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Jaap de Jonge
Editor, Netherlands
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Your Employees' Work is Changing: From a Job to Several Roles
We live and work in a very dynamic and competitive world. In order to survive, our organizations are forced to be flexible and high-performing too. This is increasingly influencing the way work and jobs in organizations are set up: instead of 1 job, workers are expected to perform several roles in projects.
Traditionally, the purpose and requirements for a job are described in a 'job description': a structured and factual statement of a job's functions and objectives. It defines the boundaries of the job-holder's authority and includes the job title, department, associated responsibilities, reporting lines, tasks, required experience, knowledge, skills, level and perhaps a clear career path. 
A job description is static, and is reflected in an organization chart (organogram). Both get out of date quickly (although they can be revised).
Over the last decade, work is being organized in a more flexible way:
- Besides their main job/post, employees now perform several roles in projects.
- Due to internet, laptops, smart phones, etc., knowledge workers no longer have to work in 'the office'; they can work anywhere, anytime.
- We no longer judge employees on how good they were in their job, or against their formal job description (if any), but on the demand for their know-how and skills.
- Changed career paths, which are no longer linear and depend on permanent education and personal development
Job descriptions remain valuable- Give an overall view of the job for job holder and immediate line manager
- Basis for HR department to match candidates versus the job requirements
- Basis for performance appraisals
- Basis for job grading
- Basis for organization improvements
- Permanent education and personal development have become crucial for knowledge workers.
- Employees are increasingly rewarded for results; not for "doing their job'.
- Breakdown of functional silos and increased working in roles, spanning various business functions.
- More horizontal mobility between organizations.
For managers and for management as a profession, what are the implications of this transition of workers from having a single job to performing multiple roles?
Adapted and translated from Wilco van Gelderen, 2013, "Ons werk verandert en daarmee ons denken over 'functies', innovatieforganiseren.nl
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Bernard N Owusu - Sekyere, South Africa
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Borderless Demand Makes Job Descriptions a Formality De Jonge is right when he argues there is a whole shift in work performance and obligation.
Many employees are not observing this change. They are finding it difficult and are complaining about extra work demand. The FACT is there a shift to borderless demand: these are demands on employees beyond or outside what is in their job description. Sometimes a staff takes on the work of 3 employees. This is made possible by availability of technology.
What is challenging is how staff adjusts to the changed work environment and borderless demands. Clients are now able to contact them 24/7 and drop messages and emails anytime beyond working hours. Likewise bosses can also send instructions anytime outside working hours and unplanned travels.
When we see in some job advertisements these day's the phrase "... be willing to travel frequently...etc.", this is meaning the person is probably going to receive demands on short notice.
Employees find the present job change trends stressful but that is logical because they they've been unaware of it as it is not stated in their job description. I've met many who feel like resigning but they have no alternatives. Even senior staff have all come under pressure and are psychologically unprepared by not being aware of the new shift in the work place that requires being seamless.
What is a solution is consistent training to enable the staff to adjust to the new situation that is not yet described in text books, but definitely the reality.
The change has taken place and now staff needs upgrading in their perceptions and thinking about their work, especially in public services and institutions in African countries.
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Onyangore Peter Ogendi
Teacher, Kenya
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Are Job Descriptions Now Just Guidelines? Indeed a job description is now just 'a guideline'. With the arrival of new technology and adults going in for evening/part-time classes things have changed.
Today individuals can change their knowledge in days; meaning if one had to be a classroom teacher tomorrow by then he/she can have different knowledge which actually makes him/her have different skills. This is an indicator that an individual who multi-task is rendering the 'job description business irrelevant. But how many accept multi-tasking? The answer is: only a few. Why? Because in return for adding anything extra to our duties we expect monetary advantage!
This also takes as back to 'job descriptions' still being relevant in order for the duties to be done. Also because of responsibility - who's responsible for what. And note that people who multi-task are envied by their work mates, who make it difficult for these talented guys to work.
Result? We still go back to our ' job descriptions' to counter this business of envy.
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justice john a
Student (Other), Ghana
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Put it in the Job Description Job enrichment comes as a result of technical know-how in ICT. Recently smart people are enshrined with more than one job at the same time because of their skills on the job. On the job training and s...
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Alan Kennedy, Canada
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The Focus is Shifting from Job Description to 'Expectations' What we see changing is the move from a one dimensional perspective of work; namely a job description, to a project manager's multi-dimensional perspective: Imposed expectations and their priority of ...
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I Gede Darmawijaya
Teacher, Indonesia
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Avoid that Side Jobs Become the Main Job Most employees are working based on their job descriptions. It's their main job. They have to make every effort to succeed in their main job.
What is important is employers should focus on this first...
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Ivan Kohlinsky
Management Consultant, Guernsey
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It Can Be a Win - Win Situation with the Right Mindset and Limits I agree. Many years ago I set about persuading a chief executive that paying staff more for multiple skills and flexibility is actually cheaper. Staff (usually) liked the job enrichment/variety etc an...
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Onyangore Peter Ogendi
Teacher, Kenya
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Bringing Out More Talents We tend to force ourselves in some careers because we have no other options at that moment. With multi-tasking, people will be more innovative than before. This will make our institutions advance and ...
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Olli Kansanen
HR Consultant, Finland
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Job / Roles Discussion Exactly the same question was discussed in 1990 in management development forums in Europe. This is an important issue, but I am a bit disappointed that the same questions emerge year after year. I am...
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rajat baisya
Professor, India
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The Traditional Job Description is Now Obsolete I believe that the old system of job description has lost its relevance as both process and technology have redefined a job as more holistic in dimension and in its scope. The traditional job descript...
