{"id":1269,"date":"2019-09-05T19:03:01","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T19:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=1269"},"modified":"2024-04-24T23:38:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T23:38:36","slug":"job-design-theories","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/chapter\/job-design-theories\/","title":{"raw":"Job Design Theories","rendered":"Job Design Theories"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Discuss job design theories and characteristics<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nThere are three broad theories of good job design related to human motivation: job relevance, job enlargement, and job enrichment. In order for employees to have a sense of accomplishment in their work, \u201cthe job needs to be designed so that the tasks have a clear purpose and relate to the company mission.\u201d[footnote]DeCenzo, David A., Stephen P. Robbins, and Susan L Verhulst. 2016. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. New York, NY: John Wiley &amp; Sons.[\/footnote] After all, \u201cgood job design incorporates tasks that relate to organizational goals and values into every job description.\u201d[footnote]Ibid.[\/footnote]\r\n<h2>Job Relevance<\/h2>\r\nSignificance and relevance isn\u2019t just for high-performance individuals and senior executives. To avoid turnover and engagement issues, this factor should be designed in at every level and length of tenure, from new hire to veteran.\r\n\r\nWith a focus on specialization and standardization\u2014\u201cman as a machine\u201d\u2014scientific management yielded productivity and profit\/wage gains, but at a cost. Although specialization can increase quality and productivity, it can also result in boredom and create a sense of alienation that depresses productivity and job satisfaction.\r\n<h2>Job Enlargement<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1860\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4056\/2019\/09\/22165906\/alvaro-reyes-qWwpHwip31M-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph of a man pinning strings between various printout of screen from an app\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" \/>Job enlargement seeks to address this issue by expanding the number of tasks one person is responsible for. For example, instead of performing one task in a series, a worker would be responsible for a series of tasks. Job enlargement needs to be coupled with training to develop competency in performing the additional tasks. If effectively designed, job enlargement can increase satisfaction. Quality may remain high or increase, since there\u2019s a greater understanding of dependencies. However, if job enlargement is perceived to be simply an addition of more rote tasks with no emotional return, satisfaction and productivity will not increase and may in fact decrease further.\r\n<h2>Job Enrichment<\/h2>\r\nThe theory of job enrichment is attributed to Frederick Herzberg, who famously stated that \u201cif you want people to do a good job, give them a good job to do.\u201d Herzberg believed that \u201cemployee satisfaction can be enhanced through \u2018job enrichment\u2019\u2013the addition of different tasks associated with a job that provides greater involvement and interaction with that job.\u201d Specifically, he proposed that: \u201cthe job must use the full ability of the employee and provide them with sufficient challenge and any employee who demonstrates an increasing level of ability should be given correspondingly increasing levels of responsibility.\u201d[footnote]Jones, DeEtta. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deettajones.com\/want-to-motivate-your-staff-give-them-a-good-job-to-do\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Want to Motivate Your Staff? Give Them a Good Job to Do<\/a>.\" DeEtta Jones Blog. July 16, 2014. Accessed September 12, 2019.[\/footnote]\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/8d3fa2d2-023f-4272-9f14-959a36581b88\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>The Job Characteristics Theory<\/h2>\r\nAccording to DeCenzo, et.al., Herzberg \u201csuggests 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.\u201d Organizational psychologists J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham built on Herzberg\u2019s theories, developing a job design model (referred to as the job characteristics theory or JCT) based on the following five job characteristics:[footnote]Martin. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleverism.com\/job-characteristics-model\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Understanding the Job Characteristics Model (including Job Enrichment).<\/a>\" Cleverism. March 13, 2017. Accessed September 12, 2019.[\/footnote]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Skill Variety<\/strong> or the \u201cdegree to which a job requires a variety of different activities in carrying out the work, involving the use of a number of different skills and talents of a person.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Task Identity<\/strong> or the \u201cdegree to which the job requires completion of a whole, identifiable piece of work; that is, doing a job from beginning to end with visible outcome.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Task Significance<\/strong> or the \u201cdegree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives of other people, whether those people are in the immediate organization or in the world at large.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Autonomy<\/strong> or the \u201cdegree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and in determining the procedure to be used in carrying it out.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Feedback<\/strong> or the \u201cdegree to which carrying out the work activities required by the job provides the individual with direct and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her performance.\u201d<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nFor a reverse\u2014bottom up\u2014perspective on job design, watch Yale School of Management Organizational Behavior professor Dr. Amy Wrzesniewski\u2019s \u201cJob Crafting\u201d presentation at Google\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/C_igfnctYjA\r\n\r\nYou can <a href=\"https:\/\/course-building.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/HRManagement\/Transcripts\/Transcript_JobCrafting.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">view the transcript for \"Job Crafting\" here (opens in new window).<\/a>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Discuss job design theories and characteristics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>There are three broad theories of good job design related to human motivation: job relevance, job enlargement, and job enrichment. In order for employees to have a sense of accomplishment in their work, \u201cthe job needs to be designed so that the tasks have a clear purpose and relate to the company mission.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"DeCenzo, David A., Stephen P. Robbins, and Susan L Verhulst. 2016. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. New York, NY: John Wiley &amp; Sons.\" id=\"return-footnote-1269-1\" href=\"#footnote-1269-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> After all, \u201cgood job design incorporates tasks that relate to organizational goals and values into every job description.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Ibid.\" id=\"return-footnote-1269-2\" href=\"#footnote-1269-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Job Relevance<\/h2>\n<p>Significance and relevance isn\u2019t just for high-performance individuals and senior executives. To avoid turnover and engagement issues, this factor should be designed in at every level and length of tenure, from new hire to veteran.<\/p>\n<p>With a focus on specialization and standardization\u2014\u201cman as a machine\u201d\u2014scientific management yielded productivity and profit\/wage gains, but at a cost. Although specialization can increase quality and productivity, it can also result in boredom and create a sense of alienation that depresses productivity and job satisfaction.