Organizational Behaviour

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Chapter 13Job and Workplace Design
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What makes a good job?

• Thinking about your career so far, what has been
  your best job? Why?
• How about worst job? Why?
• What are the patterns?

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Job Characteristics Model

• Hackman and Oldham developed the Job
  Characteristics Model (JCM) to try to determine
  what makes a good job
• They considered 5 elements of a job
• Skill Variety the variety of skills required
  for the job
• Task Identity the completion of a whole
  identifiable piece of work
• Task Significance the degree of impact the job
  has on the lives and work of others
• Autonomy Amount of freedom, independence,
  discretion in the job
• Feedback amount of info about the effectiveness
  of performance

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Lets rate 3 Jobs with the JCM
Physician Software Developer Executive Assistant
Skill Variety
Task Identity
Task Significance
Autonomy
Feedback
Total
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Job Characteristics Model

• Combining the 5 elements with these 3
  psychological states predicts an employees
  motivation
• Experienced Meaningfulness the more meaningful
  a job is, the more the employee sees the job as
  important and worthwhile
• Experienced Responsibility the more autonomy a
  job has, the more personal responsibility is felt
  by the employee
• Knowledge of Results feedback helps employees
  know whether they are performing effectively
• Motivating Potential Score (p. xxx) an equation
  that calculates a jobs motivating
  characteristics and shows how it can be altered
  to improve motivation
• Lets try the exercise (p 521)

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Gung Ho!

• Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles put these 3
  psychological states into their book Gung Ho!
• The Spirit of the Squirrel Worthwhile Work
  fulfills Gods plan for the forest
• The Way of the Beaver Employees are in control
  of achieving their goal, which fulfills Gods
  plan for the Beaver
• The Gift of the Goose Employees cheer each
  other on, which provides feedback and
  encouragement, Gods gift to each other

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Job Design

• Job Design is how tasks are arranged to form a
  job
• A job is a set of tasks performed by one person.
  The more tasks a job has, the greater the skills
  required
• Building an enjoyable job out of an existing one
  should consider these 3 ideas
• Job Rotation
• Job Enlargement
• Job Enrichment

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Job Design

• Job Rotation
• Also known as cross-training
• Temporarily rotating employees onto other jobs at
  the same level, which are somewhat related or
  connected to their original job
• This provides benefits to the organization in
  that it expands the trained base of employees for
  a set of jobs
• It also reduces reliance on any one individual
  for a specific job
• Also provides improved motivation, variety,
  reduces boredom and expands an employees skill
  set. This is an especially useful tactic in
  highly specialized work environments
• Some costs are that job rotation does increase
  training costs, and may create some disruption

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Job Design

• Job Enlargement
• Involves expanding the job horizontally (within
  the same job context), by increasing the number
  and variety of tasks in a job
• Example A receptionist is originally responsible
  for answering the phone and creating guests at
  the front door, but is then made responsible for
  booking boardrooms and audio/visual equipment
• With more tasks covered by an individual, the
  number of employees can be reduced

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Job Design

• Job Enrichment
• Job enrichment involves expanding the job
  vertically, such that the employees
  responsibility includes the planning, execution
  and evaluation of the role in its entirety
• Workers can then do a more complete aspect of a
  task (such as building a complete product or
  providing a complete service), increasing the
  degree to which they identify with a task, the
  significance of the task and the feedback they
  receive from the complete outcome

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Workplace Design

• Popular lists such as Canadas Top 50 Best Places
  to Work are an annual competition for companies
  to show case their workplace to prospective
  employees
• Top companies have very little difference between
  them
• Generally, they all feature listening to
  employees, flextime, communicating about
  business, subsidized meals, and diversity in work
  force as benefits
• The Best companies support a learning career,
  career development, and have strong training
  programs with some tangible financial (usually
  matching programs) contribution
• Top companies use regular 360 Degree reviews to
  provide objective performance appraisals

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Workplace Design

• One of the most popular features top companies
  offer these days is flexibility
• While once only offered in knowledge-oriented
  organizations, flexibility is surfacing in a
  number of wasy in more companies
• Flexibility shows up in the form of
• Flexible work schedules (with established core
  hours of operation)
• Compressed work weeks
• Job sharing
• Telecommuting
• Many families opt to have one person work 4 days
  a week on reduced salary to accommodate home
  interests and obligations

