Benefits of Job Rotation

Keywords: job rotation advantages, job rotation benefits

Jump to: Benefits of Job Rotation | Literature Review of Job Rotation | Case Studies of Job Rotation in Banks | Impact of Job Rotation on Learning, Performance and Motivation

Introduction

Job rotation is an approach to management development where an individual is moved through a schedule of assignments designed to give him or her a breadth of exposure to the entire operation. It is also practiced to allow qualified employees to gain more insights into the processes of a company, and to reduce boredom and increase job satisfaction through job variation.

The term job rotation can also mean the scheduled exchange of persons in offices, especially in public offices prior to the end of incumbency or the legislative period.

At the senior management levels, job rotation – frequently referred to as management rotation, is tightly linked with succession planning – developing a pool of people capable of stepping into an existing job. Here the goal is to provide learning experiences which facilitate changes in thinking and perspective equivalent to the “horizon” of the level of the succession planning.

Job rotation involves the movement of employees through a range of jobs in order to increase interest and motivation. Job rotation can improve “multi-skilling” but also involves the need for greater training. In a sense, job rotation is similar to job enlargement. This approach widens the activities of a worker by switching him or her around a range of work.

For example, an administrative employee might spend part of the week looking after the reception area of a business, dealing with customers and enquiries. Some time might then be spent manning the company telephone switchboard and then inputting data onto a database.

For lower management levels job rotation has normally one of two purposes: promotability or skill enhancement.

Job rotation may offer the advantage of making it easier to cover for absent colleagues, but it may also reduce’ productivity as workers are initially unfamiliar with a new task.

Origin Of Job Rotation

It originated since late 1980’s, it has been developed and mainstreamed as an active labour market tool in Denmark

Job Rotation originated in Denmark as a collaborative development amongst trade unions, employers and training institutes

Importance Of Job Rotation

Job rotation is the surest way of keeping the employee away from complacency and boredom of routine. It is difficult for an employee to sustain his interest in a given job for any substantial length of time as humans have the tendency of outgrowing their jobs through the learning and experience that they gain over a period of time. Stimulating human mind through diversity of challenges is a sure way to bring to forefront its creative instincts and in taking the individual and organizational performance to a higher plane. This is where job rotation can prove to be a handy tool.

Need For Study(Emergence)

It is important to study this topic job rotation because doing the same job for time and again the employees gets bored, they get demotivated. There is no learning while doing same job they have no exposure to new job or new technology or format which the organisation is following, so by rotating job the employee have a chance to learn a new thing. At earlier times when the jobs were not rotated periodically the employees are not satisfied with their job which ultimately hampers the productivity. When the employee do not get the right environment for job and when there is no interest of employee in doing job, the overall efficiency of the firm decreases. When the productivity decreases and the retention rate decreases the expert to think how to improve this. Than came into existence the concept of Job Rotation. Since this cocept is used the employees become positive, they do their work with whole heartedness and also the organizations become more productive.

Benefits of Job Rotation

1. Raises intrinsic reward potential of a job: Job Rotation is likely to raise intrinsic reward potential of a job due to different skill and abilities needed to perform it. A worker becomes a broader based versatile worker due to job rotation. Management gets the benefit of job rotation because workers become competent in several jobs rather than only in one job. Staff adjustment in different department is possible easily due it the practice of job rotation.

2. Beneficial to the organization: Due to job rotation, the organization stands to gain because of the versatility of its employees who develop skills due to job rotation. It develops a common culture because of wide and common exposure to workers.

3. Worker becomes competent in several jobs: Due to job rotation, workers know about a variety of jobs. It also facilitates personal growth of employees and makes the workers more useful and valuable to the organization. The organization stands to benefit as the workers become competent in several jobs. As and result, the management gets employees who can perform a variety of tasks to meet contingencies.

4. Improves inter-departmental co-operation: Periodical job rotation improves inter-departmental co-operation. Employees understand each other’s problems properly and this facilitates co-operation among them.

5. Motivates employees: Job rotation technique is used for motivating employees in the organizations. It is suggested as a motivational strategy.

