JOB DESIGN AND WORK MEASUREMENT

SOME KEY POINTS

Work standards are the foundation of capacity and production planning.
Work measurement techniques, particularly flow diagrams and work sampling, are widely used
in services as well as manufacturing.
The selection of a work measurement approach depends on what you are going to do with the
results, as well as the nature of the work. In particular, standards that affect workers wages get
much attention.
There are significant challenges regarding job design and work measurement, including
! "ften there is inherent conflict between the needs#goals
of the workers and the organi$ation
! %niqueness of people
! &hanging nature of the work force, and the work itself
What do people want from their jobs?
JOB DESIGN
Job design is the function of specifying the work activities of an individual or group in an
organi$ational setting.
The objective of job design is to develop jobs that meet the requirements of the organi$ation
and its technology and that satisfy the jobholders personal and individual requirements.
"perations 'anagement (age )
*ob +esign and Work 'easurement
Job Design Decisions
How Why When Where What Who
Mental and
physical
characteristics
of the
work force
Tasks to be
performed
Geographic
locale of the
organization;
location of
work areas
Time of day;
time of
occurrence in
the work flow
Organizational
rationale for
the job; object
i!es and mot
i!ation of the
worker
Method of
performance
and
moti!ation
How Why When Where What Who
Mental and
physical
characteristics
of the
work force
Tasks to be
performed
Geographic
locale of the
organization;
location of
work areas
Time of day;
time of
occurrence in
the work flow
Organizational
rationale for
the job; object
i!es and mot
i!ation of the
worker
Method of
performance
and
moti!ation
"ltimate
#ob
$tructure
"ltimate
#ob
$tructure
Task Vaie!"
Ski## Vaie!"
$eedback
Task Iden!i!"
Task A%!ono&"
Pocess
Tec'no#og"
Needs
Woke(Go%)
Needs
TRENDS IN JOB DESIGN
,uality &ontrol as part of the workers job
&ross!training of workers to perform multiskilled jobs
-mployee involvement and team approaches to designing and organi$ing work
.Informating/ ordinary workers through telecommunication networks and computers 0e1panding
the nature of their work and their ability to do it2
%se of temporary workers
3utomation of heavy manual and dangerous work
"rgani$ational commitment to providing meaningful and rewarding jobs for all employees
BE*AVIORA+ ,ONSIDERATIONS IN JOB DESIGN
+egree of 4abor 5peciali$ation 6!edged sword
*ob Enrichment 0vertically, involvement in planning#organi$ing2
7s.
*ob Enlargement 0hori$ontally, doing more or more varied tasks2
SO,IOTE,*NI,A+ SYSTEMS
3djusting the needs of the production process technology to the needs of the worker and work
group.
Work groups can handle many production problems better than management if they were
allowed to make their own decisions on scheduling, workload distribution, etc.
Variety 8 balance between too much and not enough
Feedback 8 let workers quickly know how they are doing
Task Identity 8 clearly defined, visible, meaningful
Autonomy 8 e1ercise some control over the work
"perations 'anagement (age 6
*ob +esign and Work 'easurement
WORK MET*ODS
(rimarily accomplished through charting, with method depending on the type of work
implify!
(roduction (rocess 8 eliminate or combine steps, shorten or eliminate transport distances and
delays
Worker at a 9i1ed Workplace 8 simplify method, minimi$e motions
Worker Interacting with -quipment 8 minimi$e idle time: find number or combination of
machines to balance cost of worker and machine idle time
Workers Interacting with "ther Workers 8 ma1imi$e coordination and productivity, minimi$e
interference
"perations 'anagement (age ;
*ob +esign and Work 'easurement
Workers Interacting
with "ther Workers
3 (roduction (rocess
Worker at a 9i1ed
Workplace
Worker Interacting
with -quipment
"ltimate
#ob
%esign
%ltimate
*ob
+esign
Workers Interacting
with "ther Workers
Workers Interacting
with "ther Workers
3 (roduction (rocess 3 (roduction (rocess
Worker at a 9i1ed
Workplace
Worker at a 9i1ed
Workplace
Worker Interacting
with -quipment
Worker Interacting
with -quipment
"ltimate
#ob
%esign
%ltimate
*ob
+esign
PRODU,TION PRO,ESS
+evelop flow process chart
Identify non!value!added steps, and try to eliminate
<educe time required for value!added steps
Typical symbology
"peration 0adds value2
Inspection
Transport
+elay
5torage
5pecial symbols for paper flow
"riginate a form
3dd information to a form
=andling operation
"perations 'anagement (age >
*ob +esign and Work 'easurement
WORKER AT A $I-ED WORKP+A,E
(rimarily manual work 0assembly, sorting, making entries2
5implify the method, make required motions few and easy
%tili$e the .principles of motion economy/, e.g.
