Managing successfully in today\'s business environment requires striking a balan
ID: 390517 • Letter: M
Question
Managing successfully in today's business environment requires striking a balance between efficiency and motivation; simply figuring out the best way to perform a job is not enough. To compete for and retain top talent, companies need to design jobs that employees find interesting and satisfying. The Job Characteristics Model, developed by Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham, puts forward five key characteristics to motivate employees: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback.
Review the section on "Designing Jobs That Motivate." This activity is important because you will look at several practical methods of job design that attempt to achieve one or more of these characteristics.
The goal of this activity is to identify approaches to designing a job to make it motivating.
Read each question HR professionals must answer, then match it to the correct functional area of HR it represents.
1. Nick observes that the defect rate on his night production line keeps going up. His employees tell him that it is hard to stay focused doing the same thing over and over late at night.
(Click to select) Job Enlargement Job Enrichment Flextime Telework
2. Store policy requires that all refunds are authorized by a manager, but this can be very frustrating for both cashiers and customers when checkout lines are long.
(Click to select) Job Enlargement Job Enrichment Flextime Telework
3. An office manager notices that several employees are regularly late to work. She learns that they have young children, and the schools’ start times make it difficult to get to work on time.
(Click to select) Job Enlargement Job Enrichment Flextime Telework
4. An account manager is quitting because her spouse found a new job in a different state. Her boss hates to lose her because she is an excellent contributor and does not mind the travel involved.
(Click to select) Job Enlargement Job Enrichment Flextime Telework
5. Sam’s staff is very loyal and productive, but they seem to be bored at work lately. No one has asked for more responsibility, but they must be kept engaged or production will suffer.
(Click to select) Job Enlargement Job Enrichment Flextime Telework
6. Bill directly supervises four people, but it is his supervisor who actually prepares their performance appraisals. Bill feels this undercuts his authority with his staff.
(Click to select) Job Enlargement Job Enrichment Flextime Telework
7. Val’s employees are frustrated because they need to use sick days for parent-teacher conferences and doctor’s appointments. Val doesn’t like it either, but she is unsure how to handle it.
(Click to select) Job Enlargement Job Enrichment Flextime Telework
Explanation / Answer
1. Nick observes that the defect rate on his night production line keeps going up. His employees tell him that it is hard to stay focused doing the same thing over and over late at night.
2. Store policy requires that all refunds are authorized by a manager, but this can be very frustrating for both cashiers and customers when checkout lines are long.
3. An office manager notices that several employees are regularly late to work. She learns that they have young children, and the schools’ start times make it difficult to get to work on time.
4. An account manager is quitting because her spouse found a new job in a different state. Her boss hates to lose her because she is an excellent contributor and does not mind the travel involved.
5. Sam’s staff is very loyal and productive, but they seem to be bored at work lately. No one has asked for more responsibility, but they must be kept engaged or production will suffer.
6. Bill directly supervises four people, but it is his supervisor who actually prepares their performance appraisals. Bill feels this undercuts his authority with his staff.
7. Val’s employees are frustrated because they need to use sick days for parent-teacher conferences and doctor’s appointments. Val doesn’t like it either, but she is unsure how to handle it.
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