Understanding the Job Design Optimization Tool
HBS professor Robert Simons, faculty cochair of the Driving Corporate Performance program, sat down with us recently to talk about his new Job Design Optimization Tool (JDOT). Focused on designing high-performance jobs, JDOT helps managers and senior executives empower all employees to be more effective in executing corporate strategy. In this interview, he talks about the four basic job "spans"—control, accountability, influence, and support—and the four-step process of testing the sustainability of any job, from the front line to the executive suite.
What prompted you to create the Job Design Optimization Tool?
It's been a long time coming, and there's a great deal of theory and concept behind it. About 10 years ago, I became interested in organization design from an accountability perspective. In 2005, I wrote the book, Levers of Organization Design and the Harvard Business Review article, "Designing High-Performance Jobs." I realized that if I could find a way to leverage the technology, we could share it more broadly in the HBS classroom. The success of JDOT centers on the ability to analyze the resources that people are given, how much influence they wield, and what they're accountable for as a consequence of having that job.
How do you imagine people using JDOT?
JDOT is rooted in accountability and measurement, the intentional areas we focus on in the Driving Corporate Performance program, but it goes far beyond that. This tool can be used to test any job, from top to bottom, and determine whether it's effectively designed and whether the company's resources to support the job are being well used.
Could you walk us through the process step by step?
There are four steps—picking a job, adjusting the sliders, doing the "X" test, and moving the sliders to try to improve the functioning. The sliders, which are like those on a music amplifier, represent the demand and supply of resources provided for any job. Span of control, for example, looks at the people, infrastructure, and assets that an individual directly controls as a result of their position in the organization. In addition to direct control, resources can also come from people's willingness to help you, which is captured in the span-of-support slider. The demand for resources is reflected in the two other sliders: span of accountability and span of influence.
How would senior executives use this tool with managers?
If the JDOT shows that a job is not properly designed, the tool will prompt you to consider changes. For example, you might have to change measures in order to widen span of accountability creating a more entrepreneurial position. Or you might consider widening a manager's span of influence by using stretch goals or by placing the individual on a cross-functional team. If resources are inadequate, you might consider taking steps to build a culture where people are willing to help each other. The tool prompts you through an analysis of the right changes to make for any job in any situation.
Can a participant walk away from the program and immediately start using JDOT?
Yes. Every participant will gain an in-depth understanding of the JDOT concept as well as hands-on experience applying this new strategy tool to their own position and corporate strategy. They'll return to their company with the Job Design Optimization Tool in hand, ready to help every employee—at every level of the organization—become more efficient and effective on the job.
Put your job design skills to the test and try the Job Design Optimization Tool now.