Jobs must be redesigned to align with evolving company needs, McLean & Co. says

Dive Brief:

• As workplaces continue to evolve, HR and business leaders should consider rethinking how jobs are designed so they are better aligned with organizational changes, a new guide from HR consulting firm McLean & Co. states.
• The guide, written to help HR manage the job redesign process, walks them through three steps: Identifying, with organizational data and employee feedback, which jobs need to be redesigned; reviewing those jobs for pain points, strengths and opportunities; and selecting the appropriate methods to address these issues.
• When going through the redesign process, “don’t take the human element of the job for granted,” McLean emphasized. “Redesigning jobs without incorporating the employee voice risks significant resource investment and limited return as changes may not reflect the reality of the job,” the guide, released Aug. 21, said.

Dive Insight:

Jobs have four components, the guide explained: Core tasks; structure, meaning how tasks are linked and organized within the organization; the environment in which the work is done; and interactions, including how the job interacts with others both internally and externally, communication channels and collaboration requirements.

A job redesign involves reviewing the existing job and modifying these components to boost efficiency and employee engagement and align the job with organizational goals, McLean pointed out.

Jobs that are aligned with company goals are associated with improved productivity, such as by minimizing the risk of errors and ensuring the primary focus of the job holder is on things that matter and add value to the organization, the guide said.

They’re also associated with decreased turnover and improved employee well-being because proper job redesign can remove or streamline redundant tasks, balance the allocation of work, and improve job clarity and autonomy, the guide added. 

For example, organizations that are highly effective at reducing friction in tasks — enabling employees to focus on tasks with high value — are 2.1 times more likely to have a highly productive workforce, according to McLean research cited in the guide.

Additionally, employees who can fully leverage their talent through their jobs are 2.4 times more likely to expect to be at the organization in a year’s time, the research found. Those who feel their stress levels and workloads are manageable are, respectively, 4.1 times and almost 3 times more likely to be engaged than those who don’t, McLean said.

As workplaces explore ways to adapt to changing norms, understanding how job and work design influence mental health is increasingly imperative, a community health services professor observed as part of a study released in March. The study found that organizational policies fostering job flexibility and security may create a healthier work environment, reduce work-related stress and promote better mental health.

The integration of new technology into the workflow, most pointedly artificial intelligence and generative AI, has become one of the most pressing drivers of job redesign, according to numerous studies.

Employees are enthusiastic about using generative AI, but to strategically capture its value, companies must reimagine talent and skilling, researchers from management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. recently stressed. A generative AI talent transformation affects the entire organization and its way of working, they said.

Other drivers of job redesign include workload imbalances, which may indicate the time in which tasks must be completed is not realistic, the McLean guide noted.

Similarly, signs that employees are dissatisfied with their job signal the need for redesign. Limited budgets may also drive job redesign, as well as workforce changes, such as shifts toward an increasingly diverse workforce with various needs, values and work preferences, the guide said.

Job redesign is probably not required if the circumstances prompting its consideration are temporary, like with short-term workload fluctuations or an individual client’s specific needs, McLean cautioned.