Advantages of Job Rotation: Increase Motivation and Reduce Turnover

Advantages of Job Rotation: Increase Motivation and Reduce Turnover
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Job Rotation Advantages

Many businesses, small and large, are attempting to improve work design systems by incorporating a job rotation strategy. Job rotation exists when employees rotate across many positions, in varying intervals and durations, in order to gain exposure to different roles and functions. When implementing a job rotation program, companies can have employees rotate only within their home department or across positions in many departments. Although job rotation strategies may not be practical for all businesses, strategies that are implemented across lower-level and less specialized positions provide many advantages to businesses and employees.

The first advantage of job rotation is burnout reduction. When employees perform the same job functions each day without variation, they are likely to experience greater feelings of fatigue, apathy, boredom, and carelessness. Burnout is d

etrimental to businesses because it tends to promote decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, and increased likelihood of turnover, which all lead to organizational dysfunction. However, when employees rotate across different positions regularly, they experience less boredom, greater task variety, and decreased feelings of needless repetition.

The second advantage of job rotation is increased employee satisfaction. Business owners know that when employees are not satisfied with professional endeavors, they feel demotivated, unhappy, and irritated, which are detrimental to productivity. However, by allowing employees to engage in job rotation, employees are likely to experience greater satisfaction by identifying strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, employees are able to test many positions and subsequently focus on rotating between positions that enhance performance capacity, which increases their sense of worth and importance within the company.

The third advantage of job rotation is increased employee motivation. It is important for business owners to provide opportunities to increase employee motivation because greater motivation promotes higher levels of organizational commitment and desire to grow within the company. When employees are given the opportunity to rotate between different positions, they enhance and improve their skills, abilities, and competencies, which leads to better job performance and greater likelihood of promotional advancement. Furthermore, employees that are engaged with a number of different positions throughout a company experience increased appreciation for coworkers and the interrelation between positions, which decreases animosity and enhances organizational commitment.

The last benefit is twofold, and it is an indirect benefit of job rotation. This article has already established that job rotation strategies reduce employee burnout, increase employee satisfaction, and increase employee motivation and organizational commitment. These three benefits cumulatively influence a business’s turnover rate and workplace injuries. Turnover is greatly reduced because employees do not experience the fatigue, boredom, and dissatisfaction associated with performing the same job every day. This, in turn, greatly increases an employee’s level of awareness and attention to detail, which decreases the likelihood of workplace injury or stress.

Job rotation presents many unique opportunities for businesses and employees. The rationale for implementing a job rotation design system may vary depending on business goals and human resource strategies. However, whatever the reason, one thing is certain - businesses that implement a job rotation strategy unquestionably reap the benefits of added organizational success and more satisfied, motivated, and committed employees.