Assignment 2: Case Study - Jobs that Literally Make People Sick

Assignment 2: Case Study—Jobs that Literally Make People Sick

Writing Assignment

 Read the case under HR Oops! (in Chapter 4 of your textbook). Use the Argosy University online library for additional research, and do the following in a Word document:

 In 1–2 paragraphs, summarize the case and your research that relates to the case.

 In 2–3 pages, answer the following:

What would be the consequences to an employer of having highly demanding jobs with low security, unfair pay, and little control? Explain and justify your answer.

How could fish-processing plants like the one described here improve jobs so they can fill vacant positions profitably? Explain and justify your answer.

Based on your research, explain at least three HR trends and practices that might help the organization analyze work, design jobs, and job flow. Explain and justify your answer.

Apply the current APA guidelines to your work and use at least three resources in your response.

Outline:

1. Summarize case and research that relates to the case in 1-2 paragraphs

2. What would be the consequences to an employer of having highly demanding jobs with low security, unfair pay, and little control? Explain and justify your answer.

3. How could fish-processing plants like the one described here improve jobs so they can fill vacant positions profitably? Explain and justify your answer.

4. Based on your research, explain at least three HR trends and practices that might help the organization analyze work, design jobs, and job flow. Explain and justify your answer.

Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M2_A2.doc. For example, if your name is John Smith, your document will be named SmithJ_M2_A2. doc. By the due date assigned, deliver your assignment to the Submissions Area.

HR Oops!  

Workers Often Lack Resources to Do Their Jobs

Work flow analysis spells out the human and other resources needed for carrying out well-defined tasks that will meet objectives. Success requires the right people with access to resources including equipment and information. However, research suggests that some of these inputs may be missing at many organizations. In a survey of more than 500 U.S. workers in different industries, AtTask, a maker of project management software, found that large numbers of workers are struggling to meet objectives on time-if they even know what their objectives are. According to AtTask, 60% of the workers said they are completely overwhelmed or barely meeting deadlines. Responses to other questions in the survey point to some possible causes. One-third of the workers said they are unable to turn in assignments on time because some resources they need are not available. Even more about 50%) say their organizations do not have enough people to get all the necessary tasks finished unless people work overtime. More than a third of them say they are only somewhat, a little, or not clear about desired outputs-how their work is measured or how their supervisor defines success.

Questions

1. What consequences might an organization expect to result from the conditions described by the AtTask survey?

2. How might an organization use work flow analysis to prevent some of these problems?

 Sources: AtTask, “2013 AtTask State of Work Survey: Executive Summary," http://www.attask.com, accessed May 6, 2014; Dennis McCafferty, "Projects Suffer from Lack of Staffing, Resources,"CIO Insight, December 19, 2013, http://www.cioinsight.com; AtTask, "AtTask Survey: Workers Overwhelmed by Deadlines Blame Lack of Focus and Constant Interruptions," news release, November 14, 2013, http://www.attask.com.

Work design often emphasizes the analysis and design of jobs, as described in the remainder of this chapter. Although all of these approaches can succeed, each focuses on one isolated job at a time. These approaches do not necessarily consider how that single job fits into the overall work flow or structure of the organization. To use these techniques effectively, human resource personnel should also understand their organization as a whole. For example, Procter & Gamble traditionally gives each product division a great deal of control over its activities. Thus, research and development for a product line was the responsibility of the division controlling that line. But when consumers responded to difficult economic times by spending less on P&G's brand-name consumer goods, each division tightened its research budget to the point that the company overall was not spending enough to develop new ideas. The company's top leaders decided to restructure work by making