What is Job Rotation in HRM? Meaning, Definition, Concept, Method Benefits

What is definition of job rotation in HRM

Job rotation is defined as a management technique which is used to shift employee from one job to another in order to make them familiar with all the verticals of an organization. The objective of job rotation is to enhance the work experience of the employees, to cross-train them and improve their job satisfaction.

Role of Employee Job Rotation Policy

The role of employee job rotation policy is to convey the employees about the job rotation technique used by the organization, rules and regulation associated to the job rotation and frequency of job rotation. The job rotation policies help to reduce the demoralization of employees. It plays an important role to make the organizational outcomes more efficient and improve the productivity of the employees. The innovative thinking and inventiveness also gets boost due to effective implementation of employee job rotation policy.

Benefits of Job Rotation Policy

The amazing benefits of implementation of employee job rotation policy is listed below-

It reduces the exposure to fulfilling the demands of only one job role.

It minimizes the strain, physiological stress and fatigue associated to one particular job role.

It reduces the fear of employee to be stuck on high risk job.

It improves the work efficiency and productivity of employees.

It increases work flexibility among employees and improve the skill base.

It provides relief from boredom and complacency.

It helps to decrease absenteeism and turnover in the organization.

Purpose of Job Rotation Policy

The purpose of job rotation policy is to create a talent pool for organization by cross-training the employees. The job rotation policy also serves different purposes as listed below-

To create a career path for employees in the organization by rotating their work profile from dead end job

To provide the employee opportunity to gain new knowledge and job processes.

To enhance the understanding of the employees about working of the company

To keep employee motivated and productive, throughout their journey in the organization

To create unity among employees by providing them a chance to work with each other on different projects

Job Rotation Program

Job rotation program is a full active plan about work rotation of the employee based on the skills that each employee should gain, the work need of organization and future succession planning of the organization.

Here is a way the job rotation program is planned and implemented in the organization-

Steps of effective job rotation program

Leadership Commitment

The management of the organization provides green flag to the job rotation program

Selection of Critical Job Positions

The critical job position which are hub of useful skills, need frequent replacements and going through turnover risk are often become part of job rotation program

Job Analysis

The important learning components of the work profile is determined using job analysis

Ideal Bench Strength

The number of people who should have the skills for the critical job profile is decided. Generally three people are trained for the role to deal with the turnover issues.

Assessment and Evaluation

The current skills and readiness level of employee is assessed and evaluated before starting the job rotation

Development maps

The maps such as online learning programs, buddy system, mentoring or special project participation is created for the implementation of job rotation program.

Job period

For how long the job rotation program should be implement is determined

Selection process

Employees are selected using different assessments and performance reviews for job rotation.

Internal Communication

Employees are informed about the plan of job rotation and its benefits

Team orientation

The team is oriented about the job changes and new entries in their team

Support

Check in the milestones of job rotation and provide the support to motivated the employees for learning

Rewards

The progress of job rotation is communicated to the employee and the better productive team is provided appropriate rewards.

Types of Job Rotation Process Used

There are two types of job rotation based on the way the job profile of the employee is changed by the organization.

Task rotation- The employees who are working on mentally stressful job or physically demanding job are usually given a task rotation. In such cases the employees are shifted from stressful job to less demanding job to provide a break from routine work.
Position rotation- In the case of position rotation the designation, location or department of the employee is changed by the organization. This provides an opportunity to the employee to gain different skills, knowledge and new work perspectives. Further this has two types namely cross functional rotation and function rotation. During function rotation the responsibilities and area of operation of employee remains same. While under cross functional rotation the level and job responsibilities of the employee are changed.

Objectives of Job Rotation

The objective of job rotation is to ensure a well planned job shuffling is carried out which is beneficial for both employee and organization. The main objectives of the job rotation are listed below-

Reduction in monotony: Key objective of job rotation is to reduce the repetitiveness in the job profile of the employee. It provides opportunity to the employee to work on different position. It is a motivational tool to enhance job satisfaction.
Succession Planning: Job rotation develops a pool of employees who can replace the existing working employees of the organization. It provides an immediate replacement for the high profile employees working the organization through internal promotion.
Right Job fit: The objective of the job rotation is to place a right employee at right job in the organization. Fitting right employee in right vacancy is the aim of the job rotation program.
Exposure to all the verticals: Due to job rotation the employee get brief idea about how things work in the organization. It provides basic knowledge about the operations of the organization and makes the employee aware about their contribution in the outcome of the organization.
Improve the employee skills and competencies: Job rotation actually tests the different skills and competencies of the employees. Due to exposure to diverse work profiles the skills of the employees gets sharpened and it increases their productivity.
Develop a Wider Range of Work Experience: Job rotation enrich the work experience of the employees. It prepares them for the future challenges and helps them to adapt as per the changes in the market.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Employee job rotation program

Although employee job rotation program is often used for the benefit of employee and organization, still there are certain definite advantage and disadvantage of employee job rotation as listed below-

Advantages of Employee Job Rotation

Job Rotation Advantages

Eradicate boredom : Job rotation reduces the job repetitiveness and improves job satisfaction
Supports development : It supports the overall development of the employees. It helps in skill enhancement as well as mental well being of the employees.
Offset the risk of fatigue: It eliminates the chances of employee burnout by providing change in the job profile.
Personal Analysis: It helps the employees to give a thought on their work related strength and weakness.
Improves Turnover of the company: It creates a back-up talent pool for organization to counter the turnover of employees.

