How effective is Job Rotation in today's context

(Tlnt, 2021)

"Job rotation, sometimes called cross training, is one of the many forms of on-the-job training and a formal effort at executive development" (Zeira, 1974; Beatty, et at 1987). 

Job Rotation is an HRM technique often used by organizations to effectively manage their human resource. The basic idea of the concept is that an organization rotates their employees between various job roles in order to help them to acquire the necessary overall skills to successfully grow within the organization.

Eg: In a bank the branch manager could rotate the staff members under him between various roles like customer service, pawning, cash, credit etc on a regular basis to make sure that all of his subordinates acquire the necessary skills to function within any station of the branch.

Benefits of Job Rotation

  • Well rounded knowledge and skill set on all job roles.
  • Better opportunities for networking.
  • Employees will be able to look at the organization from various angles.
  • Ability to create a succession plan.
  • Will help the organization to find the perfect combination.
  • Will give employees ne experiences & keep them engaged.
  • Can sometimes even prevent fraudulent activities.
Drawbacks of Job Rotation
  • High training & development costs.
  • Some employees might find hard to regularly adopt to new job roles.
  • Increased stress due to new responsibilities.
  • Reduction of organizational productivity due to difficulty in employees adjusting to new job roles.
  • Not suitable to each & every company or industry.
Conclusion

In conclusion to answer the question "How effective is Job Rotation in today's context?" the answer is that it is extremely effective to this date however it does not fit each & every organization or industry and as such the management must make their own judgement on the feasibility of the technique before it's implementation because as highlighted above if implemented properly it could be extremely advantages for any organization, as such the implementation of the Job Rotation technique should be handled on a situational basis.

Eg: as stated in the above example the branch manager of a bank could rotate the staff member under him between various roles like customer service, pawning, cash, credit etc on a regular basis & this would increase their skills & knowledge on the roles. However in the same bank regularly rotating the department staff like finance, IT, Audit, Credit, Sales, Trade etc would only hinder the organizational performance as these roles are specialized & require a significant amount of adjustment & job knowledge to perfect.

References

Tlnt, 2021. Tlnt.
Available at: https://www.tlnt.com/why-job-rotation-can-drive-engagement-and-improve-your-workplace/

Beatty, R. W., Schneier, C. E. & McEvoy, G. M. (1987). Executive development 

Comments

  1. Bhashitha Dissanayake August 28, 2021 at 11:28 AM

    Advantages of Job Rotation Helps in Reducing Monotony. The biggest advantage of job rotation is that it helps in reducing the monotony of the employees working in the same role or department for many ,Learn New Skills, Backup Plan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Arun_Prakash_MBA_BlogAugust 29, 2021 at 3:17 AM

    Job rotation too can be treated as a motivating factor since, the employee’s get the opportunity to learn all work within the organization. For instance in Banking sector, a new trainee will be given a rotation every 6 months to learn all basic functions of Accounts opening, Clearing, Cash, Back office work etc. It also benefits the company since they can get the maximum out of the allrounder. Enabling job rotation will assist the employee to learn new things. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. blogs of UMESHAugust 29, 2021 at 5:13 AM

    When it comes to the implementation of HR strategy, job rotation is considered an effective tool. Personnel placement is critical to achieving maximum results. Especially in today's highly competitive world, this is the best way to find a high-value employee's immediate replacement from within the organization. Finding the right people and promoting them to a higher position is a difficult task. Personnel managers can determine who can be replaced by whom through the use of job rotation, which helps them find a suitable and beneficial match.
    So you have described here how it can be used in the Banking sector..

    ReplyDelete
  4. M.JanarthanAugust 29, 2021 at 7:19 AM

    Thank you for sharing this valuable article.A job rotation program moves employees through a variety of positions within or among departments, enabling them to gain exposure to different parts of the business while growing and expanding their skill sets. While job rotations can offer a multitude of advantages for employee and employer alike, there are certain areas in your organization that will reap greater rewards than others.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wathsala SiriwardhanaAugust 29, 2021 at 8:43 AM

    Valuable article Jude.Job Rotation is a management tool where employees are shifted between two or more assignments or jobs at regular intervals of time. Main objective of the job rotation is to expose them to cover all functions and areas of the organization. It is a well-planned practice to reduce the boredom of doing same type of job for long period. Job rotation gives the opportunity to identify hidden talents and potentials of an employee. It helps employer to discover the talent of employees and to get the maximum out of them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nadeeshan MadusankaAugust 29, 2021 at 10:57 AM

    You can increase the employee's challenges, test their adaptability to a new setting and manager, and get them to learn new abilities by rotating them. Because they expose employees to many aspects of the business.

    ReplyDelete

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