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chapter 1: job design and motivation - Coggle Diagram
chapter 1: job design and motivation
(1) job
a job is a pattern of duties, tasks, responsibilities roles and activities performed for pay
(2) job design
a core HR activity concerned with identity job content, roles, and methods in a way that:
meets oragnizational objectives
satisfies employee needs
In short: It’s how work is structured to balance efficiency and employee satisfaction.
(4) Approaches to Job Design
Mechanistic Approach
Focus: Efficiency
Features: Job simplification + specialization.
Pros: High productivity, standardization.
Cons: Jobs can become boring and demotivating.
Organic Approach
Focus: Satisfactory jobs (motivating and meaningful).
Factors influencing job satisfaction (Job Descriptive Index – JDI):
Pay
Supervisor
Co-workers
Promotion
Job itself
(6) Job Characteristics Model (JCM)
Core dimensions of jobs that influence motivation and satisfaction:
Significance
– impact of job on others
Task Identity
– seeing a job through from start to finish
Skill Variety
– different skills required
Autonomy
– independence in doing the job
Feedback
– information on performance
These create psychological states → meaningfulness, responsibility, and knowledge of results → higher motivation & job satisfaction.
Motivating Potential Score (MPS) formula:
MPS=(Significance+Variety+Identity)/3 ×Autonomy×Feedback
Expansion of RTA into a full model.
Psychological States
(link between job features & outcomes):
Experienced Meaningfulness
→ from variety, identity, significance.
Experienced Responsibility
→ from autonomy.
Knowledge of Results
→ from feedback.
Outcomes:
High internal motivation.
Better performance quality.
Greater satisfaction.
Lower turnover/absenteeism.
(7) Two-Factor Theory (Herzberg)
Motivators
(Job Content)
lead to satisfaction
Achievement, recognition, growth, responsibility.
Hygiene Factors
(Job Context)
prevent dissatisfaction, but don’t motivate
Pay, working conditions, policies, supervision.
(8) Motivation
The willingness to exert effort to achieve organizational goals while satisfying personal needs.
Dimensions: Intensity, Direction, Persistence.
Theories of Motivation:
Classical & Neo-Classical
Content Theories
→ focus on what needs motivate (e.g., Maslow, Herzberg).
Process Theories
→ focus on how motivation happens (e.g., Vroom’s Expectancy).
(9) Rewards
Two types:
Intrinsic Rewards (Job Content)
→ come from doing the job itself (e.g., satisfaction, growth, meaningfulness).
Extrinsic Rewards (Job Context)
→ external to the job:
Financial: pay, bonuses, compensation.
Non-financial: recognition, promotion, status, working conditions.
(10) Techniques to Improve Job Satisfaction
Job Rotation
– moving employees between tasks.
Job Enlargement
– adding more tasks at the same level.
Job Enrichment
– adding depth (responsibility, decision-making).
Job Crafting
→ employees reshape own roles
Core Idea:
Employees are not passive — they can reshape their own jobs by changing:
Tasks (doing extra or fewer tasks).
Relationships (working with different people).
Perceptions (reframing how they see the job’s purpose).
Example:
A hospital cleaner sees their role not just as “cleaning” but as “helping patients recover in a safe environment.”
Strengths
: Recognises employee agency, boosts engagement.
Weaknesses
: Not all organisations allow this flexibility.
(5) Requisite Task Attributes (RTA – Hackman, 1969)
Core idea: Jobs need certain attributes to be motivating.
Variety
→ use of different skills, avoids monotony.
Example: teacher (prepares lessons, teaches, grades).
Autonomy
→ freedom to decide how/when to do tasks.
Example: researcher designs own methods.
Task Identity
→ completing a whole product or identifiable part.
Example: carpenter makes full chair, not just one screw.
Feedback
→ job provides information on performance.
Example: musician hears quality of sound directly.
Outcome of RTA:
Higher motivation.
Greater job satisfaction.
Limitation
: Missing Task Significance, no formula for measuring motivation.
(3) Historical Development of Job Design
Adam Smith (1776) – Division of Labour
Famous
pin factory
example:
splitting work into small steps
→ massive productivity gain (20 pins per worker → 4,800 pins).
Strength
: efficiency, productivity.
Weakness
: monotony, alienation, physical strain.
Frederick Taylor (1911) – Scientific Management
Believed in “one best way” to do each job.
Methods
: time-and-motion studies, measuring with stopwatches.
Managers
= planners,
workers
= executors.
Strengths
: huge productivity improvements in early factories.
Weaknesses
: boredom, workers treated like machines, no creativity or motivation.
Henry Ford (1914) – Fordism
Applied Taylor’s ideas to the assembly line in car production.
