IV.Job Enrichment

 Frederick Herzberg, the advocate of two-factor theory, cautioned that jobs designed according to rules of simplification, enlargement, and rotation can’t be expected to be highly motivational for the workers. He instead suggested a clear and distinct job design alternative called “job enrichment”.

Job enrichment seeks to add profundity to a job by giving workers more control, responsibility, and freedom of choice over how their job is performed. It occurs when the work itself is more challenging, when achievement is encouraged, when there is prospect for growth, and when responsibility, feedback, and recognition are provided. Nonetheless, employees are the final judges of what enriches their jobs.

Herzberg developed the following set of principles for the enrichment of jobs:

removing some controls while retaining accountability;

increasing personal accountability for work;

assigning each worker a complete unit work with a clear start and end point;

granting additional authority and freedom to workers;

making periodic reports directly available to workers rather than to supervisors only;

the introduction for new and more difficult tasks into the job;

encouraging the development of expertise by assigning individuals to specialized tasks.