UNIT-7
CONFLICT AND STRESS MANAGEMENT
A conflict is an expression of hostility, negative attitudes, aggression, rivalry and misunderstanding arising from difference of opinion among individuals. Organizational Conflict or workplace conflict is described as the state of disagreement or misunderstanding, resulting from the actual or perceived dissent of needs, beliefs, resources and relationship between the members of the organization. At the workplace, whenever, two or more persons interact, conflict occurs when opinions with respect to any task or decision are in contradiction.
According to David L. Austin, “It can be defined as a disagreement between two or more individuals or groups, with each individual or group trying to gain acceptance of its view or objectives over others.”
In simple terms, organizational conflict is the result of human interaction when one member of the organization discerns that his/her goals, values or attitude are incompatible with those of other members of the organization. The incompatibility in opinions can come into being, within a member, between two members, or between groups of the organization.
Causes of Organizational Conflict
The causes of organizational conflict are to be known in order to resolve them as early as possible, because it hinders the efficiency, effectiveness and productivity of the employees and the organization as well, which ultimately hampers its success.
Conflicts may arise in an organization for many reasons:
i. Unclear Responsibility: If there is lack of clarity, regarding who is responsible for which section of a task or project, conflict takes place. And, to avoid this situation, the roles and responsibility of the team members should be stated clearly and also agreed upon by all.
ii. Interpersonal Relationship: Every member of an organization, possesses different personality, which plays a crucial role in resolving conflict in an organization. Conflicts at the workplace are often caused by interpersonal issues between the members of the organization.
ii. Scarcity of Resources: One of the main reasons for occurrence of conflict in an organization is the inadequacy of resources like time, money, materials etc. due to which members of the organization compete with each other, leading to conflict between them.
iii. Conflict of Interest: When there is a disorientation between the personal goals of the individual and the goals of the organization, conflict of interest arises, as the individual may fight for his personal goals, which hinders the overall success of the project.
iv. Managerial Expectations: Every employee is expected to meet the targets, imposed by his/her superior and when these expectations are misunderstood or not fulfilled within the stipulated time, conflicts arise.
v. Communication Disruption: One of the major causes of conflict at the workplace is disruption in the communication, i.e. if one employee requires certain information from another, who does not respond properly, conflict sparks in the organization.
vi. Misunderstanding: Misunderstanding of information, can also alleviate dispute in organization, in the sense that if one person misinterpret some information, it can lead to series of conflicts.
vii. Lack of accountability: If in a project, responsibilities are not clear and some mistake has arisen, of which no member of the team wants to take responsibility can also become a cause of conflict in the organization.
Ways to Manage Conflicts in Organization
Following are some of the ways to manage organizational conflict:
- Handle the conflict positively.
- Formation of official grievance procedure for all members.
- Concentrate on the causes rather than their effect, to assess conflicts.
- Parties to conflicts should be given an equal voice, irrespective of their position, term or political influence.
- Active participation of all the parties to conflict can also help to counter it.
In an organization, conflict is inevitable and so various means are to be discovered to resolve them or use them in a way that can help the organization to increase its productivity.
Key Takeaways
- Conflict is a disagreement between two or more members or groups of an organization about resources or work activities that have different statuses, goals, values or perceptions.
- The causes of organizational conflict are to be known in order to resolve them as early as possible, because it hinders the efficiency, effectiveness and productivity of the employees and the organization as well, which ultimately hampers its success.
- Conflicts may arise due to unclear responsibilities, conflicting interests, lack of resources, non- fulfillment of managerial expectations, communication gap, lack of accountability, misunderstandings etc.
There are positive and negative aspects of conflict. Dealing with it in a healthy, empathetic, and timely manner is imperative to maintain and improve the productivity and the efficiency of any organization. For better conflict resolution, it is necessary to understand the types of conflict.
That type of conflict which supports the goals of the group and improves its performance is known as functional conflict. It is termed so because it is in line with the policies and goals of the organization. It increases productivity and motivates employees to find a creative solution for the problems at hand.
