Improving Organisational Design

Job Design

Job design refers to an employer’s creation and planning of a job considering the job’s aspects.

Aspects of job design

• Job design includes the roles and responsibilities of the job itself.

• Job design includes the systems and methods used by an employee to carry out their role.

• Job design includes the relationships between the employer and the employee, and between other managers, subordinates and stakeholders.

How business objectives influence job design

• The overall business objective may influence job design as all jobs within the business should contribute to the overall business objectives and they should be designed in such a way to do so.

How an individual can influence job design

• The performance of individual employees may influence job design. If employees are demotivated and there is a problem with productivity, managers may use job design to motivate employees and improve productivity.

How available resources influence job design

• The resources available within the business may influence job design. Major changes to job design may require the additional support of resources such as labour and capital, and these resources must be available for the change to be successful.

How market research influences job design

• Market research and changes in trends and tastes may influence job design. If an HR manager is expecting there to be a change in the external environment, jobs may be designed or redesigned to reflect the demands of a changing external environment.

Job Enlargement, Enrichment, Empowerment and Rotation

Enlargement, enrichment, empowerment, and rotation are all examples of approaches an employer can to take to job design.

Job enlargement

• When a business is considering the motivation and productivity of its employees, it may use job enlargement.

• Job enlargement is when an employer increases the number of jobs an employee is responsible for in order to increase the challenge of their role. Additional jobs assigned to employees are usually at a level similar to their original duties.

  • For example, a receptionist may be given responsibility for the collection of customer questionnaire feedback in addition to their existing roles of managing customer appointments and complaints.

Job enrichment

• When a business is considering the motivation and productivity of its employees, it may use job enrichment.

• Job enrichment is when an employer provides an employee with jobs which are more complex and challenging. Jobs assigned to employees are usually at a level above their original duties in terms of complexity and challenge.

  • For example, a sole trader who manages their own marketing activities may ask their sales assistant to lead a marketing project.

Job empowerment

• When a business is considering the motivation and productivity of its employees, it may use empowerment.

• Empowerment is when an employer gives an employee more control over their job, including the ability to decide the best way to fulfill their duties.

  • For example, Disney empowers its staff by providing them with opportunities to define their own approach to working as long as their duties and responsibilities are still fulfilled.

Job rotation

• When a business is considering the motivation and productivity of its employees, it may use job rotation.

• Job rotation is an example of job enlargement and refers to an employer allowing an employee to move from one role or duty to another, regularly.

  • For example, some postal workers spend a period of time doing delivery rounds and will then spend a period of time working in a sorting office.

Organisational Design

Organisational design involves making sure that an organisation is designed appropriately to increase its chances of meeting its aims and objectives. When leaders are planning the design of their organisation, they will consider several factors:

Authority

• Authority is linked to delegation. Delegation involves passing authority to employees further down in the hierarchy.

  • Authority can motivate and empower employees and therefore increase productivity.

Spans of control

• Spans of control are the number of people who report directly to a supervisor or manager.

  • Businesses with tall hierarchies have narrower spans of control so employees can be monitored more closely.

  • Businesses with flat hierarchies have wider spans of control and it can be harder to monitor employees as closely as each manager will manage and lead a larger group of employees than in a business with a tall hierarchy.

Hierarchies

• Hierarchies are the levels and layers of management. Tall hierarchies have many layers of management and flat hierarchies have few levels.

  • Communication can be more difficult in a tall hierarchy as there are more layers for the communication to pass through.

  • Tall hierarchies provide promotional opportunities for employees as there are more layers and therefore a greater number of promotional opportunities throughout the business.

• Delayering involves reducing the number of layers in the hierarchy of a business, usually by removing middle managers.

Delegation

• Delegation refers to a manager passing responsibility or authority to an employee below them in the hierarchy.

  • Delegation can reduce the workload of managers which allows them to focus on their own tasks.

  • Delegation can empower and motivate employees and prepare them for promotional opportunities in the future.

  • Delegation may require a business to invest in and provide employee training to ensure that employees have the necessary skills to complete a task.

Centralisation and decentralisation

• Centralisation and decentralisation refer to the decision making power within the business and how this power is held by different individuals in the business.

  • In centralised businesses, decision making power is held by a small number of people who make decisions and then share these with other staff.

  • In decentralised businesses, decision making power is distributed throughout the business to staff with appropriate skills and expertise.

Human Resource Flow

Human resources are responsible for the recruitment and training of employees.

Choosing the right employees

• The human resources plan ensures the business has the right number of employees, with the correct skills, working at the right location within the business.

• Recruitment can be used to recruit or employ new employees when the human resources plan identifies a gap in the number of or skillset of current employees.

Training

• Training can be used to improve and develop the skills of employees so that productivity and quality can increase which can support a business’ objective.

Redeployment

• Redeployment can be used to move, or redeploy, staff around the business according to business needs and demands and this can support business objectives.

Redundancy

• Redundancy can be used when the skills of current employees are no longer required by the business and the role no longer exists, and this can support the business’ objectives through reducing cost.