Hackman and Oldham developed a self-report instrument for managers to use in diagnosing

their work environment. The first step in calculating the “motivating potential score” (MPS)

of your job is to complete the following questionnaire.

1. Use the scales below to indicate whether each statement is an accurate or inadequate description

of your present or most recent job. After completing the instrument‚ use the

scoring key to compute a total score for each of the core job ch‎aracteristics.

5 = Very descriptive 2 = Mostly nondescriptive

4 = Mostly descriptive 1 = Very nondescriptive

3 = Somewhat descriptive

______ 1. I have almost complete responsibility for deciding how and when the work is to

be done.

______ 2. I have a chance to do a number of different tasks‚ using a wide variety of different

skills and talents.

______ 3. I do a complete task from start to finish. The results of my efforts are clearly visible

and identifiable.

______ 4. What I do affects the well-being of other people in very important ways.

______ 5. My manager provides me with constant feedback about how I am doing.

______ 6. The work itself provides me with information about how well I am doing.

______ 7. I make insignificant contributions to the final product or service.

______ 8. I get to use a number of complex skills on this job.

______ 9. I have very little freedom in deciding how the work is to be done.

______ 10. Just doing the work provides me with opportunities to figure out how well I am

doing.

______ 11. The job is quite simple and repetitive.

______ 12. My supervisors or coworkers rarely give me feedback on how well I am doing the

job.

______ 13. What I do is of little consequence to anyone else.

______ 14. My job involves doing a number of different tasks.

______ 15. Supervisors let us know how well they think we are doing.

______ 16. My job is arranged so that I do not have a chance to do an entire piece of work

from beginning to end.

______ 17. My job does not allow me an opportunity to use discretion or participate in decision

making.

______ 18. The demands of my job are highly routine and predictable.

______ 19. My job provides few clues about whether I’m performing adequately.

______ 20. My job is not very important to the company’s survival.

______ 21. My job gives me considerable freedom in doing the work.

______ 22. My job provides me with the chance to finish completely any work I start.

______ 23. Many people are affected by the job I do.

2. Scoring Key:

Skill variety (SV) (items #2‚ 8‚ 11*‚ 14‚ 18*) = ___ /5 = ___

Task identity (TI) (items #3‚ 7*‚ 16*‚ 22) = ___ /4 = ___

Task significance (TS) (items #4‚ 13*‚ 20*‚ 23) = ___ /4 = ___

Autonomy (AU) (items #1‚ 9*‚ 17*‚ 21) = ___ /4 = ___

Feedback (FB) (items #5‚ 6‚ 10‚ 12*‚ 15‚ 19*) = ___ /6 = ___

(Note: For the items with asterisks‚ subtract your score from 6.)

Total the numbers for each ch‎aracteristic and divide by the number of items to get an average

score.

3. Now you are ready to calculate the MPS by using the following formula:

SV + TI + TS

Motivating Potential Score (MPS) = —————— × AU × FB

3

MPS scores range from 1 to 125.

4. You can compare your job ch‎aracteristics with those of a fellow classmate or with norms

that your instructor has. Is the MPS of your job high‚ average‚ or low?

5. What could be done to increase the motivating potential of your job?

Source: J. Rich‎ard Hackman and Greg R. Oldham‚Work Redesign (adapted from pp. 80‚ 81‚ 90‚ and 303–306) © 1980 by