Beginner’s Guide to Job Rotation in HRM: 3 Easy Points To Know in 2020

Job rotation is a well planned Human Resource (HR) activity that exposes a candidate to all the verticals of job roles that an organization houses. Job rotation also helps in finding the right candidate for a job based on different assigned tasks. This article will be a guide to help you understand what is job rotation, i.e., job rotation meaning, and how it helps the organization.

1. What is Job Rotation?
2. What Are the Benefits of Job Rotation?
3. Does Job Rotation Have Any Disadvantages?

1. What is Job Rotation?

Job rotation is the process of shifting employees to various roles in the organization to help allocate the right person for a job or assignment. Not only that, but according to the job rotation definition, this is practiced to enhance the work experience of the employee. 

Let us explain what is job rotation with example.

Job rotation in HRM means that multiple employees are assigned to take care of various HR activities, like payroll calculation, employee grievance redressal, event hosting, and organization policy maintenance. By the practice of job rotation, an HR assistant calculating payroll may be shifted to organization policy maintenance, or vice-versa, where they will be assigned to host an event and other tasks related to that role. There will be a round-robin shift among all the assistants.

This kind of job rotation process helps the Human Resource Department (HRD) find the right person for every role. Also, it helps bring out the best in everyone. It is a win-win situation for both the organization and the employees. In real-time, the actual shift in jobs is well-organized, with an objective of job evaluation, and is usually very skill-oriented.

2. What Are the Benefits of Job Rotation?

Work rotation involves many benefits for the employee and the employer. In the case of the employee, they receive broader opportunities in all verticals. In this process, they are motivated and are keen on learning, as they are entrusted with different job roles. The following list explains some of the benefits of job rotations:

• Learning: 

As the employees are shifted among various roles in the organization, they receive an excellent opportunity to learn about all the different jobs and develop new skills. Going back to our HRD job rotation example, an employee in charge of organizing events, when asked to do payroll, will get to learn about the payroll calculating software and tools. 

This newly learned skill can be added to their resume. Learning and development are the most significant advantages in a job rotation process. Every job that is handled in the work rotation process can enhance one’s resume. 

• Breaks Monotony: 

There exists no organization without politics. This is because of the redundancy developed over time when the same personnel is handling the job for a long time. Also, the increased dependency on the resource puts the stakes higher. Following a job rotation model breaks the monotony and gives equal opportunity to all the employees. Who doesn’t like a change in their routine once in a while?  

In today’s work culture, employees tend to get bored with their mundane jobs. Various HR activities are conducted to maintain the zeal of the employees. With a job rotation process, it is a double win – breaking the monotony and helping to find a person who produces better results.

• Provides a More Comprehensive Opportunities: 

Besides eradicating the boredom in mundane jobs, it gives a broader chance to explore the system. It supports the development of both the employee and the employer. When a person has multiple skills, it will give a fair chance to hone each of them and boost one’s self-confidence and self-development.  

• Flexibility: 

A flexible work environment is every employees’ dream. Flexibility includes freedom in decision making, flexible work hours, and the choice of team members. With job rotation, employees get the option of work flexibility too. It enables the HRD to create a job that is employed fit, and vice versa. Through job rotation, employees are trained and made flexible and fit for the available positions. 

Creating flexibility through job rotation is essential, as every employee gets to know the difficulties of each position. This brings a mutual understanding to the team, as they come to know how challenging each job is. It also helps in understanding how everyone is essential in the organization. 

Organizational structure and standard operating procedures in every role are made clear through job rotation. Hence, it avoids confusion while working as a cross-functional team.

• Testing Skills:  

Through the job rotation process, the employer gets to know the pros and cons of every individual in the organization. It is also useful in the self-evaluation of each employee, as they get to know their skills more clearly. Accepting different job roles in the same organization allows one to be a multifunctional and multi-tasking performer. 

Employers have time to analyze the skills and competencies of individuals and allot job roles based on these skills. This is a great idea if the organization is trying a job rotation policy for freshers, as choosing a job role at the beginning of one’s career is a challenge. If allowed to try different roles in the same organization, the employees will take an informed decision. 

Although job rotation is a costly process that involves a lot of tedious methods, it is beneficial to everyone in the organization. Many types of job rotation will help in decision making for the HRD. Besides, there is a job rotation policy procedure for each organization. It will be a great idea to have the job rotation policy pdf printed out and placed in the starter kit given by the employer to every employee at the start of their tenure.

• Job Satisfaction:

Even if there is a turnover of a million dollars, at the end of the day, it is the job satisfaction that matters most. The fulfillment in realizing that one had a productive day is the ultimate aim of every sincere employee in the organization. Job rotation gives such a feeling when employees are allowed to try different roles in the organization.

This will also enable one to understand their importance in organizational growth. The feeling of importance is the first step in being useful and productive. Job satisfaction comes at the end of the day when the tasks have been fulfilled.

• Motivation: 

When one is allowed to take up various roles in the organization, it gives them a new challenge. It develops a leadership commitment as well. One will own that role and give their best to bring about a better outcome every day. Being entrusted with many job roles keeps employees motivated and energetic at all times. It gives a clear view of succession planning. To find the right successor, you need to test various roles.

3. Does Job Rotation Have Any Disadvantages?

Although there are many benefits of having a job rotation policy in the organization, it has a few disadvantages. Having job rotation may lead to disgruntled employees who are well adjusted to their position. This may lead to dissatisfaction and demotivation sometimes. 

Another problem is the application of the job rotation process. It is not possible in all industries or in all departments of the same industry. Some departments need particularly trained and qualified workers to complete a specific job. Those job roles cannot be rotated or swapped with others, as it will create chaos. 

If the job rotation process is not appropriately planned, it may lead to a massive loss for the organization. Sometimes, unskilled personnel appointed for an important job role will prove to be unproductive. This will cause chaos to the entire line of output. Hence, organizations need to choose functions that can be rotated carefully

Conclusion

Job rotation has proven to be successful in many industries. You can know more about the HR activities in job rotation through Jigsaw Academy’s People Analytics & Digital HR program. This is a 3-month online program, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, aimed to prepare data-driven HR professionals for the modern workforce.

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