A). What is the difference between job design and job analysis?

1. Job analysis is the process that identifies tasks, duties, responsibilities, required qualifications, skill and knowledge
etc. for an individual for a job.

Job analysis is done for recruitment, to evaluation the employee's need of training and evaluation.

2. Job design is allocation of tasks to an employee or group of employees in an organization. Job design determines
those job, tasks and responsibilities and employee (group) have to perform.

- Job design is performed before Job analysis. Job analysis is performed when new job is created or job nature and
method is changed due to change in technology or requirements.

B). Difference Between Job Analysis and Job Description?

1). Job analysis is the process that identifies tasks, duties, responsibilities, required qualifications, skill and knowledge
etc. for an individual for a job.

It is helpful in the preparation of job description and job specification. 

2). Job description is a document indicating what a job covers, i.e. tasks, responsibilities, duties, powers and
authorities, attached to a job.

Content: Job Analysis Vs Job Description

1. Comparison Chart
2. Definition
3. Key Differences
4. Conclusion

Comparison Chart

BASIS FOR JOB ANALYSIS JOB DESCRIPTION

COMPARISON

Meaning A deep research on a particular job to A comprehensive job summary depicting the
ascertain every small details about it, is job contents in short but in an exhaustive
known as Job Analysis. manner.

What is it? Process Statement

Concept A process of determining all the A concise statement of what a job demands.
necessary requirements and aspects of a
job.

Incorporates Tasks, responsibilities, skill, abilities, Duties and Responsibilities, authority, purpose
working conditions and adaptabilities of and scope of a specific job.
a certain job.

Mode Oral or Written Written

Advantage Helpful in Recruitment and Selection of Helpful in ascertaining whether an applicant is

manpower eligible as per the set standards.
Job description and a Job specification

 Definitions
1). A job description is a document that states an overview of the duties, responsibilities, and functions of a specific
job in an organisation.
- A job description usually lists out the job title, location, job summary, working environment, duties to be
performed on the job, etc.
 Measures
- A job description measures the tasks and responsibilities attached to the job.
 Usefulness
- A job description offers ample information about the job which helps the management in evaluating the job
performance and defining the training needs of an employee .
Benefit
 A job description statement helps the organisation to be clear about 'Who should do what'.

2). A job specification is a statement of the qualifications, personality traits, skills, etc. required by an individual to
perform the job.
 A job specification lists out the qualifications, experience, training, skills, emotional attributes, mental
capabilities of an individual to perform the job.
 A job specification measures the capabilities that the job holder must possess to perform the job.

 A job specification helps the candidates who are applying for a job to analyse whether they are eligible for a
particular job or not.

3). Benefit
 A job specification statement helps the management to make decisions regarding promotion, bonuses,
internal transfers, and salary increases.

JOB DESIGN

1). What is job design? A definition

 Job design is the process of creating a job that enables the organization to achieve its goals while motivating
and rewarding the employee. This means that a well-designed job leads to higher productivity and quality of
work, while also leading to higher job satisfaction, lower absence, and lower employee turnover intentions.
2). How job design works

 To properly redesign jobs, we need a framework to guide this redesign process. The best-known framework
is Hackman & Oldham’s job characteristics theory.

Characteristic Description

The degree to which a job requires a broad array of skills. A financial controller managing three
Skill variety different departments will have more skill variety than a controller managing one specific
department. Jobs with greater skill variety are more challenging and require more competence

The degree to which an individual performs a whole piece of work. For example, designing a full
Task identity
house interior is more rewarding than designing a single room 

Task The degree to which the work impacts others. When work impacts others, the task feels more
significance meaningful, leading to higher satisfaction

The level of independence and freedom an individual has. Higher levels of autonomy make a
Autonomy
person feel more responsible for their work

The information that workers receive about the effectiveness of their work. Feedback can come
from the work itself (e.g., a functioning product) and external sources (e.g., customer
Feedback
satisfaction). Feedback from the work itself provides the most satisfaction and leads to
knowledge of the results of work activities

3). Job characteristics and their descriptions

 When a job has these five characteristics, it will be more meaningful, the employee will feel more
responsible, and have more knowledge of the work results. This, in turn, leads to the outcomes we
mentioned in the introduction: high motivation, higher quality performance, job satisfaction, and low
absenteeism and turnover.
4). Job motivating potential
 The idea behind motivational power is that when employees like their job, they are more likely to give it their
all and push for better results.
 the motivating potential score (MPS). To calculate this score, one takes all core job characteristics into
account and uses these to calculate the motivating potential of the job.
 To do this, each of the core job dimensions should be scored on a scale of one (low) to seven (high). Next,
these values can be put into the formula as follows:

According to the formula, a low score on either autonomy or feedback will significantly impact the motivating
potential of the job, while a lower score on either skill variety, task identity, or task significance will have a less
significant impact.
 
