WORK DESIGN

AND
MEASUREMENT
INTRODUCTION

This chapter has four major sections

• Job design
• Quality of Work Life
• Methods Analysis
• Work Measurement
 JOB DESIGN
The act of specifying the contents and methods of jobs
• What will be done in a job
• Who will do the job
• How the job will be done
• Where the job will be done
Importance
• Organization’s are dependent on human efforts to accomplish their goals.
• Many job design topics are relevant to continuous and productivity
improvement.
Objectives
• Productivity
• Safety
• Quality of work life
 JOB DESIGN
2 BASIC APPROACHES TO JOB DESIGN
1. Efficiency School
• emphasizes a systematic, logical approach to job
design.
• a refinement of Frederick Winslow Taylor’s scientific
management concepts, received considerable
emphasis in the past.
2. Behavioral School
• emphasizes satisfaction of wants and needs.
SPECIALIZATION
• Work that concentrates on some aspect of a product or
service.
BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES
TO JOB DESIGN
Job Enlargement
Giving a worker a larger portion of the total task, by
horizontal loading.

Job Rotation
Workers periodically exchange jobs.

Job Enrichment
Increasing responsibility for planning and coordination tasks,
by vertical loading.
MOTIVATION
• the driving force that pushes individuals to take
action towards achieving and fulfilling their goals.
• people work for a variety of reason aside from
compensation. (socialization, sense of purpose and
accomplishment)
• influence productivity and quality.
• trust between employee and management.
TEAMS
• group of individuals who collaborate to achieve
common objectives within an organization.
• the increasing use of teams brought significant
changes in the structure of some work environments.

Different forms of teams:

1. Short-term teams
2. Long-term teams
TEAMS
Self-directed teams - sometimes referred to as
self-managed teams, are groups empowered to make certain
changes in their work process without direct supervision.

ex.: product launch of bananacue

• composition
• autonomy
⚬ decision-making
• outcome
ROBERT BACAL
Requirements for successful team building:
1. Clearly stated and commonly held vision and goals.
2. Talent and skills required to meet goals.
3. Clear understanding of team members’ roles and functions.
4. Efficient and shared understanding of procedures and norms.
5. Effective and skilled interpersonal relations.
6. A system of reinforcement and celebration.
7. Clear understanding of the team’s relationship to the greater
organization.
ROBERT BACAL
• an experienced educator and trainer with over 30 years in
the field.
• published over 350 articles on workplace life and
management, and he is also an author of several books.
• has taught at various university and college levels and
specializes in a range of business topics, including:
⚬ customer service
⚬ performance and conflict management
⚬ human resources
ERGONOMICS
• Is the incorporation of human factors in the design
of the workplace.
• In the work environment, it also helps to increase
productivity by reducing the worker discomfort and
fatigue.
3 Domains of Ergonomics:
1. Physical Ergonomics
2. Cognitive Ergonomics
3. Organizational Ergonomics
3 DOMAINS OF ERGONOMICS:
• Physical Ergonomics - designing workplaces,
tools, and equipment to fit the physical capabilities
and limitations of users.

• Cognitive Ergonomics - aims to optimize the user

experience by making information processing easier.

• Organizational Ergonomics - aims to improve

overall organizational structures and practices that
affect worker satisfaction and efficiency.
COMPONENTS
OF A
COMFORTABLE
WORKSTATION
WORKING CONDITIONS
are an important aspect of job design.
Physical Factors can have a significant impact on worker
performance .
These are the following Physical Factors such as:

Temperature and Humidity Ventilation Illumination

Noise and Vibrations Work Time and Work Breaks

Occupational Health Care Safety Ethical Issues

PHYSICAL FACTORS

Temperature and Humidity. Work performance tends

to be adversely affected if temperatures or humidities
are outside a very narrow comfort band. That comfort
band depends on how strenuous the work is; the more
strenuous the work, the lower the comfort range.

Ventilation. Unpleasant and noxious odors can be

distracting and dangerous to workers.
PHYSICAL FACTORS

Illumination. The amount of illumination required depends

largely on the type of work being performed; the more
detailed the work, the higher the level of illumination
needed for adequate performance. Other important
considerations are the amount of glare and contrast. From a
safety standpoint, good lighting in halls, stairways, and other
dangerous points is important.
Noise and Vibrations. Noise is unwanted sound. It is
caused by both equipment and humans. Vibrations can be a
factor in job design even without a noise component.
PHYSICAL FACTORS
Work Time and Work Breaks. Reasonable (and sometimes flexible)
work hours can provide a sense of freedom and control over one’s
work.
Some reasons why Work breaks are also important:
• Long work intervals tend to generate boredom and fatigue.
• Productivity and quality can both deteriorate.
• Periodic vacation breaks can give workers something to look
forward to, a change of pace, and a chance to recharge
themselves.
Occupational Health Care. Good worker health contributes to
productivity, minimizes health care costs, and enhances workers’
sense of well-being.
PHYSICAL FACTORS

Safety. Worker safety is one of the most basic issues in job design.
This area needs constant attention from management, employees,
and designers. From an employer standpoint, accidents are
undesirable because workers can be injured, they are expensive
(insurance and compensation). From a worker standpoint, accidents
that result in injury can lead to mental anguish, possible loss of
earnings, and disruption of the work routine.

