Leaders May Not be to Blame for the Prevalence of Low Enrichment: Using Computer Simulation Modeling to Demonstrate a Follower-Centric Alternative

Abstract

Despite the potential for leaders to enrich workplaces for their subordinates, multinational data show that employees experience little enrichment at work. Based on existing theory, the blame often falls on leaders. Many suggest that leaders are either naïve about work design or worse: they purposely create work environments with low enrichment. This paper offers an alternative: followers may naturally avoid enriched tasks due to an underappreciated sampling effect. Specifically, individuals avoid sampling alternatives with greater risk, even if those alternatives provide benefits in the long run. As such, leaders are at risk of falling into a trap in which efforts to increase enrichment may have the negative consequence of turning employees away from such tasks. We develop and analyze a simulation to demonstrate that the simple assumptions specified by the model are sufficient to yield patterns that qualitatively resemble real-world observations. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.