely

Critics questioned the procedural deficiencies also; such as the subjective interpretation of the responses .

Hygienes Motivators

1. Company policy and administration 1. Achievement2. Relationship with supervisor 2. Recognition3. Work conditions 3. Work itself4. Salary5. R elationship with peers 4. Responsibility6. Personal life7. Relationship with subordinates 5. Advancement8. S tatus9. Security 6. G row th

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C. Achievement Motivation Theory: According to McClelland, some people have an intense desire to accomplish and show excellence, others are not concerned about achieving things. Three important needs, that is, power, affiliation, achievement, drive people towards excellence.

Elements of achievement motivation theory


Power need (n pow): this is the need to dominate, influence and control people

Affiliation need (n Aff): this is the need for companionship and support, for developing meaningful relationships with people

Achievement need (nAch): this is the need for challenge, for personal accomplishment and success in competitive situations.


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If the need of employees can be measured, organisations can put

people on suitable jobs and thereby show superior performance.

D. Theory X and Theory Y: Douglas McGregor proposed two distinct set of assumptions about what motivates people—one basically negative, labelled Theory X and other basically

positive, labelled Theory Y


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Assumptions of Theory X and Theory Y


T heory X Assum pt ions T heo ry Y A ssum p tions

Employees inherently dislike work and Employees can view w ork as be ing aswill try to avoid it. natural as rest or play.

Since employees dislike work, they must People will exercise self d irection and self-be coerced, controlled and threatened c on tr o l i f t he y a r e c om m i t te d to t hewith punishment to achieve goals. objectives.

Employees w ill shirk responsibilities and U nder proper conditions, employees doseek formal direction whenever possible. not avoid responsibility.

Most employees want security above all People want security but also have otherin their work and display little ambition. nee ds suc h as se lf -ac tua lisa t io n and

esteem.

Based on managerial assumptions about people, for example, external control is appropriate for dealing with people who are assumed to be unreliable, irresponsible and immature.

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E. Theory Z: W. Ouchi proposed a mixed US-Japanese model for

modern organisations, popularly called Theory Z, having the

following unique characteristics;

Elements of Theory Z Trust

Organisation employee relationship

Employee participation

Structure less organisation

Holistic concern for employees


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F. Process theories of motivation:


Equity theory: this is based on the premise that our levels of job satisfaction and motivation re related to how fairly we believe we are treated in comparison to others. Expectancy theory: according to this theory, motivation is a function of a rational calculation. A person is motivated to the degree that he believes that effort will yield acceptable performance, performance will be rewarded and the value of the reward is highly positive. Goal setting theory: this theory suggests that managers and subordinates should set specific goals that are

moderately difficult to achieve. The goals should be of a type that the employee will accept and commit to

accomplishing. Rewards should invariably be linked directly to reaching such goals.


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Recognise individual differences

Match people to jobs

Use goals

Individualise rewards

Link rewards to performance

Check the system for equity

Do not ignore money

How To Motivate Employees?


Non financial incentives: Apart from money, non-financial incentives such as status, promotion, responsible jobs, interesting work, job security, recognition etc also play an important role in motivating people

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Morale And Productivity


Morale refers to the positive feelings of an employee toward his work, colleagues, employer and the organisation.

All About Morale Components of morale

Intrinsic job satisfaction

Satisfaction with company

Satisfaction with supervision

Satisfaction with rewards

Satisfaction with co-workers Measurement of morale

Not easy to measure morale

Observation

Surveys

Records

Suggestion boxes

Cont…

Factors affecting morale

The organisation

Leadership

Co-worker

The nature of work

Work environment

The employee Morale building

Remuneration

Job security

Participation

Job enrichment

Organisation structure

Grievance redressal

Employee counsellors

Sound leadership

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All About Morale

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Morale and Productivity: There is always not a positive correlation between the two. There can be low productivity with morale levels. According to Rensis Likert, there can be different combinations of morale and productivity in actual practice such as high morale and low productivity, high morale and high productivity, low morale and high productivity and low morale and low productivity.

Morale And Productivity

Chapter 13

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