Question

Describe, discuss, compare and contrast job enlargement and job enrichment. Give examples of each.

Answer 1

Job enlargement and Job enrichment are important concepts used in the organization to increase morale and motivation of employees at workplace.

Job enlargement relates to addition of new responsibilities and is called as horizontal expansion of duties whereas Job enrichment relates to expansion of role in regard to new responsibility, authority and is called as vertical expansion of duties.

The differences are:

Job enlargement	Job Enrichment
It is related to addition of more task	It is related to addition of more decision making power along with authority
The purpose is to overcome monotony and boredom	The purpose is to make work challenging and enhance managerial skill
It usually doesn't require new skills	It usually requires new skill on managing people, taking decisions etc.
Level of authority remains same	Level of authority increases
It may have negative impact also for few people who are not interested to learn new things	It only has positive impact

Example:

Job Enlargement = The person handling raw material ordering for a manufacturing plant is given responsibility to also take care packaging material ordering. Thus, it is horizontal duty expansion

Job enrichment = The person handling raw material is promoted and made manager of materials and planning team and has reportees taking care of raw material ordering, packaging material ordering, production planning. Thus, it is the vertical expansion of duty and authority