Job Specialization and Job Characteristic Model - Essay Example

Job specialization and job characteristic model Name Instructor Subject Date Introduction Statistics have shown that most companies, need and look for employees with flexible sets of skills and knowledge. This is because they will be handier in performing their work and coordinating with other functions in the company as well. However, some employees may find themselves specializing in a certain job or task among the various tasks they carry out. Job specialization may therefore be defined as the deliberate focusing of one’s occupational concentration on a specific area of expertise. Job characteristic model is the theory/body of knowledge used to counter the negative attribute of job specialization, the model has the following factors, skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback (Bartol, & Bretag, 2007, p. 78). This paper is aimed at looking at the reasons why companies use the job specialization approach and how job specialization may be modified to eliminate the boredom and low job satisfaction among employees. In order to realize why companies prefer their employees to be specialized in their jobs, it is vital to see the advantages that a company accrues to job specialization. 1. Increased productivity; once an employee becomes well acquainted with what they do, they are able to finish their work efficiently and quickly. Job specialization eliminates the need for training and supervision since the employees have well developed skill sets. The management of most companies prefers people with expertise in their given areas of work and this is achieved through specialization of jobs. 2. Fosters independence; while the new employees are being trained in their respective jobs the mangers do not have to give any attention to highly specialized employees. This makes it easier for the management and the company as well, on the contrary, highly specialized employees become mentors for the new trainees (Williams, & McWilliams, 2010, p. 78). 3. Job specialization also supports the organizational structure of the company which a vital and a highly relevant aspect in any company. This comes about as a result of the desire of the company to come up with a system that will work for them, the most favorable type of framework is whereby power and authority are distinguished between the management and the employees. This becomes easier for the managers to get tasks and break them down into particular solvable items and distribute them to the employees. 4. The reduction of quality control, costs; companies spends a far larger amount of resources to maintain high quality of work among their products and services, with job specialization the particular employees ensure that the workers have the best quality and quick jobs done by the company. This therefore guarantees a company that their services and products are the best available out there. Despite these advantages, job specialization has its disadvantages as well. These include, the limits of employees’ ability to multi task in the roles in the company due to the decreased flexibility. The employee also gets isolated and limited since their jobs are usually repetitive and gradually they become boring (Williams, & McWilliams, 2010, pp. 81-83). The employee gain a limited skill set which makes it harder for them to gain work outside their jobs. The company also loses, in the event that their employees leaves their job for better pastures. In addition, the employees’ satisfaction in their work becomes decreased and reduced a lot, according to experts, this is disadvantageous for the company since job satisfaction leads to high motivation which leads to high performance and increased productivity in the workplace. To increase the motivation of the employees the management has to consider some of the following vital factors: 1. Skills variety; amidst the jobs specialization approaches the employees’ develop a lot of skills in the particular job. The management has to encourage the employees to utilize a variety of those skills when achieving their jobs. The combination of these skills, encourage the employee to perform even better work and do it enthusiastically. The management should therefore ensure that the tasks allocated a particular employees are in line with most of the skills that they possess. Sufficient use of skills also makes the employee utilize most part of their knowledge and sense when doing the job, thereby, increasing the competence. 2. Task identity; according to the job characteristic model, task identity applies to the motivational aspect of an employee since it boosts their sense of relevance in the company and the task involved. Task identity, can be described as the involvement of the employee in all stages of the allocated task; that is from start to the end. A sense of belonging for any employee is vital, it creates an aura of importance, acceptability and relevance in the company. This therefore boosts the employee’s sense of safety in the corporation. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, safety is a vital aspect in all dimensions of human life (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter, 2003, p. 78). 