Job enrichment definition

Employees produce their best results when they’re fully engaged in their roles at work. Sometimes, due to the mass production nature of our economy, work tasks can become tedious and repetitive, leading to disengagement by the responsible staff member. Job enrichment refers to a series of scope and perspective transformations to help bring back employee focus and provide additional motivation to maintain high-quality production standards.

The two-factor theory of motivation, published by Frederick Herzberg in 1959, identifies four work satisfaction motivators:

• Recognition for the employee’s contribution
• Responsibility for work produced (autonomy)
• Meaningfulness in the contributions made
• A sense of achievement in completion

This idea was later expanded by the job characteristics model offered by Hackman and Oldham in 1980. In this model, five core job characteristics were identified that offered motivation and meaningfulness, leading to improved performance:

• Skill variety
• Task identity
• Task significance
• Autonomy
• Job feedback

Positions that offered these characteristics were likely to produce satisfied employees, improve attendance and reduce turnover rates. Not every job inherently displays these motivating characteristics, so job enrichment is the process of adding motivating factors to these existing positions.

Possible job enrichment interventions

You can use many interventions to promote job enrichment for your staff, depending on their responsibilities and reasons for dissatisfaction. Here are eight job enrichment examples to help improve the work environment within your company.

1. Use the Job Diagnostic Survey to measure established roles

The Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) was developed to measure professional roles against the job characteristics model and generate a score based on the answers given by someone occupying that role. Statements are made, each related to one of the five job characteristics, and participants are asked to determine how much the statement describes their role by giving a value of one through five. Then the scores are calculated to provide a measurable baseline the employer can use to identify positions that could benefit from enrichment efforts and monitor the impact of those efforts. This is a great way to start developing your plans for enrichment.

2. Combine tasks

Performing the same repetitive tasks can quickly feel like a mindless activity, causing employees to lose focus and become bored. Some minds need new challenges and opportunities to pick up skills to stay engaged. Combining complementary tasks can add new responsibilities and complexity, renewing employee interest and creating motivation to give their duties their full attention. Combining tasks that allow the employee to see the finished product has the additional benefit of highlighting the meaning behind their work and taking more pride in their efforts.

Vertical loading is another example of this. Vertically loaded positions give the employee significant autonomy, allowing them to self-manage and oversee a full chain of responsibilities related to their workload. As long as their work is meeting expectations and deadlines are managed, the employee is left largely unsupervised to complete the work as they see fit. Only when a mistake is made is it necessary for a supervisor to reevaluate and determine whether decisions should revert to management.

3. Institute job rotation

Let employees cross-train, increasing their skill set and changing the workday experience. This allows employees the opportunity to see how each position contributes to the finished product, giving them a deeper understanding of individual responsibilities. While this can sometimes result in slowed production initially due to inexperienced workers learning new skills, it also offers the added benefit of overlapping employee training, making it easier to cover absences. Employees who share work experiences also have greater bonding potential, improving team cooperation and morale.

4. Create project-focused units

Instead of spreading the workload by individual tasks, create teams to handle projects as a whole. This allows members the opportunity to see the full impact of their efforts and decisions, giving them the chance to make adjustments that play to the strengths of team members. Groups can be assigned to a particular client to help foster relationships and allow the team to better understand final expectations. You could also rotate clients by the individual project to maintain variety.

5. Find ways to increase autonomy

Increased autonomy reduces the fatigue of micromanagement and gives employees a greater sense of appreciation and responsibility. Simple acts, such as allowing employees to choose when to take their breaks or influence the work assignments they are given, can have a major impact on satisfaction levels. If your employees work in groups, you can provide a goal or assign a project that you allow the team to complete on their own terms. Work assignments, progress benchmarks and conflict resolution are handled by the team, encouraging stronger cooperation efforts and developing management and supervisory skills that could reduce the amount of oversight needed.

6. Encourage and implement employee feedback

Employees who feel they have influence over their work environment are less likely to leave their positions when there’s a problem. Find ways to engage your employees in the decisions that affect them. Establish a suggestion program that allows staff the chance to weigh in on solutions they would like to see to increase their satisfaction. Encourage participation by offering recognition or a small reward for suggestions that you implement.

It’s important for employees to feel heard by their management team, so you should make every effort to provide contribution opportunities when discussing possible changes within the department or strategic planning . Make sure your supervisors are fostering an atmosphere of collaboration to keep staff engaged and communicative. Giving your employees the chance to participate in their performance reviews is another great way to maintain an open dialogue, personalize their goals and recognize areas that need improvement on their own.

7. Establish a recognition program

It’s natural for people to want acknowledgment for their efforts, and this is especially important for employees who are experiencing feelings of low satisfaction. Creating a recognition program to highlight and reward positive employee contributions can help increase motivation and provide a greater sense of achievement.

To be effective, recognition programs should be transparent and specific. Developing an employee of the month award offers recognition but can easily lose value if there’s no clear understanding of what it takes to be considered. In some cases, it may be helpful to include some type of tangible reward to show gratitude for an employee’s extra efforts. While company-branded merchandise is the standard go-to for this type of incentive, employees tend to prefer more meaningful offers. An extra hour for lunch one day or the use of a convenient designated parking space shows you value their time and efforts.

8. Help employees connect with the client

There are many ways to help employees feel connected with their work, but few are as impactful as working directly with the client. Meeting the client helps personalize the workload and serves as a reminder that the finished product has a life outside the company walls. Employees are more likely to put in their best efforts if they interact with the person paying for those efforts, so try to allow your staff to engage with customers when possible.

Sometimes this isn’t possible due to the nature of the work. For example, a manufacturing plant isn’t in a position to meet with every person who buys the product. In cases like this, find other ways to personalize the experience. Share stories from customers who were profoundly impacted by the product or service being produced. If there are no privacy restrictions, use the client’s name when speaking with team members working on their project and share information that may not be on the work order but was learned through previous interactions with the client. Seeing the customer as a unique person rather than an order number helps your employees relate and take greater pride in their work.

Job enrichment implementation

Implementing job enrichment is a valuable investment, but it requires some development effort to ensure you create the most effective strategy. You need to know details about your employees, the jobs they’re responsible for and an open dialogue to make adjustments where needed.

Identify problem areas

Enriching a position that already provides satisfaction is wasted effort, so take the time to find out where dissatisfaction lies in your company. Speak with employees to hear their self-measured satisfaction levels. Speak with managers to identify employees who are frequently absent or late and learn which roles have a high turnover rate. Once you discover the positions that could benefit from job enrichment, take a closer look at the employees to determine if your efforts will have the desired effect. For example, if you have an employee who is unhappy with their position because they feel disorganized and are struggling to keep up, adding additional responsibilities may increase their dissatisfaction.

Work through your enrichment options

Once you know which positions need work, consider all your enrichment options. Some may not be appropriate for the nature of the work involved, and others may require unreasonable procedural changes. Using what you’ve learned about the role and the employee, try to match interventions that target the area of dissatisfaction and create the greatest impact with the least disruption.

Some interventions involve multiple roles and might be the best choice for departments or sections that show a high number of positions with low satisfaction ratings. It may also be helpful to ask for input from the employees who will be impacted, giving them options you’re comfortable with so they can consider which changes offer the most meaning for them.

Develop your enrichment program

Once you’ve chosen your enrichment selections, organize them into an implementation plan. Communicate with your staff so they know what changes to expect and give them a clear timeline for when these changes will take place. Engage your managers to help with the rollout and encourage employee participation in the changes being made. Be sure to check in regularly once the plan is in place to monitor the results and make changes where necessary. The most effective enrichment program is one that meets the evolving needs of your employees.