CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Job design is work arrangement or re-rearrangement aimed at reducing and overcoming job dissatisfaction and employee alienation arising from repetitive tasks. Job design related applications started to take shapes with scientific management approach in 1990s. Fredrick Taylor is a well-known theorist of job design he wrote the principle of scientific management. He believed that job design identifies the duties, tasks and responsibilities of a job to be accomplished. The aim of job design is to encourage the job satisfaction and performance by changing the contents and process of a specific job so that employee may avoid from boredom (Taylor, 2004).
Well-designed jobs help in accomplishment of two important goals: gaining the desired work done in a timely and effective manner, and motivating and challenging employees. If a job is appropriately well designed, it is beneficial both for business and workforce. A poorly designed job leads to a failure in getting the work on time and in a competent manner. It also discourages and unsatisfied employees from their job. Even if the employees are competent, efficient and productive, they get disappointed, disillusioned and frustrated by poorly designed jobs (Borman, 2004). There is a need to build a conducive environment that is not only suitable for employee performance but also for the people working in it because they are the assets of an organization. Management uses various job design approaches, which allow the management to achieve their desired outcome through employee motivation and satisfaction. Management focuses on the aspects of the job that are fit to organizational goals. Thus, while designing the job design they need to decide on what is needed from the job and from the employees (Garg and Rastogi, 2006). It is assumed that pay is the most significant factor at work to motivate employees but many studies indicate that job design is the major influence on employee performance; therefore, management must consider how to design a job which has influence on employee performance.
Employees performance plays a crucial function in determining organisation performance (June, and Mahmood, 2011). The word performance may mean different thing to different people depending on the perspective from which one approaches it. It may imply efficiency, economy, results, or return (profits) on investment (Summermatter and Siegel, 2009). Some scholars have viewed performance as the behavioural aspect that defines the way in which organizations, teams and individual employees get work done; it is the output record of a specific job function or activity at a given time (Armstrong, 2003). Performance is the degree to which an employee and organizational goals are met (Feng, 2010). Behaviour comes from the worker who transforms performance from abstraction into action leading to outcome (Kalyani, 2006). Feng (2010) opines that performance can be viewed from three different angles, that is, results oriented performance, conduct oriented performance and the integration of conduct and result oriented performance. Several researchers throughout the evolution of organizational theory have focused on the best way to measure individual and employee performance and realized that it is a dynamic concept that varies across geographical space, time and scholarly schools of thought. Performance and its crucial dimension’s changes and differs over time and space depending on the relations between inputs, activity, output and effect. Thus to this end, this research work focus on examine the relationship between job design and employee performance in ministry of works, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Employees performance increases if the job design is aligned with the employee psychological requirements and perceptions. An effective job design for the employees can increase their involvement in the job, they enjoy performing tasks and exert all cognitive, emotional and physical energies to achieve goals (Khan, 1992). According to Khan, engaging their physical, cognitive and psychological presence leads employees to full performance (Khan, 1990). Employees with a job design due to their determination, invest their hand, head and heart to job (Ashforth amd Humphrey, 1995).
Job design of one’s own choice brings Involvement, satisfaction and motivation. Such employees bear more pain for their work, they enjoy their work and stay extra hours willingly. They consider work as virtue for them and a part of their lives and they feel that they are getting what they want from their jobs and fulfil their duties as ethical responsibility. These motivated, involved and delighted behaviours tend to enhance employee performance and ultimately organizational productivity. On the contrary if the employees are not satisfied with their job design they feel exhausted and unwilling to work properly only for the sake of organizational goals.
However, with the increasing recognition of the complexity of human motivation, many modern theorists have argued that specialized and simplified work, leads to monotony, boredom and general dissatisfaction, which as a consequence, manifest themselves in various forms of undesirable work behaviour in terms of absenteeism, lateness and frequent job changes. However, in an attempt to reduce boredom and therefore increase satisfaction, some techniques of work design have to been generated. Therefore, this study sought to examine the relationship between job design and employee performance at Ministry of works, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The general objective of the study is to examine the impact of job design and employee performance in the ministry of works, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Specifically, the study sought to achieve the following objectives.
To examine the effect of job enlargement on employee performance in Ministry of works Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
To ascertain the effect of job enrichment on workers’ performance in Ministry of works in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
To investigate the effect of job rotation on employee job performance in Ministry of works Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Research Question
How does job enlargement affect employee performance in Ministry of works Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
How does job enrichment affect workers’ performance in Ministry of works in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
To what extent does job rotation affect employee job performance in Ministry of works in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
1.5 Statement of Hypotheses
Ho1: There is no significant effect of job enlargement on employee performance in Ministry of works Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Ho2: There is no significant effect of job enrichment on employee performance Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Ho3: There is no significant effect of job rotation on employee job performance in Ministry of works Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The study is relevant to the following stakeholders;
The findings of this study can help the Ministry of work in Uyo in evaluating the importance of job design on their performance in terms of Trait-based information, Behaviour-based information, Result based information (Opatha, 2009). Ministry of Works Uyo will also learn from this study and understand the various job design strategies including job enlargement, job enrichment and job rotation which will help them improve on their organizational performance. The study findings informs the Ministry of Works top management on which components of job design have a better link to the organizational performance and hence save on costs of conducting research on their organization because they can rely on this study findings. This research is also significant to the following agency
The researcher: The study will broaden the scope of knowledge of the researcher and students in the area of job design and employee performance and also a requirement for the award of bachelor degree in the academic sector.
Organizations: The study will be of great value to the organization under study, as more information will be provided to the management as regards job design and employee performance.
Other researchers: It is equally of greater significance to other researchers as this will serve as a reference material to students who wish to make research on similar topic.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study sought to determine the impact of job design on employee performance in Ministry of Works Uyo Akwa Ibom State. Job design components of job enlargement, job enrichment and job rotation were the independent variables and the employee performance is the dependent variable which is further disintegrated Trait-based information, Behavior-based information, Result based information.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
The study experienced an initial slow response from the respondents consisting of the entire staff of ministry of works, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State but this was mitigated by having constant follow up on phones and the physical visits to the respondents’ offices by use of research assistants. Time given for the research work was short couple with other academic activities and lack of finance to run the research properly. The study however overcame the limitations by having a letter of introduction from the university to assure the respondents that the information provided would be used for academic purposes only and would thereby be treated with confidentiality
1.9 Definition of Terms
Job design: Job design is the functions of arranging task, duties and responsibilities in to an organizational unit of work’. It is the way to organize the contents, methods and relationship of jobs in order to achieve organizational goals and objectives as well as satisfaction of job holders.
Employee performance: Job performance is defined as it focuses directly on employee productivity by assessing the number of units of acceptable quality produced by an employee in a manufacturing environment, within a specific time period.
Job enlargement: Job enlargement means increasing the scope of a job through expanding the range of duties and responsibilities.
Job enrichment: Job enrichment increases self-actualization, self-control and self-respect of the workers which leads to increase their performance.
Job rotation: Job rotation is a system, which allows employees to rotate from one job to another, in a predetermined way.
