Job Specifications and Job Design Issues - Essay Example

Job Specifications & Job Design 3-4: Exercise Job Specifications for the following positions Cashier at a fast food restaurant A fast food restaurant relies on quality of food as well as the quality of customer service to retain loyal customers and take on competitors. Therefore, almost all the workers in the fast food chain are expected to be customer friendly. In general a cashier should be Well qualified to understand the demands of the job A good hand at accounts and mathematics Computer friendly, so that periodic financial statements, receipts etc. Courteous to the customers Honest to the profession and to the customers Active and quick in accepting the payment, counting the notes and issuing the receipt Sales associate at a retail clothing store Qualified to have the knowledge about the fabric and quality of the dresses Urge to learn about Pleasing personality Good interpersonal communication skills so that the prospective customer feels at home and convinced enough with the features/ qualities of the item. Must be ready to spend long hours in the store Ability to work as a member of a team and encourage the team spirit Should have a clean appearance and well spoken manner Should have the knowledge about daily targets/ sales goals and drives business to achieve them Bank Teller The bank teller is a much busier person than the cashier of a fast food restaurant. He is supposed to not only accept the money, but he is also supposed to accept the money for deposits. Therefore his job specifications include; Good interpersonal and communication skills Fluency in the requisite language Ability to handle all financial transactions Ability to handle all inter-banking transactions Computer friendly Good knowledge of mathematics and accounts CEO of a fortune 500 firm The CEO is the person responsible for the running of the firm. He is the one who has to work towards the development, expansion and diversification of the business activities. Therefore a CEO's job specifications include; Excellent interpersonal and communication skills Must be able to lead and manage the teams of people around him i.e. essential leadership qualities Positive attitude towards the business and the workforce Must be able to motivate the workforce Ability to manage productions, operations, procedures, finance etc. Must be able to assert his authority in such a manner that nobody feels unduly offended Ability to liaise with external stakeholders and develop healthy relationships with them Good planner and executioner towards the aims and objectives of the firm Having a vision for the future Must be able to decipher the indications and circumstances for optimal use towards successful implementation of firm's strategies Chef at a fine-dining restaurant Must believe in cleanliness Must be knowledgeable about a variety of dishes; native, continental, Chinese etc. An ability to communicate well with managers, other staff and customers in case there's some request from customers for special dishes for special occasions Must be able to adhere to the given timeline for readying the dishes The chef must be able to plan the things as per the requirements of the restaurant and can also manage some rush hour schedules Must be obsessive enough about the taste of the customers College Professor The college professor has to deal mainly with students and guide them to satiate their hunger for knowledge and learning. In general a college professor's job specifications include; Sound academic background i.e. well qualified in the subject for the post Must be able to earn the goodwill and respect of the students and fellow professionals Must have an inclination towards motivating the students to pursue their career goals Must be a good learner himself, as he has to learn about a lot of new discoveries/ advancements and impart such information to his students Must have an exemplary moral and character, so that his is held in high esteem by his students 3-6 Exercise 3: Job Design Q. Job design typically includes three methods: job enrichment, job enlargement, and job rotation. In teams of three to five, brainstorm ten specific approaches organizations can take to accomplish each of these methods. When finished, you should have 30 different approaches to job design. Ten approaches for Job Enrichment Job enrichment is defined as the attempts towards making the job more rewarding in such a manner that worker-manager and worker-organization relations become much more cordial and productive. Such steps help in recruiting and retaining better quality workforce. Ten such approaches to this end could be; 1. By coming out with innovative ideas for rewarding the workforce 2. Including means of putting the workforce at ease while working e.g. redesigning the job, remodeling the processes etc. 3. Taking care of some of the other responsibilities like child education needs, home loan requirements etc. of the workforce 4. Granting due respect to workers coming out with good performance 5. Introducing performance based incentives to encourage good performers (certainly not to discourage the below par performers) 6. Making enough room for better promotional prospects of deserving candidates 7. An entertaining break often helps in rejuvenating the workforce. So it will be good enrichment approach to have an evening/ day out for entertainments like musical show, games, parties etc. 8. Providing opportunities for worker's training and development to impart better skills. 9. By organizing brainstorming sessions with employees to take their assistance in planning and organizing for the job. This also includes giving due recognition to the employee/s for their constructive feedbacks/ suggestions. 10. Putting a system in place for analyzing the decelerating factors. Ten approaches for Job Enlargement Job enlargement involves redesigning the work to include more variety, autonomy, task identity and feedback for the employee. This helps in raising the interest level of workers while the costs are reduced. Some such methods are; 1. Including technological advancements wherever feasible, particularly in high risk jobs 2. Modeling the tasks to remove undue redundancies 3. Strengthening the feedback mechanism 4. Allowing the workforce to make use of variety of skills for completing the tasks 5. Granting adequate autonomy to the floor level worker, the supervisor and the manager in respect of works being completed 6. Grouping together some tasks similar in nature 7. Some tasks appearing different in nature but requiring similar skills can also be grouped together 8. Monitoring the work schedule/s continuously and updating the job profile periodically to include latest methods/requirements etc. 9. Including the induction training as a mandatory part before taking up some specialized tasks 10. Making the career ladder more competitive depending upon the works involved Ten approaches for Job Rotation Job rotation involves moving employees from one job to another to enrich their experience and prepare them for multitasking functions. This also helps in avoiding monotony. Some general approaches for this task include; 1. Making a schedule of movement of workers from one job site/ floor to another 2. Maintaining a truthful record of the performances of the workers at different work sites. This is to gain an insight into the specialized people and their interests 3. Preparing a schedule of training for workers who are not able to cope up with the new task/s 4. Maintaining a record of worker preferences as well. For example, some workers might prefer to work in the otherwise undesired shift like the graveyard shift (from midnight to morning). 5. Grouping works of similar nature in such a way that job rotations are done with workers having similar skills. For example an accountant cannot be posted on the production floor; he'll have to be rotated from cash counter to, HR section or Store management etc. 6. Encouraging workers to opt for least desired jobs by offering incentives etc. 7. Sometimes it might happen that all workers are moved from one job site to another, leaving the job to a set of all new faces next morning. A rational approach therefore calls for ensuring that such things do not happen. This can be done by preparing a schedule. 8. Making a list of jobs requiring exposure to strenuous efforts, so that such tasks are the most rotated ones' 9. Preparing a schedule of training and rotation in such a manner, that when an employee leaves for training, his place must be taken up by someone equally qualified to perform the task, without affecting the functioning of the organization/ firm. 10. Ensuring reasonable job security for workers, so that they do not shy away from job rotation for the fear of being identified as 'below par performer/s' and subsequent reprimand. Read More