The Overlooked Art and Science of Job Design

Business and social media are filled with articles about employee engagement and experience: much less attention is given to the concept of job design-the purpose, goals, and objectives of a job and a specific focus on the daily purpose, goals, objectives, and specific tasks of a job in order to make them as productive and individually satisfying as possible.
Rather than focusing on the traditional topics related to employee engagement and experience-leadership, communication, rewards and recognition, DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion)-this program focuses specifically on what people do every day in a way that makes them happier to do the work and therefore more likely to productively produce highly quality work.
The expert panelists are Thomas Bertels, Founder and Principle of Purpose Works Consulting LLC, and Ellen G. Frank-Miller, PhD, Founder and CEO of WORC (Workforce & Organizational Research Center). Both are pioneers in the area of job design.
Here is a summary of some of the key insights from the program:
• Job design experts help organizations not only develop effective jobs that foster retention, productivity, and quality but to create a culture based on purpose, autonomy, and a sense of ownership. It is a largely unknown field in part because it is barely taught in schools. Zeynop Ton, an MIT professor, is credited with helping to raise awareness about job design through the creation of the Good Jobs Institute and her books The Good Jobs Strategy and The Case for Good Jobs.
• Job design goes beyond rewards, recognition, or employee experience to determine the actual purpose, goals, and objectives of a job within the context of its external or internal customers and the organizational mission and vision.
• Employee voice is critical to job design, which should always be considered a work in progress that can be continually improved.
• Effective job design starts with addressing basic material needs. One cannot expect anyone at any level to work at their best if they are struggling to put food on the table.
• AI should be viewed as a tool to improve tasks, not as a means of eliminating jobs. Rather than being viewed as a way to eliminate jobs, it should be viewed as a tool to enhance jobs. As with any other job design process, the more employees are involved, the better.
• Companies that take a blanket approach to work from home likely will lose the people with the most talent, as they have the best chance of finding another job. The work-from-home phenomenon is an opportunity to take a fresh look at job design and to actively involve employees in the process to maximize buy-in.
• Having meaningful metrics is critical to creating a sense of meaning, but only if the employee has control over the outcome of the metrics.
• What is the maturity level of the typical US company when it comes to having a strategic and systematic approach to job design? Ellen Frank-Miller was hesitant to provide a rating other than to say there is room for improvement. Thomas Bertels rated the average company a five on a scale of 10, adding that he has seen an increase in interest in job design over the last few years and CEOs have increasingly reckoned with employee turnover.
To Contact the Panelists
Ellen Frank-Miller, Founder, CEO
WORC at www.workresear...
Thomas Bertels, Founder and President
www.purpose.works
[e-mail]
The host:
Bruce Bolger, Founder
Enterprise Engagement Alliance at https:/TheEEA.org
[e-mail]