ther hand, need to apply a variety of skills

to carry out their daily tasks. They may

handle customer complaints, create
employee schedules, order product, train
new managers, and numerous other tasks.
Is there a beginning, middle, and end to a task? Can an emplo
tell where one task ends and another begins? Project-based jo
have high levels of task identity. How much of one task does
Task identity
individual employee accomplish? For instance, if a designer
designs an entire room, that has a higher task identity than jus
designing the window treatments.
What type of impact does this task have on the entire compan
the customers? Jobs with higher task impact tend to have a br
Task significance
reach. For example, a chief marketing officer’s work affects t
whole company and has high task significance.
How much independence does this job have? Does a manager
oversee every tiny thing, or is the employee trusted to accomp
Autonomy the task? Higher task autonomy brings a feeling of ownership
responsibility. Lower levels of autonomy lead to feeling
micromanaged and stifled.
How much does an employee know about their own performa
Feedback can come from traditional channels, such as manage
feedback and customer satisfaction surveys. Or, feedback can
as a natural result of the work. If a janitor’s job is to clean the
Feedback bathrooms, they can take a look at the bathroom and see how
effective they are at their job. On the other hand, someone wh
works on a manufacturing line may not know how effective th
were at their job until the quality assurance people step in and
check the work.

Let’s have a look at how these core job characteristics translate into actual jobs:

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Primary school teacher
 Skill variety. High. A primary school teacher works with multiple children and

applies a multitude of skills on a daily basis. Every day there is a new challenge.

 Task identity. This can depend on the school and the assignment. Each unit can

have a beginning, middle, and end so that a teacher can see clear progress.

 Task significance. While many would argue that a primary school teacher has

incredibly high task significance, their impact may be limited to one class. In

contrast, a school principal oversees many teachers, students, and grades and

has a higher task significance.

 Autonomy. A teacher who designs their curriculum has a high degree of

autonomy. A teacher who must teach a pre-planned curriculum on a school

administration schedule, using only rewards and punishments approved by the

school board, will have a lower degree of autonomy.

Feedback. The primary school teacher receives feedback from a variety of sources.
They can see the test scores and progress their students make. They Bent thinks that
the fundamental issue at the plant is the lack of employee motivation. However, after
analyzing the plant, the main issue is productivity and more recently product quality
concerns. The 3 factor theory states that employees want to work. They want to achieve
things that are important to them as well as the company they work for. Bent mainly believes
that the Scanlon Plan is failing and that is why employees are not motivated, but he does visit
the possibility of other organizational factors briefly. Bent asks: Could he revise Scanlon in
some way that worked better during a downturn? Could he try to identify and change
organizational factors that might be undermining Scanlon at the plant? The answer is that the
Scanlon Plan doesn’t need to be changed. It is organizational factors and economic decreases
stated previously, that is causing the crisis at Engstrom. Although the economic downturn
can’t be controlled, there are certain strategies, techniques and organizational influences from
top management that can ease the pain of the downturn by creating an environment that
exhibits equity, achievement and camaraderie.

Bent and top management need to come up with a clear and direct communication strategy to
address the question of fairness and management distrust that originated prior to the industry
downturn of the Scanlon Plan. He needs to show employees how the bonus plan works rather
than just sharing data on a piece of paper because many employees don’t understand it which
is causing those issues. He should take the time to show that he cares about the wellbeing of
his staff. For example, team building exercises would be great to help foster business
relationships in a positive way. When employees consistently see and feel that the
organization is investing time, energy and effort in addition to the organization acting on
what they are saying, employees will begin to build that trust in management again. Further,
the layoffs need to be addressed and Bent and management need to provide employees with a
vision of the future state of the organization and acknowledge how important the employees
are to the future success of the company, the management team and the role they play in it.
This will help to increase and ease the negative feelings of job security that the employees are
feeling. There is no way that the value of, say, informal recognition or greater job authority
can be substantial or long-lasting if people feel mistreated on the basic equity issues (Sirota &
Klein, 2013).

Also, employees want and need to feel appreciated for the jobs that they are doing and the
good work that they are providing. Bent needs to ensure this is communicated but he also
needs to implement it into the company culture which will build the lack of camaraderie back
up. Bent feels strongly about not having an individual recognition system, however, it is vital
to attain the need of achievement. The Scanlon Plan lacks in this aspect. Monetary rewards
can’t substitute for other areas that are lacking in organizations or for uncontrollable events,
such as the economic and industry downturn. The recognition system should recognize
exceeding performance publically, should be for really outstanding work that doesn’t occur
often, and signifies appreciation from coworkers, management and the company as a whole.
Being able to achieve personal and organizational goals, taking pride in it and receiving
recognition are needed to acquire the sense of achievement.

 also receive information from their supervisors and parents. All these things work

together to provide a high degree of feedback.

Fast food worker
 Skill variety. If the employee runs a cash register, takes orders, makes

sandwiches, helps with inventory, and trains new hires, this job has a high degree

of skill variety. If, on the other hand, they stand at the sandwich making station all

day, it would be a low level of skill variety.

 Task identity. This would vary greatly depending on the skill variety. Someone

who spends the entire day in one station could have a beginning, middle, and an

end but not feel responsible for the whole process.

 Task significance. The typical fast-food worker makes very few decisions outside

of a small set of tasks–should I make the sandwich first or fill the drink cup?

These tasks have a low level of significance, as they do not affect the company as

a whole.

 Autonomy. With low variety, task identity, and task significance, this job also

comes with low autonomy. The fast-food worker makes sandwiches according to

a chart on the wall and fries french fries by pushing a pre-programmed button.

 Feedback. The fast-food worker receives feedback based on immediate

responses from customers and coworkers. Managers also provide feedback.

HR Generalist
 Skill variety. The HR generalist scores very high in skill variety, as they are

responsible for employee relations, benefits management, employee

compensation, and many other tasks daily, having to use multiple skills.

 Task identity. While there is a strong identity associated with the title, there is

very rarely a beginning, middle, and end. An HR generalist can never say, “all

employees are engaged and happy, so I’m done with employee engagement

tasks.”
 Task significance. A good HR generalist can help make a company run

smoothly. They can coach managers to be better, provide accurate information to

the government, and help employees navigate difficult situations at work. A bad

one can destroy the morale of the company. Therefore, task significance is high.

 Autonomy. This can vary greatly. An HR generalist who runs their department

and reports to a supportive company president can have a high independence

level. A company that limits the HR generalist’s work and undermines their

suggestions can create a job with low autonomy.

 Feedback. Feedback for an HR generalist can be difficult. Some successes or

failures aren’t seen for years, if ever. What’s more, a non-HR supervisor may not

understand what they accomplished and give limited feedback. As a result, this

can be a difficult job for accurate feedback.