Design a job to engage employees
Job design is the process of putting together a
range of tasks, duties and responsibilities to create a composite for
individuals to undertake in their work and to regard as their own. It is
crucial: not only is it the basis of individual satisfaction and achievement at
work, it is necessary to get the job done efficiently, economically, reliably
and safely.’ (Torrington et al., 2011: 84)
Source – (Gregg,2018)
Job design involves determining the tasks and responsibilities that employees in a particular job is expected to perform. Job design is a key component of effectively managing employees because it is one of the major ways to translate company goals into the special actions that employees perform in their jobs. Job design helps employees focus on the tasks and responsibilities that optimize their potential contribution for competitive advantage.
There are various studies and research on innovation from various groups (Damanpour and Schneider, 2008) where Many Investigations have determined that employee and organization will take to finest innovation as a key factor (Mumford and Gustafson, 1988). To geared favorable innovation methods, Human resource is the key element in an organization (Van de Ven, 1986). According to Unsworth, 2003 Innovation is a procedure of engaging of Processes, new ideas, procedure and service tools.
Video 2.0 – Innovation and new ideas are critical for the good health of the organization and video 2.0 emphasize on this importance
Source – (Kwench, 2017)
According to CIPD (2017) flexible working is well-liked in work-life balance (WLB) these days. They interpret flexible working as providing better occasion employee to select the venue, Working hours and duration of their work. Work-life balance concept is a win-win factor for employee and organization hence it is a support to employees to handle and balance they're personal and work life while organization staff turnover rate also will fall down where organization can keep the productive and effective employees with them (Wasay,2013). Highly engaged employees are working with the organization where the work-life balance concept is applying for (Galinsky & Johnson,1998).
§ Stressful work life
§
Physical
and mental illnesses
§
Family and personal life conflicts
§ Furthermore, it will reduce the efficiency and productivity.
For better performance and to properly engaged
employees work-life balance should carry with utmost care.
Armstrong, M.
(2003). A Handbook of Management Techniques. 1st ed. London: Kogan
Page Limited.
BELIAS, D. and SKLIKAS, D. (2013). International
Journal of Human Resource. ASPECTS OF JOB DESIGN, 3(4), pp.85-93.
CIPD, (2017). Flexible working practices: Explores the benefit of flexible
working, the types of arrangements commonly used and practical tips on
implementing flexible working practices.
Available at https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/relations/flexible-working/factsheet (Accessed: 10th August
2019).
Damanpour, F. and Schneider, M. (2008).
Characteristics of Innovation and Innovation Adoption in Public Organizations:
Assessing the Role of Managers. Journal of Public Administration
Research and Theory, 19(3), pp.495-522.
Durai, P. (2010). Human Resource
Management. 1st ed. New Delhi: Pearson Education
Galinsky, E. and Johnson, A. (1998). Reframing the business case for
work-life initiatives. New York, N.Y.: Families and Work Institute.
Hitt, M., Miller, C. and Colella, A.
(2009). Organizational Behavior. 2nd ed. New Yourk: Wiley.
Hsieh, A. and Chao, H. (2004). A reassessment of
the relationship between job specialization, job rotation and job burnout:
example of Taiwan's high-technology industry. The International Journal
of Human Resource Management, 15(6), pp.1108-1123.
Mumford, M. and Gustafson, S. (1988). Creativity
syndrome: Integration, application, and innovation. Psychological Bulletin,
103(1), pp.27-43.
Tement, S. and Korunka, C. (2013). Does Trait
Affectivity Predict Work-to-Family Conflict and Enrichment Beyond Job
Characteristics? The Journal of Psychology, 147(2), pp.197-216.
Torrington et al., 2011: 84 https://engageforsuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Job-Design-and-Employee-Engagement-Katie-Truss-et-al-11.pdf
Unsworth, K. (2003). Engagement in Employee
Innovation: A Grounded Theory Investigation. [online] Available at:
https://eprints.qut.edu.au/3033/1/Engagement_AoM.pdf [Accessed 10 Aug. 2019].
Van de Ven, A. (1986). Central Problems in the
Management of Innovation. Management Science, 32(5), pp.590-607.
Wasay, B.2013.An investigation of the relationship between work-life
balance and employee engagement, Strategies HR Reviw,12 (4).
Back in 1980, Hackman & Oldham proposed that each job should have five core job characteristics to be motivating for the individual. These characteristics remained consistent over time and are still used today.
ReplyDeleteSkill variety: The degree to which a job requires a broad array of skills. A financial controller managing three different departments will have more skill variety than a controller managing one specific department. Jobs with greater skill variety are more challenging and require more competence
Task identity: The degree to which an individual performs a whole piece of work. For
example, designing a full house interior is more rewarding than designing a single
room
Task significance: The degree to which the work impacts others. When work impacts others,
the task feels more meaningful, leading to higher satisfaction
Autonomy: The level of independence and freedom an individual has. Higher levels of
autonomy make a person feel more responsible for their work
Feedback: The information that workers receive about the effectiveness of their work.
