Organisational behaviour essay You have just been told that you are to manage a major fundraising event,

and you have been given a team of 10 students to assist you. Drawing on job design theory, describe ways that you might design their work to be more motivating. Plan Introduction give a clear introduction of what you are going to talk about

Give a definition of the keywords within the essay title Outline the theories you are going the talk about ( F.W.Taylor(1910) principles of scientific management, Hackman and Oldham(1980) job characteristics and motivating potential score (also Maslow five characteristics) and Tuckman and Jensen (1977) five stages of team development.

Middle ( main body) A paragraph should be written for each point made

In this essay links can be made between, working in groups and team and motivation (what motivates the team, how this can be identified). Job design and motivation ( what motivates you at work) Conclusion Outline the most effective ways in which to make a job more motivating.

It is crucial when working in a group or team that each member has a clear specification of their role, it is vital when working as a team that each member is motivated in the right way to meet the collective goals of the team. Job design can be defined as the process of assigning tasks to a job, including the interdependencies of those tasks with other jobs Bratton( 2010:498). To answer this question with the support of job design theories I will explain the importance of identifying the characteristics of a job, and explain how a job can be made to be more motivating. For this question I will use the following theories to support my answer: F.W.Taylor (1910) Principles of scientific management (which I will use to explain an ineffective way of motivating a team) ; Hackman and Oldham (1980) Job Characteristics Model (which I will draw on to describe those characteristics that a manager might focus on, in order to increase worker motivation); and Maslows (1943) Hierarchy of needs (which I will use to argue the motivational aspects for an individual in achieving self-fulfilment). Also, within a job it is also important to identify the motivating factors, which encourages the worker to carry out the job in way that is beneficial to the worker as well as the team. For this particular scenario I am managing a group of ten individuals, whereby each individual might be motivated in their own way. For this reason I would need to take into consideration, the strength and weaknesses of each work and to also identify their motivators. Firstly, within the group I am working with the specific roles that are needed must be identified, by identifying each individuals strengths and weaknesses this would indicate which would be the most suitable job. F.W.Taylor (1910) approach to job design was The work of every workman is fully planned out by the management at least one day in advance, and each man receives in most cases complete written instructions, describing in detail the task which he is to accomplish The principles of scientific management. The job characteristics model (Hackman and Oldman, 1980) takes into account the individual differences in Growth Need Strength (GNS). The job characteristic model can be defined as job design model that relates the motivational properties of jobs to specific personal and organizational consequences of those properties Bratton (2010: 498). Whereby if the individuals GNS is low, job enrichment is unlikely to improve their job performance. Job enrichment explains when employees are given more responsibility for scheduling, coordinating and planning

their own work Bratton (2010, 262). In this respect workers are made to feel more independent within their jobs, and have more control over how their jobs are carried out. For example, the person within the secretarial role may feel as if they are not being fulfilled to their highest capabilities and therefore become bored within the position. The identification of their self development may not appear to be obvious as it is not expressed through their behaviour. At this stage it can become difficult for managers to identify how employees can be motivated, if they are unaware of the stage they are currently at. This can be further explained my Maslows (1943) Hierarchy of needs, whereby the pinnacle of self-growth would be self actualisation.

In order to reach to this level, they must have already met the lower basic needs. However, once the pinnacle of self satisfaction has been achieved it then becomes hard to design the job to be motivating. The job characteristic model breaks down and describes a job in five basic characteristics:

1. Skill variety: the extent to which the job requires a range of skills 2. Task identity: the extent to which the job produces a whole, identifiable outcome 3. Task significance: the extent to which the job has an impact on other people, either inside or outside
the organization

4. Autonomy: the extent to which the job allows the job holder to exercise choice and discretion in their
work

5. Feedback from the job: the extent to which the job itself (as opposed to other people) provides
information on how well the job holder is performing Identifying the characteristics, which a job possesses, will improve the motivating potential for the job. However, it is arguable as to whether this will have a positive outcome for the employee. Bratton (2010:263) an employee with a low growth need is less likely to experience a positive outcome when her or his work is enriched. However, this will be dependent on the employees current position, it is hard to identify when a particular need has become important. Within an organisation it is the responsibility of the managers to identify how a job can be more motivating by, indentifying the characteristics of the job and designing the job to be more motivating. Job enrichment is a way in which a job can be designed to be more motivating however; this would not always be the case. An

employee who is intrinsically motivated will express their positivity towards job enrichment, as job enrichment give more autonomy and responsibility to an employee, without giving any financial rewards. (867 words)

