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Chapter 3
Workforce, Jobs, and Retention
Chapter Overview
This chapter begins with a discussion about the workforce composition and the business
contributions of diverse workers. Generational differences are included. The rest of the chapter
explains how the total work of the organization is divided up into jobs and gives primary
attention to two major HR activities related to jobs: job design and job analysis.
The nature of jobs and work is explored with an introduction to work flow analysis. Next, the
concepts related to the person/job fit and the job/person match are introduced and the three
popular approaches to job design are described: job enlargement and job enrichment, job
rotation, and job sharing. The Job Characteristics Model is also covered and each of the five job
dimensions associated with this model are presented: skill variety, task identity, task significance,
autonomy, and feedback. Job design issues related to the use of worker teams are discussed
including a description of the types of teams and the advantages and disadvantages of team jobs.
Next, jobs and work scheduling are discussed. Topics include telework, work schedule
alternatives, shift work, compressed workweeks, flexible work schedules, and work-life
balancing.
The next section is on the nature of job analysis including the purposes and responsibilities. Task
based and competency based job analysis are described. The following section goes over the
stages in the job analysis process:
Planning the job analysis
Preparing and introducing the job analysis
Conducting the job analysis
Developing job descriptions and job specifications
Maintaining and updating job descriptions and job specifications
Then, methods for getting job analysis information are described: observation, interviewing,
questionnaires, computerized job analysis, combined methods, and O*Net. Other issues related
to job analysis are also explored such as the behavioral aspects of job analysis including current
incumbent emphasis, “inflation” of jobs and job titles, and employee and managerial anxieties.
The legal aspects of job analysis also receive special attention in relationship to the Americans
with Disabilities Act and wage/hour regulations. The chapter concludes with a discussion of job
descriptions and job specifications.
Chapter Outline
I. The Workforce Profile
Human Resources deals with that portion of the population that works at a job or is looking for
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics compared to the labor force of the past, today’s
workplace force is “older, more racially and ethnically diverse, and composed of more women.”
Youths aged 16-24 are predicted to reduce their participation rates. The younger people in this
group are more likely to be students. Prime-work-age workers, of ages 25-54, also are projected
Older workers coming back to the workforce have a more difficult time finding jobs than their
younger counterparts. So, many simply choose not to leave the workforce. Human resources can
Being able to match talent to what the business is and what it is trying to accomplish is
fundamental. Lower energy costs, rising wages in China and India, and high international
The Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies people working less than 35 hours per week as part
time, but employers set their own definition of part time as they see fit. Two-thirds of the part-
time workforce is female, as mothers may need to lower their hours to provide for child care.
Some workers move to part time before they retire. Older workers who have retired may agree to
come back for part time work only. Freelancers or independent workers afford flexibility for
II. The Nature of Work and Jobs
Work is effort directed toward accomplishing results. The work may be done by humans,
machines, or both. But the total amount of work to be done in an organization must be divided
Ideally, when the work to be done in all the jobs in an organization are combined, they should
In modern organizations, jobs increase in number, evolve, duties change and are combined or
eliminated as the needs of the organization change. If this does not happen, the organization is
For HR, the way work flows through the organization and how to make that work more efficient
A. Job Design/Job Redesign
Job design refers to organizing tasks, duties, responsibilities, and other elements into a
productive unit of work. Job redesign refers to taking an existing job and changing it to
improve it. Identifying the components of a given job is an integral part of job design. Job
design receives attention for three major reasons:
Job design can influence performance in certain jobs, especially those where employee
Job design can affect job satisfaction. Since people are more satisfied with certain job
Job design can impact both physical and mental health. Problems that may require
B. Using Contingent Workers as Job Design
Organizations employ a variety of workers, and not just full-time workers. Depending on
economic and competitive factors, the types of workers in one firm may include the
following:
Full-time employees
Part-time employees
Independent contractors
Although some organizations still use the traditional approach of employing full- and part-
time workers, many firms are making significant use of independent, temporary, and
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, contingent workers are part of a group of
“alternative workers” who may be on-call, working through an employment agency, or
C. Person-Job Fit
The person–job fit is a simple but important concept of matching characteristics of people
with characteristics of jobs. If a person does not fit a job, either the person can be changed or
D. Using Teams in Job Design
Typically, a job is thought of as something done by one person. However, where appropriate,
jobs may be designed for teams to take advantage of the increased productivity and
As organizations have changed, the types of teams have changed as well. Having global
The virtual team is composed of individuals who are separated geographically but linked by
communications technology. The success of virtual work teams depends on a number of
III. Designing Flexible Jobs
Flexibility can be designed into a job by changing where and when the work can be done. These
Communication technology has allowed a connectedness between two people on a personal
level, but also between an individual employee and others at work. The result can be a much
greater ability to vary where and when work can be done. But for all the benefits and the ability
to be constantly in communication that technology provides there is a dark side as well—
The technology that has caused these problems has allowed the ability to work at places other
A. Place Flexibility—Telework
Individuals who may be working at home or at other places illustrate telework, which means
The first identified benefits of telework were environmental, dealing with problems caused by
traffic and wasted time commuting for employees. Employees may indeed find that they
spend less for gasoline, maintenance, lunches, and dry cleaning Not traveling to work saves
Concerns about telework include the following:
Teleworkers may work more hours than their office counterparts.
