Could your job be redesigned to improve job satisfaction?

The Job Characteristics Model, developed by Richard Hackman and Greg Oldman, in the mid 70s, proposed that five core job characteristics impact upon three psychological states.

• The job characteristics of skill variety, task identity and task significance, impact on the psychological state of meaningfulness, that is experienced at work.

• The job characteristic of autonomy, impacts on the psychological state of responsibility, that is experienced at work.

• The job characteristic of feedback, impacts on the psychological state relating to knowledge of the results of work activities, that is experienced at work.

According to Hackman and Oldman the three aforementioned psychological states impact upon motivation, job satisfaction and work performance. Therefore, this model can be used to increase staff motivation, enhance their job satisfaction and work performance.