Job designers are concerned with who will do the job, what will be done, how it will be done and where it will be done. Both behavioural approach and specialisation are two systems that job designers use to design jobs effectively. Dwelling on both of them is more advantageous to the firm’s productivity than just relying on one of them. Specialisation will enable workers to focus majorly on one job. However, when behavioural approach is introduced, it will reduce constant mental or physical stress that employees endure due to performance of same jobs. Secondly, although specialisation will enable individuals to be defined by their professional jobs, behavioural approach, in aspects such as job rotation, will ensure that they become acquainted with all aspects of the organisation for future leadership roles (Groover, 2007; Zeepedia, 2014).
However, the two systems of specialisation and rotation differ in their job design. Whilst job specialisation focuses on narrowing the scope of one’s job, behavioural approach enlarges it by increasing responsibilities. Job specialisation focuses more on yielding more efficiency in industrial environments whilst behavioural approach results in individuals knowing many aspects of jobs. Both are similar in that workers must be at least knowledgeable to perform certain jobs. Currently, most employers are applying the two of them to create flexible workforces with more fulfilling, but wider scopes. For the above systems to job designs to be productive, job designers have to conduct method analysis. It will enable analysts to answer questions concerning who will do the job, what will be done, how it will be done and where it will be done in best ways. It enables organisations to choose the right man power to perform best tasks with the right technology in the right environment, which obviously improves productivity. The US Department of Labour has, in fact, made a job dictionary which equates each salary level with corresponding manpower quality, tasks, environment, and tool and equipments (Rogelberg, 2007; Zeepedia, 2014).
References
Groover, M.P. (2007).Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of
Work. New York: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Rogelberg, S.G. (2007). Encyclopaedia of Industrial and Organisational Psychology.
Thousands Oak, CA: Sage.
Zeepedia. (2014). Design of work systems. Retrieved on 6 November 2014 from
http://www.zeepedia.com/read.php?design_of_work_systems_job_design_specialization_methods_analysis_production_operations_management&b=55&c=21
