Do Employees Really Understand Their Jobs?

Managers frequently complain that employees don’t understand their jobs. Some task-oriented employees, for example, may work diligently to complete assignments, but they often miss the bigger picture and overlook opportunities for cross-functional teamwork and innovation. Others may understand the organization’s strategic objectives, but lack the necessary attention to detail and follow-through required for execution. Moreover, both groups stubbornly resist change. Neither is effective. Neither meets the performance objectives desired by the manager. The premise of most performance management and appraisal systems is for the employee to improve. These programs focus attention on the person as managers or work teams evaluate individual employee behaviors such as adaptability, initiative, time management, decision making, or communication skills. Managers and others ask the employee to change or correct personal shortcomings. Many years ago, however, psychotherapists discovered that trying to change a person’s behavior by focusing attention directly on the behavior itself was difficult and time-consuming. Instead, they examined the objective results in the person’s life, and then worked backward to uncover the events that produced those results. They found that this approach avoided the clashes of personality and defensive reactions that could break down communication and inhibit change. They also discovered that individuals are more motivated and committed to correct the situation when engaged in “self-discovery” of a problem and its causes. In order for employees to understand their jobs and meet performance objectives, managers must create an environment that supports self-discovery and self-correction. Managers can create this environment by defining job results that serve as both strategic targets and objective measures of performance. The following steps outline the process.
1. Define the Job Mission. Much has been written about the need for strong mission statements to guide organizations. Conventional wisdom says that performance suffers when employees can’t figure out where they are headed. However, most organizations lose momentum shortly after the executives come back from their retreat in the woods and announce the “grand mission.” Many employees express cynicism and view the effort as “the flavor of the month.” Moreover, the ranks so often are bogged down by “the way things are” that it is impossible for them to focus on the larger objective. No matter how well written, the company mission statement remains far removed from their day-to-day work. Managers must bridge this mission gap by translating the organization mission into terms that relate directly to the employee (Figure 1). First, they must identify the specific role of the department and how it contributes to the overall effort. Defining the department mission helps clarify more specifically, what a work team must accomplish. It provides objectives that lead to a more focused and effective work effort. Next, managers must define the mission of each job and the role it plays in accomplishing the department mission. In one or two sentences, managers should be able to define what each job contributes to the work team. This helps the task-oriented employee understand the bigger picture and helps the employee focused on the broader organization effort understand his or her specific role. A clear job mission helps prevent the unnecessary duplication of effort that can lead to confusion, competition, and unproductive conflict. 2. Identify Key Job Results. Once the job mission is defined, managers should identify the specific objectives the employee must accomplish. This must go beyond the typical listing of tasks and duties and instead, emphasize the expected results. For example, “answer the telephone diplomatically” focuses only on what the employee should do and subjectively describes the behavior the employee should adopt. On the other hand, “HELP CUSTOMERS by answering the telephone” emphasizes the result expected from the behavior. The change in language is subtle, but it has dramatic effects. Under the traditional scenario, a manager might say, “the employee does not answer the phone diplomatically.” According to this wording, the employee is the subject of the sentence and the source of the failure. The performance management conversation would likely break down as manager and employee battle over how to evaluate “diplomatically” or how many times each day the employee “suffers” the telephone. When the emphasis shifts to results, however, a manager can communicate more clearly with an employee. The employee’s job is not to answer the telephone, but rather to “HELP CUSTOMERS.” Using this approach, both manager and employee discuss the effect of conversations on the customer. Now the manager has the employee looking at the customer instead of protecting his or her self-esteem. Results also help establish objective performance measures that keep employees focused on the broader, strategic aspects of their jobs. The manager and employee cannot measure “diplomacy,” but they can count the number of complaints from customers that did not feel helped. Even if the employee answered the telephone diplomatically, the customer may still complain. Since it remains the employee’s job to ensure that customers are helped, they must come up with new strategies to achieve the result.
3. Link Results to Tasks. Finally, managers must link job results to specific work activities. They must communicate how they want the employee to accomplish the objective. This does not mean systematic, mundane procedures because that would stifle innovation and diminish strategic thinking. Instead, the task listing should help organize the general activities that are performed in order to produce essential results. The combined result-task listing should help the employee focus their efforts and connect specific tasks to the reason why they are performing that task.

Improving Communication

Focusing on job results offers a conversation-priming script for supervisors to use when managing employee performance. It establishes strategic targets, organizes work around those priorities, and provides the basis for an objective, impersonal assessment of performance. The approach, however, is no panacea. It simply provides a roadmap for conversation. Managers and employees still must engage in the two-way communication required to establish a better understanding of expectations and the barriers to effectiveness. Both can benefit from a job-appraisal system that uses carefully selected words and shifts attention to results. When an employee truly understands the desired job result, unacceptable outcomes are less likely. Smart managers make sure that employees know the desired results.
Figure 1

Linking Job Results to the Organization’s Mission

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|Organization Mission |
|(Ben and Jerry’s) |
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|To make, distribute, and sell the finest quality all-natural ice cream and related products in a wide variety of innovative flavors made from |
|Vermont dairy products. |

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|Department Mission |
|(Purchasing) |
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|To select and procure the best cream. |

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|Job Mission |
|(Purchasing Specialist) |
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|Identifies cream suppliers. |