Impact:
Cars produced much faster and cheaper.
Ordinary families could afford cars → start of “mass consumption economy.”
Strengths
: high productivity, affordable goods, higher wages ($5/day).
Weaknesses:
jobs were repetitive, unskilled, and alienating
Elton Mayo (1930s) – Human Relations Movement
Hawthorne Studies
productivity improved when workers felt noticed and valued, not just when lighting changed.
Lesson
: Social relationships, recognition, and morale affect productivity.
Shifted job design from being
technical
(just efficiency) → to also
social and psychological
.
Transition
: From
efficiency focus
(Smith, Taylor, Ford) to including
human and social needs
(Mayo)
(11) Alternative Models Beyond JCM
Job Demands–Control Model (Karasek, 1979) JD-C
Core Idea
: Stress and well-being depend on the balance between:
Job Demands
(workload, time pressure, responsibility).
Job Control
(autonomy, decision-making power).
Four job types:
High demand + low control →
strain jobs
(e.g., call centre, factory assembly). Leads to stress and poor health.
High demand + high control →
active jobs
(e.g., doctors, managers). Leads to learning and growth.
Low demand + low control →
passive jobs
(e.g., security guard). Leads to boredom and disengagement.
Low demand + high control →
low-strain jobs
(e.g., librarian). Comfortable but not very challenging.
Strengths:
Simple, widely tested, explains stress.
Highlights importance of autonomy for health.
Weaknesses:
Ignores social support and other job resources.
Over-simplified (not all stress comes from workload vs control).
Link to Torrington → Ch. 32 (Well-being & Stress).
Job Demands–Resources Model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2001) JD-R
Extension of JD-C.
Every job has:
Demands
: workload, emotional stress, deadlines, conflicts.
Resources
: autonomy, feedback, support, training, opportunities for growth.
Two key processes:
Health Impairment Process → high demands without resources → burnout, stress, health problems.
Motivational Process → high resources → engagement, motivation, performance.
Strengths:
Flexible
: can apply to any job.
Explains both burnout and engagement.
Empirically supported worldwide.
Weaknesses:
Can become too broad (anything can be called a “resource”).
Hard to measure consistently.
Exam use
→ JD-R is the most modern and widely used model in today’s HRM.
Social Information Processing Theory (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978)
Core Idea
: How people perceive their jobs depends not only on job design, but also on social cues from managers, co-workers, and culture.
Example:
Two employees with the same job → one finds it meaningful because the team values it, the other finds it boring because no one recognises their contribution.
Strengths
: Explains why people interpret the same job differently.
Weaknesses
: Hard to measure social cues.
Takeaway
→ job design must consider not just tasks, but also the social context.
Sociotechnical Systems Theory (Trist & Emery, 1950s)
Core Idea
: Jobs must balance technical systems (machines, processes) with social systems (people’s needs, teamwork).
Example:
Coal mining teams in the UK were redesigned to work in semi-autonomous groups, improving both productivity and satisfaction.
Strengths
: Introduced idea of teamwork and semi-autonomous groups.
Weaknesses
: Hard to implement in highly standardised industries.
Link to JCM
→ adds group/technology perspective, not just individual jobs.
(12) Contemporary Job Design Challenges
Knowledge work
: need autonomy, creativity, problem-solving.
AI & automation
: routine jobs shrink, humans focus on higher-level thinking.
Gig economy
: autonomy ↑, security ↓.
Remote/hybrid work
: autonomy ↑, but risks isolation, blurred boundaries.
Cross-cultural variation
: autonomy valued more in individualist cultures; teamwork in collectivist ones.
Torrington Ch. 34 → discusses AI, gig economy, digitalisation.
Criticisms & Limitations
Not all jobs can be redesigned (fast food, assembly lines).
Some employees prefer routine over enriched jobs.
Over-focus on intrinsic motivators, ignoring pay/security.
Can lead to work intensification (too much responsibility).
Cultural limitations.
Links to Torrington HRM Textbook
Taylorism & Fordism → Ch. 1: Nature of HRM.
Job Characteristics Model → Ch. 32: Health & Well-being.
Stress models (JD-C, JD-R) → Ch. 32.
Future of Work (AI, gig economy, flexibility) → Ch. 34.
Cross-cultural HRM → Ch. 3.
Exam Tips
Start with a clear definition of job design.
Use JCM as the central theory (5 features, 3 states, outcomes, formula).
Show critique (culture, extrinsic factors).
Mention alternatives (JD-R, sociotechnical, SIP).
Always add examples (Volvo assembly teams, call centres, gig work, hybrid jobs).
Conclude with future challenges (AI, digitalisation, cultural differences).