Nigel S., Chambers S., Johnson R. Operations Management
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Designing the human interface – ergonomic workplace design
Ergonomics is concerned primarily with the physiological aspects of job design. Physiology is
about the way the body functions. It involves two aspects: first, how a person interfaces with
his or her immediate working area, second, how people react to environmental conditions.
We will examine the second aspect of ergonomics later in this chapter. Ergonomics is some-
times referred to as human factors engineering or just ‘human factors’. Both aspects are
linked by two common ideas:
● There must be a fit between people and the jobs they do. To achieve this fit there are
only two alternatives. Either the job can be made to fit the people who are doing it, or,
alternatively, the people can be made (or perhaps less radically, recruited) to fit the job.
Ergonomics addresses the former alternative.
● It is important to take a ‘scientific’ approach to job design, for example collecting data to
indicate how people react under different job design conditions and trying to find the
best set of conditions for comfort and performance.
Anthropometric aspects
Many ergonomic improvements are primarily concerned with what are called the anthropo-
metric aspects of jobs – that is, the aspects related to people’s size, shape and other physical
abilities. The design of an assembly task, for example, should be governed partly by the size
and strength of the operators who do the job. The data which ergonomists use when doing this
is called anthropometric data. Because we all vary in our size and capabilities, ergonomists
are particularly interested in our range of capabilities, which is why anthropometric data is
usually expressed in percentile terms. Figure 9.6 illustrates this idea. This shows the idea of size
(in this case height) variation. Only 5 per cent of the population are smaller than the person
on the extreme left (5th percentile), whereas 95 per cent of the population are smaller than
the person on the extreme right (95th percentile). When this principle is applied to other
dimensions of the body, for example arm length, it can be used to design work areas. Figure 9.6
also shows the normal and maximum work areas derived from anthropometric data. It
would be inadvisable, for example, to place frequently used components or tools outside the
maximum work area derived from the 5th percentile dimensions of human reach.
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Ergonomics
Human factors
Anthropometric data
● being in ‘spirit and essence a cunningly devised speeding up and sweating system’;
● intensifying the ‘modern tendency towards specialization of the work and the task’;
● condemning ‘the worker to a monotonous routine’;
● putting ‘into the hands of employers an immense mass of information and methods that
may be used unscrupulously to the detriment of workers’;
● tending to ‘transfer to the management all the traditional knowledge, the judgement
and skills of workers’;
● greatly intensifying ‘unnecessary managerial dictation and discipline’;
● tending to ‘emphasize quantity of product at the expense of quality’.
Two themes evident in this early criticism do warrant closer attention. The first is that
scientific management inevitably results in standardization of highly divided jobs and
thus reinforces the negative effects of excessive division of labour previously mentioned.
Second, scientific management formalizes the separation of the judgemental, planning
and skilled tasks, which are done by ‘management’, from the routine, standardized and
low-skill tasks, which are left for ‘operators’. Such a separation, at the very least, deprives
the majority of staff of an opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way to their jobs (and,
incidentally, deprives the organization of their contribution). Both of these themes in the
criticisms of scientific management lead to the same point: that the jobs designed under
strict scientific management principles lead to low motivation among staff, frustration at
the lack of control over their work, and alienation from the job.
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Designing for job commitment – behavioural approaches to
job design
Jobs which are designed purely on division of labour, scientific management or even purely
ergonomic principles can alienate the people performing them. Job design should also take
into account the desire of individuals to fulfil their needs for self-esteem and personal develop-
ment. This is where motivation theory and its contribution to the behavioural approach to
job design is important. This achieves two important objectives of job design. First, it provides
jobs which have an intrinsically higher quality of working life – an ethically desirable end in
itself. Second, because of the higher levels of motivation it engenders, it is instrumental in
achieving better performance for the operation, in terms of both the quality and the quantity
of output.
9
This approach to job design involves two conceptual steps: first, exploring how the
various characteristics of the job affect people’s motivation; second, exploring how individuals’
motivation towards the job affects their performance at that job.
Typical of the models which underlie this approach to job design is that by Hackman
and Oldham shown in Figure 9.7.
