Define job design to increase productivity
EMPLOYEES today no more hold jobs which require them to handle a single task and work within set boundaries. With companies expanding, subject matter increasing and the scope widening, one often finds that our job tasks do not revolve around a single work allotment. It is often a combination and a mix 'n match of varied tasks, which makes up a single job post.
Your job could also entail you to take on inter-related elements, which broaden the job outlook. Your area of specialisation might be the central subject of work, but certain amount of variance does enter your work. This is due to the multi-displinarity of job tasks and scope of particular posts. At the end of the day, your job must be in co-ordination with that of your colleagues and other employees of your company.
Nevertheless, when the tasks a job requires are diverse, one is often confused about what exactly one does for the organisation or what the exact field of work is. To counter this chaos and to make it to work in favour of the organisation, defining your job is vital. This is a HR focal point, which is termed as 'Job Design'. This translates into meaning that job integration could be productive for the organisation, if employees are enlightened and informed about why certain tasks are integrated, and the exact importance of their tasks to the organisation. Primarily, it is important to look into what are the varied factors that influence the integration of specific tasks in your workload.
Structure: As the first step, analysing the essential structure of a job is taken up. Every job requires working on the lines of planning a task, implementing the planned framework and finally, organising the executed task. Once this is comprehended, matching the three with the ultimate requirements of your company is needed.
Ergonomics: With stress-related disorders becoming very common, organisations are looking to plan and design jobs, with special importance being given to physical conditions and limitations of workers. Therefore, designing jobs as per the physical qualities and characteristics of the workers helps develop comfort, maintenance of health and thereby better productivity.
Work output: Having the knowledge about the role your organisation plays in the market, the products and services it renders to consumers and the like, helps evolve a set pattern of work among employees, as they work towards attaining the output needed. If the content of output is known, it could motivate workers to work towards achieving that target. Similarly, the quality of the products and the final costs they would garner is to be kept in mind, while deciding how much work you need to put in, in which spheres and what would be the result. Once a set pattern is seen, it can be worked upon to chalk out the job design of different posts.
Practices: Over a period of time, there has been an evolution of particular modes of performing certain tasks. Traditional ways of working have been combined with modern psychologically and professionally tested modes of work. This again exudes a pattern of work, which when observed can help frame job designs for varied posts.
Society and environment: The social setting plays an important role in affecting the way a person perceives his job. Certain beliefs and traditional approaches can differ from place to place. Besides this, the technological settings rule the disposition of a job. It is important to consider the same, in designing the job of an employee, to create an understanding and a cooperative work setting.
Taking these factors into consideration and designing job positions in your organisation is the recommended way to achieve increased productivity, employee interest and coordination, to ensure success and progress.
PREETI RAGHUNATH
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