Redesigning jobs can help leaders avoid layoffs – provided companies also innovate
MASS layoffs are making headlines. Among the most eye-catching of these recently came from tech giant Google. Its chief executive Sundar Pichai warned that more job cuts are needed this year to reach “ambitious goals” in promising fields such as artificial intelligence.
Google is one of many companies having to make the difficult decision of reallocating resources to stay ahead of disruptive change.
In PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, 45 per cent of respondents believed that their employers would not be viable beyond the next decade without reinvention. This figure was up from 39 per cent just 12 months earlier.
Much like Pichai, these chief executives recognise that changes associated with technology, customer preferences and climate change, among others, will have a larger impact on the way they create, deliver and capture value. These disruptions have, in turn, resulted in retrenchments across many organisations as leaders look at “right-sizing” their organisations.
Yet, would organisations be better off working on redesigning jobs instead of retrenching workers? How might organisations balance the need for reinvention and job redesign?
A nuanced approach
Reinventing the business model entails fundamental changes to the way an organisation operates, serves its customers and generates revenue. Examples include exploring new markets, adopting disruptive technologies or diversifying product and service offerings.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
If the changes required are radical, businesses may have to take significant risks and invest significant resources – with no guarantee of immediate returns. Incumbent leaders have little incentive to take such risks. Rapidly shifting business landscapes and market dynamics also mean that even reinvented business models can become obsolete if not continuously monitored and adjusted.
Reinventing the business model focuses on external factors and long-term sustainability. Job redesign, on the other hand, addresses internal processes and skill gaps.
The pace of technological advancements may outpace the rate at which organisations can implement job redesign efforts, leading to potential skill gaps and inefficiencies.
Finding the optimal balance between job redesign and reinventing the business model requires a nuanced approach that considers the organisation’s industry, competitive landscape and internal capabilities. Here are several ways organisations can progress towards attaining this balance.
Align strategic initiatives
Both job redesign and business model reinvention efforts must align with the broader strategic direction of the company.
Strategic initiatives, meanwhile, must align with evolving market trends and customer needs.
To achieve alignment of strategic initiatives, organisations should establish clear communication channels and frameworks for decision-making that enable leaders to prioritise initiatives based on their strategic importance and potential impact on business outcomes. Plus, regular performance-monitoring and evaluation mechanisms should be put in place to track the progress of strategic initiatives and make necessary adjustments.
Build a growth culture and mindset
Organisations must transit their focus from solely emphasising high performance to prioritising growth.
A high-performance culture means the workplace’s values, environment, systems and incentives are geared towards surpassing company goals. This approach can, however, lead to the stigmatisation of failures or mistakes, instilling a fear of failure or embarrassment among employees.
Conversely, a culture rooted in a growth mindset celebrates successes while also recognising failures and mistakes as valuable opportunities for learning.
Embracing learning fosters positive business outcomes. It also empowers leaders and employees to innovate, ask critical questions and seek improved solutions without fear or shame.
Building a growth culture and mindset is also important for job redesign initiatives.
Such initiatives may encounter resistance from employees accustomed to traditional roles, necessitating effective change management strategies.
Constantly invest in talent development
Empowering employees with necessary skills and knowledge enables organisations to navigate transitions with greater efficiency while cultivating a culture of innovation and adaptability.
Through job redesign, organisations can harness the capabilities of their current workforce by enhancing skills and competencies that align with emerging trends.
This approach not only facilitates individual growth but also enhances employee engagement and retention within the organisation.
Reinvent without disrupting the whole model
Conventional wisdom says that to survive, companies must move beyond incremental, sustained innovation and invest in some form of radical change.
Innovation can, however, be done around existing products without changing the core product in any fundamental way. The story of Lego’s reinvention is one example of such innovation and adaptation amid changing market dynamics. Facing bankruptcy in 2003, Lego was able to transform itself into one of the world’s largest and most profitable toy companies.
Lego had succeeded on the strength of its iconic plastic brick toys, but sales faltered after its patents expired and competition emerged from digital gaming platforms. The company also had to deal with rising production costs in Denmark.
To counter these challenges, Lego ventured into theme parks, educational centres and licensed merchandise. Yet, sales continued to decline. In 2005, Lego introduced Bionicle – a toy line featuring heroes battling villains, accompanied by a rich narrative and complementary products including comics and video games. Bionicle’s success prompted Lego to reorganise its development strategy around similar innovative approaches.
Another success story is Apple, which demonstrated the power of complementary innovation by enhancing the value of its core PC products through a family of related technologies. With ground-breaking products such as the iPhone and iPad, Apple built upon its foundation of complementary innovations.
Both Lego and Apple illustrate that sustained innovation, rather than disruptive change, is key to thriving in competitive markets.
Job redesign is an essential strategy to mitigate the need for job cuts, especially in the post-Covid world, but may not be entirely sufficient. To effectively navigate challenges such as evolving market dynamics and technological disruptions, organisations must pair job redesign with broader business reinvention efforts.
By integrating these approaches, companies can strike a balance between optimising existing roles and exploring new opportunities for growth and adaptation in the ever-changing business landscape.
The writer is founder of Soar Collective Asia, a coaching and consulting practice
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
