Job Redesign Paper Example

In an attempt to change the usual top-down job design structure where the managers decide on the roles and responsibilities of employees, individuals have developed off-the-book means of improving their duties and the quality of services they offer through job crafting (Wrzesniewski et. Al, 2013). The ship crew of Relax Lines, Inc. may apply task crafting to ensure that their jobs do not get boring and to improve their productivity. For instance, they may decide to help the hospitality crew during their free times to ensure that the passengers are comfortable. This will include frequent visits and interactions with them to check on them. The best type of crafting for the hospitality group is the relational crafting. The team should redefine their responsibilities by expanding the boundaries to which they interact with the passengers. Other than just planning on the entertainment, the hospitality team can carry out a research on the other needs of the guests and create a plan on how to meet them. For instance, some customers get maybe uninterested with entertainment but impressed by other activities such as playing games and debating.

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Job crafting swap meets can be very helpful to the ship crew. Wrzesniewski (2015) states that swap meets brings together the employees, allows them too collectively and creatively discuss their duties. Such a scenario creates an opportunity for them to share their weaknesses and strengths. The ship crew may, for instance, come together and try to find out which duty fits each one of them best. For example, some may be good in navigation while others are good in maintenance. They may, therefore, decide to exercise some sort of specialization where they engage in what one is more comfortable with. As Wrzesniewski states, "one's most treasured task is something that the person next to them may dread" (2015). Doing something that one is passionate about brings about happiness and satisfaction (Dik & Duffy, 2012). Setting strategic goals that are in line with the skills and passion of the pilots and online marketers may also be an effective way to boost their productivity and satisfaction since they will only engage in activities they like.

Doing the same thing for a long time causes boredom and increases employees' turnover. To reduce this, most companies have used job enrichment approach that involves adding tasks to the employees as well as increasing their freedom over the means to achieve organizational goals (Bauer & Erdogan, 2012). The five job dimensions that can be used by businesses to reduce turnover are skill variety, task significance, task identity, autonomy and feedback (Griffin, 2007). ABC Corporation should consider revising skill variety and task identity job dimensions. Having the telemarketers only engage in making calls to the potential clients all the time may increase turnover. Some of these employees may possess talents and other skills that they are feeling are either underutilized or completely unutilized (Hartzell, 2015).This feeling may motivate the employees to look for jobs in other organizations where they will feel more appreciated. The company should, therefore, look for ways of improving the telemarketers'active engagement in the company's operations. Griffin (2007) defines task identity as the ability of the employees to identify with the outcome. In ABC Corporation, the telemarketers only handle the phone calls, but are not directly engaged with the buyers. The persuasiveness of other employees can also be used to explain the company's good sales.

Task significance, autonomy, and feedback should not be changed. The company's telemarketers have a positive impact on efforts of other employees and the general company performance. From their effective communication with the clients, the telemarketers create an opportunity for others such as the collecting data on customer satisfaction. On autonomy, the employees are given maximum freedom to handle their tasks as long as they maintain high sales which boost their satisfaction and productivity. In the video, Wrzesniewski states that studies show that employees perform better with high autonomy. The company grants the employees access to monthly feedback reports which enables them to carry out personal assessments.

In order to make the work of the practitioners more rewarding and less monotonous, the clinic management should consider using job crafting approach. The current system defines the roles and responsibilities of the practitioners thus limiting them from engaging in any other activity beyond the job description. Through task crafting, they may be able to engage in other activities they are skilled or talented in thus improving their productivity (Berg, Dutton, & Wrzesniewski, et. Al, 2013). Though working in healthcare sector requires high skills to avoid mistakes that may have adverse effects on the patients and the healthcare facility, the practitioners may expand their duties to reduce boredom. The new tasks that the three may engage in include making follow-ups on patient's adherence to medication, conversations with the patients, monitoring the cleanliness of the facility and carrying out research on any future developments in the facility.

Engaging in extra duties will help the practitioners establish a way of spending their free time. The activities help in improving the quality of outcomes of their work and improve the environment in which they work in. all these add meaning to their work (Dik and Duffy, 2012). This may also be achieved with swap meets where the management brings together all the practitioners and gives an opportunity to explain what else they can do (Wrzesniewski, 2015). This will ensure that they are more engaged and their expertise is used to the maximum thus motivating them more.

Job Redesign Definition

Job enlargement It is the process of adding tasks to an employee as a way of reducing monotony and boredom. The employees are thus engaged in more than their specialized task.

Job rotation It involves changing an employee from one task to another with an aim of keeping them motivated.

Job enrichment This approach involves adding more tasks to an employee while at the same time giving them more freedom to decide how they will carry out their duties.

Type of Job Crafting Task crafting This is an approach where an employee decides to change the nature, types and frequency of doing tasks to engage in activities they feel they are capable of.

Relational crafting The employees decide on maintaining and establishing relationships with individuals or groups that relate to their work.

Cognitive crafting It involves the employees perceptions and interpretations of their work and the established connections in relation to the tasks significance

Task crafting and job enrichment have a similarity in that in both, the employees' has additional tasks and autonomy. The employees are allowed to engage in other activities in which they are conversant with and relates to improving their experiences at the workplace. They also have the freedom to decide the means to use to perform the tasks as long as they maintain the standards of the company and the focus is on achieving the company goals. The main difference between job redesigning and job crafting is that in the former the organizational management of the company where the employee works at is involved in decisions while in crafting the employee may do it with or without the knowledge of the management.

References

Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2012). An introduction to organizational behavior. Retrieved fromhttp://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/an-introduction-to-organizational-behavior-v1.0/s10-01-motivating-employees-through-j.html

Berg, J. M., Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2013). Job crafting and meaningful work. Purpose and meaning in the workplace, 81-104.

Dik, B. J., & Duffy, R. D. (2012). Make your job a calling: How the psychology of vocation can change your life at work. Templeton Foundation Press.

Griffin, R. W. (2007). Student Achievement Series: Principles of Management. Cengage Learning. Chapter 6. Retrieved from http://college.cengage.com/business/griffin/sas_principles/1e/assets/students/know_bank/griffin_sas_KB_6.1.pdf

Hartzell, S. (2015). Types of job redesign: Job enrichment, enlargement & rotation. Introduction to Business. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8X0HCGKaLA

Wrzesniewski, A. (2015). Job crafting - Amy Wrzesniewski on creating meaning in your own work. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_igfnctYjA

Wrzesniewski, A., LoBuglio, N., Dutton, J. E., & Berg, J. M. (2013). Job crafting and cultivating positive meaning and identity in work. In Advances in positive organizational psychology (pp. 281-302). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.