Improved Job Design Materials Creates Nimbleness

Situation:

In this small company, each employee had a distinct job and worked independently. Such singularity resulted in work that did not get done when the employee was out. Technical support, product development, inventory management. The business and customers would benefit if tasks were shared and cross-trained. More so, employees would be more engaged with their jobs and the jobs of their teammates as the increased organizational awareness would foster cooperation and diminish conflict.

Solution:

We built more “consciousness” into the job design. First, we ensured that each job clearly explained how it fit the company’s purpose. Further, we embedded company culture into the job. Values and collaboration were included as explicit tasks. A set of leadership principles were embedded into tasks that transformed managers into leaders who trained, monitored, and coached. Clear principles for dealing with customers were made explicit. All this upheld the company’s belief that “Integrity Endures.”

Results:

The company became more nimble and employees less siloed. When someone was out on vacation or leave, their frequent and important job tasks were delegated so processes could still run smoothly. Jobs were redesigned. Frequent and easy tasks could easily be farmed out. More important and difficult tasks were kept in-house allowing employees to flourish and grow. In fact, over time they took their own initiative to prepare co-workers for assumption of their tasks. New hires benefited because recruiting and onboarding was explicit and thorough.