On the other hand, that type of conflict that hinders group performance is known as dysfunctional conflict. It can arise from personal differences and non-work-related issues such as different belief systems. While the issues are not related to the work at hand, these conflicts can interfere with peoples’ ability to focus on their tasks.
Ways to deal with functional and dysfunctional conflict
- The first step would be identifying the difference between functional and dysfunctional conflict. It is important to understand that these issues may have started off earlier in an unprofessional capacity.
- Ego games and office politics, where some employees look for personal gains rather than professional or organizational gains, should be identified and discouraged. This is because functional and dysfunctional conflict can seem interwoven if left unnoticed for a long time.
- Strategic one-on-one meetings and periodic employee reviews can help the leader gain insight into the situation.
- Differences in opinions should be encouraged if they are about work.
- A leader must be open-minded and entertain every idea and suggestion and comment on the work’s quality and structure.
- Functional conflict should be structured, where everyone gets an equal opportunity to voice their opinions.
- If someone feels he is treated unfairly, it is necessary to recognize the problem and enquire about his opinion on the matter at hand.
- Brilliant ideas and new perspectives can emerge from debates and discussions.
- Every employee should be encouraged to provide their opinion on any issue and nobody should receive any special treatment.
- A transparent and democratic process can bring about positive changes and can boost progress.
- If every worker feels that he or she has a voice in the decision-making process, productivity will increase and everyone will be motivated to work harder and faster.
- Dysfunctional conflict should be discouraged. Any personal remarks or comments that could affect any particular individual or a group negatively should be addressed immediately. If the conflict is arising from the increased stress or workload levels, put in a system in place to resolve such situations.
- Workers who have access to anti-burnout mechanisms tend to be more productive. Therefore, time and workload management skills should be imparted.
Key Takeaways
- That type of conflict which supports the goals of the group and improves its performance is known as functional conflict.
- That type of conflict that hinders group performance is known as dysfunctional conflict.
- Dysfunctional conflict should be discouraged.
In 1967, Pondy developed a process model of conflict which is very useful in understanding how conflict starts and what stages it goes through. Pondy identifies five stages in what he calls a “conflict episode”.
1. Latent conflict:
Latent conflict is the stage in which factors exist in the situation which could become potential conflict inducing forces. It provides the necessary antecedent conditions for conflict in organization. Four basic types of latent conflicts are:
a. Competition for scarce resources,
b. Drive for autonomy,
c. Divergence of subunit goals, and
d. Role conflict.
2. Perceived conflict:
Conflicts may sometimes arise even if there is no condition of latent conflict. This is the stage when one party perceives the other to be likely to frustrate his or her goals. It is due to the misunderstanding of each other’s true position. It can be resolved by improving communication between the parties.
3. Felt conflict:
It arises only after the differences become personalized or internalized (felt).
4. Manifest conflict:
This is the stage for open conflict. It takes the form of open aggression, sabotage, apathy, withdrawal etc.
5. Conflict aftermath:
The aftermath of the conflict may have positive or negative repercussions depending upon the way the conflict is resolved. If the conflict is merely suppressed and not resolved, then the latent conditions of conflict may be aggravated and explode in a more serious and violent form until they are rectified.
Key Takeaways
- Pondy developed a process model of conflict which involves five stages- Latent conflict, Perceived conflict, Felt conflict, Manifest conflict and Conflict aftermath.
Like motivation, stress is a very individual experience. One person can feel extreme pressure and anxiety over a task that is looming, and another might look at the same task and see it as an exciting challenge. In spite of that, we’ve seen an overall jump in the number of people that report stress on the job, and we can see how it’s taking its toll. Stress is a dynamic condition, and it exists when an individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraint or demand related to what he or she desires, and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important.
Stress isn’t necessarily bad, even though it’s usually discussed in a negative context. There’s opportunity in stress, and that’s a good thing because it offers potential gain. Even ordinary workers in an organization will use an increased workload and responsibilities as a challenge that increases the quality and quantity of their outputs.
