BUS272 TB

200 Part 2 Striving for Performance
OB at Work
EXHIBIT 5-9 Guidelines for Enriching a Job
Suggested Action
Core Job Dimensions
Combine tasks
Skill variety
Form natural work units
Task identity
Establish client relationships
Expand jobs vertically
Open feedback channels
Task significance
Autonomy
Feedback
Source: J. R. Hackman and J. L. Suttle, eds. Improving Life at Work
(Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear Publishing, 1977), p. 138 .
customer” as well as someone outside the organization). Wherever
possible, managers should try to establish direct relationships between
employees and their clients. This increases skill variety, autonomy, and
feedback for the employee.
4. Expand jobs vertically. Vertical expansion gives employees responsibilities
and control that were formerly reserved for management. It seeks
to partially close the gap between the “doing” and the “controlling”
aspects of the job, and it increases employee autonomy.
5. Open feedback channels. By increasing feedback, employees not only
learn how well they are performing their jobs, but also whether their
performance is improving, deteriorating, or remaining at a constant
level. Ideally, this feedback about performance should be received
directly as the employee does the job, rather than from management
on an occasional basis. For instance, at many restaurants you can find
feedback cards on the table to indicate the quality of service received
during the meal.
Practising
Skills
You own and manage Sunrise Deliveries, a small freight transportation
company that makes local deliveries of products for your customers. You
have a total of nine employees—an administrative assistant, two warehouse
personnel, and six delivery drivers.
The drivers’ job is pretty straightforward. Each morning they come
in at 7:30 a.m., pick up their daily schedule, and then drive off in their
preloaded trucks to make their stops. They occasionally will also pick up
packages and return them to the Sunrise warehouse, where they will be
unloaded and redirected by the warehouse workers.
You have become very concerned with the high turnover among your
drivers. Of your current six drivers, three have been working for you less
than two months and only one’s tenure exceeds six months. This is frustrating
because you are paying your drivers more than many of the larger
delivery companies like UPS and FedEx. This turnover is getting expensive
because you are constantly having to spend time finding and training
replacements. It’s also hard to develop a quality customer-service program
when customers constantly see new faces. When you have asked