Page 685 - Business Principles and Management

Unit 7

Improving the Work Environment

The needs and expectations of workers today are very different from those of
workers in the past. Work is just one part of an employee’s life. Of course, employ-
ees want jobs that provide a reasonable wage or salary. But the amount of money
earned is not always the most important thing. Today, employees are concerned
about a variety of factors related to their work, including the work schedule and
working conditions. Vacations, insurance, pensions, and other benefits are also
important to most people. They also want an interesting and challenging job as
well as recognition for their work. Both personal and financial needs are important
to employees, and managers must recognize those needs in order to maintain an
effective workforce.
Satisfied employees are more productive, have fewer absences, and are more
likely to want to stay with the company. Therefore, managers spend considerable
time working with employees to make the work environment as satisfying as pos-
sible. Studies have found that employees are most satisfied with their work when
they (1) perform interesting work, (2) feel responsible for the work, (3) receive
recognition for good work, and (4) have a feeling of achievement.
It is surprising to many managers that although the amount of compensation
is important to employees, it is not necessarily more important than other factors
related to the job. Because of these studies, companies are directing their organi-
zational development efforts toward the design of the work environment and
jobs to better meet employee needs. Job design refers to the kinds of tasks that
make up a job and the way workers perform these tasks in doing their jobs.

JOB ENLARGEMENT
Organizations try to make work more meaningful and motivating for employees.
One way to do this is through job enlargement, or making a job more interesting
by adding variety to the tasks. For example, three workers on an assembly line
might be responsible for three separate tasks, each one performing one task over
and over. With job enlargement, each worker is given responsibility to complete
all three tasks. In this way they can perform a greater variety of tasks, making the
work less monotonous and boring. Also, the company now has three people who
can perform all of the work rather than three specialized employees who can per-
form only one part of a complex job.
Employees should be involved in making the decision to change the job and in
redesigning the job. Employees also need training and adequate time and practice
to develop the new skills. Companies should not enlarge jobs just to reduce the
number of employees or to get employees to do more work. If employees believe
that these are the real reasons for enlarging their jobs, they will not accept the
changes willingly.

CROSS TRAINING

Another use of job design to increase employee effectiveness and motivation is
cross training. With cross training, employees are trained to perform more than
one job in the company, even though they typically perform only one. Employees
can be rotated to other jobs when an absence or illness occurs, while a replace-
ment employee is being trained, when a significant increase or decrease in the
amount of work occurs for a specific job, or simply to provide change and vari-
ety for employees. Cross training makes an employee more valuable to the com-
pany because that person can perform a broader set of work tasks. Employees

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