Employee motivation through the Job Design


 

Job design has never been more relevant. Jobs are changing faster than ever, and new jobs are invented every day. In this article, we will explain the basics of job design and how it can lead to jobs that add value to the organization while being motivating and fun for the employee. We also offer a proven and science-based framework that helps in designing better jobs. (aihr.2023)

 

What is the job design theory?

Job Design is a psychological theory of motivation that is defined as the systematic and purposeful allocation of tasks to groups and individuals within an organization. The five core characteristics of job design are skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and job.

 

What are the benefits of the job designs?

The proper job design takes place the following are the results of benefits in HRM perspective.

§  higher productivity and quality of work,

§  leading to higher job satisfaction,

§  lower absence and lower employee turnover intentions. (Hierology,2021)

 

What are the characteristics to help to design a truly motivational job

 

Skill variety – Range of abilities needed to perform the job. Employees want to engage in various skills throughout their employment.

Task identity - Motivated employees will be more likely to complete tasks if they identify with them and have seen them through from start to finish.

Task significance - employees feel that their work is significant to their organization, they are motivated to do well, and this will lead to increased employee productivity.

Autonomy – The level of freedom and ability to schedule tasks. Employees like to be able to make decisions and have flexibility in their roles. (Hierology,2021)

Feedback - The information that workers receive about the effectiveness of their work.

(Hierology,2021)

 

Four job design strategies

There are four main aspects of job design: job rotation, job enlargement, job enrichment, and job simplification.



Job rotation -  Is a practice of moving employees between jobs in an organization. This increases the skill variety, helps employees orientate in potential new roles, and learn through different experiences, creating a multi skills employee. This will be benefited by both employee and employer.

Job enlargement - Job enlargement involves adding additional activities within the same hierarchical level to an existing role. The work requires similar skills, but the work’s content differs.

Job enrichment - job enrichment is characterized by adding motivational dimensions. This means that job enlargement could be a form of job enrichment. creating a natural work unit, which is aimed at grouping interrelated tasks together to increase task identity.

 

Job simplification - process of removing tasks from existing roles to make them more focused. Without overload task and responsibilities, assign specific job pay much more focus for better outcome.

 

Conclusion

Employee motivation is a significant factor in gaining better results for an organization. In order to achieve the organizational short term and long the objectives the job design plays a major role. Managing human capital and assigning responsibilities and tasks in every position is the responsibility of the HRM. Creating jobs that are both motivating for employees and add value to the organization. If the job has to contribute to the organizational goals and objective. If it is not the job has to be made redundant and removed.

Job design is creating a strong vision and a culture that connects and retains employees and selects people who succeed in positions. Well-designed jobs create a fun and rewarding process both employee and employer. (aihr.2023)

  

Reference

Hierology,2021 [online] available at https://hireology.com/blog/design-a-job-that-motivates-employees, accessed on (10.4.2023)

(aihr.2023) [online] available at https://www.aihr.com/blog/job-design accessed on (10.4.2023)


Comments

  1. Charith Mudalige12 April 2023 at 21:04

    Job design can be a powerful tool for enhancing employee motivation. Here are some ways in which job design can be used to motivate employees

    ReplyDelete
  2. Charith Mudalige12 April 2023 at 21:07

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nelusha Kariyawasam16 April 2023 at 12:17

    I think job design and employee motivation have a positive significant association, on the other hand, of job designing process is of high importance for achieving overall business objectives.
    Here Job design can be identified as the process of developing roles and responsibilities, and the system and process employees need to be followed. Here the main focus of job design is the optimization of the work process in order to create value and enhance the business performance.
    When discussing the importance of job design towards employee motivation, well-structured job design leads to positive behaviors and develops the foundation for high performance and success. Here with current competitive employment conditions, creativity, job autonomy, offer the flexible work policies are highly significant for employee motivation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hashmath Huzair19 April 2023 at 11:10

    Hi Chamara! This is a great article on employee motivation through job design. It's crucial to recognize the benefits of proper job design, such as higher productivity, job satisfaction, and lower turnover intentions. The characteristics of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback are key in designing motivational jobs. The four job design strategies of job rotation, job enlargement, job enrichment, and job simplification are also highlighted, with each offering unique benefits. A very concise yet informative article!

    ReplyDelete
  5. K.P.AMILA SUDARSHANA PERERA19 April 2023 at 19:23

    in this article, Author tried to highlight A well-designed job design will help increasing employee involvement and satisfaction and motivates them to perform well by giving their best to their work. It helps employees to become highly productive and increases their loyalty towards the organization as well.(Yadav,2017,https://www.linkedin.com/).Designing an effective job design helps bringing the involvement of an employee in his work-related activities which helps in forecasting the employee output, departmental productivity and company’s success (Bates, 2004; Harter, 2002; Baumruk, 2004). Further author clearly explained the job design theory, characteristics, and strategies through this article

    Job design fulfills the two main purposes: “to satisfy organizations expectations for productivity, quality products and increasing the operational efficiency” and “to satisfy the needs of the employees for challenges, acknowledgment, interest” (Armstrong, 2003, p. 494). Also, a well-designed job makes a strong link between the job characteristics and maintain the work-life balance of the employees (Lingard et al. 2010). Job design proves to be an effective tool which helps to enhance the job satisfaction of employees, motivate them and hence increase their performance and productivity. According to Chen & Lu (2012), a well-designed job can have a positive impact on the employees, increasing their morale and performance, while at the same time it also affects the employee’s psychological needs and their feedback-seeking behaviour.

    A further author should have considered including in this article that the job design presents challenges like work overload, under load, limited control over work, isolation, shift work, delays in filling vacant positions, and long working hours. (CCOHS,2023,https://www.ccohs.ca/)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gayan Chathuranga20 April 2023 at 04:49

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gayan Chathuranga20 April 2023 at 04:53

    organizational behaviors
    Blogger Gayan Chathuranga said.
    great article, as you mentioned employee motivation programs, also frequently referred to as worksite motivation programs or employee well-being programs, it's commonly refers to a collection of initiatives within an organization to promote healthy lifestyles among employees.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kavindi Cooray21 April 2023 at 23:46

    Employee motivation is essential for an organization in order to achieve the organizational goals. In this article you have discussed how we can motivate employees through job designing. In current context employer has to design the jobs to improve the quality of the work and the higher productivity while satisfying the employees. This will lead to less employee absenteeism & low employee turn over.

    ReplyDelete

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