Feedback can come from the work itself (e.g., a functioning product) and external
sources (e.g., customer satisfaction). Feedback from the work itself provides the most satisfaction and leads to knowledge of the results of work activities
Thank you Janaka for commenting on my blog. I have noted the proposal of Hackman & Oldham that there should be five core job characteristics to motivate individuals. I would like add that knowing these critical job characteristics, the theory goes, it is then possible to derive the key components of the design of a job and redesign it:
Delete1. Varying work to enable skill variety
2. Assigning work to groups to increase the wholeness of the product produced and give a group to enhance significance
3. Delegate tasks to their lowest possible level to create autonomy and hence responsibility
4. Connect people to the outcomes of their work and the customers that receive them so as to provide feedback for learning ( Hackman & Oldham, 2008)
Job design plays am important role in employee engagement. Reason being a well-designed job will challenge the employee to increase the resources of the individual and carry out the responsibilities placed. For example, if an employee finds the work monotonous and boring, this could lead to psychological distress and disengagement as people’s resources become depleted. Contradicting to this, if an individual is provided with a challenging task, they are motivated to carry this out and invest in it (Truss et al, 2014).
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments on my blog. As you have accurately mentioned, job design plays a vital role in the performance maximization. A well designed job brings involvement and satisfaction to the employees and they perform well by employing all their energies in the work. Job design remains a valued issue among the researchers for its importance and effectiveness. A well designed job, according to psychological perception and attitude of employees, motivate workers towards task performance, and such employees become highly productive and loyal to the organization (Zareen, M. 2018)
DeleteJob designing is a step in the process of organizations deciding how best to group organizational activities and resources. Organizing steps further involves grouping jobs/departmentalization, establishing reporting relationships, distributing authority and coordinating activities. Job design can be described as the determination of an individual’s work-related responsibilities (Armstrong, 2014). The most popular method of job designing is Job Specialization that derives from division of labor. An alternative to job specialization is Job Characteristics approach which suggests that jobs should be diagnosed and improved along five core dimensions: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback (Zareen, M Razzaq, K Mujtaba, B, 2013). Job rotation, job enlargement, job enrichment and work teams are in fact alternatives to job specialization rather be called as factors of job design.
ReplyDeleteThank you Asitha for your comments on my blog. Most organizations and its leaders are evaluated on specific, objective, and tangible short-term outcomes such as market, financial, and accounting metrics of organizational performance. Although this approach to measuring performance creates an environment that encourages continual innovation and growth, it also fosters a climate that puts pressure on managers at multiple levels to deliver and/or report favorable economic outcomes (Piccolo, 2012 )
DeleteHRM and SHRM in Leadership is a workplace approach resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organization to give of their best each day, committed to their organization’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organizational success, with an enhanced sense of their own well-being (MacLeod n.d).
ReplyDeleteThank you Romesh for your comments on my blog. I would like to add further that today, society and business are witnessing unprecedented change in an increasingly global marketplace, with many companies competing for talent. As organizations move forward into a boundary less environment, the ability to attract, engage, develop and retain talent will become increasingly important. In view of these changes, a number of trends, as identified in the SHRM (Lockwood, 2007)
DeleteStrategic Job design uses both differentiation and integration to determine who is doing what. Good change and work integration can help organizations increase productivity and improve customer satisfaction. When work is strategically planned, employee efforts are coordinated in a way that helps the organization achieve its competitive strategies (Strewart and Brown, 2011).
ReplyDeleteThank you Ranga for your comments on my blog post. I would like to further add that people understand themselves to be organized in an autonomous community of practice that takes charge of one of the problems. The communities of practice are integrated by standards for action: vivid, simple representations of value that frame work and that are reenacted in practice (Dougherty, 2001 )
DeleteAccording to Scott Snell and George Bohlander , the job design which is an outgrowth of job analysis , is concerned with strcturing jobs in order to improve organization effeciency and employee job satisfaction .Job design is concerned with changing , modifying ,and enriching jobs in order to capture the talents of employees while improving organization performance . // ( Snell,S & Bohkander,G , Human Resource Management , 2007 , Thompson Higher Education publication ,OH,USA.
ReplyDeleteYour comments on my post is well noted with thanks. The cross-fertilization of job analysis research with research from other domains such as the meaning of work, job design, job crafting, strategic change, and interactional psychology is proposed as a means of responding to the demands of today's organizations through new forms of work analysis (Sanchez, 2012).
