Abstract
Employees today are always seeking new experiences in their job areas. The quest for a new challenge has created a new problem for employers, who must develop ways to train and maintain the motivational levels of employees at the highest level. The strategy that most employers have resorted to is known as job rotation. The job rotation functions not only to keep employees challenged but also motivated and further provides tangible benefits to the company. The job rotation program ensures that the employees get an opportunity to work in different positions within an organization rather than spending most of their time in a single position. One of the most significant benefits of job rotation is that it can identify the best people for specific positions as the employee’s skills are tested in different roles. The analysis will focus on the definition of job rotational programs, various types of job rotation, their advantages and disadvantages, and finally its application in real-life organizations.
Introduction
Job rotation is defined as a design technique involving moving employees between two or more job in a systematic and planned manner. It can also be regarded as a management strategy that assigns employees to various jobs and departments over a period of time. The employee is required to change positions within an organization and eventually return to their original role. One of the reasons why job rotation is lauded amongst the employees is that it keeps them away from boredom. It is further beneficial to trainees who would find an opportunity to apply their abilities, knowledge, and skills in various areas. Job rotation can be done within a team, department, or in some instances within the entire organization. Several types of job rotations exist including task rotation and position rotation amongst others. The primary role of the job rotational programs is to identify, develop, and assess a company's talent readiness. Despite the advantages it has, job rotation has also been accused of disgruntling employees and also tending to be time-consuming. Despite the pros and cons, job rotation continues to be used as effective human resource management in both governmental and non-governmental agencies.
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Types of Job Rotations
Khan et al. (2014) intimated that job rotation could broadly be classified into two categories including task rotation and position rotation. Beginning with task rotation, it occurs in jobs involving a high level of physical demands on the body or those which are regarded as tedious jobs. Employees could be removed from such potentially physically and mentally strenuous tasks for a while in a bid to give them a much-needed break. On the other hand, position rotation involves moving an employee to a different department, position, or a geographical position with the intention of professionally developing them and exposing them to new perspectives, knowledge, and skills. Position rotation can exist in two ways including within-function rotation and cross-functional rotation. Wagner, Grigg, Mann, and Mohammad (2017) noted that within-function rotation comprises of those jobs which an employee moves between jobs that require a similar level of responsibility and in the same operational or functional area. The cross-functional rotation could involve a sequence of positions where the levels of job responsibilities might increase. Also, job rotation can be viewed through the lenses of vertical and horizontal rotation. Vertical job rotation usually involves a promotion from a lower to a higher rank. On the other hand, horizontal rotation consists of the movement of an employee from one role to another of equal stature and responsibility.
Important to note is that irrespective of the fashion in which job rotation takes, the objectives remain the same. The first objective of task and position job rotation is to reduce the monotony of the job. Lanier, Jackson, and Lanier (2010) asserted that a worker is transferred from one task or position to minimize the repetitiveness involved in a job. The employees get an opportunity to experience different types of jobs, which in turn motivates them to perform even better at a different stage of job placement. The second primary objective of rotation is to enhance succession planning in a bid to determine how employees are replaced in an organization. It prepares employees to occupy senior positions when occupants get retired or leave the organization. Thirdly, the rotation would also ensure that the right-employee job fit is created where employees are placed in a position that matches their abilities and provides that they can perform their jobs with the maximum output. When employees are assigned a job in which they are not good at, both the employee and the organization are put in jeopardy. Therefore, job rotation at both levels ensures that the right person is fitted in the right position.
Workers further get an opportunity to be exposed to all the operations and verticals of the company. They will thus understand how a company operates and how various tasks are performed. They also get an opportunity to know how the organization operates and the likelihood of issues cropping up as the work proceeds. Through positional and task rotation, the employees get to test their skills and competencies effectively. The rotation process ensures that the abilities of the worker are holistically tested hence giving them an opportunity to excel in an area that best utilizes their expertise. As they move from one job to the other, the employer can gauge both their proficiencies and aptitudes much easily. Finally, the objective of job rotation is to ensure that workers get a wide range of experience. Most employees tend to show reluctance in changing their areas of operations. Once they begin performing at a specific level, they become increasingly unwilling to shift because they have entered a comfort zone. Through rotation, managers can prepare their workers in advance to have a wide range of experience and also develop varying levels of skills and competencies. It gives a chance to the employee to develop into a holistic individual giving them an impetus to understand the challenges and problems facing each department in the organizations. As such, they will build adaption and adjustment skills accordingly.
