How does job design affect work motivation?

Supporting a work environment that motivates the worker is an important thing within any company. If you lack motivated employees that can actually produce good quality work, it is likely that the company will face challenges. A business works well with enthusiastic and motivated employees.

A job holds a significant value for an individual throughout his adulthood. It not only provides them a living but also contribute to achieving their desired achievement just like economic and cultural goals. Studies indicate that people who work for a living spend a substantial time at work. Hence, a good work environment is necessary to provide the workers with satisfaction and motivation to maintain their employment interest.

The desired results are achieved by the job design. It provides workers with the motivation to complete their tasks efficiently through internal satisfaction. This leads to higher productivity and quality of work with lower employee turnover rates.

What is Job Design?

It is the process of outlining the tasks, duties, responsibilities, and relationships required to perform the given set of a job. Job Design bounds the components of the task and the interaction amongst the employees, which satisfies both the organizational needs and the social needs of the job holder.

Why Does It Matter?

The well-being of an employee is an important task in any workplace. Your level of motivation, communication, and overall mental health is directly affected by job satisfaction. Employees are dissatisfied with their work when there are unrealistic demands and inadequate support. The stress caused by them can cause negative mental and physical health outcomes. When an employee is not provided with a healthy work environment along with an adequate motivational drive to produce excellent output, he will most likely continue to work for the company. Therefore, Job Design is important in every business.

The idea behind motivation power is that when employees are interested in their jobs, they will give it their all to produce better results, which benefits both the employee and the company that he is working for.

Consider quality over quantity

Burdening your employees with loads of difficult tasks can reduce the quality of work they produce. Furthermore, it leads to severe stress. Try to find a balance that keeps your employees busy without overburdening them with huge tasks. Allowing the employees with flexibility can help them handle the tasks according to their own schedule and preferences.

A job will feel miserable when its tasks are dull and lack prestige. An ideal job design includes numerous important responsibilities that are mixed with lower-stake tasks.

The five major characteristics of job design are skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and job feedback. A company should use this job characteristic model to improve job design.

Let’s talk a little bit about them one at a time;

1. Skill Variety
   Employees are motivated when there is a different method used to perform a job. Work is done efficiently when team members use a variety of skills to complete a task rather than using one set of skills repeatedly.

2. Task Identity
   Task identity involves completing the whole work from A to Z without the need for another employee to finish it. When an employee is tasked to complete a given project or work wholly, he is motivated and achieves a sense of task identity. Employees will find meaning in a job if they can work on projects from start to finish. Task identity is one factor in the job characteristic model that influences the meaningfulness of work. Employees who contribute a small portion to multiple projects, but never see the outcome will identify less with their work, thus lowering employee motivation. Therefore, it is important to let employees completely finish a task they are assigned to.

3. Task Significance
   When an employee is given an opportunity to do work that brings a positive impact on the well-being of other people, it is called task significance. An employee will be motivated to perform his task when he knows that it will benefit others. For example, a firefighter will perform his duties efficiently because he has to save the lives of people in danger.

4. Autonomy
   When employees are given flexible hours to complete a specific task, they are motivated to complete it before the due time. Employees should be allowed to make decisions and have flexibility in their roles. Motivation is lost when an employee feels like he has no freedom over his workplace. A considerable amount of autonomy leads to an improved employee experience and a boost in productivity.

5. Job feedback
   Job motivation comes from many areas, especially when an employee is given credit for his performance. There should be a balance between the amount of negative and positive feedback given to the employees so that the employees remain motivated for a longer period of time.  Feedback from work itself provides a good amount of satisfaction for the employees.

All in all, when a job has these five characteristics, the workplace will be more meaningful, there will be a desire to complete different tasks assigned to each employee. Therefore, he/she will feel more responsible and have more knowledge of the work results.

Job design is an approach used by various organizations to create jobs that are motivating for employees. It is a necessary approach taken by companies to ensure good results and conditions that benefit both the employees and the company itself. This indicates a fine balance and difficulty when it comes to job design. There are many jobs that lack motivation and a sense of achievement. In this case, there are still other means of producing satisfaction, motivation, and a sense of meaning to employees. These include good management, creating a strong culture that connects and pulls people in to continue performing tasks within the workplace.

When all of this is done well, job design can be an incredibly fun and rewarding process that is beneficial for both the manager and the employee.

How does job design help motivate an employee?

How can we design a job that motivate?

What is the impact of job design?