task identity

flexible benefits

A benefits plan that allows each employee to put together a benefits package individually tailored to his or her own needs and situation

employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) A company-established benefits plan in which employees acquire stock, often at below-market prices, as part of their benefits. employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) A company-established benefits plan in which employees acquire stock, often at below-market prices, as part of their benefits. employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)

A company-established benefits plan in which employees acquire stock, often at below-market prices, as part of their benefits.

employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) A company-established benefits plan in which employees acquire stock, often at below-market prices, as part of their benefits. gainsharing

A formula-based group incentive plan.

job characteristics model (JCM)

A model that proposes that any job can be described in terms of five core job dimensions: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback.

employee involvement

A participative process that uses the input of employees and is intended to increase employee commitment to an organization's success.

merit-based pay plan

A pay plan based on performance appraisal ratings.

piece-rate pay plan

A pay plan in which workers are paid a fixed sum for each unit of production completed.

variable-pay program

A pay plan that bases a portion of an employee's pay on some individual and/or organizational measure of performance.

bonus

A pay plan that rewards employees for recent performance rather than historical performance

skill-based pay

A pay plan that sets pay levels on the basis of how many skills employees have or how many jobs they can do.

motivating potential score (MPS)

A predictive index that suggests the motivating potential in a job.

participative management

A process in which subordinates share a significant degree of decision-making power with their immediate superiors.

representative participation

A system in which workers participate in organizational decision making through a small group of representative employees

job sharing

An arrangement that allows two or more individuals to split a traditional 40-hour-a-week job.

profit-sharing plan

An organization wide program that distributes compensation based on some established formula designed around a company's profitability.

flextime

Flexible work hours.

Skill-Based Pay Skill-based pay

Skill-based pay (also called competency-based or knowledge-based pay) is an alternative to job-based pay that bases pay levels on how many skills employees have or how many jobs they can do.

skill variety

The degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities.

job rotation

The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another.

job enrichment .

The vertical expansion of jobs, which increases the degree to which the worker controls the planning, execution, and evaluation of the work.

job design

The way the elements in a job are organized

telecommuting

Working from home at least two days a week on a computer that is linked to the employer's office

Task significance

is the degree to which a job has an impact on the lives or work of other people. The job of a nurse handling the diverse needs of patients in a hospital intensive care unit scores high on task significance; sweeping floors in a hospital scores low.

Autonomy

is the degree to which a job provides the worker freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling the work and determining the procedures in carrying it out. A salesperson who schedules his or her own work each day and decides on the most effective sales approach for each customer without supervision has a highly autonomous job. A salesperson who is given a set of leads each day and is required to follow a standardized sales script with each potential customer has a job low on autonomy.

Task identity

is the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work. A cabinetmaker who designs a piece of furniture, selects the wood, builds the object, and finishes it to perfection has a job that scores high on task identity. A job scoring low on this dimension is operating a factory lathe solely to make table legs

Feedback

is the degree to which carrying out work activities generates direct and clear information about your own performance. A job with high feedback is assembling iPods and testing them to see whether they operate properly. A factory worker who assembles iPods but then routes them to a quality-control inspector for testing and adjustments receives low feedback from his or her activities.