UNIT IV JOB CHALLENGE

DEFINITION According to McCauley et al, “Job challenge is being in dynamic setting with problems to solve and choices to make under conditions of risk and uncertainty” According to De parter and Collegues “ Job Challenge is the experience of activities that are demanding, stimulating, new, and calls on one’s ability and determination”

DIMENSIONS OF JOB CHALLENGE Challenges has two dimension for professionals. On one hand, it signifies a horizontal expansion in job duties. This can be achieved in two ways: 1)By giving the professional more of the complete job to be done or\ 2)By allowing the professional to spend more time working with teams that are given the opportunity to decide how they will complete the whole job In each instance, the professional has a chance to do more and different things. In the teamwork option, the individual may choose not to change the specific assignment he or she is working on, but in this case the element of choice presumes sufficient challenge in the job or begin with. When the assignment no longer provides enough challenge, the individual may request from his team members an opportunity to try something new For some professionals it is not enough to do more and different things to experience challenge. A systems analyst may not see any benefit in being given additional responsibilities in inventory control. A construction engineer may not derive any additional satisfaction form assignments in safety and maintenance.

DIMENSIONS OF JOB CHALLENGE What many professionals truly want in their jobs is authority over the task at hand. This suggests an interest in the content of the work. Job challenge derived from intrinsic satisfaction comes not from horizontal expansion, but from vertical expansion of one’s job duties – not doing more things, but having more responsibility for the things one is assigned to do in the first place.

JOB CHALLENGE FACED BY MANAGERS 1)Unfamiliar Responsibilities: Handling responsibilities that are new or very different from previous ones. Taking on unfamiliar responsibilities provides an opportunity to practice new skills and expand one’s knowledge base. It also helps employees to learn how to operate effectively when they are early in a learning curve. 2) New Directions: Starting something new or, making strategic changes. Being responsible for new directions provides an opportunity to take initiative, explore and create, and organize people to make things happen. It also helps people learn how to operate in ambiguous situations and think strategically. 3) Inherited Problems: Fixing problems created by someone else or that existed before the leader took the assignment. Inherited problems provide an opportunity to tackle problems, diagnose and understand root causes and re-energies people. With this challenge, employees also can learn to make tough decisions and preserve in the cace of adversity.

JOB CHALLENGE FACED BY MANAGERS 4) Problems with Employees: Dealing with employees who lack adequate experiences are low performing are resistant to change dealing with problematic employees provides an opportunity to deal with people problem, face and resolve conflict and coach the employees to higher levels of performance. It also provides an opportunity to learn to balance toughness with empathy. 5) High Stakes: Managing work with tight deadlines pressure from above, high visibility and responsibility for critical decisions. High stakes situation provides an opportunity to be decisive, work and learn at a fast phase, and have scientific impact. They also help employees learn to work with those higher in the organization and to handle stress 6) Scope and Scale: Managing work that involves multiple functions, group, locations,product or services or is large in sheer size. Managing scope and scale provide an opportunity to co ordinate and integrate across groups,delegate to others and create system

JOB CHALLENGE FACED BY MANAGERS to monitor and track work. It also helps people become comfortable accomplishing task through others. 7) External pressure: Managing the interface with the important groups outside the organization such as customers, vendors, partners and unions and regularity agencies. Managing external pressure provides an opportunity to represent the organization, to influence and negotiate with external groups, and to build shared agendas among diverse groups. It also gives chance employees to learn to build relationship with wide variety of people 8) Influence without Authority: Influencing peers, higher management or other key people over whom has to direct authority. Influencing without authority provide an opportunity to work across an organizational boundaries, co ordinate action across the organization and handle internal politics. It helps employees to develop a broader framework for understanding organisational issues.

JOB CHALLENGE FACED BY MANAGERS 9) Work across Culture: Working with people from different cultures or with institutions in other countries. Working across cultures provides an opportunity to become more aware of once own cultural biases, to adapt to different expectations, and to manage across distance. It also provides an opportunity to learn the traditions and values of people of different cultures 10) Work Group Diversity: Being responsible for the work of people of both genders and different racial and ethnic background. A diverse group provides an opportunity to overcome stereotypes and biases and to persuade people from different backgrounds to work together. It also helps people learn to be compassionate and sensitive to need of others.