HR has never been more important. We fuel business success by shaping culture, driving performance and championing wellbeing.
We navigate hybrid work, build inclusive workplaces and ensure organisations attract, develop and retain great people.
Yet, for all this progress, we’ve overlooked one fundamental thing: the way work itself is designed.
How HR lost sight of work design
Once, work or job design was a core HR discipline, sitting alongside recruitment, performance and organisational development. But somewhere along the way, we lost it.
Read more: "Bring job design back into focus"
Perhaps job design was seen as too rigid, too prescriptive. Maybe when it became easier to just copy and paste job descriptions, we forgot about the principles of the work itself.
And let’s be clear, I’m not calling for more bureaucracy. I don’t want work design to create friction, or worse, introduce (perhaps my favourite behavioural economic term) unnecessary ‘sludge’. What I am advocating for is smarter, simpler and more intentional work design.
Why work design matters right now
If work is the engine of an organisation, we shouldn’t fix individual parts, we should be engineer better engines from the start. And now, more than ever, it's a critical priority.
Despite HR’s best efforts, employees are struggling with workload, pressure and exhaustion. Burnout is at a record level, with Mental Health UK reporting that 34% of UK adults are experiencing extreme or high stress.
At the same time, engagement initiatives aren’t moving the needle. Research in the UK and across the globe shows that engagement scores have stagnated, even as organisations invest in wellbeing programmes, leadership training and culture initiatives.
And it’s not just today’s workforce we need to think about. The future of work is shifting; we’re not designing jobs to keep up.
Read more: Job descriptions are holding your organisation back
The World Economic Forum reports that 85% of employers are prioritising upskilling and reskilling, to meet the demands of AI and automation. Yet, many job structures remain static and inflexible, failing to support a workforce that needs to adapt faster than ever.
Reclaiming work design as a strategic lever
HR should be defining what good work looks like and equipping leaders and managers with the skills to create fulfilling, high-performing roles.
To do this we need to focus on three things:
- Defining what ‘good work’ looks like: using robust evidence-based frameworks like 'job demands-resources' (JDR) and SMART work design to shape roles that balance wellbeing and performance.
- Building organisational literacy around job design: ensuring managers and leaders can spot broken roles, have meaningful job design conversations, and proactively improve work.
- Embracing a more fluid, skills-based approach: moving beyond static, rigid jobs towards personalised, adaptable work models that align with people’s strengths and organisational needs.
A short series reimagining the art and science of work design
Here’s our opportunity: HR can reclaim work design as a strategic superpower.
Instead of firefighting burnout, disengagement and retention challenges, we can proactively design jobs that enhance wellbeing, improve performance and futureproof work.
Read more: Job design needs a health-check
Over the next few months, I’ll share a short series of articles exploring how HR leaders can bring work design back into focus. We’ll look at:
- How understanding the balance between job demands and resources can prevent burnout.
- Why SMART work design is the secret to creating sustainable, productive and fulfilling jobs.
- Where HR must focus to design jobs fit for the future, embracing agile, skill-based and personalised models of work.
This series will help us to shift our mindset from simply filling vacancies to actively redesigning work, aligning roles with the evolving needs of our businesses and provides the building blocks for people and teams to adapt, innovate and thrive.
It’s time to put job design back on the HR agenda. The future of work depends on it.
