13.6 Job rotation#
13.6.1 Definition and objectives of job rotation (Source)#
Job rotation is a management approach where employees are shifted between two or more assignments or jobs ideally at regular pre-planned intervals of time to serve several objectives, including:
Reducing Monotony of the Job: The first and foremost objective of job rotation is to reduce the monotony and repetitiveness of a job. It allows employees to experience different type of jobs and motivates them to perform well at each stage of job replacement.
Creating Right-Employee Job Fit: The success of an organization depends on the on-job productivity of its employees. If they’re rightly placed, they will be able to give the maximum output. In case, they are not assigned the job that they are good at, it creates a problem for both employees as well as organization. Therefore, fitting the right person in the right vacancy is one of the main objectives of job rotation.
Testing Employee Skills and Competencies: Testing and analysing employee skills and competencies and then assigning them the work they excel at is one of the major functions of the job rotation process. It is done by moving them to different jobs and assignments and determining their proficiency and aptitude. Placing them what they are best at increases their on-job productivity.
Exposing Staff to All Operations of the Organization: Another main function of job rotation is to expose employees to all operations of the organization to make them aware of how the company operates and how tasks are performed. It gives them a chance to understand the organization’s working and different issues that crop up while working.
Developing a Wider Range of Work Experience: Employees may not want to change their area of operations. Once they start performing a specific task, they may be reluctant to leave their “comfort zone”. Through job rotation, managers prepare them to have a wider range of work experience and develop different skills and competencies. It is necessary for the overall development of an individual. Along with this, they understand the problems of various departments and try to adjust or adapt accordingly.
Succession Planning: The concept of succession planning is ‘Who will replace whom’. Its main function of job rotation is to develop a pool of employees who can be placed at a senior level when someone gets retired or leaves the organization. The idea is to create an immediate replacement of a high-worth employee from within the organization. See here for more information.
Job Rotation - Meaning and its Objectives, Management Study Guide (MSG) (🔗).
13.6.2 Models of job rotation#
An agency’s “staff model” may fall anywhere in a wide range of configurations in relation to job rotation or mobility.
At one end of the spectrum is the “no one moves” model. Its objective is to maximize specialized human capital by allowing staff members to learn more about their respective areas of responsibility (e.g., industry; health; education; retailing; balance of payments). Staff members would be expected to have a purely vertical career and leave their areas only when called upon to discharge agency-wide responsibilities.
At the other extreme, the driving principle is versatility. Staff members are encouraged (or required) to acquire the widest possible experience by moving from one job to another. When the office of personnel directs this movement, it is likely to be in keeping with an optimal pattern so that the acquired experience would provide the most versatility. However, there is an obvious downside to rotating staff with highly specialised skills in national accounts or sampling or data scientists working on Big Data.
It is difficult to quantify the many factors that affect how an agency will balance the needs of both specialized knowledge and versatility. For example, staff morale is an important consideration, and if the idea of permanent rotation goes against habits and expectations, its introduction in an extreme form may create negative reactions that outweigh its benefits.
Conversely, in a culture where the staff are used to and expect to change jobs every so many years, the absence of opportunities to try different assignments might lead to frustration and atrophy.
Somewhere in between is a point of equilibrium that capitalizes on the inherent strengths of the two extremes. For example, an institution may require that at a certain level no one is allowed to remain on the same job for more than five years; if one opts to keep the same job for an indefinite period of time, it would be with the knowledge that one’s chances of advancement are correspondingly reduced, even if job performance is entirely satisfactory. Using a voluntary rather than mandatory scheme would imply having rotation as an incentive for staff who aspire to a more senior position.
13.6.3 Examples of job rotation schemes in NSOs#
French Statistical System
An important feature of the French Statistical System (FSS) is the existence of a common culture and very similar views on statistics shared between the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) statisticians and most of the hierarchy of the Ministerial Statistical Departments (MSDs). A large share of staff of the MSDs has either worked for INSEE or come from one of the two High French National Economics and Statistics Schools. This common culture is created through a feature of the French civil service called “corps” (like the concept in English of “Army corps” or “diplomatic corps”). The two corps of statisticians are trained after recruitment in INSEE schools, one being focussed on statistics, econometrics, economy and finance, and the other mainly on statistical production. These staff are rotated regularly in their career, with the rotation coordinated and synchronised between INSEE and the MSDs. INSEE coordinates promotions and transfers, and statisticians can easily move between INSEE and the ministries. This process of regular movement has created a common statistical culture across the FSS.
Source: Rotation across the NSS (France), Peer Review Report (France) (🔗).
Statistics Finland
How often should such moves happen? rule of thumb of 3-5 years in one task…
The first year for learning, the second year for becoming efficient and bringing earlier learning fully in, the third-year employees start to contribute to the development of the area. During the fourth and fifth year, the work has become easy for the employee; beyond this point, the task may have become monotonous and boring.