BUS-2440: Human Resource

Management
Chapter 2 — Job Analysis & Job Design (Class 2)

Recap: HR as a Strategic Function

Before moving into job analysis and design, the class opened with two review questions connecting back to Chapter 1's
framing of HR's strategic role:
• HR's guiding light is the organization's overall strategy — HR decisions (staffing, compensation, training) should align
with and support the strategic direction of the business.
• A sign that HR is seen as a strategic partner is when HR is included in strategic planning discussions at the
executive/leadership level, rather than being consulted only after decisions are made.

What Is Job Design?

Job design is the systematic study of a job to discover its specifications and skill requirements — that is, which activities
make up the job, and what the incumbent requires in order to be successful in it.

Job vs. Position

• Job: a group of related activities and duties, which may be held by one or several employees.
• Position: a collection of tasks and responsibilities performed by one specific individual.

Textbook Examples
Louis and Layla both held the same job at the factory — packaging materials. When the factory restructured,
Layla's position was eliminated, but Louis' was not: same job, two separate positions.
A department with one supervisor, three animators, and 12 programmers has 16 positions, but only three
distinct jobs.
Luc was hired into a full-time position at the local museum. His job, shared with his colleagues, was to digitize
the museum archives.

★ Exam Tip
Job vs. position is a classic short-answer/definition question. Be ready to state both definitions precisely and
give your own one-line example distinguishing them — e.g., multiple cashiers (several positions) performing
the same job at a Canadian retailer.

Why Job Analysis Matters: 10 HR Activities That Rely on It

Job analysis is foundational — nearly every core HR function depends on accurate job analysis data:
• Careful study of jobs to improve employee productivity levels.
• Elimination of unnecessary job requirements that can cause discrimination in employment.
• Creation of job advertisements used to generate a pool of qualified applicants.
• Matching of job applicants to job requirements.
• Planning of future human resource requirements.
• Determination of employee onboarding and training needs.
 • Fair and equitable compensation of employees.
• Identification of realistic and challenging performance standards.
• Redesign of jobs to improve performance, morale, and quality of work life.
• Fair and accurate appraisal of employee performance.

★ Exam Tip
This list is a strong candidate for a 'why does job analysis matter to HRM' essay prompt. Notice that it touches
recruitment, selection, compensation, performance appraisal, and H&S — i.e., nearly every later chapter
connects back to job analysis. Practice linking at least 2–3 of these to the Maple Leaf Shoes case (e.g., outdated
job descriptions leading to unfair or discriminatory hiring criteria).

The Three Phases of Job Analysis

Phase 1 — Preparation for Job Analysis

• Step 1: Become familiar with the organization and its jobs.
• Step 2: Determine uses of job analysis information.
• Step 3: Identify jobs to be analyzed.

Phase 2 — Collection of Job Analysis Information

• Step 4: Determine sources of job data.
• Step 5: Identify the data required.
• Step 6: Choose the method for data collection.

Phase 3 — Use of Job Analysis Information

• Job Descriptions: a written outline of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a position.
• Job Standards: a written outline of how well the employee needs to perform the job, or what level they need to be able
to achieve.
• Competency Models: a framework or matrix that describes a group of competencies required in a job.

★ Exam Tip
Be able to name all three phases in order and give at least one step per phase from memory. This structure
(Preparation → Collection → Use) is a natural short-answer or fill-in-the-blank target.

Contents of a Job Description

• Job Identity: National Occupational Classification (NOC) code, job title, job location, internal job code.
• Job Summary: a brief summary of the job in a few sentences.
• Duties and Responsibilities: explains what the job requires.
• Working Conditions: hours of work, safety and health hazards, travel requirements, and other features of the job.

The National Occupational Classification (NOC) is the Canadian government's standard system for classifying occupations,
used via the Government of Canada's Job Bank ([Link]) to research typical duties, required skills, and median wages
for a given role.
 ★ Exam Tip
Professor Bibeau has flagged that the term 'NOC role' is not correct usage — NOC is a classification code
attached to a job identity, not a role type itself. Refer to it as 'the job's NOC code' or 'NOC classification,' not
'the NOC role.'

Key Considerations of Job Design

Effective job design balances five sets of considerations:
• Organizational Considerations
• Ergonomic Considerations
• Employee Considerations
• Job Specialization Considerations
• Environmental Considerations

Working Conditions & Ergonomics

Working conditions may go beyond the physical environment and include hours of work, safety and health hazards, travel
requirements, and other job features.
Ergonomics means fitting the job to the worker — designing workstations, work processes, equipment, and tools to fit the
employee, rather than expecting the employee to adapt to a poorly designed job.