5). Organizational Change - Develop the skills to implement OD interventions and use OD principles to Job A scores
much higher on all motivational dimensions compared to job B. Because these motivational elements are multiplied,
the MPS difference between the two jobs is huge (255 vs. 40).
A better approach would be to transfer some of the autonomy or feedback opportunities from job A to job B, if
possible.

6). Four job design strategies

1. Job rotation
 Job rotation is a practice of moving employees between jobs in an organization. Job rotation programs can
lead to increased motivation and create flexibility in deployment resulting in easy replacement in case of
absence.
2. Job enlargement
 Job enlargement involves adding additional activities within the same hierarchical level to an existing role.
 Job enlargement increases the skill variety and task identity, enabling a worker to do more of similar
activities, which reduces monotony, teaches a variety of skills, and gives a broader range of responsibilities,
accountability, and autonomy.

3. Job enrichment
 Where job enlargement is aimed at adding tasks, job enrichment is characterized by adding motivational
dimensions. This means that job enlargement could be a form of job enrichment.
 Job enrichment focuses on adding motivators to existing roles, increasing the MPS. Examples include adding
opportunities to receive feedback, establishing client relationships to increase task significance, and creating
natural work units, which is aimed at grouping interrelated tasks together to increase task identity.
4. Job simplification
 Job simplification is the opposite of job enlargement and a bit of the odd one out. Job simplification is the
process of removing tasks from existing roles to make them more focused. 

 Job simplification is about stripping skill variety to create a more focused task. This can be used in case of job
creep when a job has been enlarged over time and has become unmanageable.

5. Job crafting and job design

 Job design as a top-down driven approach in which either the manager or the OD professional determines
what factors can be changed to improve the motivational potential of a job for the employee.
 These days, employees have considerable freedom to customize, modify, and craft their own job, either
independently or in collaboration with their manager.
 The process of an employee taking the initiative and shaping the characteristics of their job is referred to as
job crafting.
  Job crafting can be encouraged through higher organizational support, higher levels of autonomy, and higher
self-efficacy, which is the employee’s belief in their capacity to achieve what they want to achieve. Job
crafting leads, in turn, to higher levels of job satisfaction.

Introduction
 Job design is the process of establishing employees’ roles and responsibilities and the systems and
procedures that they should use or follow.
 The main purpose of job design, or redesign, is to coordinate and optimise work processes to create value
and maximise performance. However, it’s also a central element in creating good quality jobs or ‘good work’
which benefit workers themselves as well as their employers.
 This factsheet examines job design and its links to work motivation, empowerment and job quality. It looks at
the principles of job design, the role of job analysis and how assessing job quality can help.
1), What is Job Design & Redesign
 Job design, or redesign, is a process of determining job roles and what a job involves, as well as how it relates
to other relevant jobs and the organisation’s structure. It includes deciding on the duties and responsibilities
of the job holder, the way the job is done, as well as what support and resources the job holder needs. It can
be done stringently or flexibly, depending on the nature and scope of the work that needs to be done.
 The main purpose of job design is to optimise work processes, ensure the right value is created and improve
productivity. It does this by clarifying roles, systems and procedures; reducing repetitive elements within and
between jobs; and optimising the workers’ responsibility.
 However, these aspects of managing people are not only about the face-value effectiveness of allocating
resources. They’re also closely linked to core employee attitudes and work behaviours, including motivation,
commitment, discretionary effort and job satisfaction. These are enhanced through techniques such as job
enlargement, job enrichment and job rotation.
3). Job design is an important element of people strategy as it influences:
 How well organised work is?
 How fulfilling and motivating employees find their work.
 What opportunities employees have to develop skills and progress.
 Whether workloads are sustainable and healthy.
 Job design is thus a central component of job quality or ‘good work’ that benefits those doing the job as well
as the organisation's long-term growth and sustainability.

4). Principles of effective job design

The objectives of job design will vary according to business demands and the organisation’s approach. However, the
following will feature to some extent in deciding both the approach and desired outcomes.

 Business purpose. Jobs should support the organisation’s purpose and what it needs to do to succeed.
 Health and safety. Jobs must not risk the wellbeing or safety of the job holder, their colleagues, customers or
other individuals.
 People capability. Consider existing capabilities both internally and in the wider labour market.
 Quality. Jobs should minimise the risk of errors and to impose a degree of self-checking by employees to
ensure highest possible quality standards.
 Speed. Jobs should ensure that time to complete tasks is appropriate to the job. For example, in the case of
an emergency, the speed and appropriateness of the response is probably the most important feature of the
job.
 Productivity. Jobs must ensure the primary focus of the job holder is on things that matter and add value to
the business.
  Sustainability. Jobs should take account of sustainability, ensuring that organisations can respond flexibly in
the face of changing economic, social and political landscapes. Also ensure there is room to develop the job
over time to take account of the evolving individual and organisational capabilities.
 Quality of working life. Jobs should incorporate sufficient flexibility, breadth and challenge to ensure
individuals are engaged and motivated, and not under excessive or prolonged stress, and have opportunities
to develop.

