What Is Job Rotation: Advantages And Disadvantages

Job rotation is the practice of moving employees between roles or positions in a company. Job rotation temporarily assigns employees to other roles to teach them new skills, learn about other functions within the team, and develop relationships across the business.

By Brad Nakase, Attorney

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Table of Contents

1. Job rotation definition

2. Benefits and drawbacks of job rotation

3. Putting in place a program for employment rotation

Job rotation definition

Job Rotation is a human resource management strategy where employees are shifted between two or more roles or assignment at regular intervals of time to teach them new skills and expose them other job functions.

An advantage of job rotation is it enhances employees’ skills and versatility; also, rotating jobs keeps the employees motivated and engaged. However, the disadvantage of job rotation is that training employees for a job takes time and costs the business money for the training. Further, it takes time for the workers to adjust to the new job or position.

Work rotation is a tactic whereby staff members alternate between two or more positions within the same company. Workers rotate back to their former position after taking on additional responsibilities at another employer for a while.

An employee’s salary usually doesn’t change. Although promotions do occur, a rotation program does not guarantee it. Workers usually transition laterally between positions.

Employees acquire experience and skills by taking on new duties under a job rotation scheme. The goals of rotations are to encourage adaptability, staff involvement, and retention.

Benefits and drawbacks of job rotation

An initiative like a workplace rotation program could help you go above and beyond in terms of development and retention.

Curious? Examine the benefits and drawbacks of work rotation before putting the system in place.

The Benefits of Job Rotation

A lot of companies decide to implement a work rotation strategy as a bonus for their staff. However, the benefits of the rotation program extend beyond employees.

Think about these advantages of a program that rotates jobs for both companies and employees.

Gets rid of boredom

36 percent: this is the percentage of American workers who are genuinely interested in their work, as per a Gallup survey.

If that is the case in all workplaces, then 64 percent of workers are either unmotivated, dissatisfied, low in morale, or all of the above.

Whoa. A workforce full of workers who are only going through the motions and not invested in helping your business grow is the last thing you want. Not to mention that hiring managers have the power to entice disgruntled workers with the prospect of a better, more difficult position.

Increasing employee responsibility won’t make all of your issues go away. However, it might encourage staff engagement and stave off boredom.

Disengagement typically happens gradually. An employee doesn’t usually go from being fully engaged on Mondays to being completely disengaged on Tuesdays. A job rotation scheme that occasionally switches up duties could help stop a slow slide into disengagement.

Promotes growth

It’s great to know job ABC like the back of your hand. It may, however, also be restrictive. A job rotation plan assists staff members in acquiring new abilities that they can apply to their primary role as well as other roles.

This kind of development can:

Make a worker feel more important
Boost spirits
Boost engagement
Enhance knowledge

Workers who are employed by an organization that supports their professional growth may not feel the need to switch positions. An employee can cycle positions rather than departing your company in search of a new position that fosters their professional growth.

Allows workers to take a rest from demanding work tasks

Fatigue and disengagement may develop in an individual whose work is physically (or even psychologically) taxing on a constant basis.

Job rotation tactics are employed by industries that demand heavy-duty labor. Taking a break helps overworked workers who are performing manual tasks all the time. By having them switch between jobs, you can reduce the chance of burnout and damage.

For instance, you may assign a warehouse worker who carries large parcels during deliveries to take on shipping paperwork on alternate days.

Aids in determining where employees perform best

Individuals can surprise you. You might not be fully aware of an employee’s abilities, knowledge, or hidden capabilities. And it could be detrimental to both your company and the employee’s engagement.

An employee’s strengths and shortcomings can be identified through a job rotation approach. It’s possible that a worker at your company would perform better in a different capacity.

After all, for business growth and efficiency, you need to have all of your personnel in the proper roles.

Offers a fallback strategy in case a worker departs

Staff turnover doesn’t always have to be disastrous, even though it can be costly (simply figure out how expensive your staff turnover rate is). A job rotation plan allows you to have several employees, each with a different set of skills.

You won’t have to recruit the first person you see if an employee quits. Alternatively, you have other staff members who can handle the duties of the absentee employee.

Additionally, you have time to choose the ideal successor if you do need to recruit one.

Job rotation’s drawbacks

Here’s the thing: not every company can successfully adopt work rotations. Examine these drawbacks of the workplace program.

May be expensive and time-consuming

An individual doesn’t only appear to be adept at their new duties when they embark on a new role. A learning curve exists.

To do their new jobs, employees could need training, which can be expensive (thousands of dollars) and time-consuming (hours upon hours). The averages for employee training, according to the Association for Talent Development, are as follows:

Expense: $1,252
Time: 33 hours

Spending that much money and effort on a lateral shift may not be necessary, but you should still give it some thought.

Could result in displeased workers

It’s possible that some workers would object to job rotation. An person who is successful and at ease in their current role could be concerned that a different employee would disrupt their workflow.

Some of your staff members may be very good at what they do and not be open to learning new skills unrelated to their work. Additionally, you could see workers who are anxious about the possibility of shifting employment.

It won’t resolve every issue you have

It’s not a given that job rotation programs will boost employee engagement, so spread your risks. Disengagement could result from various causes.

Other causes of disengagement are as follows:

Absence of encouraging feedback
Break from the corporate culture
Ineffective management and communication

Prioritize addressing the underlying causes of employees’ issues before implementing a job rotation program just to keep them happy.

May not be practical for certain sectors

Rotating jobs isn’t practical for many sectors and roles. This is particularly true for highly skilled jobs, where candidates must complete years of training before being hired.

Make sure it’s feasible for your company to adopt a work rotation program before moving forward with it. Avoid wasting time and energy on ineffective endeavors.

Your company could experience hardship

The potential damage to your company caused by employment rotation is one of its most dire drawbacks. Employees may make mistakes because they are acquiring new skills. Employees who make mistakes and are confused may irritate customers. Additionally, if things don’t go as planned, your revenue may decline.

Think about how job rotation can benefit your company. In the process, you don’t want confused workers, irate consumers, or delayed operations.

Putting in place a program for employment rotation

Have you decided to implement a system of work rotation? Fantastic! You need to adhere to these best practices for job rotation for your program to be successful:

Establish objectives
Establish rules
Examine it

Establish objectives

Why does your company require its employees to cycle between jobs? With your employment rotation program, what goals do you intend to achieve?

Establish objectives for job rotation. Your objectives could be, for instance:

Increasing staff awareness
Increasing employee ownership of the company
Improving worker competencies
Avoiding burnout

Establish rules

Describe the appearance of your program. Using comprehensive standards, specify the who, what, where, when, why, and how of your program.

Specifics:

Who is going to switch roles?
What is the rotation protocol (i.e., do managers, employees, etc. initiate?)?
To what location will staff rotate?
When are they going to rotate?
Why do workers switch between jobs?
How are you going to place staff members in their new roles?
To ensure that staff members have easy access to your guidelines, think about including them in your employee handbook.

Evaluate it

How are things going? Do you need to sort out any glitches in the program? Once your workplace rotation is up and going, evaluate its effectiveness.

Evaluate your program to find out:

How it is benefiting your employees
How it is assisting your business

Think about requesting input from staff members via questionnaires or other means, focusing on topics like morale, engagement, rotation satisfaction, etc. Feedback can assist you in assessing the program’s efficacy from the viewpoints of the staff members.

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