I have experienced many different types of job design, aimed at developing and maintaining accurate job descriptions, with efficiency paramount. As explained in Lecture 2: Job Design, of the Week 4 Learning Materials, the goal of the efficiency approach to job design focuses on finding the simplest way to structure work; this is done to maximize efficiency [1]. This type of approach to developing/maintaining a job description was seen when I worked at Jamba Juice, in High School. The company/higher-ups at Jamba were clear with their expectations relating to efficiency in the job they were offering. They wanted all smoothies to be out within 3 minutes of the order being set to the back of the line. This meant that the assembly line structure became a large component of work – – – assemblies lines are a straightforward example of an efficient approach to job design [1]. Jamba Juice knew that in order to succeed in the market they are in, there must be explicitly stated expectations for employees, with tasks remaining very similar in specific roles. If you were a team member, you did team member tasks; if you were a trainer/supervisor, you had additional tasks on top of team member tasks. It was very easy to understand how the job descriptions played out during shifts and how more responsibility could be found in promotions.
For my engineering internship, it was a different experience. I believe the managers/supervisors for these internships faced a challenge that a lot of superiors face when it comes to job descriptions/roles. They had to find a balance between flexibility and specificity. If they had me focus too much on smaller details, with a greater level of instruction, I would have a hard time learning on my own, potentially stifling creativity. Alternatively, if there was no clarity on what my tasks were to be in my role, the vagueness could lead to confusion or lack of purpose. In my experience, competencies helped to fix this dilemma. This looked like having me focus on specific skills or abilities, rather than specific tasks. Writing RFIs, taking over the submittal process, and creating PCOs all were skills that would be useful in the future – – – each of these skills contained many tasks within them, so I was developing more than just single-task competency.
[1] “Week 4 – Learning Materials,” Oregonstate.edu, 2025. https://canvas.oregonstate.edu/courses/1993967/pages/week-4-learning-materials?module_item_id=24974241 (accessed Jan. 30, 2025).
