Human Resource Management: I

Prof. Kalyan Chakravarti

Department of Basic Courses
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Lecture No. # 2
Analysing and Designing Job: I
See one of the responsibilities for the HR department is analysing what are the various
jobs which are there in the company and also designing the jobs, if it is a new company
you are setting up you have to design the job, if it is a old company which is already
operating then you may have to redesign the jobs. Because constantly every company is
in a state of flux nothing is static; the products are changing, customers are changing,
market is changing right, people are changing, new kind of skills, technology is
changing. So, within the change the jobs cannot remain the same, they also keep up, they
have to change. So, which department is primarily involved in that and that is the HRM
department.
Of course, in real life it is not only the HRM who does it. This is a cross functional team,
when you redesign jobs; you of course have to involve people who are actually doing the
job, is it not? So, HRM often has a coordinating role. But usually when new plans are set
up then the HRM would have the primary role of setting of the jobs, and they have to be
the driver of this, they have to consult operating people, but they have to do themselves.

(Refer Slide Time: 02:30)

So, let us see concept, definition and meaning. What is the job? What is the concept? A
collection of tasks is regarded as a regular assignment to individual employees, and
which is different from other assignments between one job and the other job. A group of
positions or modules of work, done by division of the total work, example, you are
dividing the whole work of the office let us say into peon, clerical, supervisory,
technician, accountant, manager, etcetera. So, division of work, why, to make for better
efficiency in operations. Everyone doing everything may not be all efficient and will not
be in fact, usually as efficient as if there is a large volume of repetitive work; you divide
it, and make specific people do specific type of jobs; any questions?

(Refer Slide Time: 03:40)

Job analysis: The process of collecting information about a job. It finds out the anatomy
of the job; everyone knows what is anatomy?
(( ))
Yes, you know what is anatomy? Anatomy of the job, what does it mean anatomy?
Internal
Internal, external, likely anatomy is a term often used in medical, science, and there is a
subject in first year of MBBS; anatomy - famous Greys anatomy, doctor Grey, he wrote
this book many, many, many, many years ago and it has become a classic, Greys
anatomy, anatomy shows various parts of the human body both internal as well as
external. So, that is what it means here. It finds out the anatomy of the job, various parts
of the job, hidden as well as overt. It finds out the contents of an existing job, example,
what are the duties of a clerk, group-1, what are the minimal skills, knowledge and
abilities require to do the job, minimal skills, after that they can be trained to do higher
level jobs.
So, analysis by very nature you know its disection; you take a whole, you cut it into parts
then you put it in a under a microscope analyze. What is the opposite of analysis?
Synthesis.

Correct, synthesis, you have various parts, (( )) puzzles (( )), your ability to from this part
to assemble a whole, look at a whole pattern or a picture, from what seemingly are
unrelated events or episodes, that ability. So, this analytical ability as well as
synthesizing ability both these are important for managers. And if you have both of
these, if you have the skills of analyzing and synthesizing also, then you have the skill of
conceptualization also. If things are not there in front of you, you will be able to picture
them in your mind conceptualize.
Definition: Job analysis is the process of getting information about the jobs. Specially,
what the worker does; how he or she gets it done; why he or she does it; skill, education
and training is required, relationship which is required, relationship to other jobs,
physical demands, environmental conditions. Well as you can see from the definition,
this is applicable and referring to jobs on the factory shop floor essentially or jobs which
you may term as lower level jobs not higher level alright, which may be large volume
and repetitive.
Early on after the industrial revolution, when scientific management school came into
being; what they did was? Basically the scientific approach to analyzing the jobs alright
and then going about ways to find the best methods of doing each part of the job; all with
the idea of increasing the efficiency right. You have heard of Taylor Frederick - FW
Taylor all of you have heard about him; he belong to the scientific school of management
and they believed that; that you split the job into all the elements of the total job. Then
you try to do each of these elements separately in large volumes, repetitively, you get
high productivity, and then finally you assemble. And this was applied where very
successfully? Where did they apply this principle very successfully?
Time motion.
Time motion, but where? Auto mobile manufacture, auto mobile assembly line is a
dramatic example of how efficiencies can be increased to make a car by one or more
person, but from start to finish, if it took let us say 30 days, the assembly line splitting
the work, assigning only one or two components of the work to the individual; you could
probably have 100 cars in 1 day; look at the dramatic order of change that is brought
about.

