ABSTRACT
Job rotation is typically defined as lateral transfers of employees between jobs in an organization. Even though job rotation has been the focus of considerable research and is a widespread industry practice, it is viewed rather narrowly within academic disciplines. To an ergonomist, job rotation is the practice of moving workers in manual or repetitive jobs between workstations on a regular basis (generally in terms of hours) to vary the workers’ movements and reduce the chances of cumulative trauma disorders. This typically includes rotation back to a previous workstation. In a school of business, job rotation is the practice of moving management trainees through a variety of assignments on a regular basis (generally in terms of months or years) in order to develop their breadth of knowledge about the organization. This generally does not include movement back into previous assignments. This paper aims to broaden our understanding of job rotation by reviewing literature related to various types of job rotation and summarizing benefits and drawbacks associated with it. It concludes by summarizing seven critical dimensions of job rotation and highlighting expectations for increased adoption of the practice.