<\/p>\n<h2>Job Enlargement<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1860\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4056\/2019\/09\/22165906\/alvaro-reyes-qWwpHwip31M-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph of a man pinning strings between various printout of screen from an app\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" \/>Job enlargement seeks to address this issue by expanding the number of tasks one person is responsible for. For example, instead of performing one task in a series, a worker would be responsible for a series of tasks. Job enlargement needs to be coupled with training to develop competency in performing the additional tasks. If effectively designed, job enlargement can increase satisfaction. Quality may remain high or increase, since there\u2019s a greater understanding of dependencies. However, if job enlargement is perceived to be simply an addition of more rote tasks with no emotional return, satisfaction and productivity will not increase and may in fact decrease further.<\/p>\n<h2>Job Enrichment<\/h2>\n<p>The theory of job enrichment is attributed to Frederick Herzberg, who famously stated that \u201cif you want people to do a good job, give them a good job to do.\u201d Herzberg believed that \u201cemployee satisfaction can be enhanced through \u2018job enrichment\u2019\u2013the addition of different tasks associated with a job that provides greater involvement and interaction with that job.\u201d Specifically, he proposed that: \u201cthe job must use the full ability of the employee and provide them with sufficient challenge and any employee who demonstrates an increasing level of ability should be given correspondingly increasing levels of responsibility.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Jones, DeEtta. &quot;Want to Motivate Your Staff? Give Them a Good Job to Do.&quot; DeEtta Jones Blog. July 16, 2014. Accessed September 12, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-1269-3\" href=\"#footnote-1269-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_8d3fa2d2-023f-4272-9f14-959a36581b88\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/8d3fa2d2-023f-4272-9f14-959a36581b88?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_8d3fa2d2-023f-4272-9f14-959a36581b88\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>The Job Characteristics Theory<\/h2>\n<p>According to DeCenzo, et.al., Herzberg \u201csuggests 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.\u201d Organizational psychologists J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham built on Herzberg\u2019s theories, developing a job design model (referred to as the job characteristics theory or JCT) based on the following five job characteristics:<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Martin. &quot;Understanding the Job Characteristics Model (including Job Enrichment).&quot; Cleverism. March 13, 2017. Accessed September 12, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-1269-4\" href=\"#footnote-1269-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Skill Variety<\/strong> or the \u201cdegree to which a job requires a variety of different activities in carrying out the work, involving the use of a number of different skills and talents of a person.\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Task Identity<\/strong> or the \u201cdegree to which the job requires completion of a whole, identifiable piece of work; that is, doing a job from beginning to end with visible outcome.\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Task Significance<\/strong> or the \u201cdegree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives of other people, whether those people are in the immediate organization or in the world at large.\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Autonomy<\/strong> or the \u201cdegree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and in determining the procedure to be used in carrying it out.\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Feedback<\/strong> or the \u201cdegree to which carrying out the work activities required by the job provides the individual with direct and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her performance.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>For a reverse\u2014bottom up\u2014perspective on job design, watch Yale School of Management Organizational Behavior professor Dr. Amy Wrzesniewski\u2019s \u201cJob Crafting\u201d presentation at Google<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-1\" title=\"Job Crafting - Amy Wrzesniewski on creating meaning in your own work\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C_igfnctYjA?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>You can <a href=\"https:\/\/course-building.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/HRManagement\/Transcripts\/Transcript_JobCrafting.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">view the transcript for &#8220;Job Crafting&#8221; here (opens in new window).<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-1269\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Job Design Theories. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Nina Burokas. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Specific attribution<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Untitled. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Alvaro Reyes. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Unsplash. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/qWwpHwip31M\">https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/qWwpHwip31M<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Unsplash License<\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">All rights reserved content<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Job Crafting. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Amy Wrzesniewski. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: re:Work with Google. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/C_igfnctYjA\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/C_igfnctYjA<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>All Rights Reserved<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-1269-1\">DeCenzo, David A., Stephen P. Robbins, and Susan L Verhulst. 2016. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. New York, NY: John Wiley &amp; Sons. <a href=\"#return-footnote-1269-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-1269-2\">Ibid. <a href=\"#return-footnote-1269-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-1269-3\">Jones, DeEtta. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deettajones.com\/want-to-motivate-your-staff-give-them-a-good-job-to-do\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Want to Motivate Your Staff? Give Them a Good Job to Do<\/a>.\" DeEtta Jones Blog. July 16, 2014. Accessed September 12, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-1269-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-1269-4\">Martin. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleverism.com\/job-characteristics-model\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Understanding the Job Characteristics Model (including Job Enrichment).<\/a>\" Cleverism. March 13, 2017. Accessed September 12, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-1269-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":14,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Job Design Theories\",\"author\":\"Nina Burokas\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc-attribution\",\"description\":\"Untitled\",\"author\":\"Alvaro Reyes\",\"organization\":\"Unsplash\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/qWwpHwip31M\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"Unsplash License\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"Job Crafting\",\"author\":\"Amy Wrzesniewski\",\"organization\":\"re:Work with Google\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/C_igfnctYjA\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"arr\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"38c8ae2d-6536-456c-a645-81448d7467a9, d91d78c4-c801-4fbd-9338-1a7cdca5e0f9","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1269","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":1253,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3336,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1269\/revisions\/3336"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/1253"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1269\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1269"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1269"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}