Positive motivational, social, and work context characteristics of work improve behaviors and attitudes in the workplace, as well as the well-being of all.
A seminal 2007 study on work design tests the impact of 14 work characteristics including motivational (e.g. autonomy), social (e.g., feedback from others), and work context (e.g., physical demands) characteristics on 19 work outcomes. These work outcomes included behavioural (e.g., performance, absenteeism), attitudinal (e.g., job satisfaction, promotion satisfaction, internal work motivation), and well-being (e.g., anxiety, burnout) outcomes. The result of the study is a comprehensive framework for leaders to explore which work characteristics might best generate high levels of employee satisfaction and performance results for their organization.
The study was based on a meta-analysis of 259 previously published research related to work design. The starting point for the study was the work of Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham, who in 1976 identified five motivational characteristics that would ensure employee satisfaction and job performance:
The researchers confirmed the impact of Hackman and Oldham’s five characteristics on several behavioural work outcomes, such as subjective job performance and absenteeism, and a wide range of attitudinal work outcomes, including several satisfaction measures (job, growth, supervisor, co-worker, and compensation satisfaction), as well as internal work motivation, organizational commitment and job involvement.
They also found that characteristics such as autonomy also impacted role perception outcomes, which included role ambiguity when employees do not have a clear understanding of their role or role conflict, which occurs when the work requires an employee to fulfil several, sometimes conflicting, roles.
The research also confirmed Hackman and Oldham’s explanation that the five characteristics positively influenced behavioural and attitudinal outcomes because of two “psychological states” that they generated in employees: experienced meaningfulness, referring to the employees’ perception of the value and importance of the job; and experienced responsibility, referring to the extent employees feel accountable for the job results.
Pushing beyond Hackman and Oldham’s original five job characteristics, the study focused on:
Additional motivational characteristics. For example, the study showed that task variety led to more positive behavioural outcomes, notably subjective performance, and to four of the satisfaction-related attitudinal outcomes (job satisfaction, supervisor satisfaction, compensation satisfaction, and promotion satisfaction). The study also demonstrated that different types of autonomy work scheduling autonomy, work methods autonomy, and decision-making autonomy led to greater job satisfaction, although to varying degrees. Work scheduling autonomy was the least impactful, while decision-making autonomy increased job satisfaction the most.
Social work design characteristics. In studying how social characteristics might influence work outcomes, the researchers found that interdependence (how much one’s work is interconnected with the work of another), feedback from others, and social support (the extent to which the employee received assistance and advice from supervisors or peers) improved subjective performance and employee satisfaction thus proving their impact on both behavioural and attitudinal outcomes.
Work context characteristics. Finally, in addition to motivational and social characteristics, the researchers looked at how work context characteristics impacted work outcomes. They found that physical demands could hamper job satisfaction, while positive work conditions could improve it.
The researchers also used statistical analysis to determine that social and work context characteristics could impact behavioural and attitudinal outcomes above and beyond motivational characteristics. For example, three social characteristics explained 9% of the improvement in subjective performance beyond the 25% of the change explained by the seven motivational characteristics. Even more impressively, social characteristics were responsible for an astounding 40% of the change in organizational commitment and 44% of the change in job involvement reflecting the importance of looking beyond motivational work design characteristics to improve work outcomes.
This study delivers a detailed framework linking three types of work design characteristics (motivational, social, and work context) to four types of work outcomes (behavioral, attitudinal, role perception, and well-being). The work design characteristics are the levers that leaders can use to improve worker behavior, attitudes, and well-being.
This study also highlights the importance of work design characteristics on experienced meaningfulness and experienced responsibility, which lead to positive work outcomes of the framework. This is supported by research in psychology, which shows that people are motivated by meaning and purpose in what we do, at work and outside of work. When a work design characteristic such as autonomy allows us to find meaning in our work, we are happier and motivated to get results. This 2007 study thus leads to a motivational, performance, and results dashboard for leaders that remains relevant and insightful.
Stephen E. Humphrey’s profile at PSU Smeal College of Business
https://directory.smeal.psu.edu/seh25
Jennifer D. Nahrgang’s profile at Iowa Tippie College of Business
https://tippie.uiowa.edu/people/jennifer-nahrgang
Frederick P. Morgeson’s profile at MSU Broad College of Business
https://broad.msu.edu/profile/morgeson/
Integrating Motivational, Social, and Contextual Work Design Features: A Meta-Analytic Summary and Theoretical Extension of the Work Design Literature. Stephen E. Humphrey, Jennifer D. Nahrgang, and Frederick P. Morgeson. Journal of Applied Psychology (September 2007).
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2007-12832-011
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