Role Clarity in the Workplace

Poor professional performance is often rooted in a lack of role clarity. Role clarity goes beyond a basic understanding of job duties; it’s about aligning individual expectations with organisational goals. To achieve strategic objectives, employees must be clear on how the organisation views their role and how their responsibilities contribute to the bigger picture.

Establishing true role clarity not only helps in holding people accountable for their performance but also aligns their behaviours with organisational priorities. It's not just about the tasks outlined in a Position Description; it's about understanding the behaviours and priorities that define high performance within a specific role.

Case Study: The Impact of Poor Role Clarity

Consider the example of Organisation A, known for its supportive culture. Despite this, a Team Leader in the marketing department struggled to meet performance targets. The company’s strategic goal of expanding market share hinged on innovative campaigns, yet the Team Leader’s efforts fell short.

The Head of Marketing, hesitant to confront the issue, noticed a growing gap between expectations and results. However, due to unclear performance metrics and a lack of regular feedback, the Team Leader remained unaware of the problem’s severity. This misalignment led to missed opportunities, declining team morale, and ultimately, the Team Leader leaving the company due to perceived lack of support and unclear expectations.

This highlights a critical point: when employees don't fully understand their role, it can lead to underperformance and the underutilisation of their potential. Over time, an organisation may lose some of its most competent employees simply because expectations were unclear.

Case Study: The Impact of Talents and Preferences

As another example we have Organisation B. A government department which required significant collaboration between Divisions. One of the Managers excelled at the specialist expertise associated with their role but was less capable when it came to leading and managing the performance of their team. In addition, they liked some of their colleagues in other Divisions but found one of the Division heads a bit difficult so kept away from them.

Because the majority of their work was excellent and not many people had their expertise, the Director kept them in the role and managed around their inability to effectively engage across all of the organisation. This Director also allowed some poor performers to remain in her division as she wasn't aware of the extent of the lack of performance management.

Over time, many good people left this Manager’s team because they didn’t want to continue working in an environment that they felt wasn't equitable. In addition, when the Director moved on, the Manager was left in a difficult position as they didn't have the skills to collaborate across the organisation. This often resulted in them being out of the loop and misaligned with organisation outcomes.

Allowing people to get comfortable doing the parts of their job that they have the greatest talent or preference for, can mean that some critical work doesn’t get done.

The Challenge of Role Clarity

Role clarity is more complex than it may seem. A common challenge is answering the question: "Do our people really know what their job is?" We often assume they do, simply because they’ve been given a position description filled with tasks. However, it’s revealing when you stop and ask employees, “What do you believe are the top five priorities and responsibilities of your role?”

In our experience working with various organisations, the answers can be surprising. Employees often have a very different understanding of their role than what was intended. This disconnect occurs when position descriptions focus heavily on tasks but neglect the strategic importance of those tasks. Additionally, these documents can quickly become outdated, as half the tasks may no longer be relevant over time.

Introducing Accurate Role Perception (ARP)

To ensure role clarity, we introduce the concept of Accurate Role Perception (ARP). ARP asks the critical question: "Do our people truly understand their role priorities and the behaviours that align with them?" Too often, employees create their own version of their job based on personal preferences or biases, focusing on tasks they’re comfortable with rather than what’s strategically important to the organisation.

Accurate Role Perception is about aligning an employee’s understanding of their role with how the organisation views it. This ensures that employees know their top five responsibilities and the behaviours expected to fulfill them. When role clarity is achieved, employees are more likely to meet or exceed expectations, and their performance can be more effectively linked to both outcome (lag) and behaviour (lead) KPIs.

Enhancing Performance Through ARP

A lack of performance often stems from a lack of Accurate Role Perception. ARP offers detailed insights into what is expected from a specific role, including how tasks should be performed and how success is measured. This level of clarity helps employees focus their daily efforts on activities that drive high performance for both individuals and teams.

ARP helps answer critical questions for leaders:

Do you have clear role clarity for each function within your organisation?

Do your people know their top five priorities in order? Do they know how much time they should be allocating to each priority? (This helps to ascertain what needs to be done first when things get busy).

Do you understand the behaviour that supports your people being able to deliver on each priority? Do you know what you need to see them doing?

Do your people have the capabilities required to deliver on the priorities?

Are all KPIs being met? If not, what needs to change?

Are any employees engaging in tasks that do not align with your organisation’s strategic goals?

The ARP framework ensures employees understand their role from both a task and behavioural perspective, ensuring that high performance becomes the norm.

The Role Clarity Framework: Four Steps to Success

Our proven role clarity framework aligns your team’s actions and behaviours with your strategic objectives. By using ARP, we help organisations achieve higher levels of employee engagement, improved customer experiences, and increased Net Promoter Scores (NPS).

Here are the four steps we use to build impactful role descriptions:

Step 1 – Establish Role Purpose Priorities

• Clarify the key priorities of the role to ensure focus on the most critical tasks.

Step 2 – Outline High-Level Skills and Talents

• Define the skills and talents required to perform each role priority at a high level of competency.

Step 3 – Define High-Performance Behaviours

• Identify the specific behaviours that demonstrate high performance for each role priority, considering aspects such as frequency, standards, and cultural alignment. We ask questions like “If someone was doing this well, what would you see them doing?”

Step 4 – Specify Measurable Outcomes

• Set clear metrics and KPIs that allow you to measure performance, ensuring accountability and continuous improvement.

Achieving role clarity is essential for driving individual and organisational performance. When employees have a clear understanding of their role, responsibilities, and how they contribute to the larger strategy, they are more engaged, accountable, and aligned with the organisation’s goals. If your team is struggling with performance or engagement, it may be time to revisit role clarity.

At NNC, we specialise in helping organisations create high-performing teams through our tailored Role Clarity Framework. Whether you’re looking to improve employee engagement, streamline KPIs, or drive strategic outcomes, we can assist. Contact us today to learn how we can help bring clarity and focus to your workforce, ensuring that your team is set up for success.