ABC Healthcare Company: Job Study and Job Design

The case study, in part:
The ABC Healthcare Company (or "ABC Healthcare") was formed one year ago as a result of a merger between two health care companies: The Arthritis Company, Inc., and the Famous Healthcare Company. Over the past year, because ABC Healthcare top management team has been primarily preoccupied with organizational restructuring (e.g., merging executive management, accounting, and information systems) and acquiring efficiencies (while maintaining organizational effectiveness), little attention has been paid to the specifics of job design. Now that most of the operational challenges have been resolved, top management recognizes the need to turn its attention to formalizing - and to refining - job design across the company (the CFO has been complaining that the company's payroll expense - as compared to companies of similar size - is inordinately high).

As an independent consultant who specializes in the completion of job studies, job analysis, and the impact of job structure on overall organizational performance (in large companies), you were recently hired by the Chief Operating Officer (COO) to assist ABC's new HRM Director to complete an effective job study before the company writes up formal job descriptions and job specifications. How would you approach this process?

The solution process is over 500 words and provides guidance on what to do before, during and after a job study.