3. The task is significant; an employee has the need of feeling that his job is significant in the company. This addresses the psychological need of the employee which among them is self-esteem. Maslow addressed this by mentioning that the basic aspects like a monetary compensation of the employee is the basic factor, the second factor is safety which has been covered in task identity. However, the psychological needs are task significance of the nature of the employees’ work. When this is satisfied, the employee ensures that their work is impressive, high quality and well made in order to increase the status of the company. 4. Autonomy; this describes the employees’ freedom to carry out the task in a free and unsupervised manner. As mentioned earlier, job specialization comes with a high degree of the realization of what need to be done and carried out. In order to have the employee motivation and work satisfaction increased, the management has to allow a specialized employee the right to use their intelligence, skill and knowledge in their tasks (Williams, & McWilliams, 2010, p. 89). This increases the confidence of the employee in their work and allows them to utilize all their creativity in coming up with the job, thereby increasing job satisfaction. 5. Feedback; this concept deals with how effective the systems by allowing the employee to know about the quality of their work. The employees’ level of work increases when they are able to acquire knowledge on the level of the work they perform. However, a manager needs to be cautious regarding the form of feedback they utilize. It is vital to note that employees, just like other people are different from one another and the mode of appreciation utilized should be different and address such an aspect. For instance, some employees pursue affiliation, while others pursue achievement (Bartol, & Bretag, 2007, pp. 78-79). As a manager, realizing where ones’ employees feel is important for the appraisal of the employees. The basic concept behind job design is the utilization of the organizational structure to increase the motivation of the employees, thereby increasing their satisfaction at the work place. Many management and leadership traits are usually analyzed in order to give the managers an edge over the loss of motivation among their employees and to foster the increased performance if workers. It is vital for one to note that firms/organizations/companies are institutions made for the realization of certain goals and objectives (Bartol, & Bretag, 2007, p. 45). The managers are just the drivers that are supposed to navigate the employees into realizing the goals, however, despite the efficiency of the use of job specialization, the disadvantages that accrue over time may destroy the company. That is why the job characteristics analyzed above have to be the handbook of any manger leading a company. To reduce boredom at the work place, the management can devise intelligent ways of carrying this out. However, the synchronization of these factors brings out a perfect blend that when used to complement all the other factors that managers are supposed to learn in order to boost motivation at the workplace. Such include the reward system which is catered for by the feedback process, while the need of involvement of employees in the workplace is catered for by the job identity. The job characteristic model is a perfect model for this, as one can tell. This can be simply termed as the combination of tasks. It is essential for one to note that recent studies show that monetary compensation is the least of employees’ worries when it comes to their jobs. Unlike the previous periods (during the Ford’s era) when specialization in a given task was the company’s major goal, today it’s the pursing of employee satisfaction in their work and this then reflects on the company’s performance and returns (Bartol, Martin, Tein, Matthews, Sharma, Ritson, and Scott-Ladd, 2009, p. 67). Forming of natural work simply applies to the employees’ effective use of their job specification to a level where the work/task carried out comes naturally to the employee. Sufficient use of job specialization, bring about, job perfection which is what clients/customers look for, so the firm is able to retain their existing customer base as well as the lure in more clients. Feedback channels get access since the employees are notified on their performance of their work in the right manners. Conclusion This paper has focused on the job characteristics model and has elaborated how the mix of the given aspects can be utilized to achieve the perfect blend between the efficiency of job specialization and the morale drawn from job satisfaction. The paper has clearly shown the key areas that are involved when creating motivation among the employees and the relevant concepts that a manager can utilize. Finally the paper has elaborated the distinct methods that boost motivation among the employees. They are; combining tasks, forming natural work, Establishing client relationships and opening feedback channels, which have concluded this essay. References Bartol, K, Martin, D, Tein, M, Matthews, G, Sharma, B Ritson, P and Scott-Ladd, B (2009):  Management Foundations, A Pacific Rim Focus, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill, Sydney. Bartol, K & Bretag, T (2007): Management Foundations, 2nd Edition: BMO1102 Management and Organisation Behaviour McGraw-Hill, Sydney. Bartol, K, Martin, D, Tein, M, Matthews, G, Ritson, P and Scott-Ladd, (2005): Management Foundations, A Pacific Rim Focus, 1st Edition, McGraw-Hill, Sydney. Robbins, S.P, Bergman, R, Stagg, I and Coulter, (2003): Foundations of Management, Prentice Hall, Sydney. Williams, C & McWilliams, A (2010): MGMT, Asia Pacific Edition Cengage Learning, Melbourne. Read More