TERMINOLOGY

Autonomy – the extent to which employees are free to schedule their own activities, decide work procedures, and select necessary equipment

Class– a group of jobs with similar duties and responsibilities

Class series – vertical group of two or more classes on basis of type of work and difficulty

Compressed work schedule – a job design strategy that allows the employee flexibility in the number of days worked during a workweek

Cross-training – training employees in different tasks within the organization. This creates more flexibility in staffing.

Extrinsic rewards – payoffs granted to individuals by others (money, praise, recognition)

Flextime – a design strategy that allows an individual some flexibility in the hour to work

Intrinsic rewards – internal payoffs ( sense of accomplishment)

Job– can be several positions that are identical with respect to duties and responsibilities

Job family – a grouping of jobs with similar characteristics

Job design – the process of defining tasks and the work arrangements to accomplish them. Includes job content, identifying work methods, and relating the job others within the organization. Job design is influenced by employee factors, resource availability, technology, legislation and regulations, and managerial philosophy.

Job enlargement – a job design strategy that focuses on increasing the number and variety of an employee’s tasks

Job enrichment – a job design strategy that focuses on the needs of the individual employee by allowing greater responsibility for the work. Has a high level of intrinsic rewards and a low degree of task specialization

Job rotation – a job design strategy that shifts employees from one job to another in the organization

Job sharing – a design strategy that allows more than one employee to share one position

Job simplification – has a low intrinsic reward and a high degree of task specialization

Job specialization (division of labor) originated in the Industrial Revolution – a system of job design where an employee does only one limited part of the organization’s total work

Knowledge – a body of information applied directly to the performance of a function

Occupational group – a grouping of classes based on the general function or character of duties

Performance feedback – provides employees with information about how well they are doing

Position – a collection of duties and responsibilities carried out by one person

Quality circles – small groups of employees who meet regularly to identify work problems and recommend solutions

Realistic job preview – informs job candidates of the “organization realities of a job so they can more accurately evaluate their own job expectations.

Routine- a limited number of activities repeated over and over

Skill Variety – the extent to which a job demands the performance of a wide range of activities. The more variety allows more creativity and requires more education, training, and experience.

Task – a single identifiable job activity

Task identity – extent to which a job allows employees to perform an entire piece of work

Task significance – is the impact of the job on the lives and work of others

Telecommuting – a job design strategy that allows employees to establish offices and work primarily out of their homes

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING JOB DESIGN

1. Combine tasks

2. Create natural work units

3. Establish client relationships

4. Expand jobs vertically

5. Open feedback channels

TYPES OF JOBS THAT CAN BENEFIT FROM SPECIALIZATION

1. Those that are time consuming and have a higher labor content

2. Those that are frequently recurring and have a large demand

3. Those that present quality problems due to rejects or reworks

4. Those with potential to bottleneck the system limiting output

5. Those that are unsafe, unpleasant, or fatiguing

6. Those with extremely low or extremely high wages (including overtime)

JOB TRAITS

1. Skill variety

2. Task identity

3. Task significance (job enlargement can increase task significance)

4. Autonomy (use job enrichment to increase)

5. Feedback

SOURCES OF MOTIVATION (NON-MONETARY)

(Money is a short-term motivator)

1. Praise

2. Recognition

3. Respect

4. Promotions

TYPES OF DEPARTMENTALIZATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Most governments use a combination of departmentalization. How jobs are organized into work groups helps to develop appropriate pay and classification systems.

1. Functional – grouping of activities based on type of work

2. Geographic – grouping activities based on the location of work

3. Customer – grouping activities based on user of a service

4. Project – grouping diverse activities across functional lines to carry out complex tasks or missions

APPLICATIONS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Most jobs in state and local government are knowledge, skills, and abilities rather than a sequence of tasks or duties. Job redesign is restricted by the classification system of position management which begins with a request for a study and ends with the approval or disapproval at higher levels.