! 3llow for a natural rhythm to develop
! 5imultaneous arm motions 0opposite and symmetrical2
! 3rrange workplace to assist performance
To find the best method
9ind the best worker and adopt that method as the standard
9rederick Taylor
3naly$e several workers, create a composite method that
combines the best elements of the group
9rank and 4illian ?ilbreth 0used motion pictures2
WORKERS INTERA,TING WIT* E.UIPMENT
4ook at timing of workers activity and machine operation
What is the limiting factor@
Where is the idle time@ 'inimi$e it.
WORKERS INTERA,TING WIT* OT*ER WORKERS
(lot activities of each individual on time scale, to determine key interactions and limiting factors
"perations 'anagement (age A
*ob +esign and Work 'easurement
WORK MEASUREMENT
3naly$ing jobs for the purpose of setting time standards, to
! 5chedule work and allocate capacity
! 'otivate and measure work performance
! -valuate performance
! (rovide benchmarks
5topwatch Time 5tudies
!Break down work into definable, measurable elements
!Time elements: average collected time: combine elements to produce standard
!(erformance rating 0set standard at .)CCD skill and effort/2
!3dd in allowances 0(9+ 8 personal, fatigue, delay2
-lemental 5tandard Time +ata
+ata in tables from previous studies 0already leveled2: often specific to company
or industry
Break down job: get table value: adjust for special circumstances:
sum elemental times: add (9+
(redetermined 'otion!Time +ata 5ystems 0e.g., 'T'2
5tart with basic motions 0reach, open hand, grasp2 rather than specific job elements
3pply data in tables to each motion 0already leveled2
3llows focus on methods, rather than the time required
&an set standards before job is being done
+erivative systems that are easier to use also e1ist 0e.g., '"5T2
Work 5ampling
%se inference to make statements about work activity based on a random sample
of the activity
Typical applications
! <atio delay 0working vs. idle time2
! (erformance measurement 0time vs. outputs2
! Time standards 0standard task times2
5ample si$e based on required accuracy
<equires observer to know what task the worker is doing at the observation time
Work of a long cycle time may be studied with fewer observer hours
"perations 'anagement (age E
*ob +esign and Work 'easurement
TIME STUDY $ORMU+AS
5tart with the observed performance time 0elemental time2 per unit
"ormal time #"T$ F "bserved performance time per unit 1 (erformance rating
"r, if the worker is observed for a period of time
"T F Time worked 1 (erformance rating
0Gumber of units produced2
tandard Time #T$ F Gormal time H 03llowances 1 Gormal time2
F Gormal time 0)H 3llowances2
"r, to apply allowances to the total work period
5T F Gormal time
) ! 3llowances
TIME STUDY E-AMP+E ,A+,U+ATION
Iou want to determine the standard time for a job.
The employee selected for the time study has produced 6C units of product in an J hour day.
Iour observations made the employee nervous and you estimate that the employee worked
about )C percent faster than what is a normal pace for the job.
3llowances for the job represent 6A percent of the normal time.
What are the normal and standard times for this job@
Gormal Time F Time worked 1 0(erformance rating2
Gumber of units produced
F 0>JC minutes#6C2 1 0).)C2
F 6> 1 ).)C F 6E.> minutes
"ote that since the worker was rated at % &''() the
"ormal time is greater than obser*ed
5tandard Time F Gormal Time 0)H3llowances2
F 6E.> minutes 1 ).6A F ;; minutes
3lternative calculation for 5tandard Time F 6E.> # 0)!.6A2
F ;A.6 minutes
"perations 'anagement (age K
*ob +esign and Work 'easurement
$INAN,IA+ IN,ENTIVE P+ANS
Basic compensation systems include
! 5alary
! =ourly
! (iece <ate 0based on direct daily output2
! &ommission 0sales!based piece rate2
Individual or ?roup Incentive (lans
Typically use output 0often piece rates2 and quality measures 0e.g., rework2
5ome include individual skill development as well
"rgani$ationwide (lans
(rofit 5haring 8 distributing percentage of company profits to workers
?ainsharing 8 measures controllable costs of units of output, rewards improvement
vs. established base 0and usually involves participative management2
/ON T*E SOAPBO-0
-veryone runs into work standards at some level in their professional career. There is no
escapeLso be ready.
Improved measurement leads to better performance and control. (eople tend to adjust their
performance based on what they are being measured against.
5tandards can be used as carrots or sticks. &arrots work better.
(robably the most important question is what the standard will be used for. 'ake sure the effort
put into developing the standard is commensurate with its importance.
There is continual debate over the benefits of financial incentive systems. &onventional thinking
favors group incentives over individual incentives. Be sure to consider, though, what you really
want to reward, and what happens if someone is not pulling his#her weight.
For impro*ing operations) there is no substitute for watching the people at work+
"perations 'anagement (age J
*ob +esign and Work 'easurement