Job Characteristics Model

The Job Characteristics Model (JCM) is the foundational theory of work design in organizational behavior, developed by J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham in the mid-1970s. It proposes that five core job dimensions — skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback — generate three critical psychological states (experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility, and knowledge of results) that in turn drive internal work motivation, job satisfaction, and performance. The model is operationalized through the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) and summarized in a single Motivating Potential Score (MPS), with growth-need strength acting as a moderator that determines how strongly enriched jobs energize a given worker. The JCM gave job-redesign efforts a measurable, testable structure and remains the reference point for research on enriched work.