9
Here a number of ‘techniques’ of job design are recom-
mended in order to affect particular core ‘characteristics’ of the job. These core characteristics
of the job are held to influence various positive ‘mental states’ towards the job. In turn, these
are assumed to give certain performance outcomes. In Figure 9.7 some of the ‘techniques’
(which Hackman and Oldham originally called ‘implementing concepts’) need a little further
explanation:
● Combining tasks means increasing the number of activities allocated to individuals.
● Forming natural work units means putting together activities which make a coherent
whole.
● Establishing client relationships means that staff make contact with their internal customers
directly.
● Vertical loading means including ‘indirect’ activities (such as maintenance).
● Opening feedback channels means that internal customers feed back perceptions directly.
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245
Figure 9.6 The use of anthropometric data in job design
Behavioural approach
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Hackman and Oldham also indicate how these techniques of job design shape the core
characteristics of the resulting job, and further, how the core characteristics influence people’s
‘mental states’. Mental states are the attitudes of individuals towards their jobs, specifically,
how meaningful they find the job, how much responsibility and control they feel they have
over the way the job is done, and how much they understand about the results of their efforts.
All of these mental states influence people’s performance at their job in terms of their
motivation, quality of work, satisfaction with their work, turnover and absenteeism.
Job rotation
If increasing the number of related tasks in the job is constrained in some way, for example
by the technology of the process, one approach may be to encourage job rotation. This means
moving individuals periodically between different sets of tasks to provide some variety in
their activities. When successful, job rotation can increase skill flexibility and make a small
contribution to reducing monotony. However, it is not viewed as universally beneficial either
by management (because it can disrupt the smooth flow of work) or by the people perform-
ing the jobs (because it can interfere with their rhythm of work).
Job enlargement
The most obvious method of achieving at least some of the objectives of behavioural job
design is by allocating a larger number of tasks to individuals. If these extra tasks are broadly
of the same type as those in the original job, the change is called job enlargement. This may
not involve more demanding or fulfilling tasks, but it may provide a more complete and there-
fore slightly more meaningful job. If nothing else, people performing an enlarged job will
not repeat themselves as often, which could make the job marginally less monotonous. So,
for example, suppose that the manufacture of a product has traditionally been split up on an
assembly-line basis into 10 equal and sequential jobs. If that job is then redesigned so as to
form two parallel assembly lines of five people, the output from the system as a whole would
be maintained but each operator would have twice the number of tasks to perform. This is job
enlargement. Operators repeat themselves less frequently and presumably the variety of tasks
is greater, although no further responsibility or autonomy is necessarily given to each operator.
Job enrichment
Job enrichment, not only means increasing the number of tasks, but also allocating extra
tasks which involve more decision making, greater autonomy and greater control over the job.
For example, the extra tasks could include maintenance, planning and control, or monitoring
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Figure 9.7 A typical ‘behavioural’ job design model
Job rotation
Job enlargement
Job enrichment
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quality levels. The effect is both to reduce repetition in the job and to increase autonomy
and personal development. So, in the assembly-line example, each operator, as well as being
allocated a job which is twice as long as that previously performed could also be allocated
responsibility for carrying out routine maintenance and such tasks as record-keeping and
managing the supply of materials. Figure 9.8 illustrates the difference between what are called
‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ changes. Broadly, horizontal changes are those which extend the
variety of similar tasks assigned to a particular job. Vertical job changes are those which add
responsibilities, decision making or autonomy to the job. Job enlargement implies movement
only in the horizontal scale, whereas job enrichment certainly implies movement on the
vertical scale and perhaps on both scales.
Empowerment
Empowerment is an extension of the autonomy job characteristic prominent in the beha-
vioural approach to job design. However, it is usually taken to mean more than autonomy.
Whereas autonomy means giving staff the ability to change how they do their jobs, empower-
ment means giving staff the authority to make changes to the job itself, as well as how it is
performed. This can be designed into jobs to different degrees.
