The Hackman-Oldham Job Characteristics Model and Job Design

Prof. DEBASISH DUTTA

JOB SPECIALIZATION

In many organizations, one finds that job specialization is the rule. There are clearly many advantages to creating specialized jobs: Job are mastered quickly Jobs can be changed quickly and easily Training costs are minimized
Prof. DEBASISH DUTTA

JOB SPECIALIZATION

However, there are also negative consequences to specialized jobs:

Monotony of tasks causes worker alienation Employees may have to be paid extra because of the alienation created by monotonous jobs Monotony and boredom may result in poor quality workmanship Worker motivation is reduced

Prof. DEBASISH DUTTA

Motivation-Hygiene Theory

The motivation of employees is important to organizations since it is one of several factors that significantly affects the productivity of employees. Raising the level of motivation increases profitability through greater creativity and commitment in employees.

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Motivation-Hygiene Theory

Herzberg's Two Factor Theory, also known as the Motivation-Hygiene Theory, was derived from a study designed to test the concept that people have two sets of needs: 1. Their needs as animals to avoid pain 2. Their needs as humans to grow psychologically
Prof. DEBASISH DUTTA

Herzberg's Study

...two hundred engineers and accountants in Pittsburgh were interviewed. To test the hypothesis, engineers and accountant were interviewed to assess events that led to significant changes in their job attitudes and to determine the factors that caused those changes

Prof. DEBASISH DUTTA

Herzberg's Study Herzberg's study consisted of a series of interviews that sought to elicit responses to the questions: (1) Recall a time when you felt exceptionally good about your job. Why did you feel that way about the job? Did this feeling affect your job performance in any way? Did this feeling have an impact on your personal relationships or your well- being? (2) Recall a time on the job that resulted in negative feelings? Describe the sequence of events that resulted in these negative feelings.
Prof. DEBASISH DUTTA

Herzberg's Study

RESEARCH RESULTS It appeared, from the research, that the things making people happy on the job and those making them unhappy had two separate themes.

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Herzberg's Study

WHAT PEOPLE WANT FROM THEIR JOBS:

"...the things people said positively about their job experiences were not the opposite of what they said negatively about their experiences...." "...the factors which make people happy all are related to what people did: the job content... what made people unhappy was related to... job environment, job context... the way they're treated."
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Motivation-Hygiene Theory:

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SATISFACTION (MOTIVATION)

Five factors stood out as strong determiners of job satisfaction:

Achievement Recognition Work itself Responsibility Advancement

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SATISFACTION (MOTIVATION)

The last three factors were found to be most important for bringing about lasting changes of attitude. It should be noted, that recognition refers to recognition for achievement as opposed to recognition in the human relations sense.

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DISSATISFACTION (HYGIENE) The determinants of job dissatisfaction were found to be:

Company policy Administrative policies Supervision Salary Interpersonal relations Working conditions
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DISSATISFACTION (HYGIENE)

It appears that the central theme of the satisfiers (also called motivators) is one having to do with the relationship the employee has with his or her job; job content.
The theme of the dissatisfiers appears to be related to the environment or context of the job. These dissatisfiers seem to have little effect on positive job attitudes (in some of the literature, these dissatisfiers were called hygiene or maintenance factors).
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JOB SATISFACTION:

"...job satisfaction... and job dissatisfaction are not opposites; they are completely separate continua, like hearing and vision."

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Two Dimensions

At the psychological level, the two dimensions of job attitudes appear to reflect a twodimensional need structure: One need structure for the avoidance of unpleasantness
A parallel need system for personal growth

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Two Dimensions

For Herzberg, motivation results from personal growth and is based on an innate need to grow. In other words, people find satisfaction in work that is interesting and challenging. A desire to fulfill our potential drives us to seek growth and provides the incentive to achieve.

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Two Dimensions

According to Herzberg, the idea that the work one does is significant leads, ultimately, to satisfaction with the work itself. Employees will be motivated to do work that they perceive to be significant.