The two basic causes of accidents are:

1. Worker carelessness
2. Accident hazard
PHYSICAL FACTORS
The enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in
1970, and the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), emphasized the importance of safety
considerations in systems design. The law was intended to ensure
that workers in all organizations have healthy and safe working
conditions. It provides specific safety regulations with inspectors to
see that they are adhered to.

Ethical Issues. Ethical issues affect operations through

work methods, working conditions and employee safety,
accurate record keeping, unbiased performance appraisals,
fair compensation, and opportunities for advancement.
COMPENSATION
is a significant issue for the design of work systems. It is important for
organizations to develop suitable compensation plans for their employees. If
wages are too low, organizations may find it difficult to attract and hold
competent workers and managers. If wages are too high, the increased costs
may result in lower profits, or may force the organization to increase its
prices, which might adversely affect demand for the organization’s products
or services.

Organizations use a variety of approaches to compensate employees,

including:

• Time-based Systems
• Output-based Systems
• Knowledge-based Systems
COMPENSATION
Time-based systems, also known as hourly and measured daywork systems,
compensate employees for the time the employee has worked during a pay period.

Output-based (incentive) systems compensate employees according to the

amount of output they produce during a pay period, thereby tying pay directly to
performance.

Incentive systems may focus on the output of each individual or a group.

Individual Incentive Plans. Under this plan, a worker’s pay is a direct linear
function of his or her output.

Group Incentive Plans. A variety of group incentive plans, which stress sharing of
productivity gains with employees, are in use.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Time-based and Output-based
plans
COMPENSATION
Knowledge-Based Pay Systems. It is a portion of a worker’s pay that is based on the
knowledge and skill that the worker possesses.

Knowledge-based pay has three dimensions:

1. Horizontal skills reflect the variety of tasks the worker is capable of performing.
2. Vertical skills reflect managerial tasks the worker is capable of;
3. Depth skills reflect quality and productivity results.

Management Compensation. Many organizations that traditionally rewarded

managers and senior executives on the basis of output are now seriously reconsidering
that approach.

Recent Trends. Many organizations are moving toward compensation systems that
emphasize flexibility and performance objectives, with variable pay based on
performance.
 METHOD ANALYSIS

Focuses on how a job is done. Job design often

begins with an analysis of the overall operation. It
then moves from general to specific details of the
job, concentrating on arrangement of the
workplace and movements of materials and/or
workers. Methods analysis can also be a good
source of productivity improvements.
 METHOD ANALYSIS
The basic procedure in methods analysis is as follows:
1. Identify the operation to be studied, and gather all pertinent
facts about tools, equipment, materials, and soon.
2. For existing jobs, discuss the job with the operator and
supervisor to get their input.
3. Study and document the present method of an existing job
using process charts. For new jobs, develop charts based on
information about the activities involved.
4. Analyze the job.
5. Propose new methods.
6. Install the new methods.
7. Follow up implementation to assure that improvements have
been achieved.
 METHOD ANALYSIS

Selecting an Operation to Study. Sometimes a

foreman or supervisor will request that a certain operation
be studied.

Some general guidelines for selecting a job to study are to

consider jobs that:
• Have a high labor content
• Are done frequently
• Are unsafe, tiring, unpleasant, and/or noisy
• Are designated as problems (e.g., quality problems,
processing bottlenecks)
 METHOD ANALYSIS

Documenting the Current Method.

Use charts, graphs, and verbal
descriptions of the way the job is now
being performed. This will provide a clear
understanding of the job and serve as a
basis of comparison against which
revisions can be judged.
 METHOD ANALYSIS

Analyzing the Job and Proposing New Methods.

Job analysis requires careful thought about the what,
why, when, where, and who of the job. Often, simply
going through these questions will clarify the review
process by encouraging the analyst to take a devil’s
advocate attitude toward both present and proposed
methods.

Analyzing and improving methods is facilitated by the

use of various charts such as flow process charts and
worker-machine charts.
 METHOD ANALYSIS

Flow process charts are used to review and critically

examine the overall sequence of an operation by focusing
on the movements of the operator or the flow of
materials. These charts are helpful in identifying
nonproductive parts of the process (e.g., delays,
temporary storages, distances traveled).

Worker-machine chart are used to determine

portions of a work cycle during which an operator and
equipment are busy or idle.
Installing the Improved Method. Successful
implementation of proposed method changes
requires convincing management of the desirability
of the new method and obtaining the cooperation
of workers.

The Follow-Up. In order to ensure that changes

have been made and that the proposed method is
functioning as expected, the analyst should review
the operation after a reasonable period and consult
again with the operator
 MOTION
STUDY

is the systematic study of the human motions used to

perform an operation.

The purpose is to eliminate unnecessary motions and to

identify the best sequence of motions
for maximum efficiency.
There are a number of different techniques that motion study
analysts can use to develop efficient procedures. The most-
used techniques are the following:

• Motion study principles

• Analysis of therbligs
• Micromotion study
• Charts
Gilbreth’s work laid the foundation for the
development of motion study principles, which are
guidelines for designing motion-efficient work
procedures.