Lack of “face-time” can hurt careers.
Managers must learn to use quality and timeliness of output rather than physical
Some states (such as New York) charge employee income taxes if the employer is in that
B. Time Flexibility—Work Scheduling
Flexible work schedules can be part of designing jobs and have been developed for employees
in different occupations and areas. The work schedules associated with jobs vary. Some jobs
must be performed during “normal” daily work hours and on weekdays, while others require
A common work schedule design is shift work. Many organizations need 24-hour coverage
Compressed workweek is one type of work schedule design in which a full week’s work is
accomplished in fewer than five 8-hour days. Compression usually results in more work hours
Part-time jobs are used when less than 40 hours per week are required to do a job. Part-time
jobs are attractive to those who may not want 40 hours per week—older employees, parents
In flextime, employees work a set number of hours a day but vary starting and ending times.
In another variation, employees may work 30 minutes longer Monday through Thursday, take
Flexible scheduling allows management to relax some of the traditional “time clock” control
IV. Understanding Job Analysis
A basic building block of HR management, job analysis, is a systematic way of gathering and
analyzing information about the content, context, and human requirements of jobs. An overview
A. Purposes of Job Analysis
Job analysis or work analysis has grown in importance as the workforce and jobs have
changed. To be effective, HR planning, recruiting, and selection all should be based on job
requirements and the capabilities of individuals that are identified by job analysis. In equal
B. Job Analysis Responsibilities
Job analysis requires a high degree of coordination and cooperation between the HR unit and
operating managers. The assignment of responsibility for job analysis depends on who can
best perform various parts of the process. In large companies, the HR unit supervises the
Different types of job analysis can be used. The most traditionally used method is task-based
C. Task-Based Job Analysis
Task-based job analysis is the most common form and focuses on the tasks, duties, and
responsibilities performed in a job. A task is a distinct, identifiable work activity composed of
motions, whereas a duty is a larger work segment composed of several tasks that are
D. Competency-Based Job Analysis
Unlike the traditional task-based approach to analyzing jobs, the competency approach
The concept of competencies varies widely from organization to organization. The term
technical competencies is often used to refer to specific knowledge and skills of employees. A
different set of competencies are behavioral competencies. The following have been identified
as behavioral competencies:
Customer focus
Team orientation
Technical expertise
Results orientation
Communication effectiveness
The competency approach attempts to identify the competencies that have been shown to
V. Implementing Job Analysis
The process of job analysis must be conducted in a logical manner, following appropriate
management and professional psychometric practices. Analysts usually follow a multistage
VI. Job Analysis Methods
Job analysis information about what people are doing in their jobs can be gathered in a variety of
ways. Traditionally the most common methods have been:
Observation
However, the expansion of technology has led to computerization and Web-based job analysis
A. Job Analysis and O*Net
A variety of resources to help with job analysis are available from the U.S. Department of
Labor (DOL). These resources have been developed and used over many years by a variety of
B. Legal Aspects of Job Analysis
The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures make it clear that HR
requirements must be tied to specific job-related factors if employers are to defend their
One result of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is increased emphasis by employers
on conducting job analyses, as well as developing and maintaining current and accurate job
