Page 95 - Psychological Management of Individual Performance

74 work design and individual work performance
English). At its core is the idea that work is goal directed and action oriented. The action
process involves a goal that motivates or ‘pulls’ the action. Thus actions proceed from
a goal to a plan, to the execution, and to getting feedback. An action, however, is also
regulated by cognition with the regulation taking place at different levels, from largely
unconscious processing to ready-made action programs, to conscious problem solving
and to a meta-cognitive level. In terms of the specific topic of work design and job per-
formance, this emphasis on cognitive processes is an important contribution of action
theory. Whereas the Job Characteristics Model emphasizes motivation, action theory
points to more cognitive explanations for the performance-enhancing effects of work
design.
A related consideration to understanding both the cognitive and motivational mech-
anisms of work design is psychological empowerment theory (Spreitzer, 1995; Thomas
& Veldhouse, 1990). Contemporary research in this area has made a distinction be-
tween situational empowerment or empowerment practices (e.g., self-managing teams,
participative management) and the cognitive motivational states (or ‘assessments’) that
result from these practices. The latter include: impact, competence, meaningfulness, and
choice. Similar to Hackman and Oldham’s (1976) notion of knowledge of results, the
impact cognition describes employees’ awareness that they are “making a difference”
(Thomas & Veldhouse, 1990, p. 672) by having the intended effect on the work environ-
ment. Competence is similar to Bandura’s (1982) notion of self-efficacy, and represents
the degree of confidence employees have in their own work-related skills. Meaningful-
ness is analogous to Hackman and Oldham’s (1976) experienced meaningfulness, and is
described by Thomas and Veldhouse (1990) as an individual’s “intrinsic caring” (p. 672)
about a work goal or project. Finally, choice captures the degree to which employees feel
that their actions are self-determined, and therefore overlaps with the work characteristic
of autonomy.
Although some of the dimensions of psychological empowerment are similar to previ-
ous conceptualizations (notably the JCM’s psychological states), the approach adds value
byexploringthemotivationaldimensionsofinterpersonalandorganizationalfactorssuch
as leadership (Spreitzer, De Janasz, & Quinn, 1999) and relationships with coworkers
(Liden, Wayne, & Sparrowe, 2000). From the work design and performance perspective,
this approach also contributes to theory by highlighting the cognitive-motivational state
of self-efficacy as a potential mediator between job content and outcomes, and illustrates
further the influence of contextual factors on the psychology of work design.
In summary, all of the major theories of work design propose that work enrichment
will lead to enhanced performance, although the theories vary in the extent to which they
focus more on individual work performance than on aggregate outcomes, and in their
emphasis on particular mechanisms (motivational, cognitive or other) as explanations
for why performance is enhanced.

WORK DESIGN AND INDIVIDUAL WORK PERFORMANCE:
EMPIRICAL STUDIES

As described earlier, practitioners often assume that work enrichment will enhance per-
formance, and such an assumption is entirely consistent with theoretical predictions.
But what is the empirical evidence? On the whole, reviews of the literature show that