Chart 1 showing the objectives of job rotation
Advantages
The job rotation program in an organization beings a wide range of benefits not only to the employee but also to the employer. Regarding the worker, the benefits are mainly hinged on knowledge development and motivation. Regarding motivation, the tasks that the employee engaged as they rotate differ giving them an opportunity to try out new things. As such, the employee will have a much more exciting workday characterized by different challenges hence gaining the much-needed motivation to remain equal to the task (Asensio-Cuesta et al. 2012). Secondly, through the rotation, workers can understand their personal interest, abilities, and talents. They can further find out their passion and discover things they did not know. Learning skills and interests is especially critical for younger employees, who are short in experience. Through rotation, employees enjoy better networking opportunities in the company. Movement from one department or team to another guarantees workers the chance to form networks and connections which would prove vital in their career prospects. Furthermore, the performance and knowledge of the employee increase as they meet new and tackle new challenges. Additionally, the employees can increase their satisfaction levels and further decrease the attrition rates. According to Daley (2012), rotation ensures that employees are aligning their competencies with the organizational requirements. As such, all human resources will be directed appropriately respective of the skills and competencies of an individual.
The management or the employers have their benefits when it comes to job rotation on an organization. First, because the attrition rate decreases, employees became more satisfied and motivated to perform their jobs even better hence reducing the likelihood of employee turnover. Improved productivity is an obvious benefit given that workers will have an increased satisfaction rate as well heightened skills and knowledge which will drive the organization towards productivity. Hakenes and Katolnik (2017) asserted that the managers and supervisors would also have a platform to find and nurture hidden talent among the employees. As earlier intimated, workers have an opportunity to discover their hidden abilities and skills during the rotation process. The organization, therefore, finds it more comfortable to identify these talents and further provide them with an opportunity for advancement. The management and the organization in extension will have a benefit of a flexible workforce as the workers can tackle various tasks in different departments at any given point in time. Therefore, unprecedented situations such as retirement, leaves, and sickness can adequately be handled without any crisis. Team building is further enhanced across all the departments as well as the company culture as workers from different departments integrate to create a meaningful connection.
Chart 2 showing the advantages of job rotation
Disadvantages
One of the major cons of the job rotation program is that an immense amount of time and effort can go to persuading and motivating employees to embrace the rotation process. As earlier noted, many employees resent the prospect of rotation because of the comfort zones in which they take while occupying a similar position for a long time. It is also foolhardy to expect that employees of one department to easily gel and integrate with members of another sector at the first attempt. Brunold and Durst (2012) noted that the superiors in every department must first sit with the workers and explain to them the benefits of job rotation and also reveal to them the importance of contributing to other departments as well. As such, this can prove to be a time-consuming process that requires enormous amounts of effort to get the process working. Secondly, individuals might also take a lot of time before they acclimatize to their new work environment and also acquaint with the new procedures. Critically vital to appreciate is that efficiency is likely to be lost as the person might not show immediate proficiencies required for success in the new working environment. In some instances, upgrading skills could be required which might further need the employee to engage in parallel programs with a hope of catching up.
Casad (2012) illustrated that job rotation can also lead to confusion among the employees as some will be required to engage in tasks that are entirely different to what they are used to. As such, the likelihood of the work suffering becomes high hence poising the organization to incur losses. Furthermore, the employees can further suffer stress and anxiety. Most employees would not welcome the prospect of coming out of their comfort zones and contributing to other departments. Some might take the job rotation as a formality or an imposition and thus follow it because it is part of their requirements as workers. Some employees might show sluggishness in the open up to new people or even express their ideas to people who they know little about. Michalos, Makris, and Chryssolouris (2013) asserted that such people only thrive under people whom they have known for a long time, but when it comes to new colleagues, it offers them a whole new set of problems. Furthermore, job rotation can turn out into a problematic endeavor especially when the wrong person is chosen for the job. It destabilizes the company and might cause a breach of confidential data and information that was initially meant for a limited number of people.
