"SMART" WORK DESIGN

 SMART Work Design



‘Work design is the creation of systems of work and a working environment that enhance organizational effectiveness and productivity, ensure the organization becomes a “great place in which to work” and are conducive to the health, safety and wellbeing of employees" (Armstrong 2014, p. 136)

Job Characteristic Theory

Herzberg described that “suggests expanding the content of a job with opportunities for personal growth, advancement, responsibility, interesting work, recognition and achievement to create more opportunities for job satisfaction and motivation.” (DeCenzo, et.al., 2016) Organizational psychologists J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham built on Herzberg’s theories and developed a job design model based on the following five job characteristics. Such as, Task variety, Task Identity, Autonomy, Job significance and feedback

The  "SMART Work Design Model" has been developed by Professor Sharon Parker. This can be used by employees and employers when considering the psychosocial aspects of work, including addressing Based on empirical research, the SMART model identifies five themes of work characteristics for positive outcomes by creating  a Thriving organization

Link>> https://www.smartworkdesign.com.au/




Figure 01- SMART Model (Thriveatwork,n.d)

1. Stimulating work involves skill variety, task variety, and problem solving demands of the specific work or job. Skill variety describes the degree of job requires a variety of skills and abilities, while task variety describes to the degree to which employee perform a wide range of tasks in specific role. Problem solving demands describes the degree of job requires to think outside the box

2. Mastery/Task Identity at work comes from clearly knowing what the employee need to do in the job role, knowing the degree of employees are performing on their tasks, and understanding how the work fits from beginning to end.

3. Agency/Autonomy in a job means having a sense of autonomy and able to schedule employee own work, as well as being able to make decisions and judgements individually.

4. Relational/Task Significance work design recognizes that people need connection and support at work and in terms of relational, employees feel they get support from their subordinates and supervisors and feels their work is how important to others or society more broadly. Also the employee feels their work is appreciated and satisfied

5. Tolerable demands at work means the degree of adherence to work with the given time periods. The examples of tolerable demands can be having reasonable work hours, not being tightly monitored, and having reasonable and consistent expectations for performance. Some jobs can be more difficult than others from a physical or cognitive perspective, there is always a need for these demands to be at a tolerable level (Thriveatwork,n.d). Feedback is the degree of employee receive direct feedbacks or comments on their performance. Performance evaluations incorporating a rewards system, such as providing bonuses or making an employee appreciating mechanism  to motivate employees long-term.



Figure 02 - Job Characteristic Model (Edupedias,2013)


References 

Armstrong, Michael & Taylor, S. (2014). Work, organization and job design.11th ed. Armstrongs Handbook of Human-Resource Management Practice, 18(4), pp.136 [online] https://www.academia.edu/32280546/ARMSTRONGS_HANDBOOK_OF_HUMAN_RESOURCE_MANAGEMENT_PRACTICE_i. (Accessed:20 November 2023)

Fapedia.(2013) Job Characteristic theory.Edupedias [Online].Available at:https://fapedia.blogspot.com/2013/12/job-characteristics-theory.html  (Accessed:25 November 2023)

SMARTWorkdesign, (n.d.)SMART Work Design [Online].Available at:  https://www.smartworkdesign.com.au/overview (Accessed:25 November 2023)

Thriveatwork,(n.d) Work Design.Thrive at work [Online].Available at: https://www.thriveatwork.org.au/resources/work-design/ (Accessed:25 November 2023)

 

 

 

Comments

  1. Mayumi WicramashingheNovember 29, 2023 at 2:20 PM

    The SMART Work Design Model, focusing on stimulating work, mastery, agency, relational significance, and tolerable demands, offers a comprehensive approach to creating a thriving organizational environment. Professor Sharon Parker's insights provide a valuable framework for enhancing employee satisfaction and productivity.

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