Reducing work force numbers, do we enlarge jobs or enrich them?

Posted by Joanna Allen on Sep 13, 2009

Companies continue to down size reducing work force numbers for what ever reason, be it patent loss, contract loss or none approval of products by NICE or local bodies.

Companies continue to down size reducing work force numbers for what ever reason, be it patent loss, contract loss or none approval of products by NICE or local bodies. Reduction in workforce numbers can lead to an increase in workload for those remaining further affecting motivation and morale. However re-structure can provide an opportunity to re-design jobs for the future.

Work in the area of motivation and job design shows various methods can be used to assist in the area of fulfilment at work. Two methods often mentioned are those of job enlargement and job enrichment. Job enlargement involves the addition of more tasks similar to those already being performed. This can quite often happen when down sizing occurs and territory sizes are expanded and can be de-motivational to all involved. Job enrichment involves increasing the numbers of tasks requiring higher degrees of decisions making, it is this extra autonomy in the decision making process which provides the differentiator between job enrichment and job enlargement.

Adopting a key account management (KAM) strategy can help to overcome the enlargement or enrichment dilemma. Enriching jobs to empower individuals and pushing the decision making down through the organisation to a local level can help to instil a greater sense of psychological ownership Birger (2008) describes psychological ownership as peoples feelings of ownership or possession towards something they do not own. Avey et als (2008) research in the area of psychological ownership found attitude, commitment, retention and job satisfaction are all improved if employees feel like business owners. If implemented and supported through the whole organisation adoption of a KAM model can enrich jobs and potentially lead to employees feeling like and behaving like business owners both of which have a positive effect on results and performance.