Job Rotation and Development Assignment
Job Rotation and Development Assignment
Job Rotation and Development Assignment
Scott J. Allen
Introduction
Scott J. Allen, Ph.D., is an assistant pro- By some estimates, more than $200 billion is
fessor of management at John Carroll
University. Scott is the coauthor of spent each year on training and development
Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: A (Salas & Cannon-Bowers, 2001). However, the
Guide for College Students (Jossey-
Bass) and The Little Book of Leadership
return on investment for this work still remains
Development (AMACOM). Along with an elusive concept. Bruce Avolio (Volckmann,
writing and speaking, Scott consults, 2011) suggests “until we monetize it and know
facilitates workshops, and leads
retreats across industries. what the return is, it’s always going to be some-
thing that the majority of the people will say that
it’s nice to have, unless we’re short on resources”
(para. 85). One way to convince organizational
executives of the value of development is to
closely link it to the work of employees. This
Contact Information “just-in-time” approach to development seeming-
Scott J. Allen ly circumvents one natural challenge of leader-
14 Forest Dr.
Chagrin Falls, OH 44022, USA. ship development – the lag time between learn-
Email: [email protected]. ing and doing (Jackson & Lindsay, 2010). These
Phone: 216-224-7072. approaches come in a number of forms and are
often labeled job rotation, job enrichment, job
enlargement, action learning and developmen-
tal/job assignments. At face value, this approach
seems to make a lot of sense. As McCall (2010a)
suggests “Why spend so much time and energy
tion in the organization. Cross-functional rotations ly around the development of the individual and
move an employee into different divisions or some cite the employee’s improved skills (techni-
Developmental assignments occur at a rapid pace, At the organizational level, there are several fac-
and at times, those experiencing them may have a tors that contribute to learning as well. While
difficult time capturing the learning. To this point, there seems to be little general agreement, on
Mumford (1996) describes four ways that people what these are, some of the major themes are
learn from developmental experiences. The first, highlighted in Table 3, on page 47.
the intuitive approach is not necessarily an inten-
tionally built in to an experience. The second Limitations of Developmental Assignments
approach, the incidental approach, is an experi-
ence (perhaps a mistake or failure) that gets the A natural limitation of developmental assign-
attention of the employee and causes him or her ments is the lack of research that exists (Hezlett,
to reflect. The third approach, retrospective is an 2010; McCall 2010a). Most of the studies on devel-
after action review or reflection on experiences to opmental assignments are retrospective in nature
make meaning. The final approach, a prospective and rely heavily on people who served in those
approach, involves a more intentional pre-mediat- positions. In addition, Yukl (2002) writes that
ed approach to learning. Rather than reflection, there is evidence to support the notion that
this may be considered pre-flection (Falk, 1995; women are “less likely than men to be given chal-
DeRue & Ashford, 2010; Robinson & Wick, 1992). lenging, high-visibility assignments” (p. 386).
Without reflection (and pre-flection) the process Others mention the importance of correctly
of learning and developing as an individual will matching the individual’s developmental needs
take longer and may in fact never occur. It is like- with the developmental assignment (Day &
ly that in an environment where this behavior is Halpin, 2001; McCauley, Lombardo, & Usher,
modeled (at all levels), greater success will be 1989).
the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) or indi- investment. Lacking in empirical support and a
viduals closely linked with CCL (e.g., Eichinger & relatively sparse literature case (based upon its
Lombardo 1989; McCauley & Brutus, 1998; widespread practice in industry), organizations
McCauley Eastman & Ohlott, 1995; Ohlott, 2003). should be intentional about how they determine,
While the notion of learning from experience or assign, and help people learn through develop-
job assignments has been in circulation for more mental assignments. By doing so, they can inten-
than 25 years, there is still a great deal of work to tionally implement this cost effective and easily
be done from an empirical standpoint. Similar to implemented source of learning. As with any
job rotation, there is surprisingly little empirical source of learning a lack of intentionality from the
research on the topic (e.g., Brutus, Ruderman, outset will result in difficulty evaluating and
Developmental assignments are combined with Cobb & Gibbs, 1990 DeRue & Ashford, 2010 Hall 1995 Hezlett,
other sources of learning (e.g., coaching, action 2010 Jackson & Lindsay, 2010 Ligon & Hunter, 2010 McCall,
learning, assessments, classroom learning, simula- 2010a McCall, 2010b McCauley & Brutus, 1998 Mumford, 1995
tions) Mumford, 1996 Smerek, 2010 Vicere, 1994 White, 1992
Embedded in the larger system Cobb & Gibbs, 1990 McCauley & Brutus, 1998 Volckmann, 2011
Supportive supervisor Cobb & Gibbs, 1990 Kelleher, Finestone, & Lowy, 1986
Linked to strategic imperatives of the organization Cobb & Gibbs, 1990 Hall, 1995 McCall, 2010a
Extensive
Use in Empirica Cost effec- Ease of imple- Ease of evalua-
literature ROI
industry l support tiveness mentation tion
base
Developmental
Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
Assignments
Developmental
Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
Assignments
early in their career may have little interest in this and resources – perhaps more than societies or
approach at age 50. As a result, the success or fail- organizations possess, and certainly more than
ure of these sources of learning is difficult to pre- they are willing to expend” (pp. 38-39).
