Job Characteristics Theory

In the last byte, we looked at Job Enrichment and how to involve it into the design of an organization.  In today's byte, we begin our discussion on Job Characteristics Theory. 

The Job Characteristics theory was initiated in the mid 1960s and also falls into the theoretical approach to the work design but has significant departure from the three earlier approaches discussed already - Scientific Method, Job Enlargement, and Job Enrichment. 

This theory emphasizes the interaction between the individual and specific attributes of the job; it is a person-job fit model and is not a universal theory. Through research there were four core characteristics of job:

• Job Variety
• Autonomy
• Responsibility
• Interpersonal Industries

The study had found that the core job characteristics did not affect all workers in the same way.
 

This initial model was further modified through the research by Prof Richard Hickman and his colleagues and created the model that we would discuss in this series.