The Great Resignation was a wake-up call for employers as an alarming 50 million US workers quit their jobs in 2022. The UK, France, Germany, Singapore, and Australia experienced similar upheavals as employers were forced to rethink how they engage and entice talent.
One of the best strategies is to enrich individual job roles by aligning the required work with employees’ strengths and passions. It’s not rocket science — morale, productivity, and retention naturally rise when work feels more engaging and fulfilling. This guide explores the concept of job enrichment in more detail, including its benefits, challenges, and strategies for enriching jobs in your organization.
TL;DR — Key Takeaways
- American psychologist Frederick Herzberg designed the two-factor theory, identifying two main influences of job satisfaction: hygiene and motivation.
- Job enrichment increases employee satisfaction and productivity, lowers employee turnover rates, and creates more innovative companies.
- Job enrichment strategies will likely fail without leadership buy-in or a willingness to experiment with change.
- Toggl Hire has identified five successful job enrichment strategies: employee autonomy, training, role variety, recognition, and aligning tasks with individual strengths.
The history behind the job enrichment theory
Job enrichment wasn’t much of a conversation topic until American psychologist Frederick Herzberg introduced the two-factor theory. In his 1959 book, “Motivation to Work,” Herzberg identified two influences affecting job satisfaction: hygiene and motivation factors.
- Hygiene factors, like salaries, workplace policies, and coworker relationships, may prevent dissatisfaction, but they can’t create true satisfaction.
- Motivation factors, like role significance and increased autonomy, truly drive employee motivation. Herzberg’s theory laid the foundation for current job enrichment strategies that focus on making jobs more fulfilling and meaningful.
As businesses focus on creating more human-centric workplaces, job enrichment plays a huge role. Employers invest in keeping their workers fulfilled because when employees are happy, the whole organization thrives.
3 real-world examples of job enrichment
So, what exactly does job enrichment look like in the real world? Here are some examples of companies doubling down on this important concept:
Amazon commits to skills development
Amazon pledged $1.2 billion to offer 300,000 employees access to education and skills training programs. Workers can learn more about machine learning, join technical apprenticeships, or even participate in on-the-job training to improve their skill sets. All these initiatives are designed to improve employees’ skill sets and prepare them for advanced roles within the company.
DotActiv empowers individual decision-making
Software company DotActiv includes independent decision-making as one of its core values. Company leaders trust employees to make their own decisions because they’ve empowered them to do so. They also accept feedback and suggestions from their workers on how to improve functions within the company. Account Manager Yolande Beumer explains,
“We have a Software Acceptance Committee. Every week we test a function on the software and if you feel that there is a way to improve that function, you can raise it to the IT team and they can work alongside you to better improve that function.”
When employees feel their voices are being heard and their skills are being developed, they’re more likely to become invested, capable team members.
Google gives space for side projects
Search engine giant Google famously offers 20% time — a policy where employees spend 20% of their paid employment time on personal projects they feel jazzed about. And with excellent results, too — Google AdSense, Google News, and Gmail have all come from this company initiative.
While the policy has evolved over the years, it still exists in various forms, encouraging innovation, autonomy, and skill development. Beyond this, Google fosters job enrichment through other key programs, such as its Internal Mobility program and the Area 120 idea incubator.
Job enrichment vs. job enlargement (yes, there’s a difference)
Don’t get job enrichment and job enlargement confused. They serve very different purposes:
- Job enrichment involves adding depth and meaning to an employee’s role, such as by granting more autonomy, providing opportunities for personal growth, or involving them in decision-making processes. Example: A marketing specialist designs and leads a new campaign, which significantly boosts their engagement and job satisfaction.
- Job enlargement expands the role’s number of tasks or new responsibilities without adding meaningful depth. Example: You ask your customer service representative to handle more calls without providing additional support or training.
Job enlargement often results in employees feeling overburdened and undervalued — think burnout and decreased morale — all the bad stuff. That’s why we recommend investing in enriching your employees’ jobs. And if you need to do both? Accompany any increased responsibility with mentoring, training, or more autonomy.
6 benefits of job enrichment in the modern workplace
It pays (literally) to invest in employee satisfaction and a great work environment. If you want to gain more, you have to give more. Here are the specific benefits you can expect when you commit to job enrichment as an employee experience strategy:
1. Increased employee satisfaction
Right now, the average workplace is struggling. A staggering 53% of workers in a typical organization are either disengaged, disruptive, or planning their exit. In other words, more than half of the workforce is doing the bare minimum — or worse, actively working against company goals. Yikes.