Job Rotation Programs
Defense Logistics Agency Energy
The role of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Energy is to provide energy-related services to the Department of Defense among other government agencies in the US and globally. One of the chief functions of the company is to manage petroleum products including automotive gasoline, jet fuels, natural gas, coal, electricity, and lubricants among many others. As such, the company has numerous employees who are supposed to cover a host of departments and job areas prompting the need for job rotation. According to Stoeckmann (2015), from March 2015 the DLA Energy created a rotation program that developed into an organizational culture to enhance workforce development and further empower employees in various areas of competencies in a bid to promote long-term investment. The DLA Energy rotation program policy aims at providing an employee with an opportunity to grow and enhance their cross-functional and leadership skills. Therefore, the multiagency corporation gives employees a chance to explore various areas of the agency. As such, Stoeckmann (2015) noted that they get an opportunity to enhance their skills, knowledge, experience, networking, and confidence in a competitive workforce as they traverse through different areas of the organization, thanks to the job-rotation program. Another critical function that the rotational policy plays in the organization is to support the workforce development and foster superior leadership skills among the employees.
As such, since its inception in 2015, the company has acquired a new method of promoting career development through giving the workforce the much-needed exposure in various departments and agencies. One of the first individuals to kick-start the DLA rotational policy was Gladys White. She moved from her job area in Direct Delivery Fuels and embarked on another challenge in the company by taking the position of project management analyst in a division known as the Sustainable, Restoration, and Modernization. Most fundamentally, the DLA Energy rotation policy ensures that employees have a scope of the different career opportunities available in the energy company. Furthermore, managers are also provided with a first-hand scope of potential employees who can drive the company to greater heights. The Career management Specialist at DLA further intimated that the feedback that they received from the employees was positive showing that most of them remained optimistic that the rotation program would develop their career prospects in the company. Another employee in the company who successfully underwent the rotation program was Barbara Burger. After shifting to the Command Administration Support department, she asserted that “the rotation program has helped me widen my scope of DLA Energy’s roles and responsibilities.” She further confessed to have attained a clear understanding of the skills that would further enhance her working knowledge and abilities (Stoeckmann, 2015).
Many employees in the company have also agreed that the program allows them to develop and remain motivated to learn every single day. Most fundamentally, the company leadership has ensured that they remain supportive of their employees in their new capacities, a critical factor that has enabled success. The core of the rotation program in DLA Energy is about finding positions where employees can thrive because when such happens, the likelihood of the organization succeeding becomes increasingly high. Therefore, the success of the process hinges on finding the right job growth opportunities which meet the desires of the employee and also balances the organizational needs. However, some of the challenges that the program appreciates include ensuring employee qualification in their new roles and the subsequent training requirements.
The Intel Corporation
The Intel Corporation is a large company in the US that mainly supplies processors for computer system manufacturers including Lenovo, Apple, Dell, and HP among others. It also manufactures a host of information technology items such as motherboard chipsets, integrated circuits, graphics chips, and interface controllers among others. Because it is a fairly large company with different agencies and departments, it is known to employ the job rotation policy as part of its human resource management (Rotation programs, Intel). The rotation program allows the employees to try out different roles which will subsequently give them experience and a chance to explore multiple opportunities. The Finance rotation opportunities offer undergraduates and graduates with an emphasis on economics, finance, and accounting an opportunity to explore their skills and talents in various areas of the company. The expertise and skills that one acquires in their Finance rotations maximize the employee's ability in making corporate business decisions. The Finance rotation gives the workers an opportunity to explore a new role between every 18 and 36 months. The company asserts that this is in a bid to build a wide range of skills and experience that will guarantee continuous improvements in performance, professional growth, and exposure in different finance functions. Most critically is the fact that the employees are given an opportunity to indicate on their resume if they are interested in Finance rotation (Rotation programs, Intel).
