Dr. Zasha

Job Characteristics Model

Posted by Emanuel in Organizational Development | 0 comments

Job Characteristics Model (JCM) is almost 30 years old. There are 5 characteristics defined by J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham in 1980. A sixth one, self-expression, was added by O’Brien in 1985.

1. Task Identity – related to the fact that a piece of work can be identified as having a beginning and an end or not.
2. Autonomy – refers to the level of freedom the employee has over deciding his schedule and work procedures
3. Skills Variety – the number of different activities performed by an employee
4. Task Significance – the perceived impact of work on the final product, other employees or the work environment
5. Job Feedback – information provided to the employee regarding his performance
6. Self-expression – a measure of the match between an employee and the task assigned to him/her

Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) is a questionnaire that uses the following formula to calculate the motivational potential of a job:

Motivating Potential Score = (Skill Variety + Task Identity + Task Significance)/3 x Autonomy x Job feedback