(Refer Slide Time: 08:50)

So, they use this method of analysis right to very great advantage, but they found out
after some time. That there is a limitation; there is a limitation to how far you can
increase the productivity by doing it by analytical and scientific methods, and up to a
point after that no more. Why, why, why no more; why not it goes on and on and on and
on; people get tired alright.
(Refer Slide Time: 09:23)

Say this is efficiency or productivity, and this is let us say scientific methods, say
automation or mechanization. So, it went up dramatically and after sometime it saturated,

and then it started (( )). So, very good; what happened here; what happened; people got
tired; why did not they get tired here - in this zone.
Repetitive work.
Repetitive work, so they got bored; bored is it? Fatigued; what kind of Fatigued?
Physical or mental - mental fatigued. So, what what was what are the process that was
happening? You have here a human being who was being de-humanized, he is becoming
a robot, and therefore rebels; because he is not a robot he is a human being; rebels, how
does he rebel; by setting his own strength at. No more; set own standards; not what
management sets. And any ever work man who tries to go beyond, what is the standard
set by the work mans themselves; he will be punished, where? Outside the gate, so this is
what happened. So, therefore new school of thought came in; out of which? This whole
concept of HR and not PM, if we discussed in the last topic.
(Refer Slide Time: 12:00)

Anyway major outcome of job analysis was job description and job specification. And
what is job description? This is prepared based on the data collected through job
analysis. It is a narration alright of the contents of a job. It is a description of the
activities and duties performed in a job, the relationship of the job with other jobs, the
equipment and tools required, the nature of the supervision their working conditions and
the hazards of a job.

(Refer Slide Time: 13:40)

So, as anyone of you seen a job description sheet; job description sheet no one has seen.
No one has got any experience here in any organization; you have, what do you think is
job description sheet? You have to manufacture let us say a component alright, if job
description sheet will tell you all those things which are relevant.
(No audio from 13:43 to 13:54)
Usually, it will give you a drawing, let us say this is a component alright, and they will
tell you the dimensions alright, they will tell you the tolerance; it will give you the
materials, description quantity; it will give you the machine to be used; it will give you
the tool to be used; it will give you the interconnecting component with which it will met
alright interconnecting component. It will also give you the time for batch; so many
minutes or seconds per batch and the batch may be 100 numbers say. What is this? When
a job comes to you and the quantity to be manufactured; why did they give you this,
because today you have first shift you are working, second shift another work will come,
third shift another may come, this is a back, these components may be in a production
run for 4 days or 5 days, because quite a few thousands of them are necessary are
required, so if standardizing.
So, what is the process which you are trying to do here, job description, standardizing
essentially; any questions? Any changes which happen here alright, in any of these will
be interrelated on the other say, the materials specification changes alright. You have

been making out of a let us say this component using making out of mild steel sheet of
20 gaze, and now you do value engineering and say the design department certified, even
if you reduce the gaze to 22 gaze, make it thinner, you can still have the same strength
and same functionality, but you can save the cost.
So, moment they change the material specification alright. You may find the tool which
you have been using has to change; you may find that the number of the amount of
material if you have to issue, changes, the time that is taken changes. So, all these
interrelated things, you will have to be reviving this sheet. So, standardization is the
reason why you have this.
(Refer Slide Time: 17:12)

Job description and job specification: So, purpose of job description is grading and
classification of the job, placement and orientation of new employees, promotion for
career path, developing work standards, counseling of employees and delimitation of
authority. After all in factories you have jobs which are skilled right, job which are semi
skilled, job we do not require skill, we call them unskilled sometimes. Nowadays modern
term we do not call them unskilled, because you say if unskilled why have a man at all.
So, we call it grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, some other names, but the different grading is
there.
Then placement and orientation of new employees: New employees at from have got
certain experience, they have got some qualification. So, they have to be fitted into an