6. Reduce Boredom: Job rotation reduce boredom and disinterest among employees. Due to job rotation, a given employee performs different jobs of more or less the same nature. The employee gets some variety of work, workplace and peers.

7. Develops wide skills among workers: job rotation develops and wide range of skills among employees. It broadens knowledge and skills of an employee. Personal worth of employee also improves.

Job rotations at different levels of management

For job rotations at a slightly higher level, it is absolutely necessary that the business problems in various areas are identified. This calls for the active involvement of top management. Select most suitable people to be shifted from their current jobs to tackle the challenges at hand by considering individual attributes already described above. This will not only provide an insight for the future leaders in various aspects of the business but also will enhance their confidence levels as they solve these critical problems for the organization.

Job rotation at junior and middle level executives may be pivoted around their strengths and attributes and the future roles expected of them. Focus must be on exposure in all related areas of his domain of expertise, so that as they grow to higher rungs of the management, they have an overall experience of their domain.

Job rotations for workers must include aspects related to work environment, also along with other individual attributes already explained, so that it adds to his satisfaction derived from balanced distribution of work load, working conditions and learning opportunities.

Done this way job rotation gets aligned with career development, leadership development and employee satisfaction which would finally result in higher levels of intrinsic motivation among the employees and hence may contribute in retaining talent.

Why Job Rotation?

‘Can’t get a job without experience, can’t get experience without a job’ ,

• Benefits for Banks

Investment in staff development is a major key to survival and growth, but carries a cost in terms of releasing key staff and finding the right training. Job Rotation in banks provides tailored training for staff of small, big and cooperate sector banks,whilst providing a replacement worker to cover whilst existing employees are released on training.

• Benefits for Employees

Employees will improve their knowledge, skills and qualifications through supplementary training and general education, increasing effectiveness in their role and improving job security.

• Benefits for the Wider Economy

Job Rotation meets three separate but interrelated needs of the local economy.

1. Tackling unemployment

2. Encouraging business development trough staff training and learning

3. Promoting Lifelong Learning

• For Job Rotation Trainees:

As part of pre-employment training it will be provided with the following nationally recognised qualifications:

· Employment Skills level

· Basic Computing

· Communication Skills

· Application of Number

These were some of the comments from past trainees who have been successful with Job Rotation;-

DEPIKA MALHOTRA, A Job Rotation Trainee who has successfully secured employment after her six month placement, said “After taking part in the training program, I felt a lot more confident going into employment, as it gave me experience of filling in application forms and practical help for going to interviews”.

RAJVEER SHARMA, Another trainee, agreed saying, “The Job Rotation Program gave me a good opportunity to get some qualifications and an opportunity to get a good job.”

Job Rotation Trainee said, “I feel I have fitted well, the Job Rotation Programme gave me the opportunity to gain invaluable skills and qualifications to get started on the career ladder.”

Review Of Literature

Advantages of Job Rotation: Reduce Turnover by Influencing Employee Burnout, Satisfaction, and Motivation

Dec8,2009 in this article Natasha P. Smith says that a growing trend in business management is to implement a job rotation strategy. Strategies can differ drastically, but business owners can be certain that implementing a job rotation strategy will enhance organizational success thanks to more satisfied, motivated, skilled, and committed 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. The second advantage of job rotation is increasd 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 and the last 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.

• Boost productivity, cut injuries with job rotation

March 3, 2003 in this article Joshua Clifton says that Workers who continually perform repetitive tasks will likely suffer breakdowns over time, so employers should rotate workers through a variety of tasks or jobs to prevent injuries. Job rotation alone does not change the ergonomic risk factors in a facility. It only distributes the risk factors more evenly across a larger group of employees. When workers rotate between two jobs, the risk exposure may drop to a safe level. However, if the two jobs have similar risks, the benefits are lost. Anyone should be allowed to suggest job rotations, including supervisors, managers, production employees and union officials, he says. However, an ergonomics committee and the employees who will be affected by the changes should approve rotations. By monitoring job rotation one can ensure flexibility for individuals who are having difficulty performing new tasks. Assess if further training or accommodations can be made for these individuals. To determine if the results of job rotation changes meet the goals of the program, a system of tracking should be in place. The system should let you compare the number of cumulative trauma disorders, restricted duty days and lost hours and by tracking data such as injury rates, turnover, employee satisfaction and workers’ compensation costs to determine the effects of the job rotation.