Disadvantages of Employee Job Rotation

Costly and time consuming

The job rotation is time consuming and the training programs arranged for employees are costly.

Disgruntled employees

Sometimes employees are comfortable and well adjust in their own job, in such case job rotation leads to job dissatisfaction.

Not all round solution

Job rotation is not able to tackle other issues such as employee disengagement and disconnect with the organizational culture.

Not applicable to all industries

The business in which highly skilled employees are required to perform the job, the process of job rotation is not suitable.

Can lead to loss

During job rotation the employees are learning new skills and can make mistake while working on the job. These errors can cost a lot to the organization.

Sample - Job Rotation Policy

Disclaimer: The sample job rotation policy given here is a real-time representation of the actual process of job rotation in the organization. The policy mentioned here is only to provide better understanding about the HR aspects of the policy. The site hrhelpboard.com is not accountable for the semblance or accuracy of the job rotation policy. The professional verification of the policy is necessary before actual implementation of this sample policy in the corporate world.

Introduction

The aim of the job rotation policy is to provide a transparent and structured framework for internal movement of talent and to achieve the set goal of the organization.

Objective

The objective of job rotation policy is to provide growth opportunities to all the employees of the organization and to fulfill the career aspiration of the employees based on the year of experience on a job role. It also helps the organization to fulfill its talent related requirement.

The job rotation policy covers the rules and regulation related to the talent mobility of the organization.

Tenure Based Structured Job Rotation & Succession Planning

Employees will be recommended for job rotation process based on the maximum tenure, twice in a year.

Outline of the job rotation process:

HR department will enable the role change discussions after
- Identifying the employees who are completing maximum tenure
- Verification of possible roles the employees can serve
- Drawing a career path of the employees after job rotation.
Role assessment with respect to the business requirement and skill requirement is carried out
The transition is planned after role change assessment-

The new job likely to be assigned to the employee is identified.
The necessary training is provided to the employee to make the job rotation smooth.

Role change is implemented and the job rotation is kept valid for 2 months.
The necessary documentation is provided by the HR department to the employee
The career path of the employee is discussed beforehand.

Guidelines

Above job rotation policy is strictly implemented in all working condition.
The standard tenure matrix is used to check the minimum and maximum tenure of the employee.
In some exceptional cases the job rotation plan can be changed with the approval of business head and HR head of the company
Any role change suggested by the management for the benefit of the organization should be accepted by the employee
The performance measure of the employee will change based on the new job assigned.
Employee has a right to delay or postpone the job rotation citing any appropriate health issues.
HR department has a responsibility to make the job rotation a success by properly analyzing the talent need of the organization, the skill set of the employee and the need of the hour.
The tenure of new job assigned can be extended based on the business requirement.

Industrial Example of Job Rotation

Every company has a unique way to design the job rotation policy and implement it in the organization. Emerson an engineer based company has developed ‘leadership program’ under their job rotation policy. In this leadership program the company selects 8-18 candidates every year who can participate in the rotational program which runs for years. This program has two assignments, one at domestic office while other at the international level. The selected candidate gets training and mentorship to help them to identify their areas of interest and gain growth in their career.

All the participants in this job rotation program periodically meet for development session. These sessions are sometimes arranged virtually or in-person and helps to exchange experiences, insights and build up network among the employees. The company often selects the recent college graduates for the leadership program. The company looks for skills such as excellent communication skills; desire to experience cross-functional operation, goal-oriented, team-focused, interest in travelling and relocation and strong leadership qualities. Based on these skills the employees are selected to participate in the job rotation program.

After selection of employee the company provides them opportunities to work on challenging jobs. The employees can work in different departments within Emerson such as supply chain, engineering or sales and marketing. The employees gain experience of working on international assignment with global teams. The employees get continue mentoring from the top executives of the company. The learning and development programs are arranged to enhance the leadership qualities of the employee.

This job rotation policy has turned out to be very beneficial for Emerson. The company has developed a strong talent pool within the organization. The employees are well aware about the overall operation of the company and provide inter-department suggestions to improve the efficiency. The productivity of employee is improved due to assignment of challenging job. The organizational commitment and job satisfaction of the employees is drastically increased. The turnover issues of the company are reduced due to successful implementation of job rotation policy.

Job Rotation Policy

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