Designing Jobs and Job Families

 

This page is being revised.

 

Designing Jobs

Designing effective jobs is one of the most important things managers can do to achieve the results they need to deliver.  Many jobs, however, have evolved over time, been built around specific incumbents, or resulted from responding to short-term needs rather than being actively designed to fit the business context and needs.

Job design requires knowledge, skills, and time. It requires following a process that includes understanding the work to be done and results to be achieved to support the business; determining the required knowledge, skills and abilities; and defining and communicating the required interactions with other jobs.

Effective jobs have a number of common characteristics:

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They fit their intended purpose. When they are performed as designed, the desired contribution is delivered to the organization.

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Job duties and desired outcomes are clear. Decision-making authority matches the both the work and the worker.

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Work in the job requires knowledge, skills, and abilities that generally are, or can be, developed together.

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The work is neither so narrowly defined that it becomes boring and disengaging nor so broadly defined that it does not provide a focus for incumbents.

We work with clients to design jobs that meet organization and employee needs; jobs that make the intended contribution to results, have clear roles and accountabilities, and engage employees.

Designing Job Families

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We work with clients to build job families that both support achievement of business objectives and provide medium and long-term paths for employee development, career paths, and succession.