Stress is negative when it is associated with constraints and demands. Constraints are forces that prevent a person from doing what he or she wants. Demands represent the loss of something desired. They’re the two conditions that are necessary for potential stress to become actual stress. Again, there must be uncertainty over the outcome and the outcome must be important.
The most common stressors in a person’s life are money, work, family responsibilities and health concerns. In most surveys on stress and its causes, these four elements have been at the top of the list for quite a long time. But managers should realize that all four of these are either directly or indirectly impacted by the workplace. Still, there are so many differences among individuals and their stressors. One person’s mind-crippling stress could be another person’s biggest motivation and challenge.
There are three types of factors of stress: Individual, Organizational, and Environmental. The individual factors of stress are: family issues, financial issues, and individual personality. The organizational factors of stress are: task and role demand, interpersonal demands, organizational structure, leadership and organizational life stage. The environmental factors of stress are: economic environment, political environment and technology.
- Individual Factors
The first of three sources of stress is individual. Family stress—marriages that are ending, issues with children, an ailing parent—these are stressful situations that an employee really can’t leave at home when he or she comes to work. Financial stress, like the inability to pay bills or an unexpected new demand on a person’s cash flow might also be an issue that disturbs an employee’s time at work. Finally, an individual’s own personality might actually contribute to his or her stress. People’s dispositions—how they perceive things as negative or positive—can be a factor in each person’s stress as well.
2. Organizational Factors
There’s a plethora of organizational sources of stress.
- Task or role demands: These are factors related to a person’s role at work, including the design of a person’s job or working conditions. A stressful task demand might be a detailed, weekly presentation to the company’s senior team. A stressful role demand might be where a person is expected to achieve more in a set amount of time than is possible.
- Interpersonal demands: These are stressors created by co-workers. An employee might be experiencing ongoing conflict with a co-worker he or she is expected to collaborate closely with. Or maybe employees are experiencing a lack of social support in their roles.
- Organizational structure: This refers to the level of differentiation within an organization, the degree of rules and regulations, and where decisions are made. If employees are unable to participate in decisions that affect them, they may experience stress.
- Organizational leadership: This refers to the organization’s style of leadership, particularly the managerial style of its senior executives. Leaders can create an environment of tension, fear and anxiety and can exert unrealistic pressure and control.
- Organizational life stage: An organization goes through a cycle of stages (birth, growth, maturity and decline). For employees, the birth and decline of an organization can be particularly stressful, as those stages tend to be filled with heavy workloads and a level of uncertainty about the future.
3. Environmental Factors
Finally, there are environmental sources of stress. The economy may be in a downturn, creating uncertainty for job futures and bank accounts. There may be political unrest or change creating stress. Finally, technology can cause stress, as new developments are constantly making employee skills obsolete, and workers fear they will be replaced by a machine that can do the same. Employees are also often expected to stay connected to the workplace 24/7 because technology allows it.
4. Individual Differences
This is also a source of stress, but differences within an individual determine whether this stress will be positive or negative. Those individual differences include:
- Perception: This is what moderates the individual’s relationship to the stressor. For instance, one person might see a potential lay-off as a stressful situation, while another person might see that same lay-off as an opportunity for a nice severance package and the opportunity to start a new business.
- Job Experience: Because stress is associated with turnover, it would stand to reason that those employees with a long tenure are the most stress-resistant of the bunch.
- Social Support: Co-workers, especially those who are caring or considered to be friends, can help protect a fellow employee against the affects of stress.
- Belief in locus of control: Those who have a high internal locus of control (those that believe they are in control of their own fate) are, unsurprisingly, not as affected by stress as those who feel they are not in control.
- Self-efficacy: Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief that he or she can complete a task. Research shows that employees who have strong levels of self-efficacy are more resistant to the effects of stress.
- Hostility: Some employees carry around a high level of hostility as a part of their personalities, and they’re often suspicious and distrustful of their co-workers. These personality traits make a person more susceptible to stress.
Key Takeaways
- Stress is a dynamic condition, and it exists when an individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraint or demand related to what he or she desires, and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important.