10
At a minimum, staff could be
Empowerment
Chapter 9 People, jobs and organization
247
Figure 9.8 Job enlargement and job enrichment
In what was thought to be the first contract of its type
in the UK, McDonald’s the quick-service restaurant
chain, announced in 2005 that it was to allow family
members to cover each other’s jobs. Under the deal
members of the same family working in the same outlet
would be able to work each other’s shifts without giving
any prior notice or getting a manager’s permission.
The company said that it hoped the contracts would,
‘encourage people to become fully trained and fully
rotatable’. But that the main aim was to, ‘cut absenteeism
and improve staff retention’. ‘It’s great’, said one
McDonald’s employee, ‘Depending on how we feel
in a morning, we decide which one of us wants to
Short case
McDonald’s lets families
shar
e job
go in and work.’ Although the scheme is currently limited
to family members only, McDonald’s said that they might
consider extending it to cover friends who work at the
same restaurant.
Source: Corbis/Reuters
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asked to contribute their suggestions for how the operation might be improved. Going further,
staff could be empowered to redesign their jobs. Further still, staff could be included in the
strategic direction and performance of the whole organization. The benefits of empowerment are
generally seen as providing fast responses to customer needs (including dissatisfied customers),
employees who feel better about their jobs and who will interact with customers with more
enthusiasm, promoting ‘word-of-mouth’ advertising and customer retention. However, there
are costs associated with empowerment, including higher selection and training costs, per-
ceived inequity of service and the possibility of poor decisions being made by employees.
Team-working
A development in job design which is closely
linked to the empowerment concept is that
of team-based work organization (sometimes
called self-managed work teams). This is where
staff, often with overlapping skills, collectively
perform a defined task and have a high degree
of discretion over how they actually perform
the task. The team would typically control such
things as task allocation between members,
scheduling work, quality measurement and
improvement, and sometimes the hiring of staff.
To some extent most work has always been a
group-based activity. The concept of teamwork,
however, is more prescriptive and assumes a
shared set of objectives and responsibilities.
Groups are described as teams when the virtues
of working together are being emphasized, such as the ability to make use of the various skills
within the team. Teams may also be used to compensate for other organizational changes
such as the move towards flatter organizational structures. When organizations have fewer
managerial levels, each manager will have a wider span of activities to control. Teams which
are capable of autonomous decision-making have a clear advantage in these circumstances.
The benefits of teamwork can be summarized as:
● improving productivity through enhanced motivation and flexibility;
● improving quality and encouraging innovation;
● increasing satisfaction by allowing individuals to contribute more effectively;
● making it easier to implement technological changes in the workplace because teams are
willing to share the challenges this brings.
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Teamwork is not only difficult to implement successfully, but it can also place undue stress
on the individuals who form the teams. Some teams are formed because more radical
solutions, such as total reorganization, are being avoided. Teams cannot compensate
for badly designed organizational processes; nor can they substitute for management’s
responsibility to define how decisions should be made. Often teams are asked to make
decisions but are given insufficient responsibility to carry them out. In other cases, teams
may provide results, but at a price. The Swedish car maker Volvo introduced self-governing
teams in the 1970s and 1980s which improved motivation and morale but eventually proved
prohibitively expensive. Perhaps most seriously, teamwork is criticized for substituting
one sort of pressure for another. Although teams may be autonomous, this does not mean
they are stress-free. Top-down managerial control is often replaced by excessive peer
pressure which is in some ways more insidious.
Critical commentary
Team-based work
organization
Source: Getty Images
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Flexible working
The nature of most jobs has changed significantly over the last 25 years. New technologies,
more dynamic marketplaces, more demanding customers and a changed understanding
of how individuals can contribute to competitive success have all had their impact. Also
changing is our understanding of how home life, work and social life need to be balanced.
Alternative forms of organization and alternative attitudes to work are being sought which
allow, and encourage, a degree of flexibility in working practice which matches the need for
flexibility in the marketplace. From an operations management perspective, three aspects of
flexible working are significant: skills flexibility, time flexibility and location flexibility.
