Get Employees Off to a Good Start in 2014!
When did you last evaluate the roles and responsibilities (job descriptions) of employees? For many organizations – the answer is often “not since the employee was hired!”
Employees’ responsibilities change after they have been in the job. They have likely taken on new responsibilities as they have become competent in their role and it is seen that they are capable of doing more. They may be assisting other employees in other roles. Particularly over the last few years when many organizations downsized, employees took on multiple roles and additional responsibilities. Many employees take on new tasks with no formal training provided; effectively learning on the fly.
As a best practice, around the time of annual performance reviews, review with employees their current responsibilities in comparison to what is written on the job description.
- What are they doing above and beyond their regular job description?
- What projects have they undertaken?
- What new roles do they serve within the organization?
And…
- What do they need to help them succeed?
In collaboration with the employees, determine what skills and knowledge are needed for them to be successful with the new responsibilities they have undertaken. How well do their current skills and knowledge match to what is required? Is training needed? Do they need time to concentrate on a particular project to meet a deadline? Do they need more management support to be successful?
I have learned that in most cases employees do not mind taking on additional and new responsibilities. What they do mind is having projects or new tasks dumped on their lap with no consideration for what they already have to do and with no training in order to be successful.
Provide the employee with an updated job description to capture what they do and, frankly, to reflect reality. It is difficult to evaluate workforce needs when you don’t have a true understanding of the work the employees are doing within the organization. You can’t figure out where the needs are when you are unsure of who is doing what within the organization.
Understanding exactly what new roles and responsibilities the employees are doing enables for more effective performance review sessions overall.
When possible and it makes sense, consider updating job titles and adjusting salaries to accommodate permanent changes in employees’ job responsibilities. Even when salaries cannot be adjusted, possibly a bonus can be given to the employee for going above and beyond or public recognition of their extra efforts and their new role/responsibilities.
If the organization has significant changes occurring, consider evaluating job descriptions on an annual basis. If not, at least every 2 – 3 years makes sense.
