Job design and worker satisfaction: a challenge to assumptions*

Abstract

Some recent job redesign efforts in the United States, introduced to counter worker dissatisfaction and low productivity, represent a shift from more traditional but still prevalent models of worker–employer relations. This paper presents data from a study of blue‐collar and white‐collar semi‐skilled American workers which challenge two basic assumptions of these newer efforts: (a) that small changes in job design (here conceptualized as ‘destructuring’ work roles) are sufficient to affect worker satisfaction; and (b) that matching employees' work orientations (here, their ‘tolerance for structure’) with the nature of their jobs (its degree of ‘structure’) will improve worker satisfaction. The concepts ‘structure’ and ‘tolerance for structure’ are discussed in operational terms. Our findings indicate that modest differences in the structure of jobs are not systematically related to job satisfaction and that there is no interaction between these workers' orientations and the nature of their jobs which influences satisfaction within this range of jobs.