Job Design and Employee Absenteeism: A Case Study of Some Government Parastatals in Nigeria

Abstract

This empirical study examined the relationship between job design and employee absenteeism in Bayelsa State Civil Service, in a bid to proffering solution to the myriad of absenteeism in the ministries, this literature focused on dimensions such as job rotation and job enlargement and their relationship to absenteeism. A sample size of 348 workers from nineteen ministries was involved in the study. The data was analyzed with Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient, whereas the impact of the moderating variable on the strength of relationship between the independent and depended variables was analyzed with Partial Correlation Coefficient. The findings from the study revealed that job enlargement and job rotation significantly relates to absence intensity. Base on the findings, it was recommended that organizations including ministries should take deliberate effort in designing job of its employee putting into consideration job enlargement and job rotation, as they are necessary ingredients that improves employee attendance rate thereby curtailing their level of absenteeism. it was also recommended that, employers should rotate employees from one job to the other to enable them acquire variety of skills and experience to make them have intrinsic satisfaction of their job that will in turn improve their commitment level to the organization including being regular and punctual to work.