Matching Jobs to Employees

Mathing the technical, physical, and psychological requirements of the job to the employee's qualifications enchances the effort-performance expectancy. If the job is either too simple or too complex, the employee may not feel that his or her effort has been effectively utilized in the task performance. The matching process involves the following actions. 1. Design the job to suit employee needs. People want different levels of job challenge. Some employees may prefer complex and challenging jobs; other may prefer simple tasks. Task complexity needs to be differentiated to reflect the technical and psychological qualifications of employees. 2. Match employees to jobs. The match between jobs and people can also be achieved by hiring people who will fit the jobs. When it is economically and technically impractical to redesighn jobs, it makes more sence to fit employees to jobs than the other way around. 3. Improve employee job skills. Another way of fitting people to jobs is by training. When employees are underqualificated to perform their jobs, training can help them find a better fit. Training also enchances effort-performance expectancy. 4. Set challenging but attainable goals. Set performance goals that are challenging but attainable. If the task goals are ether too high or too low, employees are not likely to feel that their efforts are related to task performance. When the task goals are challenging but attainable, they are more likely to perceive the relationship between effort and task accomplishment. This diccussion demonstrates how motivational principles can be applied in managing organozational reward and work systems.