• Productivity Increases Through Job Rotation

In this article Lance Winsloe says that many companies have a number of jobs that must be done occasionally, but are completely mundane. The employees assigned to these jobs hate them and making them do the jobs destroys their moral. One way to fix this problem and to show these employees that they are valuable members of the team is to take those mundane jobs they dread to do, and split the work up amongst all the workers of the office or business unit. Next this can might be done by trying to split up all the jobs and occasionally rotating other people thru them until everyone can do every type of job in the company. By doing this they will find that eventually everyone in a company can do every job and this makes organization more efficient and protects its business when a key employee is absent or busy on another more important task.

• Job rotation, total rewards, measuring value

April 25, 2005 in this article Margaret Fiester says that, there are many reasons for implementing a job rotation system. They include the potential for increased product quality, the opportunity for employees to explore alternative career paths, and, perhaps most important, the prevention of stagnation and job boredom. Employees who participate in job rotation programs develop a wide range of skills, and generally they are more adaptable to changes in jobs and career and more engaged and satisfied with their jobs in comparison with workers who specialize in a single skill set or domain. He also give stress to formulate clear policies regarding who will be eligible and whether employees will be restricted to certain jobs or opportunities will be open to people in all job classifications. Also use job rotation for employees in nonexempt jobs, as well as for those in professional and managerial jobs.

• Internal Job Rotation, The New Employee Retention Mantra

May 02, 2010 Financial Express writes that “Keep ’em at any cost or simply lose them!” With the talent pool at well-known corporate houses now becoming veritable storehouses ripe for the picking by the market, big players are going that extra mile to make sure they hold on to their star performers. The message is clear: It’s better to lose employees to other departments, where they remain within the same resource pool, than to lose them to the competition. So besides offering juicy pay packets and international working styles, the flavour of the year is well-thought out strategies and operational models to facilitate internal job rotations that offer cross border/department career growth and an opportunity to build competencies and achieve career aspirations. Today, all corporations want to give their employees equal experience and opportunity, even if they are not working at the headquarters. This internal job posting and rotation model serves a number of purposes at the same time.

• Use of job rotation to reduce training costs

June 25,2006 in this article Bindu Sridhar says that sustaining employee interest in a single job is not easy, which is perhaps why retention poses such a big challenge for businesses today. People outgrow their jobs quickly and it may not be possible for employers to provide enough diversity within a vertical career framework to maintain employee interest in the job. Job rotation is not a substitute for training. It must be supported by parallel developmental goals and initiatives, and skills that are not enhanced by job rotation need to be dealt with through separate training programmes and management coaching.Decide who will benefit the most from participating in job rotation programmes. Some organisations tend to rotate employees faster in early-career stages and slow down in later-career stages. This practice is based on the assumption that employees who are at an early stage of their career are more open to job rotation than senior level executives. Job rotations can be used as a developmental alternative to promotions. In times of economic recession or downsizing, it may not be always possible to reward employees with promotions and big hikes. In such a scenario, job rotations are a way of demonstrating that the company has faith in employees’ abilities and wants to provide them with opportunities for career growth. Job rotation offers a number of benefits for organisations. It is especially useful in helping employees cultivate valuable, organisation specific skills, and prepares the ground for lateral transfers and promotions. A systematic, well-designed job rotation program can help reduce training costs, reduce turnover, and improve employee morale and productivity. It can also endow a company with greater flexibility, and help take the edge out of contingency staffing. But perhaps the greatest benefit that accrues to organisations through job rotation programmes is its capacity to contribute to employee self- worth, motivation and job satisfaction.

