<P> Job characteristics theory is a theory of work design . It provides "a set of implementing principles for enriching jobs in organizational settings". The original version of job characteristics theory proposed a model of five "core" job characteristics (i.e. skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) that affect five work - related outcomes (i.e. motivation, satisfaction, performance, and absenteeism and turnover) through three psychological states (i.e. experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility, and knowledge of results). </P> <P> Work redesign first got its start in the 1960s . Up until then, the prevailing attitude was that jobs should be simplified in order to maximize production, however it was found that when subjected to highly routinized and repetitive tasks, the benefits of simplification sometimes disappeared due to worker dissatisfaction . It was proposed that jobs should be enriched in ways that boosted motivation, instead of just simplified to a string of repetitive tasks . It is from this viewpoint that Job Characteristics Theory emerged . </P>

Skill variety task identity task significance autonomy feedback