Workforce Design Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Workforce Design - Literature review Example Downsizing lay-offs have very devastating effects not only on the employees but also on the economic, political and social condition of the country. In this economic climate workforce redesigning with special emphasis on organizational values is one way to handle this situation in company’s benefit. Latest trends and approaches identifies HR as a strategic partner of the business. Workforce/job design is considered the building block for the smooth running of the human resource processes. There are many approaches regarding workforce/ job design are available all of them provides vehement support that a work design chosen appropriately keeping in view organizational needs and values do contribute positively for organizational success. There is no one best approach towards the workforce design. Organizations need to create and find the best fit between its environment, competitive strategy and philosophy with its organizational structure and design. The changing world of work, which is marked by increased competition, information and communication technology, workforce dynamics, has enforced many changes in organizational structure. In the wake of new economy and emergence of knowledge workers and the challenges of economic and financial crunch, intense competition, changing employment legislation, social and demographic trends organizations these days are battling to stay alive by doing more with less employees. (De Ceiri) There are many approaches surrounding workforce design and organizational structure we will focus our research on few approaches such as Competency Analysis, knowledge management, changes in organizational structure/workflow etc. Workforce/Job design Approaches There are many approaches for workforce/job design but as already discussed there is no one best approach. Organizations have to seek the best fit between organizational demands and environmental demands for any effective job design. Let’s dig deep into what are these dem ands and how job design is actually practiced. One of the organizational demands is that job design approach adopted should be derived from the organizational strategy which determines the duties, breath of task and responsibilities. Formalization of jobs and breadth and depth of task is determined by the company characteristics. Culture of the company and the society needs to be taken into account before deciding the managerial choices for job design tactics and employee’s acceptance of these job design decisions. Organizations also demand that employee’s concern should also be fulfilled regarding need for flexible work arrangements and perceptions of fairness in job duties. Environmental demands also cannot be ignored while deciding for the job design. Many environmental forces have their strong impact on job design such as influence of labor force which determines skill availability to perform task and demographics of workforce such as aging labor, influence of tech nology such as virtual teams and telecommunicating, influence of globalization such as workforce diversity, cross culture issues, influence of ethical and social responsibilities such as concerns for physical condition of job design and type of tasks, the influence of economic conditions such as growing economy or downturn economy. (David) Workforce planning, job analysis and job design play an important role in Human Resource management and the interaction between them is the key to success. The recent global financial crisis that was least predictable has led to certain downturn in the economy. Volatility in oil prices is also affecting the businesses. Recent trends and developments such as these has emphasized the role of business plan that not only anticipates but also helps in coping with such situations. For HR it means