8 Examples of Job Rotation

John Spacey, updated on July 13, 2023

Job rotation is the practice of moving employees to different roles or positions within an organization. The following are common examples of why this is done.

Onboarding

Job rotation is often used as a method of accepting new graduates into a large firm whereby they try different jobs to get to know the company.

Training & Development

Training and development such as a salesperson who learns about products by working in product teams.

Employee Engagement

Employees may resist job rotation but ultimately may find it stimulating and interesting such that it can reduce boredom, disengagement and burnout.

Corporation Culture

Job rotation can create a more flexible and open culture as employees don’t become entrenched in a particular role.

Cross-functional Collaboration

Job rotation creates cross-functional collaboration whereby employees with various backgrounds and experiences work together.

Leadership Development

Building up the knowledge and experience of potential leaders. This is particularly associated with Japanese management training whereby managers are expected to know the job of everyone they manage.

Contingency Planning

Job rotation leads to deep organizational capabilities whereby many people understand every role.

Succession Planning

Broadening the number of people who can fill a vacated role.

People who are new to a job may be less bored. They may also be likely to catch mistakes and challenge the old ways of doing things. For this reason, job rotation is used in some industries to prevent stagnation and unimaginative practices.

Job rotation is often used as a tool for training new employees, particularly new graduates with little work experience. However, some companies also encourage the practice amongst experienced workers in order to fight entrenchment.

Japanese companies are known to use job rotation to train perspective management and executive management candidates.

Overview: Job Rotation
Function	Management Strategy
Value	Training & Development Organizational Culture
Common Pitfalls	Job rotation is unpopular amongst employees who have a strong vision for their career. They may view assignment to a diverse set of teams as a waste of time. Teams may resist properly training staff who are only assigned for a short time. In such cases, they may assign those on job rotation busy work.