Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

Work Design and Job

Analysis:
An overview for Managers
July 2009

Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

Introduction
Workforce planning is, in the broadest sense, the activity
required to map the human resources required to achieve an
organisations strategy.
Work design deals with the way work is organised and
managed including structures and grouping of functions.
Job analysis is the process of describing what work needs to
be done and includes specific responsibilities and working
relationships.
The manager is responsible for designing structure and jobs
but it is also advisable that staff also are involved in designing
jobs.

Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

Why undertake work design activity?

Organisational change delivers many opportunities to look
carefully at how work is structured in the context of:

How the work contributes to the achievement of the

University objectives and plans

Work process improvement activity

The opportunities emerging from new technologies

CSU sustainability agenda

Current and future resourcing/budgets

Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

What does it achieve?

Well designed work aims to strike a balance between:
Functional effectiveness
ie: does the work design increase productivity and enhance
efficiency.
Human values
ie: does the work design maintain or enhance job satisfaction
and health and safety.
In this way work is viewed more of a group function based on
what works for overall performance, rather than a series of
static individual jobs and task descriptions.

Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

When are jobs analysed?

When vacancies occur this provides an opportunity to learn
from the outgoing person about what was good and bad about
the job and what could be changed.
When creating a new position - this provides an opportunity to
review the changing needs of the workplace
When introducing workplace change such as technology or
new processes that will impact on the way work is currently
done.
When designing a new structure to deliver services.

Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

Well designed jobs provide

Task Identity

Whole and identifiable pieces of work

with clear objectives and a visible
outcome

Task significance

Work fits the purpose of the

organisation

Skill variety

Requires a range of skills and talents;

provides challenge

Autonomy

Substantial discretion and decision

making (within set boundaries)

Feedback

Work provides direct and clear

information about effectiveness and
performance

Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

10 Principles of well designed

jobs.
1. All jobs have clearly defined activities,
responsibilities and accountabilities which
contribute to the overall objectives of the
organisation
Issues to be considered:
What functions/activities are to be undertaken? Why are
they needed?
How do these contribute to the overall objectives of the
organisation?
How do the activities relate to the workforce plan?
Is the job being designed around existing staff rather than
the organisations needs?

Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

Well designed jobs.

2 Are located correctly within the organisation
Issues to be considered:
Relationship mapping what interactions are required
between organisational units, across functions and between
roles?
Do roles overlap? Is there role clarity?
How can the grouping of tasks provide a cost-efficient
process?
Are there specialised or rare skills that are best grouped
together?

Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

Well designed jobs.

3

Allow for a degree of discretion and decision making

by the employee

Issues to be considered:
Are the responsibilities, accountabilities and delegations
allocated optimally?
Is it possible for tasks to provide a coherent whole as well as
variety for the individual employee?
Where do decisions get made? Is work checked
unnecessarily? (Ideally, the duties of a job should be
identified before the supervisory / managerial structure is
developed)
Is the job responsible for managing or doing if both, is this
feasible?

Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

Well designed jobs.

4

Do not include unnecessarily complex tasks or tasks

that do not contribute to the achievement of the
organisations objectives

Issues to be considered:
Why is the task being done?
Can some workflows be eliminated, simplified or streamlined?

Make the best use of the available technology

Issues to be considered:
Are there efficiencies and/or job satisfaction that could be gained
through technological solutions?

Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

Well designed jobs.

7

Have workload that can be successfully completed

within working hours.

Are physically and socially integrated with other

jobs and staff.

Are free of discriminatory or stereotypical

assumptions.

10 Are physically safe.

Division of Human Resources

CSU will be recognised for the outstanding achievements of its people

Human Resources can work with

managers to:
Design work and jobs which suit the purpose of the
workplace.
Consider a range of different ways of working
Identify any organisational restraints that may need to be
addressed to move forward
Advise on the range of activities associated with workplace
change including:
staff consultation
change management plans
writing statements of duties
identifying appropriate classifications
recruitment, translation of staff into new structures etc.