• Training By Rotating Employees Boosts Business

April20,2009 in this article Tel Asiado says that in job rotation, employees are allowed to learn new jobs and to broaden their skills by working at different assignments on a temporary basis. As a result, workers become more versatile, tedium is reduced, and scheduling is simplified because of worker flexibility. It focuses on providing employees a high level of professionalism to function in their specific roles. This is particularly important for staff in technical roles. Through rotating employees by the company in head office or in outside offices such as its out of area organizations, employees can learn how to cooperate with other subordinates, how to handle other jobs, how to operate new pieces of machinery(in case of technical jobs), improve sales presentations, type faster, read a blueprint, or do any number of specialized tasks beneficial to both the employees and the business.

• Effect of job rotation on work demands and workload of employee

Sep.22, 2004 in this article Kuijer, P. Paul et. al. says that a major economic benefit of job rotation is the increase in flexibility. Also, several studies have indicated possible ergonomic benefits of job rotation in reducing workloadand the risk of musculoskeletal complaints Jobs with a dynamic type of work and great differences in muscular activity should be able to benefit especially from the introduction of job rotation Therefore, job rotation is often advised as an effective measure to reduce workload Despite its acclaimed effect in the literature, only one study was found that evaluated the effect of job rotation on workload. In a study performed at a refuse collecting company, the introduction of job rotation among collecting bags, sweeping streets, and driving a small cleansing machine seemed to result in a marked reduction in physical workload.

‘M&As seem a reality among public sector banks’

Nov.19, 2000 Business Line writes that after a successful three-year stint at the helm of the Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB), which turned around sustainably, Mr. Surinder Singh Kohli took over as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in April. A mechanical engineer from the Benares Hindu University, Mr. Kohli is also Chairman of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the acting Chairman and Managing Director of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). In a candid interview with Business Line, Mr. Kohli discussed the various issues affecting the banking industry. VRS is not the only method to improve productivity. It is one measure to right-size banks and may increase productivity. Besides the VRS, it is necessary to augment HRD activities, including job rotation, changes in the performance appraisal system and provide incentives that would improve the motivation of bank employees. In the PNB, the VRS is open from November 1-30, and action on the VRS requests will be taken thereafter. Overall, more emphasis has to be placed on training. We have 10 training centres, a Regional Staff College at Panchukula and an apex college at Delhi. Two more regional training centres are coming up at Thane in Mumbai, and in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. They will bolster the bank’s existing training capacity. The annual expenditure on training is about Rs 10 crore. Measures such as performance appraisals, career- path and succession planning and the introduction of non-monetary incentives to the staff are being initiated to augment HRD activities.

• Retaining the Best Talent for Organisation Development

Oct 26,2001 in this article Marc Hamilton and Harris Kern says that it is found that many companies uses job rotations significantly improve retention within their employees in organizations. The most successful type of job rotation is approximately eight weeks in length, with engineers typically rotating out to a non-development organization, such as sales, marketing, IT operations, or finance. Rotation to another development organization is possible, but typically this is useful only if there’s a prototyping or other short-term development opportunity available. Transferring into the middle of a large project may take a employee the bulk of eight weeks just to come up to speed on the project. Since job rotation programs are by nature cross-organizational, the support of the president or other executives whom all the organizations report to is needed to ensure success of the program. This executive should be responsible for assuring that each organization’s VP or director also supports the goals of the program. If it’s impossible to obtain this support, it may be possible to start a smaller, more grassroots job rotation program by coordinating between different line managers, but the long-term success of such a program is unlikely to be as great and after completing a rotation, many employees have a newfound respect for their line manager.

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How Companies Are Handling These Issues

How Job Rotation is handled by some of the banks

Job Rotation in HDFC Bank

In HDFC Bank all employees involved in the Job Rotation Schedule. In HDFC Bank the staff gets rotated in every 6 months and the officers get rotated in every 3 years.

The flexibility and consideration is given to those employees who have Physical difficulty for such employee there is no Job Rotation for example: Deaf and Dumb. Job Rotation takes in bank for other new comers to show their work as per their knowledge and to avoid frauds.

