This article has been written by Priyanka  pursuing an Executive Certificate Course in Corporate Governance for Directors and CXOs from Skill Arbitrage.

This article has been edited and published by Shashwat Kaushik.

Introduction

The success of any organisation is largely dependent on its human capital and the kind of synergy it creates. HR personnel are coming up with many strategies to engage employees and tap their potential to the fullest. There may be many reasons for a disengaged employee but the routine type of monotonous job is one of the major reasons that cannot be overlooked. The boredom of the job decreases performance if this issue is not handled appropriately at the right time. Their job may be rewarding in terms of monetary benefits, but they still look for enjoyable, engaging and satisfying jobs. Along with salary and good perks, every employee wishes and likes to be challenged, valued and appreciated. Employees look for challenging tasks where they can find themselves more valued and contributing. This sense of value and pride in their work makes employees consistent performers.  

Organisations are hunting for strategies to deal with this situation. The strategy of job enlargement and job enrichment can help human resource personnel to a great extent if implemented thoughtfully.

Defining job enlargement vs. job enrichment

Job enlargement and job enrichment are both used to enhance the engagement, motivation and productivity of employees. In job enlargement, employees’ activities are expanded within the same role. A variety of activities and responsibilities are added to an employee’s profile. To make it simpler and clearer, let’s take the example of an employee who is in the talent acquisition team, where his activities are limited to screening and shortlisting certain levels of candidates for specific locations only, but if he is given the responsibilities of more locations, then job enlargement is done by adding additional responsibilities to a role within the same level. By expanding his activities, he would find his job more engaging and less monotonous. Thus, employees have less time for monotony and boredom.

Whereas in job enrichment, a candidate’s job is redesigned by incorporating higher-level responsibilities with more challenging tasks. Different skill sets may also be required to perform the expected tasks. To be precise, let’s elaborate with the same set of examples of a recruiter’s job. If, along with screening and shortlisting, certain responsibilities like conducting interviews, assessing candidates, and negotiating job offers are added to his profile, then that employee is being benefited by job enrichment. Job enrichment makes the work more meaningful.

Basically, job enlargement involves horizontal expansion by adding tasks at the same skill level, whereas job enrichment involves vertical growth of the job by redesigning the job with wider skill sets, responsibilities and autonomy.

The additional tasks in job enlargement are usually similar to the existing ones with the increased volume of work, but in job enrichment, the added tasks are typically more complex, requiring higher-level skills, creativity and decision-making.

The goal of job enlargement is to make the job more interesting and challenging by alleviating monotony and boredom, whereas the goal of job enrichment is to provide employees with a sense of achievement and personal growth.  

Advantages of job enlargement & job enrichment

Both strategies are beneficial for employers and employees. An employer gains more productive employees who contribute to achieving the organisation’s overall goals, and at the same time, an employee gains skills, confidence and overall satisfaction in the job. Let’s have a quick overview of the benefits of the strategy.

Better employee engagement

We, as employers, allow employees to be successful and engaged by implementing a system of job enrichment or enlargement. When employees have more challenging responsibilities and have more control over their tasks, they feel engaged and committed to their work.  To take on challenging responsibilities, they push themselves to hone their skills.  

Enhanced productivity

An engaged employee works with more efficiency and effectiveness by utilising their time, resources, and skills to achieve organisational goals. With the same resources, he delivers and contributes more to the organisation. Simultaneously, a productive employee paves the way for his own development and career growth.

Employee empowerment

When employees have a meaningful job where they feel valued and appreciated, they feel empowered and have enhanced self-esteem. With a variety of responsibilities and enlarged jobs, management also leads to the assignment of authority, empowering employees to take command of day-to-day routine issues. With more empowerment, the employee puts more effort into doing a good job. They understand their purpose and are willing to take on the role of protagonist because they know what is expected of them.

Succession planning

When employees work in their assigned roles, leaders have the opportunity to observe and evaluate their potential. It is a way of identifying leadership pipelines. Human resources personnel could have a very vigilant eye to identify and prepare successors for their key roles. While succession planning, it is very important to identify those candidates who are aligned with the vision, mission and culture of the company because such aligned candidates can contribute more to achieving the company’s goals. Since they are clear about the objective and intent of the organisation, they put up their efforts with their whole hearts.

Employee retention

One of the major reasons for employee attrition is the monotony and lack of opportunities in the existing job, which, if prevented by job enlargement or job enrichment, increases the scope of arresting unhealthy attrition. When employees are satisfied with their existing jobs, they are less likely to resign and move for another, better job.

