Operations & Supply Chain

Management

““Human
Human Resources
Resources
and
and Job
Job Design”
Design”
Khawaja Ayaz Ahmad
Ayaz.ahmad@lbs.uol.edu.pk
Week 10

© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 1

 Outline
• 1-Human Resource Strategy
• 2-Labor Planning
• 3-Work Schedules
• 4-Job Design
• 5-Ergonomics of Work
• 6-Methods Analysis
• 7-The Visual Workplace
• 8-Ethics and the Work Environment
• 9-Labor Standards

© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 2

 1-Human Resource Strategy

The objective of a human resource

strategy is to manage labor and
design jobs so people are effectively
and efficiently utilized

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 1.1-Constraints on Human
Resource Strategy
Product strategy Process strategy
• Skills needed • Technology
• Talents needed

e
W • Machinery and

ur
• Materials used ha

ed
equipment used
• Safety t

oc
• Safety

Pr
Schedules Individual differences
• Time of day When Who • Strength and
• Time of year HUMAN fatigue
(seasonal) RESOURCE • Information
• Stability of STRATEGY processing and
schedules response

Location strategy Layout strategy

• Climate • Fixed position
re

H
he

ow
• Temperature • Process
W

• Noise • Assembly line

• Light • Work cell
• Air quality • Product
Figure 10.1
© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 4
 2-Labor Planning
Employment Stability Policies

1. Follow demand exactly 2. Hold employment constant

 Matches direct labor
costs to production
 Incurs costs in hiring
and termination,
unemployment
insurance, and
premium wages
 Labor is treated as a
variable cost
© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc.
 Maintains trained
workforce
 Minimizes hiring,
termination, and
unemployment costs
 Employees may be
underutilized during slack
periods
 Labor is treated as a fixed
cost
10 – 5
 3-Job Design

 Specifying the tasks that constitute

a job for an individual or a group
 Specify who can do what
 Specify when they can do it
 Specify under what conditions they
can do it

© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 6

 3.1-Job Design Continuum

Self-directed
teams
Increasing
Empowerment
reliance on
employee’s
Enrichment contribution
Enlargement and
increasing
responsibility
Specialization accepted by
employee

Job expansion
Figure 10.3

© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 7

 4-Work Schedules
 Standard work schedule
 Five eight-hour days
 Flex-time
 Allows employees, within limits, to
determine their own schedules
 Flexible work week
 Fewer but longer days
 Part-time
 Fewer, possibly irregular, hours

© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 8

 4.1-Motivation and Incentive
Systems
 Bonuses - cash or stock options
 Profit-sharing - profits for distribution to
employees
 Gain sharing - rewards for improvements
 Incentive plans - typically based on
production rates
 Knowledge-based systems - reward for
knowledge or skills
© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 9
 5-Ergonomics of Work
 Ergonomics is the study of the interface
between man and machine
 Often called human factors
 Operator input to machines
 Feedback to operators
 The work environment
 Lighting
 Noise
 Temperature
© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 10
 6-Methods Analysis
 Focuses on how task is performed
 Used to analyze
1. Movement of individuals or material
 Flow diagrams and process charts
2. Activities of human and machine and
crew activity
 Activity charts
3. Body movement
 Micro-motion charts
© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 11
 6.1-Activity Chart

Figure 10.6

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 7-The Visual Workplace
 Use low-cost visual devices to share
information quickly and accurately
 Displays & graphs replace printouts
 Timely information in a
dynamic environment Line/machine
stoppage
 System should focus on
Parts/
improvement maintenance
needed
 Present the big picture
 Performance All systems go

 Housekeeping
© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 13
 7-The Visual Workplace
Quantities in bins indicate
ongoing daily requirements
and clipboards provide
information on schedule
changes

Reorder
point

Process
specifications
and operating
procedures are
posted in each
work area Part A Part B Part C
Visual kanbans reduce
© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. inventory and foster JIT10 – 14
 8-Ethics and the Work
Environment
 Fairness, equity, and ethics are
important constraints of job design
 Important issues may relate to equal
opportunity, equal pay for equal
work, and safe working conditions
 Helpful to work with government
agencies, trade unions, insurers,
and employees
© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 15
 9-Labor Standards
 Labor standards are the amount of
time required to perform a job or
part of a job
 Accurate labor standards help
determine labor requirements,
costs, and fair work

© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 16

 Reference
Operations Management (10th Edition) by Heizer and
Render, Prentice Hall, 2009

© 2008 Prentice Hall, Inc. 10 – 17