For Job Rotation of the employees meeting are held in every 6 months and for officers it is 3 years. The employees are been provided with the rule and regulation.

Job Rotation in Indian Overseas Bank

In JOB all the employees involved in the job rotation schedule, the staffs, clerks and officers. The staffs and clerks have internal rotation and officers get rotate to other branch.

As per the Bank rule the staff gets rotated in every 6 months and the officers get rotated in every 2.5 years. The flexibility and consideration is been given and those individual who have physical deficiency have no job rotation.

The employees are involved in the rotation schedule for other individual to their talent and to avoid malpractices and frauds. Meetings are held to know the employee which further position he will take place to determine interest and gain involvement. According to the employee performance and response towards his job on that basis the job is rotated.

Job Rotation in RBI

In RBI the job rotation is mainly concerned with the officers. The officers in RBI get their job rotated in every year. For such job rotation the employees who are going to get rotated meeting are held so that the officers get to know their future role. According to the rules and conditions to determine interest and gain involvement.

Job Rotation In The South Indian Bank

In The South Indian Bank all employees involved in the Job Rotation Schedule. In this Bank the high level staff gets rotated in every 3-4 years and the general staff get rotated in every 2 years. It is also based on other things like performance, health status etc.

There is also special provision for physically challeneged staff, there is no Job Rotation for them or less job rotation for example: partially disabled (not able to walk properly). Job Rotation takes in bank for other new comers to show their work as per their knowledge and to avoid frauds.

For Job Rotation of the employees meeting are held in every 1-2 years and for officers it is 3 years. The employees are been provided with the rule and regulation and new guidelines.

Benefits of job rotation programs for learning, motivation and performance

Reduce Workload – In banks by rotating employees, the employees workload reduced and they did not get bored by their same job, which ultimately motivates them and increase their performance.

Reduce Stress – By rotation of jobs, the employees feel stress free as they rotated to a new job which helps them to learn something new, and motives them to give performance.

Create Interest – The employees take interest in new jobs as their jobs rotates as per time schedule. As the job rotates the employee got to a new position whether t is on the same rank but the nature of the job changes which creates his/her interest towards new job. This leads to increase in employees performance.

Changing Positions – As the position of the employee changes or the job gets rotated, as we seen in banks sometimes the cashier is on the desk of customer relation officer and vice-versa so in this way the employee are motivated towards learning new things.

Boredom Reduced – In banks employees sometimes rotated internally that is in the branch itself and sometimes externally in the form of transfer, this reduces their boredom to a specific job. By reducing boredom a new freshness is created when assigned a new job which creates positivitey and motivates the employee in a better way to do his/her work.

Self promoting system –-The self promoting system in job rotating systems creates satisfaction for employees and give them greater exposure to all aspects of the job. Ideally, this would produce better products as managers or other employees gain knowledge on consumer needs while marketing people engaged in the banking services and can give their point of view.

 Increase excitement – not only is the employee in banks more excited because they have a chance to grow but each permanent internal movement also provides an opportunity to “back fill” that position, further motivating others to strive for promotions and transfers.

Increased learning – As employees move more frequently not only will they gain more knowledge but they will also develop mechanisms for learning faster when they enter future situations.This will make them and banks more efficient in handling tasks like dealing with customers etc.

 Lower “job failure” rate – because hiring employees that already know the culture and their skill is already known, they set and perform better than external candidates, the job failure and termination rate is generally lower with internal transfers. So by lower job failure they appraise well which ultimates motivate them for job.

More talented employes are available – In banks because the employees are proactively selected and moved faster, there are more and better qualified employees available to managers with sudden or new strategic needs, than when employee self select themselves for movement and by handling various jobs the employee knows every minute detail, so in return banks will get a more talented employee.

More Creative Employees– Greater creativity is another plus result of job rotation. As employees assume new responsibilities, their minds are open to the opportunities within their tasks, and they are motivated towards their job.