The second form of rotation is found in the human resource department. It offers interns and graduates interested in human resource management two programs including the HR Internship Program and the rotation program. The rotation program provides graduates with substantive, high quality, and full-time rotations that enhances networking, professional development, and increased participant capabilities of all the graduates in the company. Furthermore, the Information technology department also provides rotational programs known as the IT College Graduate Rotation Program which offers unique leadership and technical development programs that are designed to turn college graduates into future leaders in IT. Another area that has immensely benefited from job rotation is in the sales and marketing department. Here, the Sales and Marketing Rotation program gives employees various roles in the Intel sales and marketing area. It builds on their technical knowledge and accelerates their business experience by giving them an opportunity to work in different capacities and attend global conferences. Furthermore, the employees can improve their interpersonal skills with job rotation which offers them a myriad of networking opportunities. The rotation program at Intel is based on the perception that by understanding and appreciating different dynamics in a group, members in the rotation program become not only better team members but also business partners (Rotation programs, Intel).
Intel also believes that rotation programs facilitate fast, professional growth by building robust networks and enhancing cross-functional communication skills which help the company to excel and succeed. Bringing a new individual in an organization is usually a complicated process. In full cognizance of this, managers at Intel resort to job rotation to ensure that they solve their human resource needs internally whenever there is incapacitation. Furthermore, Intel accepts that the rotation policy allows the employees to look at the company holistically and understand issues from different perspectives and angles. The end of the rotation also gives the worker a chance to reflect on their work through thinking and observation (Rotation programs, Intel).
The US Office of Personnel Management
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is a federal agency whose primary role is to manage the civil workforce of the government. Some of its functions include providing human resource policies, playing the supportive and oversight role for workers, and also solves their healthcare needs. Other functions of the OPM include offering benefits such as insurance and retirement benefits for all the federal government employees. The head of the OPM is a director nominated by the President and confirmed by the members of the Senate. As a multi-departmental agency, OPM has in the recent past asked its stakeholders to embrace an Interagency Rotational Program. The program is specially designed for employees at levels such as GS-13, GS-14, and GS-15 which would ensure that they prepare for their career advancements through a six-month assignment to other agencies. OPM has since reported that the job rotation, which has already been used for four years, has borne fruits that look encouraging, even though it has only been used for a couple of employees. The rotation program was first suggested in 2010 when the President's Management Council (PMC) drafted recommendations to launch an interagency rotation program which would ensure that the organization cultivates a generation of talent who possess broad organizational excellence (OPM urges More Use of Rotational Program).
Through the rotation program, emerging Federal leaders have an opportunity to improve their leadership skills and competencies, broaden their experience, and create networks on which they can leverage in the coming days. Some of the aims of the program include creating a collaborative and cross-agency strategy to mitigate the barriers to interagency mobility and secondly to give each employee a six-month rotation assignment within or outside their areas of work. Each participant gets a chance to gel with their cohorts and create networks through interaction. The targeted participants for the job rotation program include GS 13-15 employees who the Federal authorities believe will excel outside their areas of practice. Some of the agencies that have participated in the rotation program include Education, Agriculture, Energy, Interior, Labor, Transportation, and Veteran Affairs among others (OPM urges More Use of Rotational Program). The OPM further debunked the myth that participants undergoing the rotation program would be eligible for any form of promotion. The aim of the program is strictly for training and developmental purposes. The rotation takes six months with two designated dates for starting each year one in April and the other in October. When an individual is in a rotation, the supervisors are supposed to fill their original position with another employee that is also in the rotation. Some of the obligation of the individual on rotation include learn from the experience and grow professionally by completing all the outlined work given by the supervisor. They are also given rotation goals which by the end of the program, they are required to have achieved. The supervisor will guide the participant using an Individual Development Plan and ensure that their original work is appropriately covered (OPM urges More Use of Rotational Program).
In conclusion, the job rotation is a human resource management strategy applied in many governmental and private agencies. The two main types of job rotations include the positional and rank rotations. Some of the notable advantages of the process include the fact that it gives managers a chance to detect and improve talent and on the worker, they can escape the prospects of boredom and cumbersomeness. However, job rotation comes with its disadvantages with many citing that it might take time and resources to integrate an employee in a new work environment. In Federal agencies such as the DLA and OPM, the process has come with an immense level of success with employees getting an opportunity to improve professionally and further establish strong networks for future opportunities. Private industries such as the Intel Corporation have also utilized the strategy in ensuring that their employees view the organization holistically and ensuring a working environment that exploits the diverse skills of every individual. Despite its few shortcomings, the case studies from the Federal and private agencies prove that it can be relied upon to bring the best out of the employees.
References
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Rotation programs, Intel https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/jobs/student-center/rotations.html
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