- There are three types of factors of stress: Individual, Organizational, and Environmental.
- The individual factors of stress are: family issues, financial issues, and individual personality.
- The organizational factors of stress are: task and role demands, interpersonal demands, organizational structure, leadership and organizational life stage.
- The environmental factors of stress are: economic environment, political environment and technology.
- This is also a source of stress, but differences within an individual determine whether this stress will be positive or negative. These are- perception, job experience, social support, hostility, self-efficacy etc.
Human capacity to work is limited. Every work requires care, attention and concentration. A person cannot work continuously for longer periods. The work output will be more in the morning and it goes on decreasing with passage of time as a worker will feel tried, mentally and physically, in the evening. The decrease in efficiency of working due to longer working periods is known as fatigue.
It is one of the most significant problems before industrial engineers. Fatigue has been defined as a negative appetite for work activity.
Fatigue can precisely be explained as follows:
1. It leads to loss of efficiency.
2. It results in more or less complete loss of responsiveness of tissue.
3. It may be termed as the reduced capacity of work resulting from work itself.
4. It is considered as state of ‘lack or interest’ in not only work but in other activities too.
Fatigue is related to the mental status of person. One person may not be tired even after long hours of work whereas the other person may feel fatigued or tired even after few hours of work. Some persons may feel fresh after a short relaxation during working periods while others may not regain energy even after longer rests. A number of factors such as aptitude, interest, nature of job, work environment or working conditions etc., influence the mind of persons on jobs.
Fatigue may be of the following types:
1. Physical fatigue:
Physical fatigue is caused either by continuous work for long periods or the nature of work like the work may be heavy and requiring lot of physical excursion. The physical capacities of workers are limited and they may feel tired after a continuous work for longer periods.
2. Mental fatigue:
A worker utilizes has brain for doing a job for a longer period. The doing of same work again and again will result in mental fatigue of the worker.
3. Nervous fatigue:
When work needs the use of mental and physical capabilities for a continuous period, it will result in nervous fatigue.
4. Industrial fatigue:
When a worker continues to work the job for longer periods, his efficiency and productivity will result in nervous fatigue.
Causes of Fatigue
Fatigue may be caused due to the following reasons:
1. Longer hours of continuous work without rest pauses may cause fatigue because muscles will be tired after long work.
2. Unsatisfactory working environment like insufficient light insanitation, congestion, noise elevated temperatures etc.
3. Fatigue may also be caused by personal reasons such as family tension, bad health etc.
4. There may be faulty design of machines and equipment which leads to wastage of energy of workers on them.
5. The complexity or production process may also put more loads on workers resulting into fatigue.
6. The workers may not be properly placed on jobs as per their skill levels.
7. The harsh attitude of supervisor may also result in fatigue of workers.
8. Inconvenient and awkward posture of worker (required for some particular jobs) i.e., standing or bending for longer periods may also be the cause of fatigue.
Methods of Reducing Fatigue
A fatigued worker will not be able to work with his original rhythm. Every industrial enterprise is expected to devise ways and means of reducing fatigue so that production does not suffer for longer periods.
Following methods may help in reducing fatigue and providing freshness to workers:
1. Rest pauses:
When workers continue to work for longer periods then they feel tired and need some rest. Rest pauses are of great importance in reducing fatigue as well as monotony. Rest pauses should be provided in such a way that workers feel relieved after working for some hours. A well planned rest pauses schedule will be of .great help in reducing fatigue.
2. Less hours of work:
Longer hours of work are the main cause of fatigue. The hours of work should be reduced to that optimum level where workers are able to keep up their working speed. The factories act in India allows only 48 hours a week for adult workers and it should be followed strictly.
3. Proper lighting:
Poor illumination is an important cause of disturbance and fatigue. The work place should be properly lighted so that workers are able to work without burdening their eye sight and brain.
4. Improving environmental conditions:
The humidity, temperature and ventilation influence workers at work. A proper balance of temperature, humidity should be maintained to make the work place comfortable and worth working so that fatigue is reduced.
