The writer explains the different roles of an employee that help in building an organisation
Do your employees know their roles and responsibilities clearly? This sounds to be a weird question, isn’t it? As most would say that ‘Yes my employees certainly do know their roles and responsibilities. They are clearly told and also given in writing what they are supposed to do on the job.’ Yes, that’s right. The job description given to employees says it, the majority of it, but not all of it. There are certain critical roles that are unstated and which employees ignore, or at times these roles are performed purely ‘for sake of doing’ without understanding its consequences. Yet at times, employees act subtly and unknowingly and most of the times these actions are not in the interest of the organisation’s overall goal and vision.
These employee roles and actions, if performed correctly and on time, can contribute indirectly but immensely in building a better organisational brand image, organisational culture, environment within the organisation, customer relations etc. Here, I am referring not to the job description that’s given to employees, that forms the primary roles and responsibilities, but to the secondary roles and responsibilities that are most of the times unstated.
Primary Roles
The primary roles of employees are the duties, roles, and responsibilities; those are stated clearly in the job description of the employees. This is normally given in writing to the employees at the time of the employees joining the said position. Sometimes the job description is changed, normally upgraded, or modified, during the course of employment depending upon the job requirement. In other words, these duties and responsibilities are the bare minimum that any employer reasonably and legally expects from any employee. And, efficient employees having adequate skills and motivation follow these guidelines sincerely, and are considered as good workers in an organization.
Secondary Roles
These are unstated duties, roles, and responsibilities associated with positions in an organisation – those are not stated orally or in writing anywhere. These roles and responsibilities do not contribute directly to the job that an employee is performing, but these tasks contribute indirectly to the overall organizational goals. Most employees do not understand this important fact, nor does the management take efforts to make employees understand this aspect. Many times, employees live within their departmental limits, forgetting and ignoring other departments. They say this is my job and once I am done with it, my responsibility is over. I have nothing else to do with the work of the other departments and what happens either next, or the ultimate consequences that may result and impact customer satisfaction.
Role towards Customers
Ultimately every employee should understand that they are working in the organisation because there is a customer and they all need to work to meet customer expectations and needs. Imagine a consignment reaching the customer late due to delay caused, may be not in executing the task but due to carelessness in communication, down the line in some department that may result in customer dissatisfaction and at times loss of the customer permanently. The concerned employee is happy that he has executed the job on time; however, he has not ensured that the finished work has reached the concerned department for onward processing and despatch. This unstated role and responsibility is more critical than merely executing the stated job.
To cite an example, few days back we ordered pizza and some snacks directly via the app of a newly set up pizza chain outlet at Porvorim. The outlet promised delivery within 45 minutes after the confirmation of the order. On earlier instances this very same outlet had delivered the pizza much earlier than the time it promised. It was 50 minutes and there was no sign of the delivery person. No messages or any update from the outlet. We waited for 10 more minutes but still no sign of the pizza. We then called up the outlet. We were told that the order was ready half an hour earlier and was sent for despatch. And, just like us the person on the phone was also surprised that the food was not received by us. He then enquired with his people and profusely apologising, informed that it was lying at the despatch counter and that the delivery person has just left to deliver the order.
What must have happened here is that the food must have been prepared, packed and the parcel must have been left in the despatch area in some corner without informing the despatch person. Moreover the despatch person must be busy with despatching other orders and this order remained unnoticed, unattended. It is exactly doing the stated job – that I have done my job, I am not responsible whether the order goes or not. I am not concerned about the customer’s feelings. Well, the unstated role and responsibility is – going a step ahead from your stated role to taking action to do what you are required to do in the interest of the organisation’s goal, i.e., ensuring that the customer order is despatched on time.
Role towards Branding
Indirectly every employee has an unstated role and responsibility to contribute towards building the brand of the organisation. Every employee is a brand ambassador of the organisation, both internally through their customer
focussed actions and externally via positive word of mouth that they spread about the organisation. Every action that an employee takes in the interest of the customer contributes to customer satisfaction and thus branding.
Role towards Building Culture
The employees play an important role in deciding the culture of the workplace. Their behaviour, attitude, and interests at the workplace form the organisation’s culture. It is the style of working, the thought processes, and assumptions of the employees that contribute to an organisation’s culture. An employee who understands his roles and responsibilities clearly, both stated as well as unstated, would promote a healthy culture at the workplace that’s directed at customer focus and achieving organisational goals.
In conclusion, it is the responsibility of the top management to take special efforts to make every person associated with the organisation understand their roles and responsibilities, specially the unstated ones. The top management must spend time and money in making every employee, irrespective whether it is the gatekeeper, sweeper, worker, supervisor or the management team member, realise and appreciate their secondary roles and duties towards the organisation. If possible, those critical roles which could be stated in clear words, wherever possible, need also to be converted and communicated as primary roles to employees. Management needs to do everything that will enable every employee to participate, directly or indirectly, in achieving the organisation’s higher goals and vision.
