Job Redesign: What it is, and what it isn’t

Done right, job redesign has the potential to help organisations push closer to their goals – from increasing productivity and retaining promising employees, to achieving growth dreams. The most effective approaches relook not just job roles and descriptions, but also processes and enablers like technology, combining them for the best possible outcomes. Our Support for Job Redesign under the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG-JR) consultants bust some job redesign myths, and suggest how you can maximise the value you get from a job redesign project.

Myth: Job redesign requires high technology spend

While consultants can suggest where automation could be applied to free up employees to perform higher value tasks, it is entirely possible that companies already have the necessary technology in place. It just isn’t being used optimally, says Goh Jia Yong, Partner, People Advisory Services at Ernst & Young Advisory. Job redesign can help because consultants can suggest how existing systems could be better deployed, and which skills could be bolstered to extract the most value from them.

Myth: Job redesign is mainly about employee satisfaction

Job redesign actually starts with desired business outcomes, and consultants then identify what needs to change to help businesses achieve them. Roles, for instance, could be relooked, says Justina Tan, Associate Vice President (Strategic Partnership and Engagements), Singapore University of Social Sciences. “Job redesign is a means to an end. Not every job needs to be redesigned, but often, some need to be relooked.” Dominic Ng Chong Boon, CEO of SFIC Institute, adds that roles that can – or should – be redesigned could come from across the organisation. “When an organisation has a vision – whether internationalisation or growth – even managers and seniors managers may need to have their skillsets enhanced so they can manage new aspects of the business and realise its vision.”

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Myth: Job redesign is about cutting headcount

While some employees worry about being made redundant through job redesign, Justina is quick to emphasise that that is not the end game: “We clarify this from the start so they know that they are being skilled up to take on new tasks that add value.” Rupali Gupta from Mercer agrees: “At an accountancy firm we worked with, 40% of existing tasks could be automated, freeing up time for staff to be upskilled for advisory roles, allowing them to add more value.”

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Myth: Branding myself as a good employer is enough to draw talent

Not true, says June Li Ng, Industry Engagement Manager at Singapore Polytechnic’s School of Business. “Many companies start by investing in branding, but even if changing the facade draws potential employees in, without the necessary support to do their jobs well, they will leave.” If you start from the inside, with better HR structures for instance, workers feel more fulfilled and happy since their needs are acknowledged and addressed, she says.

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Myth: Job redesign projects take a long time

According to Jia Yong, job redesign projects don’t have to be long drawn. “Even for larger organisations, it really only spans a few months and can be narrowed down to specific roles. It can be quick and reap fast returns if the purpose of the job redesign effort is clear and the efforts are targeted.” Adeline Choo, Principal Consultant and General Manager at Cadence Group, adds that it can also be done in stages, citing a client who grouped relevant roles and has undertaken 3 separate redesign exercises, enjoying benefits from each along the way.

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Myth: You only need to redesign jobs once

Just as business and technology landscapes continue to change, jobs need to evolve to remain relevant, says Michael Tan, CEO of Singapore Productivity Centre. “Constantly considering which roles need to be redesigned makes the business more competitive and resilient. It means you can retain your best workers and future-proof your business model.”

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Myth: Job redesigns can be done internally

While this is possible, Thomas Yeo, Managing Director of CET Global, says getting an external perspective can be useful and add value. “Business owners are often more focused on setting the direction for the business, and putting in place a strategy for it. External parties can help see through the medley of business and people issues, define more clearly which departments, functions and processes need to be considered for value creation, and determine how job redesign can help.”

Companies can work with established job redesign consultants to redesign jobs and tackle manpower and productivity issues, and get up to 70% in funding with the Support for Job Redesign under the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG-JR). Learn more at go.gov.sg/hf2023s1-10.

Read more in our Hello Future series

1. A Critical Time to Relook Jobs. In our curtain raiser piece, job redesign consultants shared why companies need to move now on jobs to protect their top- and bottom-lines.
2. Elevating Patient Service, by Design. Jia Yong of Ernst & Young Advisory Pte. Ltd showed a local private hospital how job redesign can be a powerful tool to solve its recruitment and productivity issues.
3. Reconstructing Construction Roles. Nellie of BDO Consultants is leading the transformation of the project coordination role in the construction industry to help ensure projects get completed on time.
4. Designing for Design Roles. Dominic of SFIC Institute showed a mid-sized furniture and furnishings firm how job redesign can let them achieve cost savings of about 20 percent.
5. Making mentoring as easy as ABC. Jek of EON Consulting & Training helped a preschool group figure out how to redesign the senior preschool teacher job and free up time for mentoring their juniors.
6. Perfecting the fit in fashion roles. June of Singapore Polytechnic and Ke Le of AON Solutions Singapore supported two different fashion labels with the job redesign support needed to expand overseas and keep up with omnichannel pressures.
7. The Best Talent can Come from Within. Adeline of Cadence Group highlighted the need for a family-run photo-printing shop to update the roles of its employees alongside technological advancements.
8. Getting Performance Management Right for Success. Johnson and Thomas of CET Global redesigned the HR Executive role in a Chinese manufacturing company to empower the staff to automate tasks and focus on impactful contributions.
9. Spicing up F&B Roles. Siling of Singapore Productivity Centre assisted a Japanese restaurant chain in redesigning jobs and streamlining operations during COVID-19 to achieve tantalising results.