appropriate job. So, if you know the job description you can match it with the
qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills, and place. Promotion and transfers how does it come in job description, how is it relevant to promotion and transfers, tell
me.
(Audio not clear, Refer Time: 18:39)
Yes, so, but I am saying for purpose of job, purposes of job description. How job
description connecting these promotions and transfers that is the question.
I do not know.
No.
For fitting the person for a suitable job.
Fitting the person for a suitable job, yes, if you have a job description and you have
people who have got, all these qualifications alright, which are more than for this job.
May be you can consider him to be promoted, you have a semi skilled work man alright;
say he is a assembler - semi skilled assembler and you have a skilled assembler, and in
the union agreement you have got this job description written quite clearly; he is a semi
skilled assembler, it said he shall recognize the necessary components, he shall have the
ability to place them properly in the fixture, he shall have the knowledge of selecting the
correct fastener, you know screw alright and doing the assembly operations under
supervision, then you go to the next, next says all these. In addition to doing what a semi
skilled assembler does, he shall have the ability or he shall work independently from
drawings under supervision.
Then you go to the next highly skilled assembler and you say in addition to what is for
the skilled assembler, he shall be able to guide other assemblers in doing out complicated
assemblies and also to be able to trouble shoot and correct wrong assemblies done in the
shop floor. You see the difference? So, depending on the job description, the promo
ability is coming in. So, someone who semi skilled and say look I can do from drawings
I have got the skill, you promote me now to the skilled workman, because in the skilled
workman it says shall work from drawings, semi skilled not from drawings under

supervision only. Then the word independent those who can guide others, these are
highly skilled. So, those who have it will be promoted. So, that is the relationship.
Any other
Counseling of employee.
Counseling of employee, tell me, someone tell me how job description alright come into
counseling of employees; we just said if you want a semi skilled assembler alright to
learn something to be told how to do it right, you already built it to the job description of
the highly skilled that he shall guide others correct mistakes. So, we need not ask an
engineer to come and tell, we can always give this job to the highly skilled, and say look
you gone counsel them; why he is doing wrong, analyze it, because that is part of your
job description. So, you need not send the very highly qualified B. E or B. Tech or M.
Tech to teach it to the semi skilled assembler. So, it has a roll job description has an
applicability in counseling of employee also; any other questions?
Last one - delimitation of authority, who will answer this to me? Tell me, delimitation
you are limiting some of authority, some workmans authority, tell me. Yes, you have
not spoken, tell me, you are limiting authority; in other words say you are a semi skilled
workman, I am limiting your authority, how, by job description, what authority, to guide
other workmen. Say I come I am taking a round, I am production manager on the shop
floor and I find you a semi skilled assembler is in the work station offer skilled
assembler then I ask you what are you doing; no sir, he had a problem so I was telling
him. I said who are you to tell, I have limited your authority; you are not suppose to tell;
he suppose to tell you why you left your work place; clear? I am limiting it the authority
by describing the job.
Now, for higher level do we have this detailed job description, usually no. Say a general
manager we not have a job description, but very large organization may have that also. It
will be more broad based. Say there general manager shall be over all in charge of all
activities and functions of his department or factory, broad. He shall be he shall for see
possible problems that may arise in relation to his factory and take proactive steps to see
that these problems do not arise or if they do, they are solved initially without much
damage (( )). So, some broad line you can or deputy general manager and general
manger you can delimit delimit also, is it not or limit by job description. But usually it is

not done, because it is so broad based, it is difficult to pin point and write down all those
things which you should not do, very difficult, as you go higher up the hierarchical
ladder. But for lower it is very, very important to write it down.
And particularly when we have the unionized factory, because the pay, the perquisites or
the remuneration packages are connected very much to the job description and job
classification, and all the dispute that arise are usually based on this job description and
job classification. There are so many nuances there. Often there will be a dispute, sir he
can do this job, management says I know he can do this job, but he is not doing it. So,
who is to blame, you are not giving him the job, management says I cannot give it to
him, because I do not have the orders which are so much of this type of job that I can
give it to him, I already got employees who know that. So, I sympathize with him, but I
cannot promote him. So, all these sort of issues come. So, job description is very
important for lower level particularly, when you have unionized jobs; any other
questions?
(Refer Slide Time: 26:12)

So, this is giving your like I was trying to tell you for a shop floor. A job description of a
component: He has the broader one. A statement containing items such as job title
alright, the last one which I showed you was a job meaning a work piece on the shop
floor. This is the job meaning the work to be done by an employee; that is the difference.
Location, job summary, location means where you are sitting which office, is it Delhi

based, Bombay based, is there a two factories, is it sitting in the Powai factory or Borvali
factory. Job summary, duties, machine, tool, equipment, material and form, supervision
given or received, working conditions and hazards.
(Refer Slide Time: 27:16)

And then as we said the job analysis give rise to two things right; one was job description
and the other was job specification. So, what does specification state? Statement of
human qualifications, one was job related, this is the person who will do the job
specification, necessary to do a job. Usually contains such items as education,
experience, training, judgment, initiative, physical effort, right physical skill,
responsibilities communication skills, unusually; unusual sensory demands such as sight,
smell, hearing. Any question here, unusual sensory demands, what does that mean? That
means certain jobs like you are in the navy let us say alright. In the navy many of the or
why go so far, say you are a driver, you are driving a vehicle alright, if you are color
blind alright, you may not be given the driving license, because you cannot distinguish
between red light and green light, you drive through.
So, if job description of a driver; so, you have the company we have got 50 buses writing
job description. Then unusual sensory demands such as sight, you have to say the driver
shall undergo test to be certified that he is not color blind; that is a specification - job
specification; any other questions?

