CHAPTER 4
JOB ANALYSIS AND JOB DESIGN
CHAPTER OUTLINE
4.1 What Is a Job Analysis and How Does It Affect Human Resources Management?
4.1a Major Parts of the Job Analysis
4.2 Sources of Job Analysis Information
4.2a Controlling the Accuracy of the Job Data Collected
4.2c Parts of a Job Description
4.3 Job Design
4.3b Enrichment
4.4 Employee Teams and Flexible Work Schedules
4.4a Employee Teams
4.4b Flexible Work Schedules
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After studying this chapter, students should be able to:
2. Explain how the information for a job analysis typically is collected and incorporated
into various sections of a job’s description.
4. Describe the different group techniques and types of work schedules used to broaden a
firm’s job functions and maximize the contributions of employees.
GENERATING INTEREST
Point your students to Highlights in HRM 2, “An Example of a Job Description.” Ask
them to skim through the description. Lead a discussion that focuses on how job design
and job descriptions provide a foundation for an effective HR program in areas such as
the following:
• The quality of many HR decisions—how to recruit, whom to select, what training
to schedule, and the like—can be improved if the decisions are based on the job
requirements.
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• Accurate job descriptions can contribute to improving employee performance
because employees have a clear picture of what is expected of them and
DISCUSSION: Contrast the possible HRM outcomes for these two scenarios from the (a)
company’s perspective and (b) prospective employees’ perspective—those who apply for
the opening as well as the one selected at the end of the hiring process:
• Scenario A: The supervisor who needs to fill this job opening does not have a
[Possible responses are provided in the table.]
HRM Function
Possible Outcomes of Filling Job
Opening with No Job Description
Possible Outcomes
with Job Description
Recruitment
• Company: Difficult to
generate accurate list of job
qualifications for job
postings
• Employees: Unclear or
perhaps inaccurate view of
job qualifications, which
may lead to applying for a
job when they shouldn’t or
not applying when they
should
• Company: Has a basis for
clearly communicating
what it needs in a job
candidate
• Employees: Have
information to help them
determine if they have
what it takes to do the job
Selection
• Company: Poor hiring
decisions often occur when
decision makers have only a
vague idea of what kind of
person they need
• Employees: Individuals may
be a poor fit for the job
they’ve been hired to do
• Company: Has criteria by
which to evaluate job
candidates
• Employees: Can
communicate how they
are best suited to job if
they know what the job
requires
Chapter 4: Job Analysis and Job Design 3
HRM Function
Possible Outcomes of Filling Job
Opening with No Job Description
Possible Outcomes
with Job Description
Training &
Development
• Company: Probably won’t
know where skill
deficiencies are in a new
hire to provide training
• Employees: Get frustrated if
they are not provided with
T&D opportunities to help
them do their jobs better
• Company: Can get
employees up to speed
faster if the employer
knows from the outset
what T&D is needed to
do the job
• Employees: Will feel
better prepared to do the
job if T&D is provided
where skill deficiencies
exist
Performance
Appraisal
• Company: Unclear job-
related basis for conducting
performance appraisal
• Employees: Little
understanding of what is
required of them
• Company: Has a solid
basis for communicating
what is expected and
coaching employees
toward improved
performance
• Employees: Provided
with a solid
understanding of what
employer expects them to
do
Compensation
Management
• Company: Little concrete
basis for determining the
relative worth of jobs as a
basis for determining pay
• Employees: Little
understanding of why their
job pays what it does in
relation to other jobs in the
organization
• Company: Have solid
information to serve as a
basis for determining
compensation
• Employees: Can see
differences among jobs
that contribute to
differences in pay
4 Part 2: Meeting Human Resources Requirements
DEALING WITH TROUBLE SPOTS
Combining the effects of increased globalization, technology enhancements, and wider
use of flexible work schedules and telecommuting raises new challenges for managers.
Tie together the discussion of employee involvement and flexible work schedules by
locating current articles on the subject via the library’s online journal database.
LECTURE OUTLINE
Discussion Starter #1: Online services such as Skype and iMeet allow virtual workers to get better
acquainted with one another and have face-to-face conversations across any distance. What are
some advantages and disadvantages of virtual teams? Have you ever been part of a virtual team? If
so, describe your experience.
A job is an activity people do for which they get paid, particularly as part of the trade or
4.1 What Is a Job Analysis and How Does It Affect Human Resources Management?Figure 4.1
4.1a Major Parts of the Job Analysis
Two major pieces of information come out of a job analysis:
• A job description is a statement of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities
of a job to be performed.