Here’s the thing: a pay raise will only do so much to motivate these workers. Long-term engagement requires more — autonomy, meaningful work, and clear career growth. And that’s exactly what separates thriving employees from the rest. According to McKinsey, only 4% of workers drive innovation, add value, and uplift their teams. This elite group stands apart from the majority largely because they have the autonomy and opportunities that most employees lack. Imagine what would happen if employers extended these benefits to the rest of their workforce.
2. Improved productivity
Adding more depth to a job role and recognizing the incredible contributions of each employee in the role can significantly boost employee focus and motivation. It’s human nature — if employees feel a sense of accomplishment when they complete their new tasks, they’re more likely to stay motivated and perform better.
Need proof? A whopping 77.9% of employees admit they would be more productive if their job efforts were recognized more frequently. When companies invest in meaningful recognition and job enrichment, they maximize their company’s labor investment efficiency by ensuring employees operate at peak performance.
3. Higher retention rates
People spend one-third of their lives at work — so if that time feels meaningless, they won’t stick around. It’s that simple. On the other hand, people who feel challenged and supported don’t need to job-hop to find fulfillment.
When employers take the time to enrich jobs and provide developmental opportunities, they’ll reap the rewards. For example, LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report finds that companies with a moderate learning culture enjoy a 27% employee retention rate. This skyrockets to a 57% retention boost for companies with a strong learning culture.
So, if you’re the one currently dissatisfied with your retention rates, that’s a sign to invest more in job development and provide reasons for your workers to remain loyal.
4. Better employee skill development
When your employees grow — professionally or personally — it only helps your company. And job enrichment is all about growth. Giving your team the time and resources to tackle challenging tasks or learn new skills means they’re likely to improve at their job.
But lack of skill variety is currently holding businesses back. For example, 63% of IT leaders say the tech skills crisis is delaying digital transformation — some by nearly a year. And the problem is only getting worse. Companies that don’t invest in job enrichment are actively falling behind.
The fix? Give employees new challenges, access to skills training, and a voice in shaping their roles. When you allow your people to grow, you’ll add value to the individual and your business.
5. Enhanced innovation and creativity
Innovation isn’t a given; when this is missing, companies fall behind. In fact, 87% of companies cite turning ideas into business outcomes as a top obstacle.
If you want your business to stay competitive, giving employees time to flex their creative muscles in their roles is the solution.
For example, 3M has a “15% culture” that allows employees to set work time aside to pursue innovative ideas that excite them. And thanks to this culture of innovation, the Post-It Note was born.
“Hire good people and leave them alone,” says William McKnight, former 3M president and chairman of the board. “Delegate responsibility and encourage men and women to exercise their initiative.”
6. Positive workplace culture
Relationships in the workplace significantly influence employees’ satisfaction — especially those with their managers. 39% of an employee’s job satisfaction is attributed to their workplace relationships. And, 86% of workers’ satisfaction with their interpersonal connections is specifically tied to their relationships with management, McKinsey found.
When employees feel more connected and valued, their sense of purpose and overall well-being increases. That’s how you get healthy, supportive company cultures where employees are productive and want to progress within the organization rather than beyond it.
Why do so many businesses struggle with job enrichment?
It sounds pretty simple. Give employees more meaningful work, and they’ll be more engaged, work harder, and produce those business results. But in reality, many companies hit a few bumps when trying to implement job enrichment. Here are a few common challenges you might encounter, and tips to overcome them (because we’re good like that!)
Resistance to change
🤔 Challenge: It’s hard to shake things up, even when you’re confident your employees will benefit from planned change. Fear of disrupting current workflows, role hierarchies, or the general vibe can stifle growth and innovation and prevent your company and its workers from achieving their best.
💡 Solution: Try starting with small-scale enrichment initiatives to overcome this paralysis. Pilots can minimize risk and give you insights into what works best with your team. You can build confidence among yourself and your employees and gradually implement more job enrichment strategies.
Limited leadership buy-in
🤔 Challenge: Without leadership support, even the most promising job enrichment initiatives can miss the mark. If decision-makers don’t see the value or understand the impact, your efforts won’t get the resources or traction they need to succeed.
💡 Solution: Make the case with hard facts. Share data and compelling articles (like this blog post you’re reading right now) to highlight how job enrichment directly improves business outcomes. Focus on measurable impact — faster project completion, lower turnover, and increased employee engagement. When leaders see clear, bottom-line benefits, they’ll be far more likely to get on board.
Misaligned roles and skills
🤔 Challenge: If you don’t have the right people doing the right tasks, job enrichment is nearly impossible to achieve. When employees are mismatched, they’ll struggle to take on additional responsibilities or find meaning in their work. That’s why we’re seeing organizations largely shift towards a skills-based hiring approach.