5). The Evolution of job design

 The idea of job design started in the industrial revolution. In the early 1900s, Taylor’s ‘scientific management’
principles were used to measure and sequence human inputs alongside machinery to achieve higher
efficiencies. Two important concepts emerged:
 Method study examines the efficiency of how and why jobs are done or sequenced, and it is still used today,
for example, in designing ‘lean’ manufacturing processes.
 Work measurement aims to establish the time needed to complete tasks which is important for resource
planning and cost control, and is now used less widely as the measures of effectiveness have shifted to
considering the outputs of work.
 In principle, Taylorism could involve varying tasks through job rotation to improve work experience. But
above all, it was a mechanistic approach to job design that primarily served short-term productivity and
efficiency, limiting worker autonomy as far as possible and making little effort to enhance people’s working
lives. Nonetheless, it’s an important stage in the history of job analysis and design that can still be influential
today.
 Self-determination and job characteristics
 With the rise of theories of motivation, behavioural considerations were integrated more firmly into job
design, taking into account employee need for job satisfaction and flourishing. As we discuss in our evidence
review which looks at work motivation, one of the most influential is self-determination theory, developed
by Deci and Ryan in the 1970s and 1980s. This describes three areas of fundamental human needs that
should be fulfilled in our work:
 Autonomy: the latitude workers have to make decisions about their work. Autonomy and related terms, such
as task discretion and empowerment, involves a loosening of managerial control so that employees have
more influence over what tasks they perform, how and when.
 Competence: people have a need to build their competence and develop mastery over tasks and activities
important to them. As a result, the range and level of skills needed to do a job is an important aspect of job
design.
 Relatedness: people need to feel a sense of belonging and connectedness with others. Thus, they need
interaction and shared meaningful experiences with colleagues.
 Hackman and Oldham’s job characteristics theory has also been extremely influential. It covers much of the
same ground but also adds other factors, now well established to drive work motivation, which can also be
considered in job design. These include:
 Task significance: whether someone sees their job as important or otherwise meaningful.
 Feedback on performance: gives employees knowledge of the outcomes of their work, motivating them to
achieve goals and helping them to improve.
 High-performance work practices
 Job design is central to theories of high-performance work practices (HPWP), or clusters of these into high-
performance work systems (HPWS). These broadly align with self-determination theory, presenting a mutual
gains view of people management based on the ‘AMO’ model:
 Ability: employees’ knowledge, skills and abilities are increased.
 Motivation: employees are motivated to put these to use.
 Opportunity: employees are empowered to put them to use.
 Our research report Over-skilled and underused: investigating the untapped potential of UK skills, points to
substantial untapped talent. In our survey, more than one third of UK employees had the skills to cope with
more demanding duties than their current job needed.
 Flexible working
  Another aspect of job design concerns when and how much people work. These decisions can be driven by
employers, for example through the use of temporary and zero-hours contracts, or by employees
themselves, through flexible working arrangements that allow them to shape their working hours and
achieve greater work-life balance.

6). The role of job analysis

Job design should rely on careful job analysis – gathering information about the required outputs, the work needed
to achieve them job, and the skills, resources and autonomy that will enable it. Job analysis should be informed by
external and organisational factors as well as human, motivational and growth factors.

7). External factors include:

 Demand from customers, for example, the expectation for 24/7 services (as in customer service roles).
 The labour market, in particular how likely it is that people will have all the capabilities needed for the role; if
not, it may be necessary to create more than one job.
 Technological developments which enable tasks to be performed in different ways, for example, automation,
offshore collaboration and digitisation.

8). Organisational factors include:

 Workflow, or the sequence and relationship between tasks to achieve the desired outcomes and how the job
will slot in with other jobs in the organisation.
 The nature and range of tasks to be performed in the job, which need to be considered alongside whether
employees have the necessary capabilities and resources.

9). Human factors include:

 Ergonomics. Shaping the job to best fit the physical capabilities of humans. This may also cover any
reasonable adjustments required to ensure the job can be carried out by someone with a disability – see
more in our disability and employment factsheet.
 Appropriate workloads. Overwork is a common feature of contemporary work, and a major source of stress.
 Work-life balance, including flexible working.

10). Motivation and growth factors include:

 Creating and maintaining jobs that are inherently satisfying and motivating, providing meaningful, interesting
and stretching work with autonomy.
 Creating and maintaining jobs that are enriching, presenting good opportunities for professional growth and
progression.

The job analysis should form the basis of a job description and person specification or job profile.