Real Canadian Job Posting Examples

Government of Manitoba — Area Works Supervisor: must work extended hours including evenings/weekends
and statutory holidays as required; must lift or carry up to 25 kg, walk, sit, or stand for prolonged periods,
climb stairs/ladders, kneel, twist, bend, operate vehicles/equipment, and tolerate dust, pollen, irritating
vegetation, and chemicals or fumes; must respond to work calls within 30 minutes; must work in all weather
conditions, including extreme heat and cold.
Shared Health Manitoba — Human Resources Consultant: must work safely in a typical computerized office
environment with frequent meetings, and lift/carry items up to approximately 10 kg; frequent interruptions
from executives and partner organizations require managing multiple competing priorities, though dedicated
planning/concentration time can be scheduled.

★ Exam Tip
These two Manitoba job postings show the physical-labour vs. office-based ends of the ergonomic/working-
conditions spectrum. If the final asks you to identify working conditions or ergonomic considerations for a role
(including at Maple Leaf Shoes, a manufacturing environment), model your answer on the Area Works
Supervisor posting — physical demands, environmental exposure, and scheduling demands are all fair game.

Organizational Considerations
• Efficiency: achieving maximal output with minimal input; grounded in scientific management and industrial
engineering principles; stresses efficiency in effort, time, labour costs, training, and employee learning time.
• Work Flow: the sequence of, and balance between, jobs in an organization needed to produce the firm's goods or
services.
This traces back to Taylorism / Scientific Management, and its lasting impact on how work is structured today — including
the routinized, closely-timed task design still visible in some modern warehouse and production environments.

Employee Considerations
 Factor Description

Autonomy Having control over one's work and response to the

work environment.

Variety Opportunity to use different skills or perform different

activities.

Task Identity Feeling of responsibility or pride from doing an entire

piece of work.

Feedback Information that helps evaluate success or failure.

Task Significance Knowing that one's work is important.

★ Exam Tip
These five employee considerations mirror the Job Characteristics Model. Expect a question asking you to
apply one or more of these factors to a Maple Leaf Shoes scenario — e.g., proposing a job redesign that
increases autonomy or task identity for an assembly-line worker.

Response to Job Specialization

• Job Rotation: moving employees from one job to another to provide more variety and to learn new skills.
• Job Enlargement: expanding the number of related tasks in a job to increase the job cycle and draw on a wider range
of employee skills.
• Job Enrichment: adding more responsibilities and autonomy to a job, giving the worker greater power to plan, do, and
evaluate job performance.
• Employee Involvement and Work Teams: changing how work is conducted and who employees collaborate with.

★ Exam Tip
Job rotation, enlargement, and enrichment are commonly confused. The key distinction: rotation moves the
person between existing jobs (no change to the job itself); enlargement adds more of the same type of task
(horizontal); enrichment adds responsibility and autonomy (vertical, more meaningful work). If asked to fix an
overly specialized job at Maple Leaf Shoes, name the correct technique and justify why it fits — don't just list
all four generically.

Why Job Design Matters

The class illustrated the real-world stakes of job design with a CNN report on working conditions inside an Amazon
warehouse during Prime Day — a widely discussed example of highly specialized, tightly measured, low-autonomy job
design and its effects on worker well-being. This connects directly back to the Organizational (efficiency) and Employee
(autonomy, task significance) considerations covered above, and to the quality-of-work-life theme raised in class discussion.

Quick-Reference Summary
Concept Key Point

Job Design Systematic study of a job's activities and required

skills.

Job vs. Position Job = shared group of duties; Position = one

individual's specific tasks.
Concept Key Point

3 Phases of Job Analysis Preparation → Collection → Use of information.

Job Description Contents Job Identity, Job Summary, Duties & Responsibilities,
Working Conditions.

NOC Canada's National Occupational Classification, used

via Job Bank ([Link]).
5 Job Design Considerations Organizational, Ergonomic, Employee, Job
Specialization, Environmental.

Ergonomics Fitting the job to the worker (workstations, tools,

processes).

Employee Factors Autonomy, Variety, Task Identity, Feedback, Task

Significance.

Responses to Specialization Job Rotation, Job Enlargement, Job Enrichment,

Employee Involvement/Teams.