Job characteristics theory is a
theory
A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...
of
work design
Work design (also referred to as job design or task design) is an area of research and practice within industrial and organizational psychology, and is concerned with the "content and organization of one's work tasks, activities, relationships, an ...
. It provides “a set of implementing
principles for
enriching jobs in organizational settings”.
The original version of job characteristics theory proposed a
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure.
Models c ...
of five “core” job characteristics (i.e. skill variety, task identity, task significance,
autonomy, and
feedback) that affect five work-related
outcomes (i.e.
motivation,
satisfaction,
performance, and
absenteeism
Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation without good reason. Generally, absenteeism is unplanned absences. Absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implic ...
and
turnover) through three psychological states (i.e. experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility, and knowledge of results).
[Hackman, J. R. & Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of the job diagnostic survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60(2), 159–170.]
History
Work redesign first got its start in the 1960s. Up until then, the prevailing
attitude was that jobs should be simplified in order to maximize
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
, however it was found that when subjected to highly routinized and repetitive tasks, the benefits of simplification sometimes disappeared due to worker dissatisfaction. It was proposed that jobs should be enriched in ways that boosted motivation, instead of just simplified to a string of repetitive tasks.
[Oldham, G. R., & Hackman, J. R. (2010) Not what it was and not what it will be: The future of job design research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31, 463–479.] It is from this viewpoint that Job Characteristics Theory emerged.
In 1975, Greg R. Oldham and J. Richard Hackman constructed the original version of the Job Characteristics Theory (JCT), which is based on earlier work by Turner and Lawrence
[Turner, A. N., & Lawrence, P. R. (1965). Industrial jobs and the worker. Boston: Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.] and Hackman and Lawler.
[Hackman, J. R., & Lawler, E. E. (1971). Employee reactions to job characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology Monograph, 55(3), 259–286.] Turner and Lawrence,
provided a foundation of objective characteristics of jobs in work design. Further, Hackman and Lawler
indicated the direct effect of job characteristics on employee's work related attitudes and behaviors and, more importantly, the individual differences in need for development, which is called Growth Need Strength in Job Characteristics Theory.
In 1980, Hackman and Oldham presented the final form of the Job Characteristics Theory in their book ''Work Redesign''. The main changes included the addition of two more
moderators- ''Knowledge and Skill'' and ''Context Satisfaction'', removal of the work outcomes of absenteeism and turnover, and increased focus on ''Internal
Work Motivation
Work motivation "is a set of energetic forces that originate both within as well as beyond an individual's being, to initiate work-related behavior, and to determine its form, direction, intensity, and duration."Pinder, C. C.(2008). Work motivati ...
''. Several of the outcome variables were removed or renamed as well. Concentration was shifted to the affective outcomes following results from empirical studies that showed weak support for the relationship between the psychological states and behavioral outcomes.
In addition to the theory, Oldham and Hackman also created two
instruments, the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) and the Job Rating Form (JRF), for assessing constructs of the theory.
[Hackman, J. R. & Oldham, G. R. (1980). Work redesign,(Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA).] The JDS directly measures jobholders' perceptions of the five core job characteristics, their experienced psychological states, their Growth Need Strength, and outcomes. The JRF was designed to obtain the
assessments from external observers, such as
supervisors or
researcher
Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...
s, of the core job characteristics.
Important variables
According to the final version of the theory, five core job characteristics should prompt three critical psychological states, which lead to many favorable personal and work outcomes. The moderators Growth Need Strength, Knowledge and Skill, and Context Satisfaction should moderate the links between the job characteristics and the psychological states, and the psychological states and the outcomes.
Core job characteristics
* ''Skill Variety'': The degree to which a job requires various activities, requiring the worker to develop a variety of skills and talents. Jobholders can experience more meaningfulness in jobs that require several different skills and abilities than when the jobs are elementary and routine.
* ''Task Identity'': The degree to which the job requires the jobholders to identify and complete a workpiece with a visible outcome. Workers experience more meaningfulness in a job when they are involved in the entire process rather than just being responsible for a part of the work.
* ''Task Significance'': The degree to which the job affects other people's lives. The influence can be either in the immediate organization or in the external environment. Employees feel more meaningfulness in a job that substantially improves either psychological or physical
well-being
Well-being, or wellbeing, also known as wellness, prudential value or quality of life, refers to what is intrinsically valuable relative ''to'' someone. So the well-being of a person is what is ultimately good ''for'' this person, what is in th ...
of others than a job that has limited effect on anyone else.
* ''Autonomy'': The degree to which the job provides the employee with significant freedom, independence, and discretion to plan out the work and determine the procedures in the job. For jobs with a high level of autonomy, the outcomes of the work depend on the workers’ own efforts,
initiative
In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...
s, and decisions; rather than on the instructions from a manager or a manual of job procedures. In such cases, the jobholders experience greater personal responsibility for their own successes and failures at work.
* ''Feedback'': The degree to which the worker has
knowledge of results. This is clear, specific, detailed, ''
actionable'' information about the effectiveness of his or her job performance. When workers receive clear, actionable information about their work performance, they have better overall knowledge of the effect of their work activities, and what specific actions they need to take (if any) to improve their productivity.
Critical psychological states
* ''Experienced Meaningfulness of the Work'': The degree to which the jobholder experiences the work as intrinsically meaningful and can present his or her value to other people and/or the external environment.
* ''Experienced Responsibility for Outcome of the Work'': The degree to which the worker feels he or she is accountable and responsible for the results of the work.
* ''Knowledge of Results of the Work Activities'': The degree to which the jobholder knows how well he or she is performing.
Outcomes
Adopted from earlier work the personal and work outcomes of the initial theory were: ''Internal Work Motivation'', ''Job Satisfaction'', ''Absenteeism and Turnover'', and ''Performance Quality''. However, the 1980 revisions to the original model included removing absenteeism and turnover, and breaking performance into ''Quality of Work'' and ''Quantity of Work''.
Moderators
* ''Growth Need Strength (GNS)'': GNS is the strength of a person's need for personal