DeleteThe next step after job analysis is the job design. It aims at outlining and organizing tasks, duties and responsibilities into a single unit of work to achieve certain objectives. Job design is a continuous and ever evolving process that is aimed at helping employees make adjustments with the changes in the workplace. The end goal is reducing dissatisfaction, enhancing motivation and employee engagement at the workplace. (Juneja, P., 2015).
ReplyDeleteYour comments on my blog post is noted with many thanks Melissa. Job design concerns the content and organization of tasks and activities into jobs and roles, and includes individual‐ and group‐level characteristics such as autonomy, variety, significance, and demands. The way that jobs are designed can have a significant impact on employee job attitudes and behaviors. Early theories relevant to job enrichment and autonomous work groups have been expanded to keep pace with wider social and technological developments that have affected the nature of work (Parker, 2015 )
DeleteAs the Human Relations revolution developed during the mid-20th century, there was an increased awareness that individual motivational needs could be taken into account in the way work was designed, which contributed to a focus on giving people scope for social interaction, personal growth, and the realization of their own goals within their work (Garg and Rastogi, 2006).
ReplyDeleteWork-life balance, in its broadest sense, is defined as a satisfactory level of involvement or fit between the multiple roles in a person’s life (Hudson, 2005). Byrne (2005) suggested eight important sections of life as the eight spokes in a wheel. The sections are work, finances, spiritual, hobbies, self, social, family and health, which are important for every human being and each individual attempts to achieve a balance amongst these different sections. Work –life balance is a key driver of employees’ satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteThank you Thilini for your comments on my post. I would like to add to that comment that in organizations and on the home front, the challenge of work/life balance is rising to the top of many employers’ and employees’ consciousness. In today’s fast-paced society, human resource professionals seek options to positively impact the bottom line of their companies, improve employee morale, retain employees with valuable company knowledge, and keep pace with workplace trends (Lockwood, 2003)
DeleteCaplan,(2013) noted that, Employee engagement increases productivity, creates a better and productive work environment, and minimize employee turnover. Engaged employees need good communication with next top level , work that has purpose for them and motivates them, and a safe working place. When mentioned conditions are met, employees become engaged and as a result Organization will yield better financial results, employees will be proud about organizations, and demonstrate enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Madura for your comments on my blog. I do agree with your comment The engagement level of employees affects the productivity of an organization. The motivation level of an employee is related to job satisfaction. The emotional state of an employee also relates to motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985).
DeleteIf the current job role is not achieving the organizational requirements, redesign the job to have a better impact on employee engagement to ripe better results (Claydon, 2007).
ReplyDeleteThank you Kelum for your comments on my blog. According to DeCenzo, et.al., Herzberg expanding the content of a job with opportunities for personal growth, advancement, responsibility, interesting work, recognition and achievement to create more opportunities for job satisfaction and motivation.
DeleteWe all can be agreed regarding the importance of Job design since it helps with the operations of an organization to do better. Job Design is the process of deciding on the contents of a job in terms of its duties and responsibilities, on the methods to be used in carrying out the job, in terms of techniques, systems and procedures, and on the relationships that should exist between the job holder and his superior subordinates and colleagues (Armstrong, 2003).
ReplyDeleteThank you Dilini for your comments on my blog. Job design is concerned with the activities of workers, their duties, the tasks required to perform their work, and how those tasks and duties are structured and scheduled (Morgeson and Humphrey 2008; Parker and Ohly 2008). Modern typologies of job design include factors such as: job demands, job control, skill use, task variety, role clarity, use of skills, variety in tasks, support and social contact at work, and even employment security (see e.g. Cousins et al. 2004; Hackman and Oldham 1976; Karasek and Theorell 1990; Warr 2007).
DeleteSharma and Kaur (2014) have defined employee engagement as the “extent to which an employee feels a sense of psychological investment in his/her work, so that he/she is behaviourally (social) and intellectually focused on organisational goals”. This
ReplyDeletepsychological state according to Hewitt (2014) can potentially lead to behavioural outcomes that facilitate improved organisational performance. Besides, several stud-ies in extant literature have investigated the impact employee engagement has on organisational performance. For instance, Shantz et al. (2013) portrayed how em-ployee
engagement plays a mediating role to explain how job designs influence eventual
performance on the job. Findings portrayed how ‘engaged employees’ exhibit higher levels of performance, and how organisations should orchestrate jobs that offer higher levels of autonomy, task variety and significance. Also, a Gallup study in 2006 that investigated 23,910 business units, observed that those with higher levels of employee engagement had higher levels of productivity and profitability (Wagner and Harter, 2006).
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGreat Article! Digital employee engagement platform - SOS helped organizations to build a digital platform to help the corporate employees be more productive through positive engagement and brand connection.
ReplyDelete