Organizational Behaviour
The Individual
Motivation III
Motivation in practice
Job Characteristics Model
Core Job
Characteristics
Skill Variety
Task Identity
Task Significance
Autonomy
Job Feedback
Critical Psychological
States
Personal and Work
Outcomes
Experienced
meaningfulness of
work
Experienced
responsibility for
work outcomes
High internal work
motivation
Knowledge of
actual work
results
High quality work
performance
High satisfaction with
work
Low absenteeism and
turnover
Job Characteristics Model
Core Job
Characteristics
Skill Variety
Task Identity
Task Significance
Autonomy
Job Feedback
Critical Psychological
States
Personal and Work
Outcomes
Experienced
meaningfulness of
work
Experienced
responsibility for
work outcomes
High internal work
motivation
Knowledge of
actual work
results
Moderators:
1. Knowledge and skill
2. Growth need strength
3. “Context” satisfactions
High quality work
performance
High satisfaction with
work
Low absenteeism and
turnover
Diagnosing for problems in
motivational job designs
• Survey method: The Job Diagnostic Survey
– MPS = skill variety + task identity + task significance X autonomy X
feedback
3
• Structural clues
– Presence of
:inspectors or checkers
:communications and customer
relations departments
:labour pools
:central decision making
Common job design activities
• Job rotation – adds variety and reduces
boredom
• Job enlargement/horizontal
loading/combining tasks – increases the
number of tasks performed by the individual
• Job enrichment/vertical loading – increases
the level of employee responsibility and
accountability (reducing supervision)
Common job design activities to
enrich jobs
• Establishing client relationships and
accountability
– Having employees responsible to those
receiving the product; both internally and
externally
• Forming natural teams
– putting teams together to produce a
complete product
Alternatives for those who do
not want job redesign
• ?????
Wage incentive plans for
production/manufacturing jobs
Plan type How it works
To be
effective
Advantages
Disadvantages
Wage
Incentive
Plans
Money for each
unit produced
(piece-rate) or
monthly
production
bonuses
Must be able
to measure
individual or
organizational
production
levels
Easy to
implement and
understand,
highly effective
Reduced quality,
differential
opportunity,
reduced
cooperation,
restriction of
productivity
Skills
Based
Pay
Plans
Salary
increases with
the number of
tasks that the
individual can
perform
Skills must be
linked to pay
levels, there
must be welldeveloped
training
procedures
The company
can operate
with less staff,
workers have a
broader view
of the company,
better problem
solving skills
Raised costs for
training and
salary, having
trained but
unused skills
Wage incentive plans for white collar jobs
Plan type How it works
To be
effective
Advantages
Disadvantages
Merit Pay
Plans
Must have
reliable and
valid methods
of measuring
performance
A method to
reward good
performance
at the
managerial
level, easy to
pay out
Ineffectiveness
created by lack
of distinction
between high
and low
performance, too
small of
increases, pay
secrecy
Bonuses are
given on either
a monthly or
lump sum
basis, based
upon
performance
evaluation
results
Group incentive plans – motivating
teamwork
Plan type
How it works
To be
effective
Advantages
Disadvantages
Profit sharing
and
ESOPs
A varying
annual bonus or
purchase
options based
on profits
Employees
must be able to
collectively
influence profits
Simple, easy to
communicate,
pays out only
when profitable,
unites employee
& employer
interests
Short term
perspective,
factors beyond
employee control
can influence, not
influence
everyone
Gainsharing
Based on
outcomes over
which
employees have
control
(increased
productivity or
cost reductions)
then members
get a bonus
Objectives must
be measurable,
employees must
trust
management
Increases
coordination and
teamwork,
employees learn
more about the
business, higher
motivation,
smarter work
methods
If focus only on
productivity will
be ineffective,
bonuses have to
be paid even
when unprofitable