The Art and Science of Job Design

Business and social media are filled with articles about employee engagement and experience: much less attention is given to the concept of job design—the purpose, goals, and objectives of a job and a specific focus on the daily purpose, goals, objectives, and specific tasks of a job in order to make them as productive and individually satisfying as possible.

Rather than focusing on the traditional topics related to employee engagement and experience—leadership, communication, rewards and recognition, DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion)—this program focuses specifically on what people do every day in a way that makes them happier to do the work and therefore more likely to productively produce highly quality work.

The expert panelists are Thomas Bertels, Founder and Principle of Purpose Works Consulting LLC, and Ellen G. Frank-Miller, PhD, Founder and CEO of WORC (Workforce & Organizational Research Center). Both are pioneers in the area of job design. Here is a summary of some of the key insights from the program: • Job design experts help organizations not only develop effective jobs that foster retention, productivity, and quality but to create a culture based on purpose, autonomy, and a sense of ownership. 

Job design goes beyond rewards, recognition, or employee experience to determine the actual purpose, goals, and objectives of a job within the context of its external or internal customers and the organizational mission and vision.