The guidelines are divided into three

categories:
• principles for use of the body
• principles for arrangement of the work place
• principles for the design of tools and
equipment.
Therbligs are basic elemental
motions.
Although a complete description of therbligs is outside the
scope of this text, a list of some common ones will illustrate
the nature of these basic elemental motions:

• Search implies hunting for an item with the hands and/or

the eyes.
• Select means to choose from a group of objects.
• Grasp means to take hold of an object.
• Hold refers to retention of an object after it has been
grasped.
• Transport load means movement of an object after hold.
• Release load means to deposit the object.
 WORK MEASUREMENT
is concerned with determining the length of time it should
take to complete the job. Job times are vital inputs for
capacity planning, workforce planning, estimating labor
costs, scheduling, budgeting, and designing incentive
systems. Moreover, from the workers’ standpoint, time
standards reflect the amount of time it should take to do a
given job working under typical conditions. The standards
include expected activity time plus allowances for probable
delays.
A standard time is the amount of time it should take a
qualified worker to complete a specified task, working at
a sustainable rate, using given methods, tools and.
equipment, raw material inputs, and workplace
arrangement.

Although some small manufacturers and service

organizations rely on subjective estimates of job times,
the most commonly used methods of work
measurement are (1) stopwatch time study, (2)
historical times, (3) predetermined data, and (4)
work sampling.
STOPWATCH TIME STUDY
is used to develop a time standard based on observations
of one worker taken over a number of cycles. That is then
applied to the work of all others in the organization who
perform the same task. The basic steps in a time study
are the following:
1. Define the task to be studied, and inform the worker
who will be studied.
2. Determine the number of cycles to observe.
3. Time the job and rate the worker’s performance.
4. Compute the standard time.
STANDARD ELEMENTAL
TIMES
Standard elemental times are developed using
a company's historical time study data. Over time,
a firm can gather a collection of elemental times
that apply to multiple tasks. These times can later
be retrieved from the file, allowing analysts to skip
conducting a full time study for common job
elements.
The procedure for using standard elemental times consists of
the following steps:

1. Analyze the job to identify the standard elements.

2. Check the file for elements that have historical times, and
record them. Use time study to obtain others, if necessary.

3. Modify the file times if necessary (explained as follows).

4. Sum the elemental times to obtain the normal time, and

factor in allowances to obtain the standard time.
PREDETERMINED TIME
STANDARDS
Predetermined time standards use published data for
standard elemental times, such as the Methods-Time
Measurement (MTM) system developed by the Methods
Engineering Council. MTM tables, based on research of
elemental motions (e.g., reach, move, turn, disengage),
help determine the time required for each task element.
Analysts divide a job into basic elements, measure
distances, assess difficulty, and refer to these tables for
time estimates. The total time for a task is the sum of all its
elements. Analysts require specialized training or
certification to accurately perform this process and
generate realistic time estimates.
Among the advantages of predetermined time standards
are the following:

• They are based on large numbers of workers under

controlled conditions.
• The analyst is not required to rate performance in
developing the standard.
• There is no disruption of the operation.
• Standards can be established even before a job is
done.
WORK SAMPLING
Work sampling is a method used to estimate how
much time a worker or machine spends on different
activities, including idle time. Unlike time studies, work
sampling doesn't require timing tasks or continuous
observation. Instead, random observations are made at
intervals, noting the activity at that moment (e.g., a
machine may be idle or a worker might be typing or
taking measurements).
The primary uses of work sampling are: (1) ratio-delay
studies, which analyze idle time or unavoidable delays,
and (2) nonrepetitive job analysis, used to determine
the time spent on various tasks in jobs with diverse
activities.

While work sampling is useful, it includes a margin of

error, so estimates should be treated as approximations.
The goal is to achieve a result with a specified confidence
level and acceptable error.
COMPUTING A SAMPLE SIZE
FOR WORK SAMPLING
Determining the sample size is only one part of work sampling. The
overall procedure consists of the following steps:

1. Clearly identify the worker(s) or machine(s) to be studied.

2. Notify the workers and supervisors of the purpose of the study to
avoid arousing suspicions.
3. Compute an initial estimate of sample size using a preliminary
estimate of p, if available (e.g., from analyst experience or past
data). Otherwise, use ^ p = .50.
4. Develop a random observation schedule.
5. Begin taking observations. Recompute the required sample size
several times during the study. 6. Determine the estimated
proportion of time spent on the specified activity.
 In sum, the procedure for identifying random times at which to make work
sampling obser vations involves the following steps:

1. Determine the number of days in the study and the number of hours per day.
This will indicate the required number of digits for days and hours.

2. Obtain the necessary number of sets for days, ignoring any sets that exceed
the number of days.

3. Repeat step 2 for hours.

4. Repeat step 2 for minutes.

5. Link the days, hours, and minutes in the order they were obtained. 6. Place
the observation times in chronological order.
THANKYOU