Page 361 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

360 Part 4 • Leading
◂ ◂ ◂ From the Past to the Present ▸ ▸ ▸

Deciding how work tasks should be performed has long more on the job content aspects (the motivators) than on the
29
been of interest to managers. From scientific manage- job context aspects (the hygiene factors).
ment’s attempts to find the “one best way” to do work to In addition, Herzberg’s research stimulated additional
the Hawthorne Studies that attempted to unravel patterns of interest in work design. The Job Characteristics model, for one,
human behavior at work, researchers built upon Herzberg’s findings in iden-
have been curious about the ideal ap- tifying the five core job dimensions,
proach to work design. In the 1950s, Job Design: especially autonomy. As managers
Frederick Herzberg and his associ- How should work and organizations continue to search
ates began research to “discover for work designs that will energize and
the importance of attitudes toward tasks get done? engage employees, Herzberg’s study
work and the experiences, both good of when people felt good and felt bad
and bad, that workers reported.” He at work continues as a classic.
wanted to know the kinds of things that made people at If your professor has assigned this, go to the Assignments
their work happy and satisfied or unhappy and dissatisfied. section of mymanagementlab.com to complete these
What he discovered changed the way we view job design. discussion questions.
The fact that job dissatisfaction and job satisfaction were the
results of different aspects of the work environment was an Talk About It 1: Why do you think jobs need to be
important finding. Herzberg’s two-factor theory gave practic- “ designed”?
ing managers insights into both job context and job content. Talk About It 2: How can job design contribute to
And if you wanted to motivate employees, you’d better focus employee motivation?

According to Hackman and Oldham, any job can be described in terms of the following
five core job dimensions:
1. Skill variety. The degree to which the job requires a variety of activities so the worker
can use a number of different skills and talents
2. Task identity. The degree to which the job requires completion of a whole and identifi-
able piece of work
The job of this pediatric nurse caring for 3. Task significance. The degree to which the job affects the lives or work of other people
newborn babies at a children’s hospital in 4. Autonomy. The degree to which the job provides freedom, independence, and discretion
Germany scores high on task significance to the individual in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures to be used in
as she uses her specialized knowledge and
skills in caring for children from infancy carrying it out
through the late teen years, and their 5. Feedback. The degree to which carrying out the work activities required by the job re-
families. Task significance contributes to the sults in the individual’s obtaining direct and clear information about the effectiveness of
meaningfulness of her job and high internal
work motivation. his or her performance
Exhibit 11–5 presents the model. Notice how
the first three dimensions—skill variety, task iden-
tity, and task significance—combine to create mean-
ingful work. What we mean is that if these three
characteristics exist in a job, we can predict that the
person will view his or her job as being important,
valuable, and worthwhile. Notice, too, that jobs that
possess autonomy give the job incumbent a feeling
of personal responsibility for the results and that, if a
job provides feedback, the employee will know how
Ulrich Baumgarten/Getty Images suggests that internal rewards are obtained when an
effectively he or she is performing.
From a motivational point of view, the JCM

employee learns (knowledge of results through feed-
back) that he or she personally (experienced respon-
sibility through autonomy of work) has performed
well on a task that he or she cares about (experienced