dict. An individual’s age, learning style, organiza- Organizations that take a long-term approach to
tional role, development level, motivation, readi- leadership development and create a supportive
ness to learn, and self-efficacy all determine the environment to do so will likely benefit from a
level of impact on the individual. well planned and thought through approach to
job rotation and developmental assignments.
Thus, it behooves organizations to offer a variety Finally, (as with any source of learning) program
of learning experiences that employees have at architects must design and develop interventions
their disposal. Doing so will afford individuals with great care and intentionality to produce
the opportunity to choose how they will develop. desired results. Systems to evaluate and capture
Sources of learning are simply instruments to return on investment must be thought through
help the learning process and it’s likely that vari- ahead of time. Likewise, the interventions should
ous combinations will yield greater impact. For be linked to organizational strategy and should
instance, a developmental assignment combined benefit from support at multiple levels of the
with assessments and coaching will yield differ- organization. Likewise, and perhaps most impor-
ent results than the assignment alone. Some tant, the intervention should take into considera-
organizations may think that they do not have the tion the many individual and organizational fac-
funding to create an adaptive system of develop- tors that will lead to success (Table 2 and Table 3).
ment, but I would argue that job rotation and Regardless, program architects should proceed
developmental assignments are relatively inex- with caution. There are a number of unknowns
pensive ways to develop individuals in the organ- (Table 6) that must be managed, adhered to and
ization. resolved.
Question Source
“It would be valuable to know more about what specific lessons are
Hezlett, 2010, p. 58
learned from different kinds of on-the-job experiences.”
Can learning happen in the context of work? Day, 2010 Ericsson, 2009 Ligon & Hunter, 2010
What are the crucial components of a well-designed Cobb & Gibbs, 1990 McCall, 2010a McCall 2010b
job/developmental assignment process? Ohlott, 2003 White, 1992
What elements facilitate success at the individual level? Cobb & Gibbs, 1990 Day, 2010 Dechant, 1990 DeRue &
Ashford, 2010 Dragoni, Tesluk, Russell, & Oh, 2009
Hezlett, 2010 Jackson & Lindsay, 2010 Kelleher et al., 1986
McCall, 1994 McCall, 2010b McCauley & Brutus, 1998
Mumford, 1996 Perkins, 1994 Perkins, 1992 Robinson &
Wick, 1992 White, 1992
What blocks can stall learning and development or transfer Volckman, 2011 Mumford, 1987
of learning?
What are the types of developmental assignments? Bonoma & Lawler (1989) Dechant, 1990 Lombardo and
Eichinger,1989 McCall et al, 1988 McCauley Eastman &
Ohlott, 1995 Ohlott, 2003 Stewart, 1984
This is likely a surprise for anyone hoping to Bass, B. (1990). Bass & Stogdill’s handbook of
learn more about the empirical evidence behind leadership: Theory, research and
each of these commonly used interventions. The managerial applications (3rd ed.). New
good news is that there is a vast array of opportu- York: The Free Press.
nities for future research. However, until there is Bass, B. (2008). The Bass Handbook of Leadership:
a better understanding of its use in industry, a Theory, research and managerial
broader literature base and better empirical sup- applications (4th ed.). New York: The Free
port it will be difficult to argue that these inter- Press.
ventions are worth the cost (time, money, Bennett, B. (2003). Job rotation: Its role in
resource) and yielding a positive return on invest- promoting learning in organizations.
ment. Training Strategies for Tomorrow, 17(4), 7-9.
Bonoma, T. V., & Lawler, J. C. (1989). Chutes and
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