1. HRM: Work process design Overview

2. Zwei Gesichter der Arbeit (Lewin, 1920)
Arbeit ist einmal Mühe, Last, Kraftauf-wand. Wer nicht durch Renten oder Herrschaft oder Liebe versorgt ist, muss notgedrungen arbeiten, um seinen Lebensunterhalt zu verdienen. Arbeit ist unentbehrliche Voraus-setzung zum Leben, aber sie ist selbst noch nicht wirkliches Leben. Darum Arbeit so kurz und so bequem wie möglich! Wenn die Arbeit dazu gleich-förmiger und einseitiger werden muss, so schadet dies nichts, solange es ihrer Produktivität keinen Abbruch tut. Denn aller positiver Wert kommt dieser Arbeit nur indirekt zu, nur durch die wirtschaftlichen Vorteile, die sie dem Arbeitenden bietet.
Die Arbeit ist dem Menschen unentbehr-lich in ganz anderem Sinn. Nicht weil die Notdurft des Lebens sie erzwingt, sondern weil das Leben ohne Arbeit hohl und halb ist. Dieses Bedürfnis nach Arbeit, die Flucht vor dauernden Müssiggang, die bei zu kurzer Arbeitszeit zur Arbeit ausserhalb des Berufs treibt, beruht nicht auf blosser Gewohnheit zu arbeiten, sondern gründet sich auf den 'Lebenswert' der Arbeit. Weil die Arbeit selbst Leben ist, darum will man auch alle Kräfte des Lebens an sie heran-bringen und in ihr auswirken können. Darum will man die Arbeit reich und weit, vielgestaltig und nicht krüppelhaft beengt. Der Fortschritt der Arbeitsweise gehe also nicht auf mögliche Verkürzung der Arbeits-zeit, sondern auf Steigerung des Lebens-werts der Arbeit, mache sie reicher und menschenwürdiger.

3. Psychosocial functions of work (Jahoda, 1984)
material means of existence
activity / competence
structuring of time
cooperation / social contact
social approval
sense of personal identity

4. Job design as crucial measure for personnel development
Design of humane work tasks in order to further
health
competencies
personality
based on the psychosocial functions of work

5. Beginnings of modern job design
Hawthorne Studies, see also:

6. Beginnings of modern job design

7. Criteria for humane work tasks (from Ulich, 1998)

8. Motivation through the design of work (Hackman & Oldham, 1976)
Core job dimensions
Critical psychological states
Personal and work outcomes
Skill variety
Task identity
Task significance
Experiences meaningfulness of work
Experienced responsibility for outcome of work
Knowledge of actual results of work activities
High internal work motivation
High quality work performance
High satisfaction with work
Low absenteeism and turnover
Autonomy
Feedback
Employee growth need strength

9. Core characteristics of humane work: Complete tasks
sequential completeness
Cycle of goal setting, planning, execution, control and correction
hierarchical completeness
demands on action regulation at different levels of complexity (skill-, rule- und knowledge-based actions)
Reversal of tayloristic principles

10. The five principles of Taylorism
Separation of planning and doing
Responsibility for planning at management level; implementation as sole shopfloor responsibility
"one best way" of task execution
Definition of the more efficient way of task execution based on scientific methods; every worker executes only one step in the overall task
Selection of the best person
Definition of qualification profile for each task step, selection of the appropriate person
Reduction of training
Training for the more efficient way of executing each task step, workers are easily replaced
Control
Surveillance of adherence to the prescribed work methods and of achievement of required results

11. Objectives of job design
Autonomy: Self-determination regarding goals and rules for goal achievement.
Control: Influence on situations in order to achieve goals which can be self-determined or determined by others.
Prerequisite for effective use of control: Transparency and predictability of work situation.

12. Design rules regarding autonomy and control
Control should be at a maximum.
But: Management and staff positions can only provide indirect control via line employees.
Control without autonomy is possible if strong identification with goals determined by others can be achieved.
Autonomy without control contains high potential for frustration (e.g. staff functions without direct influence on the line of command)

14. Design of complete tasks
individual tasks:
horizontal (job enlargement), i.e. adding tasks with the same qualification profile Usually neither improvement of sequential (= complete cycles of goal setting - planning - executing - controlling - correcting) nor hierarchical completeness (= different levels of task complexity)
vertical (job enrichment), i.e. adding tasks with more complex qualification profiles Opportunity for improving both sequential and hierarchical completeness
job rotation, i.e. changes between tasks with same or different qualification profiles Opportunity for improving sequential and hierarchical completeness depending on tasks
collective tasks:
self-regulating teams, i.e. assignment of a complete task to a group Opportunity for improving both sequential and hierarchical completeness