5. Reduction of noise:
Undesirable noise will cause fatigue. It may also cause muscular tension. Unnecessary noise should be curbed to its, minimum level. Lower noise levels increase productivity of workers by reducing fatigue, removing cause of irritation.
6. Proper selection of employees:
A wrong selection of employees and their placement may also be a reason for fatigue and monotony. A job may require more physical input than worker has. In such situations the worker will feel fatigued after short duration of work. A square peg in a square hole will help in reducing fatigue and boredom so proper selection shall help in this regard.
8. Counseling of employees:
Anxieties and worries may be the main cause of fatigue with some workers. There may be job dissatisfaction domestic problem etc. the officers of personnel department should counsel the employees and help them in solving their problems.
Key Takeaways
- The decrease in efficiency of working due to longer working periods is known as fatigue.
- One person may not be tired even after long hours of work whereas the other person may feel fatigued or tired even after few hours of work. Some persons may feel fresh after a short relaxation during working periods while others may not regain energy even after longer rests.
- A number of factors such as aptitude, interest, nature of job, work environment or working conditions etc., influence the mind of persons on jobs.
Satisfaction means the simple feeling of attainment of any goal or objective. Job satisfaction refers to a person’s feeling of satisfaction on the job, which acts as a motivation to work. It is not the self-satisfaction, happiness or self-contentment but the satisfaction on the job. Job satisfaction relates to the total relationship between an individual and the employer for which he is paid. Job dissatisfaction brings an absence of motivation at work.
Research workers differently describe the factors contributing to job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction. Hoppock describes job satisfaction as, “any combination of psychological, physiological and environmental circumstances that cause and person truthfully to say I am satisfied with my job.”
Job satisfaction is defined as the, “pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job as achieving or facilitating the achievement of one’s job values.”
In contrast, job dissatisfaction is defined as “the unpleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job as frustrating or blocking the attainment of one’s job values or as entailing disvalues.” However, both satisfaction and dissatisfaction were seen as, “a function of the perceived relationship between what one perceives it as offering or entailing.”
Vroom (1982) defined job satisfaction as workers’ emotional orientation toward their current job roles. Similarly, Schultz (1982) stated that job satisfaction is essentially the psychological disposition of people toward their work.
Job satisfaction is a frequently studied subject in work and organizational literature. This is mainly due to the fact that many experts believe that job satisfaction trends can affect labour market behaviour and influence work productivity, work effort, employee absenteeism and staff turnover. Moreover, job satisfaction is considered a strong predictor of overall individual well-being, as well as a good predictor of intentions or decisions of employees to leave a job.
Job satisfaction is also important in everyday life. Organizations have significant effects on the people who work for them and some of those effects are reflected in how people feel about their work. As many studies suggest, employers benefit from satisfied employees as they are more likely to profit from lower staff turnover and higher productivity if their employees experience a high level of job satisfaction. However, employees should also be happy in their work, given the amount of time they have to devote to it throughout their working lives.
There are three main factors on which job satisfaction depends.
(i) Personal Factors:
They include workers’ gender, education, age, marital status and their personal characteristics, family background, socio-economic background and the like.
(ii) Factors Inherent in the Job:
These factors have recently been studied and found to be important in the selection of employees. Instead of being guided by their co-workers and supervisors, the skilled workers would rather like to be guided by their own inclination to choose jobs in consideration of ‘what they have to do’. These factors include- the work itself, conditions, influence of internal and external environment on the job which are uncontrolled by the management, etc.
(iii) Factors Controlled by the Management:
The nature of supervision, job security, kind of work group, and wage rate, promotional opportunities, and transfer policy, duration of work and sense of responsibilities are factors controlled by management. All these factors greatly influence the workers. These factors motivate the workers and provide a sense of job satisfaction.
Satisfaction strongly influences the productive efficiency of an organisation whereas absenteeism, employee turnover, alcoholism, irresponsibility, non- commitment are the result of job dissatisfaction. However, job satisfaction or dissatisfaction forms opinions about the job and the organisation which result in boosting up employee morale.