💡 Solution: Toggl Hire helps you align every team member with their role. Our hiring software empowers teams to identify high-performing individuals and even fine-tune the new employee’s role based on the top skills identified in the hiring process.
Poor communication and collaboration
🤔 Challenge: Even the most well-meaning enrichment strategies can fall short if there’s any misunderstanding of expectations between teams. When there’s a disconnect between what’s expected and what’s delivered, employees might feel frustrated and disengaged — the opposite of what you intended.
💡 Solution: Communication is key in this process. Try incorporating regular feedback sessions to clarify expectations and give a platform for open communication. And ask employees how it’s going during performance reviews. This will help everybody maintain alignment and feel more engaged in their work.
A few of our favorite job enrichment strategies
At Toggl Hire, job enrichment is a concept we live and breathe. We continuously test and refine strategies that make work more meaningful and rewarding for our teams. And (luckily for us) we’ve seen firsthand how the right approach boosts the entire employee experience.
Now, we’re sharing the greatest hits of what we’ve learned, along with practical tips you can use to implement these strategies within your own organization. Try these ideas out for size:
Encourage employee autonomy
Remove those eagle eyes and take a step back from micromanaging (trust us, it’s doing more harm than good). You should delegate decision-making tasks to the team members you hired to perform in their roles. For example, instead of dictating every single step to your software developer and subjecting them to a workday full of monotony, give them the freedom to choose the best coding approach.
This autonomy lets employees’ skills and creativity shine through while fostering trust and accountability — two things every healthy workplace has. You’ll build a team of go-getters rather than simple task followers.
Ask employees what autonomy looks like and what it means to them.
Offer training and development opportunities
Helping employees improve their skills through development programs and cross-training benefits them and your business. Workers can contribute more to the organization when they acquire new skills and knowledge. At the same time, they’re progressing professionally and advancing their career, which is also great for them. Your business will remain competitive as you develop internal talent — it’s a win-win.
Learn the new skills that would most benefit your workers and create training programs dedicated to these.
Introduce variety into your job roles
Keeping work fresh and engaging is key to boosting motivation and skill development. One way to do this? Periodic task or role rotations. Diversifying responsibilities allows employees to stay challenged, expand their skill sets, and avoid the monotony that leads to disengagement.
If your organization is dynamic and cross-functional, this approach can be great as employees benefit from exposure to different tasks and departments.
However, if all your job designs are highly specialized and require a lot of expertise and experience, rotations may not always be practical. In these cases, consider gradual skill expansion — introducing new challenges within existing roles to keep employees growing without disrupting key workflows.
Always communicate clearly with employees and learn what pros and cons they experience in these new roles.
Recognize and reward contributions
Keep your team motivated by recognizing their successes. Promotions, bonuses, and even simple shoutouts are a great way to recognize workers and improve morale. To make recognition effective, be timely and specific, highlighting exactly what the employee did well.
Recognition should be consistent and fair — your efforts can have the opposite effect if employees feel that acknowledgment is biased or unbalanced between team members.
Don’t solely rely on rewards. Pair this hygiene factor with a motivator factor, like giving employees more independence or flexibility.
Align tasks with individual strengths
To create perfect fits for individuals and your team, tailor your roles to match employees’ unique abilities. Toggl Hire helps you identify their strengths through skill-based assignments so you can see what each successful candidate brings to the table. When you align tasks with natural talents, employees naturally feel more engaged, fulfilled, and want to succeed. What could be better?
Plus, taking a personalized approach maximizes each person’s potential while simultaneously fostering a high-performing work environment.
Get started by picking one of Toggl Hire’s 180+ skills test templates in our Skill Assessment Library.
Employee satisfaction starts with hiring the right employees in the first place
You can’t enrich jobs if you’re hiring the wrong people from the start. Employees thrive when their skills and potential align with their roles, not when they’re hired on a resume buzzword match.
And that’s exactly what Toggl Hire is for. Our platform excels at identifying top talent through skills-first assessments, making it easier for businesses to match employees with duties.
With data-driven hiring, organizations can place candidates in the right roles and fine-tune their tasks to keep them engaged. We live in a time where employee satisfaction and productivity are necessary to build a competitive business.
Make this work for you by trying Toggl Hire for free and build a workforce that’s skilled, deeply engaged, and ready to drive your business forward.
Michelle is an experienced freelance writer who loves applying research and creative storytelling to the content she creates. She writes about B2B SaaS software while also participating in conversations about other industries, such as the digital publishing landscape, sports, and travel.
