Too often I am hearing from a new employee, “I don’t know what I’m even supposed to be doing.” Too often from leaders I am hearing, “I don’t even know what they are doing.” I wrote about this in our November 2020 blog: I can’t see you, are you even working?
The problem is a lack of role clarity. At the end of my first paragraph in that November blog I wrote, now is a good time to level-up your leadership game and get some clarity. Let me say it again….Now is a good time to level-up your leadership game and get some clarity.
Here’s how you start….The Key Results Sheet (KRS). The KRS starts with getting feedback from 3-5 subject matter experts on the job. A subject matter expert is someone who knows the job well. Examples could include: someone who was in the job, someone who is currently in the job, and someone who interacts with the job on a regular basis. You want diverse viewpoints inviting everyone’s unique bias to the job. Consider it a Job 360. It’s important everyone answers individually and they should invest no more than 15 minutes on this exercise.
The 6 questions for this exercise are:
#1. In 5 words or less, what is the purpose of this job?
#2. What are the top three things this job should spend the most time doing? (Note: Please add a % of time next to each, doesn’t need to equal 100%)
#3. What are the top three measurable results this job generates? (Note: These results must be something that can be measured by either a number, a metric, a YES, or a NO.)
#4. In your opinion, what are the top three soft skills needed for this job?
#5. What are the top three daily rewards of this job?
#6. What would someone be fired for in this job?
Once you combine everyone’s answers, edit it down to one page. While this may not replace the job description, it provides talking points for your next quarterly one-on-one along with regular progress reporting. It will help provide clarity around what the job should be doing. If the person’s actions do not match what is on their job’s key results sheet 80%+ of the time, they are most likely off-track and need a course correction. Here is my job’s key results sheet.
What’s next? Once you have the key results sheet, you may want to consider a Job Benchmark identifying the key behavioral traits, job rewards, acumen, and competencies needed for the job.
If you want help with creating role clarity, please reach out to me: [email protected]