(Refer Slide Time: 29:00)

So, the job specification therefore, does not really focus on the job, but on the person
doing the job. It states the minimum qualification skills, physical and other abilities,
experience, judgment and other attributes require to do the job well. And the purpose of
job specification is for personal planning, hiring, performance appraisal, training and
development, job evaluation and compensation, health and safety, employee discipline,
works scheduling and career planning. Think about it, all this is easy to understand or
you have some questions to ask.
What about the hiring?
Hiring, so you say for instance you have seen these advertisements; the advertisements
you have to write down a job specification. First you start by telling all these, we are a
ISO 9000 and one company alright; engage in manufacture of highly sophisticated
switch gear and motor control gear with factory is in 5 locations in India; we are a
industry leader in our industry. Then second para, after giving the Powai of the company
what do they say? We have vacancies open for experienced mechanical engineers alright,
qualification required, post graduate from preferably IITs with specialization in thermal,
type of jobs, then it says previous experience; previous experience not necessary if from
IIT, other institution 1 to 2 years preferred and so on.
It is giving the person, what is his age, what is qualification, what is his experience, what
types of experience, sometimes this advertisement say that 10 years experience out of

which at least 3 years should be ahead of a section or department. That means even the
managerial and administrative experience which you have apart from job. So, this is for
hiring, this is very important. In fact, you may get it in the test a question, write down the
job specification for hiring general manager of this, this, this ,this company. So, you have
to then write it down, design it down and write it down; any other questions?
What is work scheduling?
Work scheduling alright, scheduling of work that means there are certain time periods in
which you have to do the work, is it not. So, purpose of job specification we will have to
say that he shall be required alright, he or she shall be required let us say it is it is a job
offer company doctor, he shall be required to spend time equally in both our Powai
factory and in our Borivali factory. And he shall be called upon when required to visit to
make home visits to companys senior officers.
So, it gives you an idea of the job specification in terms of the work with that company
doctor has to do schedule. If some doctor does not want to go home visits any time
during the night and all you, will not apply for this job or he is he has his own clinic in
the evenings which is near Powai, he may not be interested in going to Borivali. So, for
work scheduling this is necessary, any other alright.
(Refer Slide Time: 33:23)

So, we have seen job analysis alright and from the job analysis we saw two out comes;
what was the first one - job description, second one - job specification. Now, you see job
evaluation. It is a comparative process of establishing the value of different jobs in a
hierarchical order. Again you say is evaluation; evaluation means good, bad. So, there is
judgment, and value; value of different jobs in a hierarchical order, for instance, if I ask
you that in the factory alright you evaluate the job of personal manager, training
manager, production manager and sells manager. Do you understand? It is not a easy
thing to do, because you have to see the value which each of this position is adding to the
overall benefit of the company, each is important job, but you have to provide, because
in order for company to fix remuneration packages and so on, they need to know it.
There are many companies where they do not have at the board level; it is just after the
M. D, next level of the company. They do not have let us say a vice president alright of
personnel or a vise president legal, they have lower down, they have general manager,
but not vise president. What is implicit in that? That they evaluated the job and for that
company the legal of the personal function alright in terms of and therefore the person
who heads that function, is not as important for that company as the marketing or the
production.
It allows one to compare job by using common criteria to define relationship of one job
to the other job. It serves as the basis for grading different jobs and developing a suitable
pay structure for them. However, it cannot be the only factor to determine pay structure.
It is important to know why it is only, because also the pay structure is not only by the
job, but also by the person, is it not. If a person is highly qualified and at the moment the
job he is doing is of lesser evaluation, but in order to retain that person. So that in future
he can be used on higher post and higher jobs, they may pay him more. So, that is why it
says not only factor. It is important to know the job evaluation is ranking the job and not
ranking the job holder; that is the exactly the reason that is I just mention sometimes the
holder may be over qualified. But for the various reasons he has been asked that
temporarily you do this job till we get something better for you. So, this concept
understands, job evaluation is ranking the job and not ranking the job holder.

