Organizational Structure and Job Performance

Relationship Between Organizational Structure and Job Performance
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Relationship Between Organizational Structure and Job Performance
Organizational structure is a vital factor in influencing employees' job performance as it defines the role of employees, the interrelationship between their tasks, and the flow of command. It has five major components: departments, job design, delegation, control, and chain of command. Job design refers to how work performed by employees is divided into specific tasks. Departments are structural units from which work is coordinated. Delegation refers to bestowing decision-making to subordinate staff, and the span of control is the system through which employees report their performance. Organizational structure aligns the employees' performance to the success achieved from conducting their duties. This is through the impact of hierarchy which defines the relationship between employees and their managers.
Organizational structure can influence job performance either positively or negatively. A good organizational structure improves the productivity of employees through motivation and enhancing performance. A good structure is characterized by job satisfaction which is facilitated by coordination and proper communication. In research by Kampini on the impact of organizational structure on job performance, 44% of the respondents said that a good organizational structure helped define authority and responsibilities, with 24% saying that it helped promote cooperation and motivation (Kampini, 2018). Conversely, a poor organizational structure leads to low productivity through low delegation and a lack of incentive to work harder. Traditionally, the main organizational structures were centralized and decentralized structure. The centralized structure is characterized by formalization and less delegation. It enables an organization to incur less cost, achieve uniformity in work performance and allow for leadership. However, it is associated with bureaucracy which reduces work efficiency, inflexibility, and delays in work. The decentralized structure is characterized by more delegation and flexibility in job performance. This enables the organization to gather various opinions in decision-making and achieve greater acceptability of decisions made. However, the decision-making may be time-consuming, and a few individuals may dominate the process beating its purpose.
The organizational structure determines the satisfaction achieved from the job as it has five key factors that make an employee more satisfied with the work they perform. These are task identity, task variety, task significance, task autonomy, and feedback (Folami & Jacobs, 2005). Task variety is the number of activities conducted by an employee in work, where satisfaction is derived from performing more tasks. Task identity refers to the visible outcomes from performing a particular job. Employees are more satisfied with visual effects as it enables them to find their role in the organization meaningful. Task significance is the impact of the function performed on the lives of others, where employees are satisfied with a position that has a substantial effect on people...