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Job Sharing

• Job Sharing allows an organization to draw on the
  talents of more than one person at the price of
  one.
• Job sharing also provides flexibility to job
  owners, making a meaningful career an option when
  full-time employment is not possible
• Similarly for employers, job sharing may give
  access to talent that is otherwise unavailable
  due to other commitments

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Telecommuting

• Telecommuting is defined as when employees do
  their work away from the main office at least2
  days a week
• Telecommuting suits independent jobs, routine
  jobs, mobile activities and knowledge jobs
• Telecommuting is a great way to remain productive
  by avoiding office chit chat
• But, employees can miss out on decision making
  that gets made around the water-cooler out of
  sight out of mind
• Some telecommuters also indicate that the
  isolation can be too much. Thus where possible,
  employees should visit the office regularly

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Workspaces

• Workspace design often refers to the physical
  design of the work area within a building
• Office size has traditionally been a status
  symbol, but with recent cost cutting, stats say
  office sizes have dropped 25 to 50
• Office arrangement refers to the amount of space
  between employees
• Influences the amount of socialization,
  conversation, formality and openness
• Feng Shui a Chinese system for arranging a
  persons surroundings to build harmony and
  balance
• Goal is to build and balance chi, the life force
• Considers office location, layout, desk position,
  water, plants and flowers in designing a workspace

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Hotelling

• Hotelling refers to the concept where employees
  do arrive at the main office daily, but do not
  own a specific spot to work.
• Offices, desks, conference rooms are booked in
  advance
• Hotelling combined with telecommuting helps
  employers reduce office costs
• Email and cell phones ensure people stay in touch

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Developing Careers

• Career the evolving sequence of a persons work
  experience, regardless of success, failure paid
  or unpaid
• Organizations benefit from a defined career
  development program because they help to ensure
  the right people will be available to meet future
  needs
• Career development is not a defined plan for the
  employee as it was 25 years ago.
• Rather it now takes the form of giving the
  employee time and financial support so they can
  acquire skills to direct their own career

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Suggestions for Career maintenance

• Maintain employability with a good continuous
  work history
• Have a fall back position where possible
• Know your skills
• Market yourself, keep your eyes open
• Act Type A but be Type B
• Stay culturally current, be in the know
• Be a compelling communicator
• Manage your finances and have a rainy day reserve
• Be capable of rewarding yourself
• Be self-aware, but also be a team player

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Developing your own Career Plan

• Step 1 Sit back, relax, and think about where
  you are, what you are doing, who you are in 30
  years
• Step 2 What would it take (financially,
  spiritually, physical health, educationally,
  relationship-wise) to get there?
• Step 3 Do you currently have the necessary
  means through which to get there? If yes, great,
  continue on.
• Step 4 If not, what does a life plan look like
  (with milestone posts every 5 years) that helps
  you track to achieve this goal?
• Concerns (also known as whinings)
• I cant predict what will happen to me over 30
  years, so I cant plan
• My interests and goals may change over 30 years,
  so there is no sense in a plan

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Vocation/Purpose vs. Job

• For many people, a job is
• a source of income
• a place of belonging
• For more of us, it needs to be
• A place where we fulfill ourselves
• A place where achieve fulfill our role in the
  universe
• A place where we act out our part in this great
  plan
• What if your job was your purpose? What if you
  could pick the job so it was not just an income
  source but also fulfilled your vocation?
• Things would be simpler, decisions would be
  easier, because your choices would be made in the
  light of your purpose

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Thinking it over

• How do you benefit by NOT taking action?
• How do you suffer by NOT taking action?
• How do you benefit by taking action?
• How do you suffer by taking action?
• Breakdown goal into successive goals
• Breakdown skills/experience into successive
  requirements
• Breakdown skills/experience requirements into a
  timeline and plan
• Anything you can conceive and believe you can
  achieve can be achieved
• With every idea God provides an equivalent means
  by which to achieve it.
• Chapter 14