Cost-effectiveness

Employees are given more tasks either by job enlargement or job enrichment, and in both cases, Human Resource personnel have an opportunity to focus on their goal of cost-effectiveness. It is a far more effective way of achieving the same desired output with less number of resources. To satisfy the need for more manpower and skills, the company puts efforts into recruiting new people, which is costlier than engaging the resources from within the organisation. Efforts over new recruitment not only require more time and energy but there are also steep chances of exceeding their manpower budget. Hence, the application of these strategies can minimise the overall cost of manpower. 

Drawbacks of these strategies

These are very effective strategies but there are a few drawbacks that cannot be overlooked. There are set of complexities in its own way that may be as follows:

Efficiency and quality concerns

Employees may be curious and excited about challenging tasks, but the ability to handle those additional tasks without compromising quality becomes a prime concern. There is always a risk of quality deterioration.

Another possible drawback that demands the attention of human resources personnel is that employees get engaged in multiple activities and tend to lose focus on their specialisation. Lack of specialisation results in decreased effectiveness and quality.  Handling everything and not being able to specialise in any field could be worse for the company at critical and demanding moments.

Job creep

Besides the benefit of the enhanced motivational level of employees, it is a fact that employees are required to perform many activities at a time with the expected additional tasks. Once the employee passes the curiosity stage, these additional tasks can eventually lead to stress and burnout. Employees may feel burdened with the additional workload, and later on, they may start realising that their job is overwhelming and unrealistic. All efforts that are put in to engage employees may go in vain.

Effective implementation of strategies

Before implementing any of these strategies, certain factors must be well assessed; otherwise, instead of good results, they may have adverse results. Careful design, planning, communication and management are required for successful implementation; otherwise, it may backfire, leading to frustration and disruption.

• Strategies need to be applied after due deliberation since there may be many employees who may have resistance to accepting additional responsibilities as they are satisfied in their own shell or comfort zone. Putting efforts into such employees may not be beneficial for the organisation and employees. 
• A training plan should always be in place before applying the strategies because employees may not be able to cope with the complexities and pressures of the job. They must be prepared with the desired skill set by imparting the required training.
• An effectiveness feedback mechanism should be identified and should be part of the strategy to check the pulse of the effectiveness of the overall programme. By holding regular feedback sessions, employees should be well informed about their performance. Constructive guidance should be given for the improvement of their performance. The more feedback employees receive, the more they tend to take the initiative to improve their performance.
• To ensure that employees are engaged and motivated by their current jobs, HR leaders must design intervention plans, such as reward and recognition schemes, motivational sessions, variable pay restructuring, etc. 
• Along with feedback sessions, surveys should also be conducted to collect the regular opinions of employees and find their satisfaction levels. After knowing the likes and dislikes of the employees, an action plan needs to be prepared for corrective actions. For example, it is good to know which part of the job is redundant and unproductive so that appropriate action can be taken to save energy for other productive activities.

Choosing the right approach

Choosing the right approach between job enlargement and job enrichment requires careful consideration of organisational goals and employee needs. Each approach should be effectively aligned. Context and objectives should be evaluated in advance before implementing these strategies. The company that focuses on quality, services or innovation might benefit from job enrichment, whereas the company that focuses on cost reduction, manufacturing volume, or operational efficiency might benefit from job enlargement. 

The nature or type of work performed in the company should also be assessed while implementing these strategies. In workplaces where the tasks are routine and repetitive, the better-suited strategy is job enlargement. In contrast, job enrichment is preferred when the tasks are complex and require more autonomy. A manufacturing company may benefit from job enlargement, whereas an IT company may benefit from job enrichment. 

Besides evaluating organisational needs, we should also understand employees’ needs and align with their requirements. We should gather input from employees by conducting surveys and interviews to understand what employees find motivating and what areas they feel need improvement. In cases where employees express a desire for more meaningful work with different challenges and development opportunities, job enrichment may be a better choice. If employees show an aspiration for leadership roles, then job enrichment may be a better choice. There may be certain requirements where both strategies may be combined in a hybrid approach. Initially, a variety of tasks are included in the role of an employee by enlarging the job and later on, the job can be enriched by giving that role more autonomy and delegating power.  

Conclusion

Job enlargement and job enhancement are effective strategies for enhancing the engagement and motivation of employees in an organisation. With many benefits, these strategies also carry a few drawbacks; hence, organisations should implement them very meticulously. Considering the potential of these strategies, organisations should give more weight to the benefits than the drawbacks. Strategies should be designed in a way that is best befitting the circumstances and requirements of the workplace. 

References

• https://logicmelon.com/blog-post/job-enlargement/
• https://factorialhr.com/blog/job-enrichment/#definition
• https://hrone.cloud/hr-glossary/job-enlargement/