More hiring on entry level – If Most jobs are filled internally through transfers or promotions it allows the banks to do to do almost all of its external hiring at the “entry level”. This is a good thing because entry-level jobs are cheaper to fill, have a larger candidate pool and give the firm more time to train and assess “unknown” external hires while they are in jobs where they can do less damage.

Increased productivity – Because highly skilled innovators and top performers are placed in “the right job,” the productivity and effectiveness of these individuals will be multiplied driving and increase in the effectiveness of the overall workforce.

Employee benefits – Bank Employees receives benefits from faster internal movement including more opportunities for development and learning as well as a faster overall career movement because they are proactively placed in the “right” job. This helps in getting them motivated which improves the efficiency and productivity of banks.

 Better understanding and cooperation – by rotating individuals between different jobs, individuals from both branches can learn to better understand and appreciate the perspective of others. Increased movement helps to break down hierarchical silos and information and talent hoarding. For example, customer relation officer in banks can better understand the problems faced by the customer that have come for banking than cashiers

 Improved contacts and relationships – increasing internal movement allows individuals to build their contacts and to strengthen their relationship with individuals outside of the friends team. This give them chance to learn some more things.

 Higher retention rates – rapid movement minimizes frustration and burnout. People working in their “ideal job” are unlikely to find a superior opportunity outside the firm. This motivate the employees.

 Leadership development – multiple on-the-job learning opportunities are likely to develop leaders faster and more effectively because the development assignments will include opportunities to lead more teams under a variety of circumstances.

Critical Appraisal

Most of the banks are focusing on job rotation now days that is, moving employees from job to job within the bank, thereby allowing employees a variety of tasks in their work and helping prevent boredom. While this process can be costly to the banks because employees must be trained in several different areas, the cost tends to be balanced by the increase in morale and productivity. Job rotation also gives each employee the opportunity to see how the different jobs of banks fit together and gives the organization more flexibility in covering tasks when workers are absent. However, while job rotation is a good way to enrich employees’ jobs, it can also hinder performance: Having to know several different jobs in order to rotate, can prevent employees from becoming proficient at any of the jobs. Therefore, the advantages and disadvantages of job rotation as an enrichment strategy have to be carefully weighed. Workers may lose their sense of mastery and feelings of competence if their job is placed in a rotation. The job and their skill-set can no longer be considered special if “anyone” can do it. They lose their sense of ownership and pride. As a result, there are feelings of job insecurity. Moreover, job rotation is threatening to those who do not embrace change, re-training, or do not have a full understanding of all aspects of the work. Workers with seniority may lose their “lighter” jobs in job rotation, and injured workers with work accommodations may face peer pressure to overreach their physical limits. Some of others are as cost associated with the initial the learning curve on new jobs, including time spent learning, training costs and errors that employees often make while learning a new job. Costs in term of the satisfaction and motivation of other employees who aren’t rotating. (non-participant jealousy).It also increase department costs to pay rotations, amount of management time spent on lower level employees. “Star” rotations may leave if they don’t get promoted or get enough money at the end of the rotation. Some rotations get the training and then leave. Job rotation may increase the work load and decrease the productivity for the rotating employees’ manager and for other employees. Employees rotated too fast/ slow and the individual cannot slow down the rate. Fixed duration of rotations without an option to shorten, lengthen or make permanent can frustrate advanced rotations. It also decreases retention rate and negative morale if the rotation is not managed correctly. By rotating job the expectation of employee for promotion / salary increases at the end.

Conclusion:

Many organisations testify that their employees are their most valuable resource. This is especially relevant in the banking organisation. Customers often base their perceptions of the service on the quality of the interaction with service personnel. For this reason it is essential that the employee is motivated to consistently deliver a high quality service experience to the customer. Motivation is especially important when employees operate in a boundary spanning position, as this involves high levels of stress and burn out.

The puropose of job rotation as a mechanism for ensuring the motivation of employees. The implementation of job rotation program ensures that motivation, learning is at the forefront of managements’ priorities. This realisation implores management to consider that learning, motivation is a critical step of job rotation. The overall productivity can be increased by job rotation.