Chapter 4: Job Analysis and Job Design 5
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Knowledge is what you know. Skills are things you have learned to do. Abilities
are your innate aptitudes. Other attributes refer to your personality, values, and so
on.
EOC Discussion Question #1: Assume you are the general manager of a service department.
How might formally written job requirements help you manage your work unit?
4.2 Sources of Job Analysis Information Figure 4.2
Figure 4.3
• Interviews
• Questionnaires
• Observation
• Diaries
Teaching Tip: Use Figure 4.2 to discuss the job analysis process and the flow of information.
4.2a Controlling the Accuracy of the Job Data Collected
4.2b Other Sources of Job Analysis Information
Five of the most popular quantitative job analysis approaches are discussed.
Functional Job Analysis System
Functional job analysis (FJA) is a job analysis approach that utilizes an
inventory of the various types of work activities that can constitute any job. Each
job function is assigned a percentage in terms of its importance to the job.
The Position Analysis Questionnaire System
Teaching Tip: Use Figure 4.3 to discuss the prevalence of good, neutral, and bad outcomes from a
critical incident.
6 Part 2: Meeting Human Resources Requirements
Task Inventory Analysis
The task inventory analysis is an organization-specific list of tasks and their
descriptions used as a basis to identify components of jobs. The goal is to produce
a comprehensive list of task statements applicable to all jobs.
Competency-Based Approach
This job analysis method relies on building job profiles that look at not only the
Teaching Tip: Use Figure 4.4 to discuss how skills are evaluated in the competency-based approach.
Discussion Starter #2: Discuss the various ways in which a job analysis can be completed. Compare
and contrast these methods, noting the pros or cons of each.
4.2c Parts of a Job Description
Most job descriptions contain at least three parts:
• the job’s title and location
• a job identification section, which contains administration information
such as a numerical code for the job, to whom the jobholder reports, and
Chapter 4: Job Analysis and Job Design 7
Job Title
A job’s title serves three purposes:
• Provide status to the employee.
• Indicate the job duties.
• Indicate the level of the job in the organization.
Job Identification Section
The job identification section of a job description usually follows the job title. It
Tasks, Duties, and Responsibilities Section
Statements covering job duties are typically arranged in their order of importance.
Employers need to be able to show that the job criteria they use to select
employees are essential functions for success.
Job Specifications Section
A job specification section covers two areas of qualifications:
• the skills required to perform the job
• the job’s physical demands
Skills relevant to the job include the education, experience, specialized training,
4.2d Writing Clear and Specific Job Descriptions
The following problems are frequently associated with job descriptions:
• Lack of specifics
EOC Discussion Question #2: Discuss the various ways in which a job analysis can be
completed. Compare and contrast these methods, noting the pros or cons of each.
Chapter 4: Job Analysis and Job Design 9
Teaching Tip: Use Figure 4.6 to discuss the five core job dimensions. Explain that it is important to
build all five core dimensions into a job because each of these dimensions affects employee
performance differently.
Enrich jobs by increasing the autonomy and responsibility of employees. Job
enlargement is the process of adding a greater variety of tasks to a job. Job
rotation is the process whereby employees rotate in and out of different jobs.
Empowerment
EOC Discussion Question #3: Why is employee motivation such an important aspect of
designing today’s jobs? The job characteristics model has five components—skill variety, task
identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. Provide an example of how each component
4.4 Employee Teams and Flexible Work Schedules Figure 4.7
Figure 4.8
Figure 4.9
Teamwork and flexibility are important in today’s dynamic marketplace.
Discussion Starter #3: Figure 4.8 shows the different forms of employee teams. Provide an example
of where each type of team can be used. How do teams create synergy?
10 Part 2: Meeting Human Resources Requirements
decision-making to perform their work duties, solve problems, or deal with internal or external
customers.
Task Force Team. A task force team is a group formed by management to immediately resolve a
major problem.
Process-Improvement Team. A process-improvement team is a group made up of experienced
people from different departments or functions. The group is charged with improving quality,
decreasing waste, or enhancing the productivity of processes that affect all departments or
4.4a Employee Teams
An employee team is a group of employees working together toward a common
purpose, in which members have complementary skills, members’ work is
mutually dependent, and the group has discretion over tasks performed. Employee
teams are often in a better position than managers to see how the work can be
Chapter 4: Job Analysis and Job Design 11
Teaching Tip: Use Figure 4.7 to discuss synergy. Ask students what they think is meant by team
synergy. Teamwork embraces the concept of synergy. Synergy occurs when the interaction and
outcome of team members is greater than the sum of their individual efforts.
