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Characteristics 1.Skill variety 2.Task identity 3.Task significance 4.Autonomy 5.Feedback Job Characteristics Model Identifies five job characteristics and their relationship to personal and work outcomes

 Job Characteristics Model (JCM) ◦ Hackman and Oldham’s concept that any job can be described through five core job dimensions: Skill variety – Requirements for different tasks in the job. Task identity – Completion of a whole piece of work. Task significance – The job’s impact on others. Autonomy – Level of discretion in decision making. Feedback – Amount of direct and clear information on performance. ◦ The way elements in a job are organized (job design) impacts motivation, satisfaction and performance.

Source: J.R. Hackman and G.R. Oldham, Work Design (excerpted from pp. 78–80). © 1980 by Addison- Wesley Publishing Co., Inc. Reprinted by permission of Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc.

 “Every day was the same thing.”  Imagine this:  Stand on the assembly line,  Wait for an instrument panel to be moved into place,  Unlock the mechanism and drop the panel into the automobile as it moved by on the line,  Then you plugged in the harnessing wires.  Eight hours a day. Repeat.

 Job Rotation  The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another  Job Enrichment  The vertical expansion of jobs, increasing the degree to which the worker controls the planning, execution, and evaluation of his or her work.

Reduces boredom Increases understanding of work contribution Increased skills Helps managers in scheduling

 Increase in training costs  Reduces productivity  Creates disruptions having to adjust to new employee  Time consuming as supervisors have to answer questions and monitoring the work performance

 Expands jobs by increasing the degree to which the worker controls the planning, execution, and evaluation of the work.  An enriched job organizes tasks to allow the worker to do a complete activity, increases the employee’s freedom and independence, increase responsibility, and provides feedback so individuals can assess and correct their own performance.

Combine TasksForm Natural Work UnitsEstablish Client RelationsExpand Jobs VerticallyOpen Feedback Channels

 Flextime  Job Sharing  Telecommuting

 Flextime ◦ Flextime allows employees to choose the hours they work within a defined period of time.  Job Sharing ◦ Job Sharing allows two or more individuals to split a traditional 40-hour-a-week job.  Telecommuting ◦ Telecommuting allows workers to work from home at least 2 days a week on a computer linked to the employer’s office.

 Reduced absenteeism,  increase productivity,  reduced overtime expenses,  reduced hostility through management,  reduced traffic congestion around work sites,  elimination of tardiness,  increased autonomy and responsibility for employees.

 It is not applicable to every job or every worker  People who have a stronger desire to separate their work and family lives are less prone to take advantage of opportunities for flextime

 Job sharing allows an organization to draw on the talents of more than one individual in a given job.  It also opens the opportunity to acquire skilled workers – who might not be available on a full-time basis.  It is also seen as a potentially humanitarian means of avoiding layoffs due to overstaffing.

 3 categories of jobs: routine information- handling tasks, mobile activities, and professional and other knowledge related tasks.  As telecommuters, they can access information on their computers at home as easily as in the company’s office.

 Advantages: (A) Larger labor pool from which to select, (B) higher productivity, (C) less turnover, (D) improve morale, and (E) reduce office-space costs.  Disadvantages: (A) less direct supervision of employees, (B) more difficult to coordinate teamwork and (C) can reduce knowledge transfer in organizations.

 A participative process that uses the entire capacity of employees and is designed to encourage increased commitment to the organization’s success.  The logic is that if we engage workers in decisions that affect them and increase their autonomy and control over their work lives, they will become more motivated, more committed to the organization, more productive, and more satisfied with their jobs.

 Participative Management  Representative Participation

 A process in which subordinates share a significant degree of decision-making power with their immediate superiors.  For it to work, employees must be engaged in issues relevant to their interests so they will be motivated, they must have the competence and knowledge to make a useful contribution, and trust and confidence must exist among all parties.

 Workers participate in organizational decision making through a small group of representative employees.  Work Councils – groups of nominated or elected employees who must be consulted when management makes decisions involving personnel  Board Representatives – a form of representative participation; employees sit on a company’s board of directors and represent the interests of the firm’s employees

 Although pay is not the primary factor driving job satisfaction, it is a motivator. ◦ Establish a pay structure ◦ Variable-pay programs

 Piece-Rate Pay ◦ Pays a fixed sum of money for each unit of production completed.  Merit-Based Pay ◦ Pays for individual performance based on performance appraisal results. If appraisals are designed correctly, workers performing at a high level will get more pay.  Bonuses ◦ Pay a lump sum at the end of a designated period of time based on individual and/or organizational performance.

 Skill-Based Pay ◦ Pays based on the number of skills employees have or the number of jobs they can do.  Profit-Sharing Plans ◦ Pays out a portion of the organization’s profitability. It is an organization-wide program and is based on a predetermined formula.  Gainsharing ◦ Pays for improvements in group productivity from one period to another. It is a group incentive plan.

Benefits of Skill-based Pay Plans: 1.Provides staffing flexibility 2.Facilitates communication across the organization 3.Lessens “protection of territory” behaviors 4.Leads to performance improvements Benefits of Skill-based Pay Plans: 1.Provides staffing flexibility 2.Facilitates communication across the organization 3.Lessens “protection of territory” behaviors 4.Leads to performance improvements Pay levels are based on how many skills employees have or how many jobs they can do.

Drawbacks of Skill-based Pay Plans: 1.Lack of additional learning opportunities that will increase employee pay 2.Continuing to pay employees for skills that have become obsolete 3.Paying for skills that are of no immediate use to the organization 4.Paying for a skill, not for the level of employee performance for the particular skill Drawbacks of Skill-based Pay Plans: 1.Lack of additional learning opportunities that will increase employee pay 2.Continuing to pay employees for skills that have become obsolete 3.Paying for skills that are of no immediate use to the organization 4.Paying for a skill, not for the level of employee performance for the particular skill

 Flexible benefits give individual rewards by allowing each employee to choose the compensation package that best satisfies his or her current needs and situations.

Flexible Spending Plans Allow employees to use their tax-free benefit dollars to purchase benefits and pay service premiums Modular Plans Predesigned benefits packages for specific groups of employees Core-Plus Plans A core of essential benefits and a menu-like selection of other benefit options Employees tailor their benefit program to meet their personal need by picking and choosing from a menu of benefit options.

 Important work rewards can be both intrinsic and extrinsic.  Rewards are intrinsic in the form of employee recognition programs and extrinsic in the form of compensation systems.  Advantage: Inexpensive  Disadvantage: Highly susceptible to political manipulation by management

 1. Discuss job characteristic models.  2. Explain how you can enhance motivation through job rotation and job enrichment.  3. What is flextime?  4. Do you think pay (compensation) is a good motivator? Why or why not?