My commentary on this essay follows, and after that is a possible re-write of the essay. See the group feedback on Learn for the 2010-2011 exam paper. Overall comments Good to see that three theories are drawn on and that there is an explanation of each. Good that there are definitions Good that there is some critique. Needs to have more linking to the exam question it does not sufficiently discuss what the team leader might do to design the jobs of the fundraising team. Probably would get somewhere in the high 50s, i.e. a 2.2

Introduction Good to include a definition good that the writer and year is included in the exam, I do not expect you to give definitions accurately word for word. Instead, leave out the quote marks (which signal that the quote is verbatim which means that it is written with exactly the same words as appear in the text you are quoting), and paraphrase, that is use your own words, but including the main points. Give the author, and year but I dont expect you to remember the page number! something like this: Job design can be defined as the process of assigning tasks to a job, paying attention to the way that the tasks are interdependent with tasks contained in other jobs (Bratton, 2010). Note: the author and the year both appear within the brackets. Nice wording: To answer this question Interesting to link each theory in the introduction to an explanation of how that theory will be used. However, here there is a missed opportunity: It is better to link your introduction much more closely to the question. Therefore, rather than writing in this general way, it would be more relevant to write: For this question, I will explain three main theories to contrast different working methods that might be drawn on by someone leading a team of ten students to organise a fundraising event. Firstly, I will describe a method which seems to me to be ineffective as far as job design is concerned, but which I have seen some students use when they are leading a team, namely Taylors (1910) Principles of Scientific Management. Secondly, I will show how Maslows (1943) Hierarchy of Needs provides some pointers to how a job might be designed to be more motivating. Lastly, I will describe Hackman and Oldhams (1980) Job Characteristics Model, as a very useful theory that a manager might drawn on to design more motivating jobs. Avoid such words as crucial or vital. These can be over-used and are just a bit too dramatic. Better might be: Central to effective teamwork is that each individual has a clear understanding of their role

Paragraph One The first two sentences are really still the introduction.

There is the start of a reasonable argument here about identifying everyones strengths. This paragraph would have been more focused if Taylor were mentioned earlier so that the whole paragraph is focused on this one theory (see a suggested rewrite of this essay further down) You dont need to reference the title of the work you are referring to in the text. This means, leave out The principles of scientific management the name of the writer and date is mentioned earlier in the same sentences (F.W. Taylor, 1910)

Paragraph Two Good to include a definition of the model. Better would be to continue with a full explanation rather than leaving this til later in the essay. Good to include GNS better would be to explain this a bit more.

Paragraph Three I am not sure why a new paragraph is started here remember: one paragraph for each main idea. Good to define job enrichment. Good to highlight that workers become more independent with job enrichment, and have more control.

Paragraph Four This starts with for example this should be included in the previous paragraph. It is a continuation of the same idea, not a new one. Keep one paragraph for each main idea. An example is given here of a secretary. This does not relate at all to the question. Better would be to write something about organising the fund-raising event. This paragraph, and the example, are a little unclear to me. It sounds like an example about the Hierarch of Needs, rather than about GNS

Paragraph Five I agree that the example of the secretary can be better explained by Maslow however, again, valuable words are wasted here by explaining a practical example which has absolutely nothing to do with the exam question. Better would be to relate this to the team in the question.

Paragraph ? This explanation of Hackman and Oldham should appear earlier Good explanation though

Next paragraph Good to mention the Motivating Potential and this needs then to be explained, e.g. include the formula. This point about GNS (growth need strength) has been made before watch out for repetition as this uses up valuable word count and time Not sure of the point that is made in the last sentence.

Final paragraph To signal a conclusion, it is better to write To conclude or In conclusion . It is a shame to include such general wording as Within an organisation the question is worded in a much more specific way. Do focus on the exact wording.