Teams can operate in a variety of structures, each with different strategic purposes
or functional activities. They include:
• Cross-functional teams
• Project teams
Teaching Tip: Use Figure 4.8 to discuss different types of teams. Ask students to describe employee
teams in their experience.
Dejobbing refers to a process of structuring organizations not around jobs but
around projects that are constantly changing.
Virtual Teams
Virtual teams are teams that utilize telecommunications technology to link team
members who are geographically dispersed—often worldwide across cultures and
across time zones.
Facilitating Teams
The following characteristics have been identified with successful teams:
• A commitment to shared goals and objectives
• Motivated and energetic team members
Organizations can help prevent some of the problems a team experiences.
• Determine when a team is needed.
4.4b Flexible Work Schedules
The more common flexible work schedules are flextime, the compressed
workweek, job sharing, and telecommuting.
12 Part 2: Meeting Human Resources Requirements
Flextime
Flextime is flexible working hours that give employees the option of choosing
daily starting and quitting times, provided that they work a set number of hours
per day or week. With flextime, employees are given considerable latitude in
scheduling their work.
Flextime has the following advantages:
• Good employee recruiting and retention tool
Flextime has the following disadvantages:
• Not suited to all jobs
• Scheduling
Compressed Workweek
A compressed workweek is one in which the number of days in the workweek is
shortened by lengthening the number of hours worked per day.
Compressed workweeks have the following advantages:
• Reducing absenteeism and improving recruitment and retention of
employees
• Lengthening workers’ weekends
The major disadvantage of the compressed workweek involves federal laws
regarding overtime. The Fair Labor Standards Act has stringent rules requiring the
payment of overtime to nonsupervisory employees who work more than 40 hours
a week.
Job Sharing
Teaching Tip: Use Figure 4.9 to discuss successful telecommuting. Ask students to discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting to the individual employee and to the organization.
Also, ask them to think about the additional burdens that are placed on supervisors.
Chapter 4: Job Analysis and Job Design 13
Video Highlight #2: Section 4.4b: Flexible Work Schedules
VIDEO: Flexible Work Schedule Could Improve Health, Study Shows (2:47)
A new study says a flexible work schedule can lead to more sleep and better health. In this video, Dr.
ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Formally written job requirements aid managers in almost all aspects of managing
employees. By knowing the requirements of the job, managers can select, orient, and
2. The textbook discusses the common approaches to performing a job analysis. These
include interviews, questionnaires, observations, diaries, the functional job analysis
3. Your students should not have any difficulty responding to this question. Clearly, if there
are at least two alternative ways to design a job with one that is demotivational (with one
4. Figure 4.8 describes common team forms. They include cross-functional teams, project
teams, self-directed teams, task force teams, process-improvement teams, and virtual
teams.
14 Part 2: Meeting Human Resources Requirements
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
A project team is a group formed specifically to design a new product or service. The
members are assigned by their managers on the basis of their ability to contribute to the
team’s success. The group normally disbands after the task is completed.
A self-directed team is a group of highly trained individuals performing a set of
interdependent job tasks within a natural work unit. The team members rely on
consensus-type decision-making to perform their work duties, solve problems, or deal
with internal or external customers.
A task force team is a group formed by management to immediately resolve a major
problem.
A process-improvement team is a group made up of experienced people from different
departments or functions. The group is charged with improving quality, decreasing waste,
or enhancing the productivity of processes that affect all departments or functions. The
members are normally appointed by management.
clarification on discussion points. The team members summarize discussions
held.
• Disagreement. Disagreements are seen as natural and are expected. The
members’ comments are nonjudgmental and focus on factual issues rather than
personality differences.
Chapter 4: Job Analysis and Job Design 15
HRM EXPERIENCE
Establishing Ground Rules for a Team’s Success
Team members’ conduct and performance are enhanced when teams formally adopt team
norms prior to working on their assigned task. This exercise takes about 30–45 minutes to
complete. Once the teams have selected 10 norms and have written the norms down on a
NOTES FOR END-OF-CHAPTER CASE STUDIES
Case Study 1: The Zappos Experiment
1. Students’ answers may vary. Some may say that a self-managing organization can grow
2. Students’ answers may vary. Some may say that a transition team could have prepared
the people better by managing expectations, training employees, and assisting former
managers.
Case Study 2: Are Firms Moving Away from Telecommuting?
1. Students’ answers may vary. Some may say that the best way for a firm to determine
whether telecommuting would work out as a good option would be to try it out. The firm
would have to monitor the quality of work and the level of productivity of workers to
