People don’t have jobs. We have roles

In my writing this week of my Heart-leadership book part of my focus was on roles.

One of the most deeply demotivating documents in the workplace is the job description!

The problem I see with most job descriptions is that they list tasks and say very little about relationships or value delivery, the two matters about which every role in your business must be about. And often down the bottom of the form are the words "and anything else as directed.” As I say highly demotivating.

Job descriptions are a hangover from the Industrial Revolution and they still cause headaches.

Role clarity statements, my recommended replacement for job descriptions, improve well-being.

Dispense with job descriptions and watch your people soar.

Every person in your workplace has a role to deliver value to and to exchange value with other people. Value that we all demand, desire, and feel that we deserve. I sometimes refer to these as must have’s, should have’s and nice-to-haves.

"Your customer is whoever gets your work next." said the great Japanese management thinker Kaoru Ishikawa.

I highly recommend taking Iskikawa’s concept to heart and undertake a value delivery and exchange review and then in collaboration upgrade everyone’s role clarity statements.

Here's a template

Workplace or Business Purpose

Role Purpose

Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities

Key Performance Measures and Key Human Indicators (Lead measures)

Key Relationships of the role and the value that must be delivered to each person

Key outcomes of role (Lag measures)

Required levels of commitment (will) and competency (skill)

Key gifts/talents (essence) required and that need to be enhanced to excel in role and prepare for future roles

Learning and development and career path opportunities

All of the above can be outlined on two sides of an A4 page at the most.

There's some examples using this template here.

More about role clarity in this Friday's post and podcast.

Be remarkable.

Ian