HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND THE WORK DESIGN

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Organizations plan how things should be done in the workplace by individuals and teams. Further they decide the job role of each individual. These two functions are categorized as work design and job design accordingly.

Work Design defined

Work design is preparing systems and procedures of work, along with a suitable working atmosphere to enhance the productivity and effectiveness to make the organization a great place to work, giving priority to health, safety and wellbeing of employees (Armstrong, 2014).

Job Design Defined

Job design is defined as specifying the contents, methods and relationships of jobs, with the aim of achieving the organizational and technological goals. Further satisfying the social and personal requirements of the job holder is also taken into consideration  (Buchanan, 1979).

Past and Present of Work Design

Adam Smith (1776) originated the concept of division of labour which is the beginning of work design.

Taylor (1911) introduced the scientific management movement, which transferred the responsibility from individual employee to engineers or managers. This method is called ‘Taylorism’.

Henry Ford (1914) introduced the moving assembly line, which is called ‘Fordism’. Work simplification practice was embedded in organizations.

According to CIPD (2008) ‘smart working’ is the present context of work design, which focus on managing the work environment in order to release employees’ energy and drive business performance.

Smart Working

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CIPD (2008) through its research identified smart working arrangements include flexible working hours, high performance working, lean production and designing jobs in which there is a higher degree of freedom to act.

Global Examples for Smart Working

The Australian Government’s Fair Work Act 2009 allows eligible employees to request flexible work arrangements from their employer. Flexible work options are a key feature of age-friendly workplaces that successfully attract and retain older workers.

In February 2013, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) consolidated 800,000 square feet into 208,000 while implementing its smart working initiative program, which:

1.     Eliminated hierarchical barriers by removing individual offices and cubicles. Decreased square footage with the optimized and increased utilization of meeting and work spaces.

2.     Decreased water, energy, and paper usage with energy-saving fixtures.

3.     An open space floor plan designed to speed up decision making, reduce email and formal meetings, and enhance collaboration and trust.

References 

Armstrong, M., 2014. Armstrong's Hand of Human Resource Management Practice. 13th ed. Philadelphia: Kogan Page.

Buchanan, D. A., 1979. The Development of Job Design Theories and Techniques. New York: Praeger Publishers.

CIPD, 2008. Smart Working: How smart is UK PLC? Findings from organizational practice. CIPD.

Government of Western Australia Public Sector Commission 2010,

 A Guide to Managing an Ageing Workforce, http://www.publicsector.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/guide_to_managing_an_ageing_workforce.pdf Accessed on 6^th June 6, 2018 at 9.40pm

Work Design Magazine

http://www.franciscauffman.com/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/GSK_Haworth_CaseStudy_LoRes%20WorkDesign%20Magazine.pdf  Accessed on 6^th June 6, 2018 at 9.55pm