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Herzberg's Study

Frederick Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory addresses the issue of workplace motivation. According to Herzberg, motivation comes from job content. Therefore, it is important for managers to consider the nature of the jobs they ask their employees to do.

Prof. DEBASISH DUTTA

Herzberg's Study

Herzberg's approach can be summarized by:

If you want people to do a good job for you, then you must give them a good job to do.

However, it begs the question: "What is a 'good' job?"

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What's A Good Job?

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What's A Good Job?

Whereas Herzberg advocated the creation of "good" jobs, Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham built on that concept by attempting to refine our understanding of what a "good job" actually looks like. In other words, what are the characteristics of motivating jobs. Further, they also suggested that different workers react differently to jobs (not quite the universal reaction posited by Herzberg).
Prof. DEBASISH DUTTA

What's A Good Job? Hackman and Oldham's research led them to conclude that five key characteristics could be used to describe the motivating potential of a job. These characteristics are:

Skill variety Task identity Task significance Autonomy Feedback

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What's A Good Job?

They also found that workers who possessed what Hackman and Oldham called "high growth needs" responded positively to high motivating potential jobs, but those with low growth needs did not.

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Motivating Potential

Hackman and Oldham sought to "measure" the motivating potential of jobs. In other words, to measure the extent that a job exhibits the five characteristics
and Feedback.

Skill variety, Task identity, Task significance, Autonomy,

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Motivating Potential Their research found that jobs scoring high in terms of a combination of these five characteristics resulted in higher job satisfaction and productivity than jobs scoring low. For a job to be intrinsically motivating, all five characteristics must be simultaneously present, to some extent.

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Motivating Characteristics

Skill variety
Task identity

Task significance
Autonomy Feedback
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Skill Variety:

Skill variety describes the degree to which a job requires the exercise of a number of different skills, abilities, or talents. Such activities must not merely be different, but they must be distinct enough to require different skills.

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Skill Variety Examples High Variety: The owner-operator of a garage who does electrical repairs, rebuilds engines, does body work, and interacts with customers. Low Variety: A body shop worker who sprays paint eight hours a day.

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Task Identity:

Task identity defines the extent to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work.

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Task Identity Examples High Identity: A cabinet maker who designs a piece of furniture, selects the wood, builds the object, and finishes it to perfection. Low Identity: A worker in a furniture factory who operates a lathe solely to make table legs.

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Task Significance:

Task significance refers to the importance of the job; the degree to which the job has an impact on the lives of other people, the immediate organization or the external environment.

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Task Significance Examples High Significance: Nursing the sick in a hospital intensive care unit.

low Significance: Sweeping the hospital floors.

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Autonomy:

Autonomy is the degree to which the jobholder is free to schedule the pace of his or her work and determine the procedures to be used.

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Autonomy Examples High Autonomy: A Salesperson who schedules his or her own work for the day, makes visits without supervision, and decides on the most effective sales techniques for each particular potential customer. Low Autonomy: A Salesperson who is given a specific number of leads each day and is required to use a standard sales script with each potential customer.
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Feedback:

Feedback is the degree to which the individual doing a job obtains information about the effectiveness of the performance. Feedback does not only refer to supervisory feedback, but also the ability to observe the results of their work.

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Feedback Examples High Feedback: An electronics factory worker who assembles a radio and tests it to determine if it operates properly. Low Feedback: An electronics factory worker who assembles a radio and then routes it to quality control inspector who tests it for proper operation and makes needed adjustments.
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Computing a Motivating Potential Score (MPS)

A motivating job (a high MPS score) shows evidence of all five core job characteristics. Skill variety, task identity, and task significance all serve to account for a sense of "meaningfulness". A job with autonomy serves to give the jobholder a sense of responsibility, while feedback satisfies the need for knowledge.
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The MPS Equation

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