Job satisfaction tends to correlate with a number of other variables in the organization. Relations with some variables are given below:
i. Job-Satisfaction and Turnover:
Job-satisfaction consistently correlates with turnover. It might have been seen that employees having low job-satisfaction leave their employer as early as possible. So, low job satisfaction increases the turnover and high job satisfaction decreases it. Thus it has a negative correlation with labour turnover.
ii. Job-Satisfaction and Absenteeism:
Absenteeism has the same relationship with the job satisfaction as has the turnover. Both are negatively correlated. Employees who have low job satisfaction tend to remain absent off and on from their job.
iii. Job-Satisfaction and Community Condition:
Job- satisfaction is influenced by community conditions. It is generally advocated that poor community conditions pull down job satisfaction and better community conditions push it up. But this is not always true. What usually happens is that employees compare their community conditions with their job conditions. If job conditions are better than that of community conditions, job satisfaction is higher.
Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. The happier people are within their job, the more satisfied they are said to be. Job satisfaction is not the same as motivation, although it is clearly linked. Job design aims to enhance job satisfaction and performance methods include job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment.
Key Takeaways
- Job satisfaction refers to a person’s feeling of satisfaction on the job, which acts as a motivation to work. It is not the self-satisfaction, happiness or self-contentment but the satisfaction on the job.
Job Rotation is a management approach where employees are shifted between two or more assignments or jobs at regular intervals of time in order to expose them to all verticals of an organization. It is a pre-planned approach with an objective to test the employee skills and competencies in order to place him or her at the right place. In addition to it, it reduces the monotony of the job and gives them a wider experience and helps them gain more insights.
Job rotation is a well-planned practice to reduce the boredom of doing same type of job everyday and explore the hidden potential of an employee. The process serves the purpose of both the management and the employees. It helps management in discovering the talent of employees and determining what he or she is best at. On the other hand, it gives an individual a chance to explore his or her own interests and gain experience in different fields or operations.
Job rotation reduces monotony of the job. It allows employees to experience different type of jobs and motivates them to perform well at each stage of job replacement. For job rotations at a slightly higher level, it is absolutely necessary that the business problems in various areas are identified. This calls for the active involvement of top management. Select most suitable people to be shifted from their current jobs to tackle the challenges at hand by considering individual attributes already described above. This will not only provide an insight for the future leaders in various aspects of the business but also will enhance their confidence levels as they solve these critical problems for the organization. Job rotation at junior and middle level executives may be pivoted around their strengths and attributes and the future roles expected of them. Focus must be on exposure in all related areas of his domain of expertise, so that as they grow to higher rungs of the management, they have an overall experience of their domain. Job rotations for workers must include aspects related to work environment, also along with other individual attributes already explained, so that it adds to his satisfaction derived from balanced distribution of work load, working conditions and learning opportunities.
Key Takeaway
- Job Rotation is a management approach where employees are shifted between two or more assignments or jobs at regular intervals of time in order to expose them to all verticals of an organization.
Job enlargement is a job design technique wherein there is an increase in the number of tasks associated with a certain job. In other words, it means increasing the scope of one’s duties and responsibilities. The increase in scope is quantitative in nature and not qualitative and at the same level.
Job enlargement is a horizontal restructuring method that aims at increase in the workforce flexibility and at the same time reducing monotony that may creep up over a period of time. It is also known as horizontal loading in that the responsibilities increase at the same level and not vertically.
Many believe that since the enlargement is horizontal in nature there is not a great need for training! Contrary to this, job enlargement requires appropriate training especially on time and people management. Task related training is not required much since the person is already aware of the same or doing it for some time.
Job enlargement (sometimes also referred to as “horizontal loading”) involves the addition of extra, similar, tasks to a job. In job enlargement, the job itself remains essentially unchanged. However, by widening the range of tasks that need to be performed, hopefully the employee will experience less repetition and monotony that are common on production lines which rely upon the division of labour.
