The Effects of Job Enrichment on Employee Satisfaction, Motivation, Involvement, and Performance: A Field Experiment

Abstract

The effect of job enrichment on employee responses was investigated in a field experiment conducted in a federal agency among clerical employees, who were randomly assigned to either an enriched or unenriched condition. In the enriched condition, a systematic attempt was made to increase the extent to which the jobs of the employees possessed each of the dimensions of skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. In the unenriched condition, the employees performed their original duties and tasks. After a 6-month experimental period, the effect of enrichment was examined. The results showed that: (1) Employees in the enriched condition perceived their jobs as more enriched than before; (2) enrichment caused significant increases in employee job satisfaction, job involvement, and internal motivation; (3) enrichment led to significant decreases in absenteeism and turnover; but (4) enrichment had little impact on performance, whether assessed by superiors' ratings or by actual output. These findings, which are described in terms of the Hackman-Oldham theory of job design, are regarded as suggestive evidence that enrichment can cause substantial improvements in employee attitudes, but that these benefits may not lead to greater productivity. It is argued that in order to explain the effect of enrichment on performance, it is necessary to consider other factors besides the psychological states produced by jobs which are seen to have certain characteristics.