Here is a possible rewrite of this essay To head up a team of ten students to organise a major fundraising event requires some careful job design. I assume here that Iand the students are all working voluntarily. Therefore, no coercion can be used. Instead, it will be important that the work of each individual student, and of the team as a whole, is motivating, in order to meet both individual needs as well as achieving the collective goals of the team. In this essay, I will draw on three theories as I consider how best to design the teams jobs: Taylors (1910) Scientific Management; Maslows (1943) Hierarchy of Needs; and Hackman and Oldhams (1980) Job Characteristics Model and Motivating Potential Score. However, before detailing these theories, it is important to define both job design and motivation. Job design can be defined as the process of assigning tasks to a job, paying attention to the way that the tasks are interdependent with tasks contained in other jobs (Bratton, 2010). Motivation can be defined as that which energises, directs and sustains behaviour (Steers and Porter, 1979). Therefore, in order to design the teams work to be more motivating, it is important to pay attention to how the different tasks fit together within and across jobs, and how the design of those jobs might energise, direct and sustain the teams efforts to delivering a fundraising event that meets targets. For the sake of describing my proposed methods, I will describe potential jobs for the ten students before referring to theory. I will not attempt to describe all the different jobs needed to organise a fundraising event. Instead, I will use three different roles in order to provide some examples. The three roles are: promoting and marketing the event; working out the budget, controlling expenditure and keeping accounts; and finding the best performers out budget can afford. Each role requires specific expertise, as well as the ability to work with others across roles. Taylors (1910) approach to job design was to have the management plan out the work of every individual, giving them full written instructions and full details of how to accomplish their tasks most efficiently. I have observed some team leaders adopt such approaches with groups of students. I would not choose this approach as it would rely on me knowing the detail of all the tasks, as well as failing to make best use of the capabilities within the team. However, one aspect of Taylors theory is worth incorporating. This is the idea of efficiency. Instead of deciding myself how to make the work efficient, I would engage with the team so that we would agree all together as to the best way of completing each task, not in detail, but overall. While I think that volunteer student workers would just leave if I adopted a full Taylorist approach, I would seek their agreement that I as the overall manager would have the final say, rather than adopt a fully collective style. Maslows (1943) Hierarch of Needs emphasises that lower level needs have to be satisfied before higher level needs become relevant. I would therefore use the diagram given here to ensure that I took account of such issues as rest time, access to food and health and safety when designing the roles. For example, the person finding the performers might need to travel to vet potential acts, if so, then the travel methods would need to be safe. The team will need to have a sense of working together to meet the belongingness and love needs, so I would design in sufficient time for us to meet and update each other, as well as ensuring that

the finance officer worked closely with the person finding the acts, so that the budget was paid sufficient attention.

Hackman and Oldhams (1980) Job Characteristics Model is perhaps more relevant and useful than Taylor and Maslow. This model relates the motivational properties of jobs to specific personal and organisational consequences of those properties (Bratton, 2010). In doing so, it identifies five job characteristics:

1. Skill variety: the extent to which the job requires a range of skills 2. Task identity: the extent to which the job produces a whole, identifiable outcome 3. Task significance: the extent to which the job has an impact on other people, either inside or outside
the organization

4. Autonomy: the extent to which the job allows the job holder to exercise choice and discretion in their
work

5. Feedback from the job: the extent to which the job itself (as opposed to other people) provides
information on how well the job holder is performing Hackman and Oldham elaborated on this by providing a Motivational Potential Score, the formula for which is as follows:

MPS =

(SV + TI + TS) x A x F 3

SV: Skill variety

TI: Task identity

TS: Task significance A: Autonomy F: Feedback This means that if there is no autonomy or no feedback, the job is not motivating. With this in mind, I would make sure that every job had clear accountability for certain outcomes, e.g. to source performers that student will enjoy and pay to see within a specific budget; as well as making sure that team members give each other feedback throughout the project and that we gather in feedback after the event. Knowing this should make the work more motivating. It should be noted, however, that more empirical work is required to test this theory, as the most powerful aspect of it is actually its common sense. To conclude, I think all three theories make a potentially useful contribution to designing the jobs for the fundraising event. However, the most detailed and relevant seems to me to be Hackman and Oldhams (1980) Job Characteristics Model. For this reason, I would choose to ensure that every team members job had variety, that they knew the significance of their role, that their role was clearly identifiable, that they had decision making power and autonomy and that they all had feedback. (1,000 words)

This would probably get a 2.1 to get a higher score, more examples would be needed and more critique.