Organization and staff renewal using assessment

When managers become aware of employees who want to change their jobs, they should ask the following questions:

* What staffing needs does the library have to fill?

* Who wants to do more?

* Who is capable of doing more?

* How do the skills of the employee match the needs?

* How do the skills match jobs that managers could delegate? (Kanter, 1983)

A position is available for reassignment when needs are not being met in that particular area of the library. It could be an existing position or a newly defined position. Sometimes new positions are defined as a result of an employee developing new skills, embarking on a new initiative, or making innovative suggestions about something new that needs to be done or how to perform a task or service differently. Critical needs in the library or in specific departments, or reorganization of an area, might lead to new opportunities for employees. Sometimes a reassignment occurs as a solution to a problem.

The UVA approach to organizational development is supported by the work of Marcus Buckingham and others. Buckingham, of the Gallup organization, analyzed the workforce using a database of one million Gallup surveys of workers from around the world. His analysis showed that 96 percent of American workers are engaged in their jobs, 55 percent are not engaged, and 19 percent are actively disengaged from their work. The disengaged workers are performing below their potential and looking for new jobs. His conclusion is that the major challenge for the next twenty years will be the effective deployment of human assets. His advice as a result of his findings is to capitalize on the "talent and strengths" of each individual employee rather than on improving weaknesses (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999).

"Job sculpting" is another concept of meaningful work that supports the University of Virginia Library's approach. It is a way of matching employees' deep-seated life interests with particular work responsibilities. It matches people to jobs that resonate with activities that make them happy. It is a deeper exercise than merely matching skills with assignments. It requires managers to attempt to understand the psychology of work satisfaction. It is challenging for both managers and employees because many employees have not yet identified their deepest interests and cannot express what they are (Butler & Waldroop, 1999).

What Is Required of the Employee?

In order to create or move to a new job successfully, an employee must clarify his or her work goals and look for opportunities to learn the skills necessary to advance toward those goals. Clarifying personal goals is equally important. To do this, the employee might ask, What are my life goals? How can they be met through work? Working with the manager to establish appropriate training goals that will provide the necessary background to move into a more challenging position is also important. The employee should talk with the supervisor and others about interests and goals. The employee should find an advocate such as his or her manager or someone in library human resources or the library administration to serve as a guide through the process. This approach has been working at UVA for a number of years.