Skills flexibility. A flexible workforce that can move across several different jobs, could be
deployed (or deploy themselves) in whatever activity is in demand at the time. In the short
term staff at a supermarket may be moved from warehouse activities to shelf replenishment
in the store to the checkout, depending on what is needed at the time. In the longer-term
sense, multi-skilling means being able to migrate individuals from one skill set to another as
longer-term demand trends become obvious. So, for example, an engineer who at one time
maintained complex equipment by visiting the sites where such equipment was installed
may now perform most of his or her activities by using remote computer diagnostics and
‘helpline’ assistance. The implication of job flexibility is that a greater emphasis must be
placed on training, learning and knowledge management. Defining what knowledge and
experience are required to perform particular tasks and translating these into training activ-
ities are clearly prerequisites for effective multi-skilling.
Time flexibility. Not every individual wants to work full-time. Many people, often because of
family responsibilities, only want to work for part of their time, sometimes only during
specific parts of the day or week (because of childcare responsibilities, etc.). Likewise,
employers may not require the same number of staff at all times. They may, for example,
need extra staff only at periods of heavy demand. Bringing both the supply of staff and the
demand for their work together is the objective of ‘flexible time’ or flexi-time working sys-
tems. These may define a core working time for each individual member of staff and allow
other times to be accumulated flexibly. Other schemes include annual hours schemes, one
solution to the capacity management issue described in Chapter 11.
Location flexibility. The sectoral balance of employment has changed. The service sector in
most developed economies now accounts for between 70 and 80 per cent of all employment.
Even within the manufacturing sector, the proportion of people with indirect jobs (those not
directly engaged in making products) has also increased significantly. One result of all this is
that the number of jobs which are not ‘location-specific’ has increased. Location-specific
means that a job must take place in one fixed location. So a shop worker must work in a shop
and an assembly line worker must work on the assembly line. But many jobs could be per-
formed at any location where there are communication links to the rest of the organization.
The realization of this has given rise to what is known as teleworking, which is also known
as ‘using alternative workplaces’ (AW), ‘flexible working’, ‘home working’, ‘mobile working’
and ‘creating the virtual office’.
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249
There is always a big difference between what is technically possible and what is organ-
izationally feasible. Mobile working does have its problems. In particular, those types that
deny individuals the chance to meet with colleagues often face difficulties. Problems can
include the following:
● Lack of socialization – offices are social places where people can adopt the culture of
an organization as well as learn from each other. It is naïve to think that all knowledge
can be codified and learnt formally at a distance.
Critical commentary
➔
Multi-skilling
Flexi-time working
Annual hours
Teleworking
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● Effectiveness of communication – a large part of the essential communication we
have with our colleagues is unplanned and face-to-face. It happens on ‘chance meet’
occasions, yet it is important in spreading contextual information as well as establish-
ing specific pieces of information necessary to the job.
● Problem-solving – it is still often more efficient and effective informally to ask a colleague
for help in resolving problems than formally to frame a request using communications
technology.
● It is lonely – isolation amongst mobile or home workers is a real problem. For many of
us, the workplace provides the main focus for social interaction. A computer screen is
no substitute.
Not too long ago in many organizations, employees were
expected to work fixed hours. There was a fixed start time;
miss it and you were late, and subject to some form of
penalty. There was a fixed finish time; why would anyone
want to work later than this ‘for free’. And although there
are some places where the vestiges of this attitude
remain, many enterprises now understand the benefits of
taking a more flexible attitude. Amongst the first large
organizations to take flexible working seriously in Europe
was Lloyds TSB Group, one of the UK’s biggest banking
groups, employing over 66,000 people worldwide and
serving more than 16 million customers. The Group was
prompted to take up flexible working because it was
sensitive to the social and economic changes that were
affecting, not only its customers, but its staff as well.
People’s lives were becoming more complex. There
seemed to be clear benefits of adapting work patterns
so they reflected its staff’s needs and constraints and
yet still offered the best quality and quantity of service
to its customers. Recruiting and keeping talented and
committed people, wanting to build a career in the
Group, meant understanding and implementing the right
balance between staff’s individual needs, the business’s
requirement to control the costs of delivering service,
and the customers’ expectation of excellent service.
