Staff rotation
Employees are shifted between assignments and jobs at regular intervals.
DESCRIPTION
Staff rotation is a tool that aims at reforming organisational structures and procedures in order to create a less fertile ground for corruption. As an anti-corruption / integrity measure, the idea of staff rotation is to regularly change the persons in charge of vulnerable positions (e.g. procurement).1
PURPOSE & LINK TO INTEGRITY
Long-term relationships between bribers and staff members create a particularly advantageous environment for bribery, as corruption is built on trust and reciprocity. Staff rotation can prevent such long-term relationships being built in the first place. This increases uncertainty about the other personâs behaviour and thus reduces the temptation to engage in unethical conduct.1
Furthermore, staff rotation reduces the monotony of a job and thus improves the work culture. This can increase work motivation and reduce the incentive for unethical behaviour.
KEY REQUIREMENTS
- Does your organisation have a clear organisational structure and job descriptions in place to manage staff rotation programmes? (Also check tool Job descriptions)
HOW TO
As shown in this example for a public institution, the following steps should be taken when implementing a staff rotation scheme:2
- Definition of âhot staffâ is any officer within an organization who had been charged or convicted of corrupt practice or received most complaints on corrupt practices. For the first step, âHot Staffâ currently sitting at âHot Spotâ or doing âHot Jobâ will be transferred and cannot be posted at any âhot spotâ or âhot jobâ anymore.
- Definition of âHot Jobâ is a post whereby the job itself may lead the officer to an opportunity to make illegal gain or benefit out of his duty. For an example, an officer whose duty is to approve license or permit. He may be bribed by the applicant who is in need of the license or permit but they do not have the merit. In order to get approval, they are determined to bribe the officer so that they can get the license or permit. Therefore, officers placed at âHot Spotâ and officers doing âHot Jobsâ will be rotated every three (3) years.
- Another factor to be determined is the âHot Spotâ whereby it differs from one agency to another. An entry point may be a hot spot for all enforcement agencies but it differs from one agency to another. For instance Port Klang and Kuala Lumpur International Airport may be a âHot Spotâ for agencies like Customs and Immigration but borders entry points may be a âhot spotâ for Road Transport Department and the Police as well.
- After rotating the âhot staffâ, the job rotation focus will be on the officers who had been working at the same place for a period of more than 5 years. These officers will be transferred internally. For instance within the same building but to another unit, section or division.
- The next step will be a transfer externally to the same agency within the state for a close service department/agency or to another department for open services department or transferable services. Finally, the Job Rotation will be constantly operating by identifying officers to be transferred according to the duration of being at one place three (3) years for sensitive job and five (5) years for non-sensitive job.
KEY GUIDING DOCUMENTS
Abbink, K., 1999, Staff rotation. A Powerful Weapon Against Corruption, Laboratorium fĂŒr experimentelle Wirtschaftsforschung Uni Bonn, Germany, http://www.wiwi.uni-bonn.de/sfb303/papers/1999/b/bonnsfb460.pdf, accessed 07.12.2015
eHow.com, 2013, How to Implement an Effective Job-Rotation Program in your Company, eHow.com, http://www.ehow.com/how_4763302_effective-job-rotation-program-company.html, accessed 03.12.2015
About.com, no year, Job Rotation: Keys to Successful Job Rotation, About.com, http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossaryj/g/job-rotation.htm, accessed 03.12.2015
FURTHERÂ READINGS
Management Study Guide, 2013, Job Rotation â Meaning and its Objectives, Management Study Guide, http://www.managementstudyguide.com/job-rotation.htm, accessed 03.12.2015
Mohsan, Mussarrat Nawaz and Sarfraz Khan, 2012, Impact of job rotation on employee motivation, African Journal of Business Management
Serra, 2012, Anti-corruption policies, Lessons from the lab, Southern Methodist University, USA
FULL REFERENCES
- Abbink, 1999, Staff rotation. A Powerful Weapon Against Corruption, Laboratorium fĂŒr experimentelle Wirtschaftsforschung Uni Bonn, Germany, http://www.wiwi.uni-bonn.de/sfb303/papers/1999/b/bonnsfb460.pdf, accessed 07.12.2015
- NKRA Against Corruption, no year, Hot Job Rotation, National Key Result Areas (NKRA) Against Corruption, http://www.nkracorruption.gov.my/index.php/en/21-internal/33-hot-job-rotation, accessed 03.12.2015