All right, we get it: not all jobs are necessarily exciting. We can’t all be astronauts, presidents and ballerinas. But if you’re wondering how you can get someone excited about the mundane, everyday rigors of data entry, customer service, etc., there may be more creative solutions than you expect! 

So how can you make your employees’ work more challenging and meaningful? Go out of your way to find enrichment opportunities for them! But be careful: enrichment can take many different forms. Remember to ask your talented employees what they’d like to do and how they’d like to do it.

Here are some techniques that work if you are careful to match them to individual wants and needs.

Engaging Employees Through Job Enrichment

1. Form teams. Self-directed workgroups can make a lot of their own decisions. They can redistribute work so that team members learn more, have more variety and follow more projects through to completion.
   
   
2. Connect employees with clients. For example, a computer systems troubleshooter might be more effective in knowing the needs of real people and units rather than only responding to problems as they occur. So, give her a client. Clients can be inside or outside the organization. For instance, you could assign the troubleshooter to one department and make her accountable for that internal client’s success in using the company’s computer system. It’s amazing how many employees never see their clients.
   
   
3. Rotate assignments. New responsibilities can help employees feel challenged and valued, and employees can acquire important new skills that add depth to the workforce. Do rotational assignments sound like chaos? Suggest the idea and let your employees propose the “who” and “how” part; you’ll be surprised at their expertise in making it happen smoothly.
   
   
4. Increase feedback. Do more than annual reviews. Find ways to develop peer review and client review opportunities. Employees want to know about their performance, and continual feedback allows them to be their own quality control agents.
   
   
5. Involve employees in decisions. Employees are empowered and motivated when they take part in decisions that have an impact on their work, such as budget and hiring decisions or ways to organize work and schedules. Involvement allows employees to see the big picture and enables them to make a contribution they find meaningful.
   
   
6. Nurture creativity. When untapped, creativity dwindles. If employees rarely think for themselves, they lose the ability to contribute their best ideas. They simply go through the paces, undermotivated and disengaged. You can help by asking for and rewarding creative ideas, by giving employees the freedom and resources to create, and by challenging employees with new assignments, tasks and learning.
   
   
7. Ask employees to teach someone. Teaching another person is motivational for many. If an employee has a particular niche or specialty and enjoys passing this knowledge on, you have a perfect win-win!
   
   
8. Support enrollment in learning opportunities. German law provides for a Bildungsurlaub, five days off per year to participate in an approved training course. Training doesn’t have to be directly connected to a job as long as it is approved by the state. Although not many countries have a law like this, the idea of enriching a job via a learning experience is something any manager in any organization can explore.

The term job enrichment is not new. Richard Hackman wrote about it in Improving Life at Work, but it’s probably more important now than ever. Career growth does not just mean climbing the ladder – it also means growing where you are.