Benefits of Job Enlargement
The following are the major benefits of job enlargement:
1. Reduced Monotony: Howsoever interesting the job may appear in the beginning, sooner or later people complain of boredom and monotony. Job enlargement if planned carefully can help reduce boredom and make it more satisfying and fulfilling for the employees.
2. Increased Work Flexibility: There is an addition to the number of tasks an individual performs. There is thus an increased scope of carrying out tasks that are versatile and yet very similar in certain aspects.
3. No Skills Training Required: Since the individual has already been performing the task in the past, there is no great requirement for imparting of new skills. However, people and time management interventions may be required. The job thus gets more motivational for the one performing it.
With job enlargement, the employee rarely needs to acquire new skills to carry out the additional task, and the motivational benefits of job enrichment are not usually experienced. One important negative aspect is that job enlargement is sometimes viewed by employees as a requirement to carry out more work for the same amount of pay.
Key Takeaway
- Job enlargement is a job design technique wherein there is an increase in the number of tasks associated with a certain job. In other words, it means increasing the scope of one’s duties and responsibilities.
- Job enlargement has a number of benefits like it reduces monotony, increases work flexibility etc.
Job enrichment means a vertical expansion of a job. It is different from job enlargement. Job enlargement means a horizontal expansion of a job. Job enrichment makes the job more meaningful, enjoyable and satisfying. It gives the workers more autonomy for planning and controlling the job. It also gives the workers more responsibility. Job enrichment gives the workers opportunities for achievement, recognition, advancement and growth. So, the workers are motivated to work harder. Therefore, Job enrichment makes the job a source of motivation.
Features of Job Enrichment
The characteristics or features of job enrichment are: -
1. Nature of Job: Job enrichment is a vertical expansion of the job. The workers are given jobs, which require higher-level knowledge, skills and responsibilities. Job enrichment improves the quality of the job.
2. Objective: The objective of Job enrichment is to make the job livelier and challenging. So, the job is a source of motivation for the workers.
3. Positive Results: Job enrichment gives positive results if the workers are highly skilled. This is because workers are given opportunities to show initiative and innovation while doing their job.
4. Direction and Control: Job enrichment encourages self-discipline. It does not believe in external direction and control.
Advantages of Job Enrichment
The importance or merits or advantages of job enrichment are: -
1. Job enrichment is useful to both the workers and the organization.
2. The worker gets achievement, recognition and self-actualization.
3. The worker gets a sense of belonging to the organization.
4. The worker finds the job meaningful.
5. Job enrichment reduces absenteeism, labor-turnover and grievances.
6. It motivates the workers to give best performance.
Job Enrichment and Job Enlargement
The difference between job enrichment and job enlargement is essentially of quantity and quality.
- Job enlargement means increasing the scope of job quantitatively by adding up more tasks, but job enrichment means improvement in the quality of job such that employees are more satisfied and fulfilled.
- Through job enrichment an employee finds satisfaction and contentment in his job and through job enlargement employee feels more responsible and worthwhile in the organization.
- Job enrichment entails the functions of planning and organizing and enlargement involves execution of the same. Both complement each other, in that job enrichment empowers and enlargement executes.
- Job enrichment depends upon job enlargement for success and the reverse in not true.
- Job enrichment means a vertical expansion in duties and responsibilities and span of control whereas in job enlargement the expansion is horizontal in nature.
Job enrichment has been found to have greater impact in terms of motivation when compared to job enlargement. Since enrichment gives employee greater insights in managerial functioning and a better work profile, it is looked upon as an indicator of growth and development. The same is not true in case of job enlargement which is seen as an employer tactic to increase the work load.
Key Takeaway
- Job enrichment means a vertical expansion of a job.
- It is different from job enlargement.
- Job enrichment has been found to have greater impact in terms of motivation when compared to job enlargement.
References:
- Gupta, S.K. and Joshi, R. Human Resource Management. Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi (2009).
- Gupta, S.K. & Joshi, R. Organizational Behavior. Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi (2002), pp. 255.
- Khanka, S.S. Organisational Behaviour. S. Chand & Company Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi (2000). Pp. 560
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