Design Work To Engage Your Employees
In the current business environment, companies need to be doing everything they can to attract and retain employees. Employees have more choices about where they work and whether they are young or older, they are demanding more from their employers, including fulfilling work.
In the previous article, “5 Things To Evaluate In Order To See How Boring Your Company’s Jobs Really Are”, I discussed how important the core characteristics of; skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and job feedback are in how people see the jobs and work they are doing.
In this one, we will discuss some of the main strategies you can use to look at redesigning work to help enhance these characteristics. Here are the main four strategies:
Job rotation
Job rotation is the process of changing the duties of a job. When you rotate employees between different positions, they’re exposed to new tasks and responsibilities that may improve their skillsets. It can also be used as a way to provide them with fresh challenges and opportunities to learn new things. Job rotation is especially effective when employees are faced with challenges or problems that seem insurmountable, as these situations often give rise to innovation and creative problem solving.
Rotating between jobs that use different aspects of a person both mentally and physically can also be a great way to keep things fresh.
Job enlargement
Job enlargement is the process of increasing the range of activities that a worker should perform. This requires adding new and different activities to a job, while decreasing the amount of time spent on each activity. For example, instead of having an employee perform one task for eight hours straight (and struggling to focus), you could have them complete two different tasks for four hours each (and have them feel more engaged).
This is often naturally done as someone becomes better at their job, but putting more purposeful thought around how this could happen will allow employees to see their value.
Job simplification
Job simplification is the process of reducing the number of tasks a worker has to perform. It can be achieved by removing non-essential tasks, reducing the number of steps in a task or changing its sequence, and using technology to automate parts of it.
Job simplification helps you attract and retain employees by making their jobs easier, more efficient and less stressful. When people are happy with their work it reduces employee turnover which saves you money and time spent finding replacements for those who leave!
Job enrichment
Job enrichment is a way of increasing the challenge and complexity of a job. When it comes to attracting employees, rewarding work is a big part of the equation. It’s important to keep in mind that employees want to feel valued, they want to know their work makes a difference, and they want to learn new skills. They also want opportunities for growth as individuals. Rewarding work can mean offering perks like health insurance or flexible schedules; however, it should go beyond these basic benefits and include more tangible examples: performance bonuses based on company goals; off-site team building activities; opportunities for professional development; increased responsibility over time with corresponding pay increases (this is especially important for entry level positions).
The key to attracting and retaining employees is to provide them with satisfying work. For years many companies have been able to do things the same old way under the same old job titles. Redesigning work provides the opportunity to look at how the work is being done and to find new and innovative approaches to how it could be done in the future. It allows you to look at the skills and experience you really need, and how you can bring more flexibility in order to not only retain but attract top notch employees.
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