So, to further its interest in flexible working, the Group
researched its employees’ views. The results showed
that one of their main issues was trying to balance a
demanding job with outside commitments, such as family
and leisure. In response the Group introduced its flexible
working policy. Called ‘Work Options’, it allowed staff to
reconfigure their working activities by requesting a different
working pattern from the conventional working day. This
can be done in several ways. Sometimes it may simply
involve starting and finishing earlier or later each day, while
maintaining the same weekly hours. This could allow for
other commitments such as childcare activities, or simply
cater for working preferences. Also it could benefit the
business. Customer demand does not necessarily follow
Short case
Flexible working at Lloyds TSB
11
a traditional working day. Varying staff work patterns
could mean staffing is more closely aligned with actual
customer demand. The business may also be able to
extend staff without paying overtime premiums.
Job sharing is also used, where two members of staff
share one job role. It suits the two staff, who may not
want full-time employment, and the business can have
two people’s combined experience, skills and creativity.
Job-sharing staff can also be more productive than
full-time colleagues. As one Customer Service Manager
at Lloyds TSB says, ‘We have job-shared for nine years
now. We cover a full working week between us with
handover meetings every Tuesday morning. We talk
about any issues that have arisen. We are very different
characters and react in completely different ways to
problems. However, we find our skills complement each
other well. The bank benefits because it wouldn’t get this
from just one person.’ Another form of flexible working
is ‘compressed working’, which allows staff to work a
standard one or two weeks within a shorter timescale, for
example by working more days a week, then taking extra
time off to compensate. For example: ‘I have worked a
Source: Rex Features
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Designing the working environment – ergonomics
One aspect of ergonomics is concerned with
how a person interfaces with the physical aspects
of his or her immediate working area, such as
its dimensions; we examined this earlier. Here
we look at how people interface with their
working environment. By this we mean the
temperature, lighting, noise environment, and
so on. The immediate environment in which
jobs take place will influence the way they are
performed. Working conditions which are too
hot or too cold, insufficiently illuminated or
glaringly bright, excessively noisy or irritatingly
silent, will all influence the way jobs are carried
out. Many of these issues are often covered by occupational health and safety legislation
which controls environmental conditions in workplaces throughout the world. A thorough
understanding of this aspect of ergonomics is necessary to work within the guidelines of
such legislation.
Working temperature
Predicting the reactions of individuals to working temperature is not straightforward. Indi-
viduals vary in the way their performance and comfort vary with temperature. Furthermore,
most of us judging ‘temperature’ will also be influenced by other factors such as humidity
and air movement. Nevertheless, some general points regarding working temperatures pro-
vide guidance to job designers:
12
● Comfortable temperature range will depend on the type of work being carried out, lighter
work requiring higher temperatures than heavier work.
● The effectiveness of people at performing vigilance tasks reduces at temperatures above
about 29 °C; the equivalent temperature for people performing light manual tasks is a
little lower.
● The chances of accidents occurring increase at temperatures which are above or below the
comfortable range for the work involved.
Illumination levels
The intensity of lighting required to perform any job satisfactorily will depend on the nature
of the job. Some jobs which involve extremely delicate and precise movement, surgery for
example, require very high levels of illumination. Other, less delicate jobs do not require
such high levels. Table 9.3 shows the recommended illumination levels (measured in lux) for
a range of activities.
Chapter 9 People, jobs and organization
251
compressed week for five years. This means I can pursue
the two hobbies I love, scuba diving and genealogy.
I feel motivated, enthused and energized about my role in
Lloyds TSB. I take my non-working day when it suits both
me and the branch. My manager knows I will get the job
done. It has transformed my work and my non-work life!’
Working from home may also be an option. A Process
Designer in Group Operations says: ‘I have two children
and my husband is self-employed. I work from home
five days a week. I have been able to continue my career
with the bank and deliver 100% commitment.’
To some extent, the introduction of flexible working
has been motivated by demographic and social
changes. There are also increasing regulatory and legal
requirements promoting working flexibility in some parts
of the world. However, Lloyds TSB believes its ability to
deal effectively with the need for flexibility makes good
business sense. It helps to bolster its reputation as an
employer of choice, and allows it to deliver differentiated
levels of service; customers can deal with a skilled,
friendly and enthusiastic member of staff, and the best
staff are more likely to stay.
