Q: When a team members actual job role has organically changed over 12-18 months and the employee requests from the employer an updated Job Description what’s the recommenced approach to avoid simply focusing on an assumed increase in salary as the outcome?
Before you even consider re-visiting a role description, I would suggest taking stock of 3 key things:
1. What does this person actually want?
It’s important to dig into the motivations of the request you’ve been presented with, to see if it’s about more than a change in status or remuneration. For example: Recognition – do they just want acknowledgment of the fact you value their contribution.
Reprieve – are they overwhelmed by their obligations and need guidance on what can be dropped, passed on, pushed back, outsourced.
Clarity – do they need it reaffirmed what their success indicators are from your perspective, what key responsibilities and tasks are currently most important, how they should prioritise their actions
2. How are they currently performing?
Analyse the current job description. Is this person achieving all of their current KPI’s and fulfilling all of their roles and responsibilities? If not, why not? Has the focus on additional actions been of their volition or yours? If they reverted to a sole focus on these previously agreed actions would that enhance or erode their value to the business?
It’s important to have a clear understanding of what additional tasks this individual is engaging with on a consistent basis and how much time is actually being attributed to them. Is this person performing these additional roles well? Do you have measures that allow you to make definitive judgements on this? Are both parties in agreement on what the numbers say?
3. How did this situation eventuate?
Refer to your organisational structure. Why has their role changed? Has your business grown? Are others neglecting parts of their roles, or has this person prompted the scope creep based on their interests, proactiveness and/or perceived strengths? Has your structure become convoluted? Also consider your performance process. Should your performance discussions have identified this role evolution, need for additional support, and potentially, prompted a realignment of focus back to their core role?
Hopefully by addressing these questions, both parties can move forward with confidence (without a need for a role refresh) and you can ensure lessons for the future are heeded. It’s a complex issue. Feel free to reach out and we can talk through the context of your circumstance in more depth.