JOB SCULPTING - the new HR mantra
BY SHARAD S RAMNARAYANAN, MDI GURGAON - 122001

INTRODUCTION :

Job Sculpting - a term coined by timothy Butler and James Waldroop is a system for matching people to jobs and their interests. The term interests refer to the deep interests that help an employee to be satisfied in his job. It is not his hobbies. This concept is highly relevant in the present context as there are many professionals who are so well educated and achievement oriented that they are capable of succeeding in many different types of jobs. But, they will remain in the job that fits their deeply embedded life interests – the job that encompasses their long held emotionally driven passions. This is especially true in the case of IT industries where recruitment and retention are the major workforce challenges. Job Sculpting is not new. This is true, as a concept. What is new is the attempt to train and implement the philosophy in an organization. This provides a starting point to a potentially very strong idea, which if properly implemented can lead an organization to the smooth attainment of goal. This concept can be said to be based on Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs. The talented person considered here is one who has satisfied his physiological, security, social and esteem needs with his knowledge, status in the society and the high compensation he receives. What remains is his self-actualization need. This, he tries to achieve through his job. If the job does not match his deep interests which can lead him to his self-actualization then he considers the job unfit and finally he leaves the job. The very purpose of Job Sculpting is adding that something, say X, into the job and removing something, say Y, so that the job fits him. Job Sculpting makes a person express his interest in the job he is doing and at the same time gets the required work done. One of the main features of Job Sculpting is its attitude towards money. Money is considered to be only one among the many reasons that cause a person to change his job. While below market compensation can provoke employee turnover the converse: Above market compensation promotes employee retention need not be true. Again in the former case it is the esteem factor that is more responsible for his change of workplace rather than the financial factor. This is true in countries like US but in countries like India money does prove to be a deciding factor, though its contribution towards the same is declining. Whatever the reasons be for turnover it is an accepted fact that employee turnover affects the productivity of the company and Job Sculpting can play an important role in decreasing the same.

EFFECTS OF JOB-SCULPTING :

As is with every method this method also has its own merits and demerits. First of all if the manager understands the embedded interests of his subordinate then he can allot the work accordingly. He does this usually by adding some new work to the existing one and discarding a part of the existing work. The new work motivates the employee to a greater extent and hence his productivity. More work is done in less time. But what will happen to the discarded job? What if the discarded job is a part of the existing one such that only he can do it? Job Sculpting can help if for any work every disinterested individual has another one interested in the same. Again if the manager finds no jobs that suits his subordinate’s interests then he can pretty well be sure that his subordinate would leave the organization sooner or later. Now the manager has to act tactfully. The employee should be retained and allowed to continue till he leaves on his own and during this time another person interested in the same job can be trained so that work doesn’t suffer on the former’s departure.

CONCLUSION :

In the knowledge based economy, a company’s most important asset is the energy and loyalty of its people-the intellectual capital that can quit and go to work for a competitor. Allowing people to stay in jobs they are uninterested in doesn’t make sense. In conclusion we can say that despite its flaws, Job Sculpting can act as a major tool in retaining the company’s best talent and hence lead it to the attainment of its goal.