Occupational health
and safety
Source: Getty Images
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Noise levels
The damaging effects of excessive noise levels are perhaps easier to understand than some
other environmental factors. Noise-induced hearing loss is a well-documented consequence
of working environments where noise is not kept below safe limits. The noise levels of various
activities are shown in Table 9.4. When reading this list, bear in mind that the recommended
(and often legal) maximum noise level to which people can be subjected over the working day
is 90 decibels (dB) in the UK (although in some parts of the world the legal level is lower than
this). Also bear in mind that the decibel unit of noise is based on a logarithmic scale, which
means that noise intensity doubles about every 3 dB. In addition to the damaging effects of
high levels of noise, intermittent and high-frequency noise can also affect work performance
at far lower levels, especially on tasks requiring attention and judgement.
3
Ergonomics in the office
As the number of people working in offices (or office-like workplaces) has increased, ergonomic
principles have been applied increasingly to this type of work. At the same time, legislation
has been moving to cover office technology such as computer screens and keyboards. For
example, European Union directives on working with display screen equipment require
organizations to assess all workstations to reduce the risks inherent in their use, plan work
times for breaks and changes in activity and provide information and training for users.
Figure 9.9 illustrates some of the ergonomic factors which should be taken into account
when designing office jobs.
Allocate work times
Without some estimate of how long it takes to complete an activity, it would not be
possible to know how much work to allocate to teams or individuals, to know when a task
will be completed, to know how much it costs, to know if work is progressing according
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252
Table 9.3 Examples of recommended lighting levels for various activities
2
Activity Illuminance (lx)
Normal activities in the home, general lighting 50
Furnace rooms in glass factory 150
General office work 500
Motor vehicle assembly 500
Proofreading 750
Colour matching in paint factory 1,000
Electronic assembly 1,000
Close inspection of knitwear 1,500
Engineering testing inspection using small instruments 3,000
Watchmaking and fine jewellery manufacture 3,000
Surgery, local lighting 10,000–50,000
Table 9.4 Noise levels for various activities
Noise Decibels (dB)
Quiet speech 40
Light traffic at 25 metres 50
Large busy office 60
Busy street, heavy traffic 70
Pneumatic drill at 20 metres 80
Textile factory 90
Circular saw – close work 100
Riveting machine – close work 110
Jet aircraft taking off at 100 metres 120
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to schedule, and many other vital pieces of information that are needed to manage any
operation. Without some estimate of work times, operations managers are ‘flying blind’. At
the same time it does not need much thought before it becomes clear that measuring work
times must be difficult to do with any degree of accuracy or confidence. The time you take
to do any task will depend on how skilled you are at the task, how much experience you
have, how energetic or motivated you are, whether you have the appropriate tools, what the
environmental conditions are, how tired you are, and so on. So, at best, any ‘measurement’
of how long a task will, or should, take, will be an estimate. It will be our ‘best guess’ of how
much time to allow for the task. That is why we call this process of estimating work times
‘work time allocation’. We are allocating a time for completing a task because we need to
do so for many important operations management decisions. For example, work times are
needed for:
● Planning how much work a process can perform (its capacity).
● Deciding how many staff are needed to complete tasks.
● Scheduling individual tasks to specific people.
● Balancing work allocation in processes (see Chapter 7).
● Costing the labour content of a product or service.
● Estimating the efficiency or productivity of staff and/or processes.
● Calculating bonus payments (less important than it was at one time).
Notwithstanding the weak theoretical basis of work measurement, understanding the
relationship between work and time is clearly an important part of job design. The advantage
of structured and systematic work measurement is that it gives a common currency for the
evaluation and comparison of all types of work. So, if work time allocation is important,
how should it be done? In fact, there is a long-standing body of knowledge and experience
in this area. This is generally referred to as ‘work measurement’, although as we have said,
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253
Figure 9.9 Ergonomics in the office environment
Work measurement
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