15. Work in self-regulating (="semi-autonomous") teams
several people,
working together for some time,
in order to reach common goals,
having a group identity.
"semi-autonomous": The team can decide or participate in decision-making on several of the following issues:
production goals (amount and quality)
task spectrum
production methods
work schedule
representation of group in the organization
internal management of the group
group membership
internal distribution of tasks
individual work methods

16. Example: Reorganizing production of medicinal instruments
Before
After
Production distributed across three departments
Scheduling per operation
Planner in different departments/location
Internal coordination by shift supervisor
Boundary regulation by shift supervisor
High specialization in individual tasks
Bonus based on department performance
Production groups based on functional integration per product type
Scheduling for whole jobs
Planner in same location as production
Internal coordination by production groups
Boundary regulation by shift supervisor (incl. Involvement in development of new production concepts)
Increasing polyvalence, individual and group tasks
Bonus based on group performance
Significant reduction in lead time
Objectively and subjectively better working conditions
Still tight and unrealistic scheduling

17. Advantages of teams developing ideas
discovering and compensating individual errors
furthering systems view
supporting shared task orientation
offering reciprocal support
alleviating individual work load
"synergy"

18. Disadvantages of teams
friction
conformity and groupthink
levelling of individual performance
diffusion of responsibility
devaluation of other groups

19. Prerequisites for good team work
Adequate common task
Complexity higher than individual competencies
Clear performance criteria
Collective decision competence
Shared goal orientation
Positive goal coupling
Goal transparency and feedback
Adequate group composition
Different perspectives on the task
Shared language
Development of group rules
Adequate group size
Support for team development (form, storm, norm, perform)
Explicit handling of conflicts between individual and collective autonomy

20. Design of teams (Richardson & Carter, 2008)
“Real teams”
Clear objectives
Necessity of working together
Regular meetings to discuss team effectiveness
“Pseudo teams”
No clear objectives and/or no necessity of working together and/or no regular meetings
 team work per se is not necessarily effective, only well-designed teams reported less work pressure and less work-related stress

21. Design of teams (Hackman & Wageman, 2005)
Facilitating team performance with regard to specific times in the task performance process
Beginnings
Midpoints
Ends/End of cycle
Task performance process of the team (t)
Motivation-focused interventions
Consultative interventions
Education-focused interventions

22. And don't forget individual job design ...
Empowerment better predicts company performance than technology-based management practices (Patterson et al., 2004)

23. Considering individual differences in job design
Participative und differential-dynamic job design:
Involvement in organizational change decisions and offer of choices regarding job design options allows for consideration of individual needs and competencies
„Job crafting“:
Opportunities for self-determined adaption of work tasks according to changing individual needs and competencies
Management by Objectives (MbO):
Systematic furthering of individual motivation through tailored goals and ways for goal achievement
General objective: no fixation of individual differences, but individually tailored support

24. Fundamental objective of job design
Create conditions that support people in being capable (competence) and also wanting (motivation) to do their job well

25. Stress at work
Stress = a situation with demands that cannot be met by personal resources
28% of employees in 15 EU member countries suffer from work-related stress (survey responses 2002)
Reported causes:
Lack of control, e.g. regarding planning (35%), work duration (55%), time pressure (29%)
Monotony
Mobbing
Job insecurity
Reported effects:
Heart problems (Men:16%, women: 22%)
Absenteeism (50-60%)
Estimated costs 20 billion Euro

26. Stress at work
During the past 12 months, how many days did you work despite an illness or injury because you felt you had to?
Presenteeism (Aronsson et al., 2000)
… continuing to work while sick or distressed
Associated with (Caverly et al., 2007)
Increased overtime
Decreased job security, career opportunities, trust in co-workers, supervisor support job satisfaction
Reasons:
No back-ups, heavy workload, deadlines, strong work commitment
No indication that employees who come to work while ill are any less sick than those who did not come

27. Exp.: Stress in anaesthesia (Nyssen et al., 2003)
Overall moderate levels of stress, but especially younger anaesthetists suffered from emotional exhaustion and reported lack of empowerment and support
Major stressors in anaesthesia:
Lack of control over work
Time planning and risks
Lack of supervision
Communication within the team
What do to?
Improve formal work organization
Positive social climate („Psychological Safety“)
Improve social support

28. Effects of good job design: Stress reduction
Interaction of job demands and decision latitude (Karasek, 1979)
Appraisal of stressors & coping with stress (Lazarus, 1993)
Important resources are
control (=means of influence): given (objective) and perceived (subjective)
qualification
social support

29. Stress and Job Design
Job Stress can impair well-being and performance, but can be reduced by appropriate job design.

30. HRM: Work process design Overview