What’s the story of your job? 3 Steps to find out!

What’s the story of your job? 3 Steps to find out!

“This really tells the story of my job,” observed James during the debrief phase of my workshop to develop Personal Balanced Scorecards (PBSCs) for his organization.

James is a seasoned executive, with many years of corporate life under his belt. Yet the look of wonder and amazement on his face suggested that this was the first time he had actually viewed his job this way, like a character in the larger organizational narrative.

Traditionally, the “job story” is told by the Job Description, that describes the inputs (Job requirements and specifications) and what needs to be done. However, it rarely shows how the job aligns to strategy and fits into the whole. Its use is limited, referred to during hiring (here is your Job Description) and when sanctions loom, and people are trying to justify their positions: “You didn’t do so and so” says the manager; “But it isn’t on my JD” says the employee. It is rarely used as a tool to guide team members to improved performance.

As they developed the Balanced Scorecard, Kaplan and Norton realized that one of the key principles of successful Strategy execution is to “make strategy everyone’s job.” To do so, “everyone” needed to have something that describes what their job is, in relation to the organizational strategy. And so the idea of cascading the Balanced Scorecard to the individual was born.

The PBSC tells a story of how the job and the person performing it contributes to the success of the organization. There are 3 aspects:

1. Job Purpose: I think of this as the Mission Statement for the job. Very concisely, in one or two sentences, why does this job exist? The first time I did this exercise with a client 4 years ago, Job Purpose was an afterthought in my planning. Yet, in watching the participants struggle through it, and come out the other side with clarity, I realized then how important it is for this “birds eye view” of the job. And who best to craft it but the person actually doing the job? This process encourages reflection, insight, new perspectives and ownership of the job.
2. Alignment to Corporate Strategy: The overriding question is “How do I contribute to the strategy?” Starting from the corporate or departmental Balanced Scorecard, the team member looks at the Strategy Map to see where the job fits: what are the key objectives to which this job contributes? The visual of the Strategy Map becomes the visual of the job.
3. Measuring personal contribution: What is it that the team member personally has to achieve (Personal Objectives), how do you objectively measure achievement and what are the targets?

Crafting the story of the job generates the type of insights James had. Like all good stories, there is interest and excitement. The person performing the job now has line of sight right through to the corporate strategy in a simple, one-page document. Team members understand WHY the job exists, and WHY they come to work every day. They are clear and have agreed on what is expected. And team leaders have a tool with which to coach and guide their team members for improved performance. This is a great start in making sure your team members experience joy at work!

Even if you do not use the Balanced Scorecard, or have not yet cascaded to the PBSC level, it is worth having a conversation with your team members about the purpose of their job and how they see it fitting into and contributing to the strategy.

But before that – are you clear about the story that your job tells?

TAKE ONE ACTION

Write your Job Purpose – 2 sentences that summarise the “story” of your job.

INTERESTING LINKS

Have you ever thought about your non-negotiables i.e. the things you will not compromise on? This article presents 6 things that you should never sacrifice for your job. I agree with every one! DO you?
– click to view article

If you are interested in making your organization more transparent, then read this article. It traces how lack of transparency happens, and then suggests two areas to start to explore – defining what’s proprietary and training managers to communicate better.
– click to view article