Work, Motivation and Health Exam 2: Lecture Content Summary
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Course
Work, Motivation and Health (7202BA03XY)
Institution
Universiteit Van Amsterdam (UvA)
This summary includes lecture content and focuses on the following topics:
- Designing better jobs
- Stress
- Wellbeing, Burnout & Engagement
- Technology & Work-life balance
- Recovery & Workaholism
Work motivation and health
Lecture 1
Designing better jobs is the subject of this lecture.
Taylorism, or scientific management has some basic rules:
1. Real work is done from the company, not home
2. People work for money
3. There is one best way to perform your job
4. Good managers plan and monitor employees
5. People shall be selected and trained to optimize task performance
6. The number of hours worked is a good indicator of productivity
These rules do not seem to motivate people.
Kultalahti and Vitala (2014) asked millennials (generation y) what motivates them at work. The results:
People have not changed. But our surroundings have changed: technology, societal norms and world of
work is changed. However, work itself is often still organized through the basic taylorist principles. People
often think in that way about work (many would agree with the taylorist rules).
So, what should we do? Job design is a fundamental aspect to increase motivation and satisfaction at work.
Work design includes:
Job designs originates from Herzberg’s two factor theory, which distinguished between motivators and
hygiene factors (hygiene is necessary but not sufficient for motivation; motivators are used to increase
motivation when hygienes are present).
Job design is based on the job characteristics model, which in turn builds on the 2-factor model. It asks
himself: which job characteristics lead to intrinsic motivation?
,Core job dimensions for an intrinsically motivating jobs include:
- Skill variety: the extent to which a job allows use of different skills
- Task identity: the degree to which the job requires completion of an identifiable piece of work. It is
about the individual seeing the outcome of work
- Task significance: the extent to which a job has impact on other people
- Autonomy: extent of freedom in a job
- Feedback: degree to which carrying out activities require responses regarding how effective one’s
efforts are
Important conditions for intrinsic motivation include:
- Need for growth: will to improve levels of competence
- Ability: being able to do the job
The sociotechnical system (STS) is an approach to complex organizational designs. It recognizes interaction
between people and technologies in the workplace. It argues that joined optimization is required:
designing workplaces such that people and technology coexist in harmony. Core principles of this approach
argue that in working with technology, there is a need of:
- In responsible autonomy, management gives employees more autonomy.
- Adaptability is ability to respond to change, being flexible.
- Important is meaningfulness of tasks (as perceived by employees).
Criticism: this approach is vague regarding effects and assessment.
Parker, Wall & Cordery (2001) presented the following model:
Antecedents:
Antecedents account for internal and external organizational characteristics and individual characteristics.
,These antecedents then lead to expanded work characteristics. Important for job design is taking into
account demands.
Demands include:
- Cognitive demands: the fact that work has become more complex. Cognitive demands may lead to
stress.
- Physical demands: physical exertion (using bodies) to work
- Emotional demands/emotional labour
Social contact is also part of expanded characteristics
Role conflict: challenge regarding how one’s role is experienced
Opportunity for skill acquisition: self-explained
Finally, group level characteristics shall be included in design (autonomy, feedback, variety
interdependence).
Humphery, Nahrgang & Morgeson, 2007, looked at integrating motivational, social and contextual work
design features. Their model is called work characteristics model:
This works as a new job characteristics model.
1. It is argued that task variety is more important than skill variety.
2. Autonomy is about making your own decisions at work. Decision making autonomy leads to the
highest level of satisfaction, followed by work methods and work scheduling autonomy.
3. Cognitive demands are also deemed important. They deal with:
• Information processing: the amount of information you shall manage and process for a job
• Job complexity: self-explained
• Specialization: degree to which specific skills and knowledge are needed for a job
• Problem solving: the level of required creativity and innovation when faced with a problem.
, They expect cognitive demands to lead to lower levels of well-being. Why? Because cognitive demands lead
to stress.
The social characteristics are regarded the most important addition for this model.
4 social characteristics at work need to be taken into account:
- Task interdependence: degree to which you depend on others to perform your work.
- Feedback from others: self-explained
- Social support: extent to which you receive help, assistance and advise in your job
- Interaction outside the organization: staying in touch with the external environment (customers,
clients).
Looking at the model again, social characteristics can affect different outcomes. Improved behaviour can
result. Attitude can change. Role perception and clarification changes. Satisfaction of basic needs can
improve wellbeing.
Work context characteristics include:
- Physical demands: the degree of physical effort needed to get the job done.
- Work conditions: the conditions within the workplace
- Ergonomics: whether machinery or equipment is made such to help you function better when
operating.
Physically tough work leads to lower wellbeing, performance and satisfaction.
The JCM model applied:
Experienced meaningfulness was found to be the best mediator between work characteristics and work
outcomes. Other mediators were also confirmed. Some new characteristics did not all apply, however
(conflicting evidence).
These were found to be important:
• Behavioural outcomes showed that turnover was mainly influenced by social characteristics;
• Performance by task characteristics.
• Task characteristics explained satisfaction and motivation.
• Organizational commitment was mostly explained by social characteristics, but a bit also by task
characteristics.
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