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Bantwal Prabhu
Teacher, India
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Management is More Broad Based and Hence Multi-functional Management today is more broad based too and hence success depends on the multiple roles and functions a manager acquires in his profession over a period of time.
The performance naturally improves w...
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Musonda Ernest Kabwe
Zambia
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Employment Still Based on Experience / Curriculum Vitae Employment is still based on curriculum vitae, showing a person's experience.
Many companies still demand that someone to be employed needs to have working experience in a certain field.
This is the...
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kvssiyer
Consultant, India
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Job Descriptions and Expectations @Alan Kennedy: Yes expectations are more critical to the function one is assigned with, rather than a typical job description which limits the growth of the persons to laid down boundaries.
As one mo...
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Olli Kansanen
HR Consultant, Finland
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Purpose of the Job In my opinion the most important question is the purpose of the job (=Why does the job exist?). This question leads to value added =output requirements. Simplified example: What is the purpose of a se...
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lenworth grandison
Jamaica
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Implications for Managers, Opportunities for Employees Jaap de Jonge is spot on in his observations. This trend surfaced before the internet age, has steadily grown since, but I still encounter lots of employees who complain about the numerous responsibil...
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LEAH LYNDA I. STA ANA
Student (MBA), Philippines
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Borderless Demand and Job Description Borderless demand makes job description a formality, due to the fact that job descriptions are just a stepping stone on how to begin your work. Once you are acquainted with your job, here come the per...
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Paul Strodike
Management Consultant, South Africa
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Skills and Competencies more Important than Job Specifications For strategic workforce planning, it is more important to know what are the skills and competencies of the person, rather than what his current job description is.
The performance levels achieved ove...
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Ayele Abdata
Manager, Ethiopia
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From Specialization to Generalization Mr .de Jonge's forum topic reminisces us about the first of Fayol's 14 Principles of Management: Division of Labor (Work). According to this principle, an employee specializes in / is assigned to a sp...
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Jasper Mugambi
Manager, Kenya
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Implications for Managers' Roles The implication of this is for managers is that they have to be more keen in their monitoring role. Because the employees are performing multiple roles, it is likely that some employees will perform m...
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Marc Tremblay
Manager, Canada
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Remaining Multi-functional Employees Have to Carry a Heavier Workload The topic of discussion resonates with me. In Canada like elsewhere in the world, companies are systematically and drastically reducing the number of permanent employees, investing in smart technology...
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Richard Mariwa
Manager
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Job-Roles Discussion and Unions The ongoing discussion assumes the employees are aligned with the objectives of multi-tasking or broader roles. Once employees are onboarded, they are guided by a signed job description.
The challeng...
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rajat baisya
Professor, India
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About the Pressure by Unionised Staff and Trade Unions @Richard Mariwa: has raised an issue with respect to the pressure that unionised staff and labour unions can exert on business.
In a government run economy the labour unions have some strength but in...
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Leticia Olaverria
Accountant, Dominican Republic
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Technology Helps Increase New Roles and Duties I agree with some of the point of views expressed; the fast development of digital tools forces the employess and bossess to discover that we are able to perform more than one role. I guess it becomes...
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Sachin Yemul
Student (MBA), India
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Information Technology and its Implications Day by day IT is evolving and making jobs more critical and complex in terms of roles and at the same time the requirement of manpower is decreasing, eliminating many jobs or reducing their workload, ...
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Helen Strong
Business Consultant, South Africa
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Mental Boundaries The above discussion makes some excellent points about how people can grow and have more job satisfaction. However in our country one has to take into account the attitudes of workers who will not ste...
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rajat baisya
Professor, India
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Working on Mental Boundaries @Strong has raised a point which we indeed have experienced in the past. Workers suffer from two basic problems - one being, as mentioned by Strong, that the work load will keep on increasing without ...
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Bantwal Prabhu
Teacher, India
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Mental Boundaries and Performance The trend with management is towards a "more with less"-philosophy in terms of resources, materials, and technology. Hence the limits are extended in every aspect of work and performance to meet the c...
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seechurn
HR Consultant, Mauritius
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Recruiting Multi-skilled Employees I am agreeable to the views expressed by Jaap de Jonge. We are living in a modern world where there has been a change in our system of doing things. It is important we change our mindsets and adapt to...
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Bantwal Prabhu
Teacher, India
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Change is the Watchword of the Future The only thing that is constant in the world is change, and for survival in the future everyone should accept that, whether he or she likes it or not. Living positive is based on positive change in e...
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kvssiyer
Consultant, India
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Job Descriptions and Organizations Chart A typical organization chart is the pictorial representation of the relationships in an organization, indicating the line of control and authorities in brief.
It is indicative of ones' role and accou...
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David Wilson
Manager, Canada
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Employees with Multiple Roles May Be Beneficial In my experience, if an employee has only one role, the longevity of the employee's job (and career) may be limited. Whereas an employee able to perform multiple roles will probably have more opportun...
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David Wilson
Manager, Canada
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People Need to Future Proof Their Jobs I am reading a report from the Brookfield Institute on future jobs. The report notes "Everyone expects automation and other technological advances to eliminate some jobs and create others. But Canadia...
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Ivan Kohlinsky
Management Consultant, Guernsey
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We May Have Damaged the Success of This by our Education System For years business and government has tried to regulate things by infinite specification of procedures, performance measurement techniques (think about hospital waiting list stats, discouraging judgme...
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Hong Sun
Management Consultant, Canada
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From Functions to Roles: Agile Transformation in Personnel Organizational agile transformation requires major shifts, and the change in personnel from functions to roles is one of them. It involves a shift of people in an organization from having narrow and p...
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