Augusta Disposal & Recycling Inc.: Job Redesign and Workplace Rewards

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Background information
Current State of the Disposal Division
Redesign Approaches
Implementation Plan
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Motivation could be considered as the decisive causal factor of the result of human activity. The problem of human motivation should be considered as one of the most important aspects since motivation is the fuel for human activity. Today it is no longer questionable that: the effectiveness of contemporary enterprise directly depends on the work of personnel.

Under the conditions of the dynamically developing market, sharp competitive activity, the problem of the workers’ motivation, material and nonmaterial stimulation, instruction, and development of colleagues arises sharply as ever. The winner today is the one whose personnel are more professional and motivated. Implementing motivation for personnel requires a redesign of the workplace and the work process (Rinehart, 507 – 530).

The redesign could be defined as the fundamental reconsideration and radical changes in the business processes for the achievement of essential improvements in such key indices for the contemporary business as expenditures, quality, maintenance level, and effectiveness. The object of the redesign is not the organization, but the processes.

Companies do not put to redesign their sales or production divisions, but rather the work, carried out by personnel of these divisions. This paper analyzes the issue of redesign based on the case study of “Augusta Disposal & Recycling Inc.” along with outlining their recent redesigns and system of rewards and giving recommendations in the process (Rinehart, 507 – 530).

Background information

The aforementioned company whose main activity is garbage disposal consists of 5 employees in a small office, garbage truck drivers, and helpers at the back of the truck that flip the cans. The workload for the drivers and the helpers is 6.30 am to 4 pm. As mostly the helpers and the drivers are responsible for the output and the quality of the performed job along with the fact that their job is mutually connected (the drivers and the helpers), their position is selected for analysis and would be named the disposal division hereafter (Zeffane, 137).

Current State of the Disposal Division

The current work tasks of the selected position consist of receiving the list of the locations for collecting garbage at the beginning of the day, driving to the selected location, collecting the garbage, and disposal of the garbage at the selected transfer station. Therefore the components of the position could be summarized as driving, collection, and disposal.

The responsibilities of the selected position include attendance, the avoidance of accidents, timed refueling, and the performance of a regular plan of the tonnage disposed of. It should be noted that despite the inclusion of helpers and the drivers in the same division and their work being related to each other, the responsibilities are different between them, e.g. the helpers are not responsible for the process of driving and accordingly for the accidents that might occur in the process (Vockell, 1).

The position of the division excludes self-management in a way that the workers are not responsible for any decisions and consists merely of following the initiations of the superior personnel. The intrinsic motivation is totally absent in the working process as the “process of arousal and satisfaction in which the rewards come from carrying out an activity rather from a result of the activity”.

In this context, it is hard to say that the process itself gives any satisfaction to the performers but rather the outcome which is the salary. However, the recently implemented bonus program in which is based on job performance, attendance, and safety implemented some intrinsic motivation factors for job satisfaction (Vockell, 1). These factors are:

Competition: This motivation is obvious as competing between different groups has driven the excitement factor about who is going to win.
Cooperation: This motivation is within one group (e.g. one driver and two helpers) raises the fact of satisfaction resulted from cooperation to achieve a mutual goal. (Vockell, 1)

If analyzing the recently implemented bonus plan for the company more deeply, according to it, the main idea of a reward is not equally divided between the participants of one division. According to the fact that since implementing the bonus program the number of accidents has not decreased (at least four accidents in which two of them were by the same employee), there is an appreciation for a specific factor( the tonnage of the disposed of garbage) (Vockell, 1).

Except for the aforementioned bonus, no other programs are implemented, thus the system of goals that are set for the divisions based on importance could be put as following (in a descendent order):

Dispose of more garbage.
Dispose of garbage more than the other groups.
Avoid accidents.

Thus the goals of the company which could be assumed as collecting more garbage cheaper, more effective, and safe in equal importance do not extend to this position (Vockell, 1).

Redesign Approaches

In general, the recent change implemented is not effective or if praising at least some improvements, it is not effective as it “should be”. The flaws of the system implemented in the company for the selected position could be summarized in the following:

Absence of a feeling of participation in the company.
Absence of the feeling of accomplishment.
Absence of the acknowledgment of reached results.
Absence of changes in status (Beswick, 1).

In order to establish redesign approaches some outlines about motivations should be outlined. Motivation is one of the main factors determining the effectiveness of work is inducing oneself and others to work to achieve personal goals or objectives of the organization. Psychologists distinguish two types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic.