(Refer Slide Time: 37:09)

So, some definitions; job evaluation is an attempt to determine and compare the demands
which the normal performance of a particular job makes on normal workers, without
taking into account the individual abilities or performance of workers concerned. Hence
the example I give you little while ago of a worker saying sir why you are not promoting
me, because I have got the ability I can do the skilled job. What does this say? Without
taking into account the individual abilities, to determine and compare the demands with a
normal performance of a particular job. So, if you think, now you are doing a job as
described of a semi skilled worker. We acknowledge that you can do the job of a skilled
worker, but that job is not there. When the vacancy comes, we will give you that job and
then we can give you a promotion. This point is clear, very important point, it is not what
you can do is important for the employer, what you are doing that is more important.
So, if you are in a company where you feel that you are under employed in terms of your
qualification and experience, you are doing a lower job and they cannot give you a
higher job in a hurry, it is better for you to leave that company, take a job commensurate
with your level and by the same token remember, during the hiring policies or many
companies have hiring policies where they do not take over qualified people. If they says
that we want people who are graduates B.Tech and you go with M.Tech they would not
take you, because you are over qualified and why do not they take you by the way, is it
something foolish they are doing, because you are saying look I can not only do what

B.Tech is doing, I can do much more than him, for the same pay I will do it, but they say
sorry we would not take you. Why?
(Audio not clear from 39:20 to 39:23)
Why, why latter on, why, you are right, but why?
May not be
May not be, you start you are having a chip on your shoulder and dissatisfaction will be
there from day one. All these are B. Tech they are getting say some are getting more
also, because they joined few years earlier. I am M. Tech and I am not getting. So, your
attitude will be bad; in the long run both will suffer, your job will suffer that means the
employer suffer, and you will suffer, because you will become negative in a in an
attitude, it will harm you in your career. So, they say we never take people who are over
qualified and there is lot of sense in that.
Job evaluation is an effort to determine the relative value of every job in a plant to
determine what that fair basic wage for such a job would be. It is not a very easy
exercise, because there are so many jobs, you know which is difficult to determine which
is more important and which has more relative value. Say a bus driver in a factory and a
forklift driver which which do you see has more value or are they same. Yes, let us do a
little mental situation.
(Audio not clear refer time: 40:52)
I am giving you a I am giving you exact, I am saying your, let us say in Larsen and
Turbo and they have got drivers there, and they also got forklift operator. So, which
should be, when you do evaluation you are doing job evaluation which adds more value,
the job not the person; how would you go about it. One way is to look at it from the
others who can do more harm to the company. That is one way we are looking at it.
Therefore, if if there the job when I say who I mean which, there is a job where the risks
are such, that the harm to the company which may happen are more, example, you kill
the chief minister in a road accident while you are driving on the road. What happens?
Company is in great problem, driver goes out in the road. Does the forklift go out into
the road? No, he drives within the premises in a controlled environment where the speed

limits are given; he is unlikely that he will kill anyone in an accident, but if he does kind
of damage that will inflict on the company will be of lesser order.
So, there is one way of looking at it. Therefore, which has have drop value, drop content,
may be the driver who is driving your bus all over Bombay then the forklift operator and
so on. What are the other? Other there may be other factors on which you will do the job
evaluation. Is it not? Another factor maybe the skill which would be required, because of
the condition in a factory condition alright, he may be working in yards where you have
to have maneuver ability, he may be staking material with the forklift. So, he has to have
some skill, otherwise there will be accidents. So, this will be one of the things taken.
May be in his case you know there are no mechanics who are dedicated to repair the
forklift. So, in a forklift operator he may require some skills of maintenance or repair in
which case that adds value to that job; is it not? So, there are ways of you evaluated
right.
You are having another class.
You are having another class. So, we will make an We will end here and we will end
by saying that differences amongst these three items; job analysis, job description, job
specification - 4 item and job evaluation.
(Refer Slide Time: 43:43)

So, job analysis is a process of examining the various components of a job and the
circumstances in which it is performed. Whereas, job description is a description of the
duties, scope and responsibilities associated with the job for the person; no, of the job.
(Refer Slide Time: 44:38)

Job specification on the other hand is the minimum acceptable qualification that the job
incumbents must possess to perform the job. So, this is relating to the person and job
evaluation is again relating to the job not the person. A technique used to establish the
relative worth of jobs in a job hierarchy. Any more questions, no. So, we can end to this
class.
Thank you very much.