Defining Workplace Responsibilities

At the start of a new business, owners and employees often wear many hats, filling in wherever needed. As the company grows and roles become more obvious, defining each employee’s job duties becomes crucial. Consider some of the following tips to help define workplace responsibilities.

Why Is Defining Workplace Responsibilities Important?

More than just a list of tasks, a comprehensive list of job responsibilities should include messaging about how each employee contributes to the company as a whole. Sometimes described as “role clarity,” it’s vital to efforts to create a positive culture. It should be a place “where everyone understands not only their duties but also how their role contributes to the larger business strategy,” says HR professional Kimmie Meunier. “Without this, teams fall into misalignment, accountability fades, and strategic execution suffers.”

To that end, consider the difference between a “role” and a “responsibility.” Together they are the sum total of the contributions of each company employee.

• A role describes the position someone holds (e.g., assistant manager). It helps define the scope of their work (e.g., the accounting department) and describes the broad ways they contribute to company goals and culture.
• A responsibility describes a specific task within a role (e.g., writes checks to vendors). Each role likely has a list of responsibilities that make up the employee’s daily work.

When a company is new, roles and responsibilities may be somewhat fluid while each person’s talents and abilities become clear. You may need a few passes at the organizational chart to make sure that everyone’s roles are well-defined and suit their skills.

Specifying Job Duties

During the hiring process, making a list of every role — even those that are planned for the future  — and the responsibilities associated with them ensures each person involved in hiring knows how to communicate the right information to prospective employees. It allows existing employees a clear idea of their daily tasks. It allows management a kind of checklist for accountability. 

Different companies may use the same titles for jobs with variable responsibilities. Specificity about job responsibilities at your company “enhance employee performance, facilitate seamless team collaboration, and empower management to make informed strategic decisions,” continues Meunier.

Finally, clearly stated roles and responsibilities decrease the likelihood of duplicated or missed work and confusion about who signs off on tasks. Completed projects produce some combination of a sense of accomplishment, relief, satisfaction with a job well done, and improved company morale. Good company organization works hand-in-hand with those goals.

When to Define Workplace Responsibilities

Defining roles and responsibilities should be done at all points of the hiring and training process.

• Job Descriptions: Rather than using phrases like “team player” or “rockstar” in job descriptions, use clear and descriptive language about the job’s duties. Publicly posted descriptions are the place where you make company culture clear: do you hide behind clichés or do you have specific and actionable responsibilities for the right person?
• Interviews: Center some of the discussion around the list of job responsibilities you’ve provided. Find out how the candidate’s prior job experience fits your expectations. Let the candidate offer feedback about how they see themselves working within those assignments.
• Onboarding / Training: Help employee trainers succeed in reaffirming expected responsibilities. You may provide a printed list that matches the job description so the new hire can reference and ask questions about each expected responsibility. 
• Annual Reviews: If your company schedules annual reviews for performance and culture fit, review the job responsibilities and find out where your employees find success or struggle. Make sure leadership has access to each employee’s list of responsibilities and check in quarterly or upon project completion if that fits your company culture.

How to Define and Refine Workplace Responsibilities

Whether you’re creating a list of workplace responsibilities from scratch or looking to refine and clarify the duties of existing jobs, here are some ideas:

• Look over past job descriptions. Keep what’s working and find out what’s been rendered obsolete by past technology or procedures. You may find tasks that have been assigned to other workers or departments in organizational changes. You may also find duties that have been completely overlooked.
• Put yourself in the shoes of a customer or client. Start with initial contact and walk through the process a customer or client may encounter when engaging with your company. Where are the bottlenecks? Where are the successes? Each department interaction may show you how to add, subtract, or tweak job responsibilities. This action has the added benefit of acknowledging where your employees are doing great work.
• Conduct employee surveys. Current employees know their own workflow best. Craft a survey that helps you discover how each employee understands their current role, how they collaborate and interact with others, and where they find points of difficulty. Taken holistically, this information can help you identify areas where work is falling short, where you need to hire additional workers, or how to make effective organizational changes with redefined responsibilities.
• Know your team’s individual goals and ambitions. Be aware of employees’ work goals: do they hope to advance to management? Do they want to pursue additional degrees and certifications? Has their current role helped them develop unexpected leadership abilities? Consider aligning their job responsibilities to match or help meet those skills. Demonstrating confidence in their work has the added benefit of retention and employee well-being. 

Defining workplace responsibilities isn’t just a task for a new business. The ebbs and flows of running a business reveal opportunities to define and refine employee roles for the best chance of collaboration and success.

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