Intrinsic motivation is linked with interest in the activities, with the value of work performed, with freedom of action, the opportunity to realize ourselves and develop their skills and abilities. Extrinsic motivation is formed under the influence of external factors such as terms of wages, social guarantees, the possibility of promotion, praise or punishment of the head, etc. (Beswick, 1)

They have a strong impact, but not necessarily long. More effective is the system of factors that will influence both external and internal motivation. According to this outline, the company’s previous approach lacked intrinsic motivation and implemented extrinsic motivation that did not work effectively.

The approach recommended for the position redesign implements Hackman & Oldham’s Job Characteristics Model (Ratzburg, 1).

The basic idea of this approach consists of the assertion, that an increase in the probability of the favorable psychological state of man is caused by the presence of five essential performance characteristics, three of which are connected with its meaningfulness.

This is in the first place, the skill variety, which means that it requires and allows diverse actions, which assume different habits and tendencies. In the second place, task identity means that it requires and allows completeness of whole and the clear distinguishable cycle of actions or fulfillment of work from the beginning to the end with the visible result. Thirdly, is called the task significance, i.e. the degree, with which the worker realizes its influence on the organizational system, and possibly, on the society as a whole (Ratzburg, 1).

Other two characteristics – the autonomy (degree, with which the work provides essential freedom, independence, and the possibility of selection of order and method of fulfilling the work) and feedback (it ensures to the worker the knowledge of the results of the carried out work). (Ratzburg, 1)

Caused by these characteristics the favorable psychological state of the worker accordingly has an increase in his personal (intrinsic motivation to work, job satisfaction) and working (effectiveness of high-quality labor) results and a reduction in the number of negative behavior (absences at the work, the turnover rate) (Ratzburg, 1).

Implementation Plan

Implementing the plan will require some organizational issues within the division in which the skill variety will be put in the first place. Implementing writing jobs to the work could be a possible effect that will serve two purposes; one purpose is switching the tasks within the group driving, collecting, and writing; the other purpose will include the collection of statistical information about the amount of the job done.

Task identity will require establishing a norm of work or a performance standard reaching which will mean that the job for a day was done, in this case putting a tonnage limit and according to the writing job it will be calculated from the average standard, it will indicate the job completeness (Zeffane, 137).

This standard will serve accordingly the autonomy characteristics, as it provides the freedom and the flexibility of the working shift. Conducting a statistic of all working factors such as tonnage for a week, for a quarter, number of accidents, and over-work statistic is a good start.

Implementing a system of ranks (worker of the month, the safer driver, and the quickest collector) that accordingly will be rewarded and as a possible mean published in the local newspaper might serve as an indicator of the job significance and at the same time as feedback. The bonus-reward system should be completely re-written to include a system of fines and promotions. The fines will exclude reckless behavior toward specific factors such as safety and attendance (Rinehart, 507 – 530).

The system participation of the employee in the profits of the enterprise can also be used as a tool of material encouragement. It provides the separation of the additional profit between the employees and the firm, which was obtained as a result of the increase in the productivity of labor, improvement in the quality of the services. In this case, the productivity of the entire enterprise is always examined.

There are several participation systems in the separation of profit. Many of them are connected not with the eventual results of the company’s activity, but rather with separate indices, which reflect the factors of an increase in the competitive ability. The chosen method can be implemented after several months; therefore special recommendations can not be made at this stage (Zeffane, 137).

After implementing the plan the division obtains internal and external rewards. Internal rewards carry the satisfaction from the executed work, a feeling of its own competence and self-esteem.

External rewards, which are one of the reasons for internal, are ensured by the leader. External rewards are directly connected with the system of stimulation, which includes three levels: the acknowledgment of the merits of the worker by superior management, economic incentives depending on the value of working contribution, and the possibility of promotion. Accordingly, the goals of the company and the goals of the division coincide and the employee feels that he is an effective and important element of the chain (Zeffane, 137).

Conclusion

Summing up the paper according to the made analysis the importance of motivation as an important factor of redesigning the company has been outlined. Additionally, according to the possible future labor shortage, employers might face the problem when they are selected instead of the other way around. Thus motivating and encouraging the employees might be a good solution to establish the growth of the company, raising productivity and keeping the personnel.

Works Cited

Beswick, D. (2007). Management implications of the interaction between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic rewards. Web.

Ratzburg, W. H. (2008). Hackman & Oldham’s Motivating Potential Score(MPS) of Jobs. Web.

Rinehart, J. (1986). Improving the Quality of Working Life Through Job Redesign: Work Humanization or Work Rationalization?. Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 23(4), 507-530.

Vockell, Edward. Educational Psychology: A Practical Approach. Web.

Zeffane, R. (1994). Job Satisfaction and Work Redesign: Findings from Australia. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 35(1-2), 137+.

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