chapter 6 motivation and job design it’s about person-job fit

Chapter 6

Motivation and Job Design

It’s about person-job fit

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 6-2

Chapter 6 Study Questions

• What are the alternative job design approaches?

• What are the keys to designing motivating jobs?

• How are technology and job design related?

• What alternative work arrangements are used today?


Figure 6.1


What are the alternative job design approaches?

• Job design – process through which managers plan and

specify job tasks and the work arrangements that allow them to be accomplished



• Scientific management– Sought to improve work efficiency by creating

small, repetitive tasks and training workers to do these tasks well



• Job simplification– Standardizes work procedures and employs

people in clearly defined and highly specialized tasks

– Intent is to increase efficiency, but it may be decreased due to the motivational impact of unappealing jobs



• Job enlargement– Increases task variety by combining into one

job two or more tasks that were previously assigned to separate workers

• Job rotation– Increases task variety by periodically shifting

workers among jobs involving different tasks



• Job enrichment– The practice of enhancing job content by

building motivating factors such as responsibility, achievement, recognition, and personal growth into the job


What are the alternative job design approaches?• Ways to increase job depth

– Allow workers to plan– Allow workers to control– Maximize job freedom– Increase task difficulty– Help workers become task experts– Provide performance feedback– Increase performance accountability– Provide complete units of work



• Concerns about job enrichment– Job enrichment can be very costly– Controversy concerning whether pay must be

increased when jobs are enriched


Figure 6.2


What are the keys to designing motivating jobs?

• Job characteristics model – provides a data-based approach to creating job

designs with good person-job fit that maximize the potential for motivation and performance



• Core job characteristics– Skill variety

• Degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities and involves the use of a number of different skills and talents of the individual

– Task identity• Degree to which the job requires the completion of a

“whole” and identifiable piece of work; one that involves doing a job from beginning to end with a visible outcome



• Core job characteristics (cont.)– Task significance

• Degree to which the job is important and involves a meaningful contribution to the organization or society in general

– Autonomy• Degree to which the job gives the employee

substantial freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures used in carrying it out



• Core job characteristics (cont.)– Job feedback

• Degree to which carrying out the work activities provides direct and clear information to the employee regarding how well the job has been done



• Motivating potential score– MPS indicates the degree to which the job is

capable of motivating people.– A job’s MPS can be raised by enriching the

core characteristics.



• Critical psychological states– When the core characteristics are highly

enriched, three critical psychological states are positively influenced

• Experienced meaningfulness of work• Experienced responsibility for work outcomes• Knowledge of actual results of work activities



• Enriched core job characteristics will create positive psychological states, which in turn will create positive work outcomes only when:– Employee growth-need strength is high.– The employee has the requisite knowledge and

skill.– Employee context satisfaction exists.



• Social information processing theory– Social information in organizations influences

the way people perceive their jobs and respond to them



• Managerial and global implications of enriching jobs– Not everyone’s job should be enriched– Job enrichment can apply to groups– Culture has a substantial impact on job

enrichment


How are technologyand job design related?

• Sociotechnical systems– Reflects the importance of integrating people

and technology to create high-performance work systems



• Automation – using a machine to do work previously

accomplished by a human



• Flexible manufacturing systems– Adaptive computer-based technologies and

integrated job designs that are used to shift work easily and quickly among alternative products.



• Process reengineering– the analysis, streamlining, and reconfiguration

of actions and tasks required to reach a work goal



Typical activities of process value analysis

1. Identify the core processes

2. Map the core processes in respect to workflows

3. Evaluate all tasks for the core processes

4. Search for ways to eliminate unnecessary tasks

5. Search for ways to eliminate delays, errors, and misunderstandings

6. Search for efficiencies in how work is shared and transferred among people and departments


What alternative work arrangements are used today?

• Compressed work weeks– Any scheduling of work that allows a full-time

job to be completed in fewer than the standard five days

– “4/40” is most common form



• Compressed work weeks – Advantages

• For workers: added time off• For organizations: lower absenteeism and improved

recruiting of new employees

– Disadvantages• For workers: increased fatigue and family

adjustment problems• For organizations: work scheduling problems,

customer complaints, and possible union opposition



• Flexible working hours– Gives individuals a daily choice in the timing of

their work commitments– Advantages:

• For workers: shorter commuting time, more leisure time, more job satisfaction, and greater sense of responsibility

• For organizations: less absenteeism, tardiness, and turnover; more commitment; and higher performance



• Job sharing– One full-time job is assigned to two or more

persons who divide the work according to agreed-upon hours

– Advantages.• For workers: less burnout and higher energy level• For organizations; attracting talented people who

who would otherwise be unable to work



• Telecommuting– Work done at home or in a remote location via

use of computers and advanced communication linkages with a central office or other employment locations

– Variants of telecommuting• Flexiplace• Hoteling• Virtual office


What alternative work arrangements are used today?• Advantages of telecommuting

– For workers: flexibility, comforts of home, and choice of work locations consistent with one’s lifestyle

– For organizations: costs savings, efficiency, and improved employee satisfaction

• Disadvantages of telecommuting– For workers: isolation from co-workers,

decreased identification with work team, and technical difficulties with computer linkages



• Part-time work– Temporary part-time work

• An employee is classified as temporary and works less than the standard 40-hour work week

– Permanent part-time work• An employee is classified as a permanent member

of the workforce and works less than the standard 40-hour work week



• Advantages of part-time work– For workers: appeals to people who want to

supplement other jobs or do not want full-time work

– For organizations: lower labor costs, ability to better accommodate peaks and valleys of business cycle, and better management of retention quality



• Disadvantages of part-time work– For workers: added stress and potentially

diminished performance if holding two jobs, failure to qualify for benefits, and lower pay rates than full-time counterparts

chapter 6 motivation and job design it’s about person-job fit

Documents

job slide

job tasks

job enrichment job enrichment

job designs

job content

job simplification

job depth

job enlargement