| The effects of non-routine work on the planned goals of an organization were examined through a qualitative case study. The purpose of the study was to identify the distinguishing features of routine and non-routine operational situations from the perspective of employees from three different organizational levels: executives, managers, and staff. The findings contribute to the understanding of how organizational leaders can meet their planned goals in the face of disruptions resulting from unplanned operational situations. Twenty employees of this organization were interviewed on how they perceived their routine work was affected by non-routine operational situations. System theory was the ontology of the research for an integrative study of how routine and non-routine operational situations affected the employees in terms of their job performance, job satisfaction, and effectiveness of response. Based on the findings, non-routine operations were perceived by the employees as departures from their routine work. Employees also indicated that they routinized the work they expected to perform as part of their job, both for efficiency and to ensure completeness. Employees expressed anxiety about non-routine work since it was unplanned and caught them unprepared. However, employees also indicated having a sense of accomplishment from completing non-routine work, when their routine work was also completed. Two sources of job satisfaction were reported by the employees: (a) contributing to organizational performance through completing the routine work; and (b) overcoming the challenges of dealing with the task uncertainties that non-routine work entails. Further distinctions between routine and non-routine work were indicated by employees in terms of quality control and quality assurance measures. |
