Job Enrichment: Part-2

Principles of job enrichment:
1. Formation of a natural work unit:
Assign employees a complete project (a complete unit of work). It increases their sense of accomplishment. They can see their work results more clearly. It also increases their accountability for that work & fosters pride in a job well done.

2. Establishment of worker-client relationships:
An employee works for the customers’ need which in turn contributes into the organizational goals. To know the customers’ requirements better, it is important to get in touch with them. It is necessary that the client must be identified by an employee & the criteria should be there by which the customer can judge the quality of products & rely the judgments of the worker. The employee must be communicated client’s feedback for better relationships in future.

3. Assigning specialized tasks:
Assigning employees new or specialized tasks enables them to enhance knowledge & skills and helps them to become experts. It also recognizes some special ability in an individual employee & provides an opportunity for growth & advancement.

4. Vertical loading:
It refers to provide a higher responsibility with higher authority to an employee. An employee himself will be responsible for the complete task. It reduces the gap between doing the job & controlling the job.
It gives the employee a sense of personal accountability & responsibility for the work outcomes.

5. Opening of feedback channels:
Make the periodic reports directly available to the employees rather than just to their supervisors. It gives them direct feedback on their performance. It helps the employees to know whether their performance is improving, staying at the same level or deteriorating.


Steps of job enrichment
1. Ensure that company goals and objectives are clear and understood by all: Clearly define the company’s mission statement and specific objectives that emerge from it.

2. Advise each employee how s/he specifically “fits” into the achievement of these objectives: Let your employees know how important their individual contributions to the goals really are. Regardless of their position on the organization chart, everyone contributes to the success of the company.

3. Give staff the training and resources to achieve success: All would agree that, in the world of contemporary business, simply wishing will not make it so. Employees (and management, too) need the most up-to-date information, tools, and third party resources to achieve the lofty objectives facing them. Providing employees with the training and development they need to succeed also reinforces the belief that job enrichment is a serious goal of the company.

4. Create a direct link between performance levels and rewards: An effective job enrichment program is not an opportunity for management to be subtle. Be direct, clear, concise, and enthusiastic. Clearly define the performance levels expected and precisely outline the rewards employees will receive if their personal objectives are met. Ensure that the rewards are significant and match the achievement. Should one or more employees not achieve their objectives, provide a detailed explanation to give them the opportunity to improve in the future.

5. Provide the training, resources, and incentives your employees want: There are numerous documented cases of management meticulously implementing a job enrichment program that had no effect – or a negative effect – on staff performance. After spending quality time debating what went wrong, management has often realized they installed a program that their employees didn’t want. It’s embarrassing, but, unfortunately, not uncommon. Should management have any lingering doubt about how their employees feel and what they want, they can remedy this condition quickly and easily. Just ask them. Use formal or informal surveys, questionnaires, or team meetings to learn what they want. Your staff will appreciate your interest and will typically tell you what they believe is important to them.

Following this straightforward program may make a serious difference in employee performance. Its simplicity helps ensure that all levels of employees will understand the program, without the need for master’s degree-level courses to comprehend buzzwords or complex management theory.