Clear job roles are the missing link in raising productivity

When roles aren’t clear, workplaces stumble. Clearly defining them is the first step to lifting productivity

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Forget flashy technology and endless corporate initiatives. The single factor that most undermines success in Canadian workplaces today is surprisingly simple: role clarity. Without it, even the smartest strategies collapse into misalignment and wasted effort.

The issue is even harder to ignore today. Since the pandemic, hybrid and remote work have become firmly embedded, blurring expectations in ways many organizations still haven’t adapted to. At the same time, artificial intelligence and automation are reshaping roles faster than job descriptions can keep up. Canada already faces a productivity gap compared to its peers, and wasting talent because people aren’t clear about what matters most only makes the problem worse.

I was reminded of the importance of role clarity while helping a client develop a professional growth plan. Instead of discussing future goals, we ended up in a conversation about her uncertainty over what her role actually entailed. “How,” she asked, “should I decide what objectives to pursue if I’m not sure they even support our business goals?” It’s a question too many employees wrestle with, and too many managers fail to answer.

The lack of role clarity is not new, but today it leaves employees more likely than ever to be working in a fog. A decade ago, role confusion slowed progress. Now, it can derail entire projects and, in some cases, whole organizations.

When people don’t know how their daily work connects to larger objectives, the result is misalignment. No company can succeed when its goals pull in one direction and its employees, however well-intentioned, are pulling in another.

The first reason role clarity is elusive is that job descriptions are still written as lists of tasks rather than outcome-driven expectations. That leaves workers unsure of how to prioritize. A customer service agent, for example, may close every ticket on time but still leave clients dissatisfied if they don’t feel supported. The customer doesn’t care about the checklist of duties; they care about whether the experience inspires confidence. When the written role and the actual expectations diverge, everyone loses.

Some companies are beginning to fix this by focusing less on rigid tasks and more on clear outcomes. Canva, for example, built a customer experience framework around making design simple and enjoyable for everyone. Support teams are encouraged to focus on solving problems and listening to users rather than following rigid scripts. The clarity of that outcome keeps them aligned.

The second obstacle is communication, or more accurately, the lack of it. Managers fill their calendars with meetings but rarely carve out time to connect daily responsibilities to broader goals. Employees, meanwhile, hesitate to ask for clarification for fear of appearing incompetent. Silence feels safe in the short term, but it compounds the problem. Projects stall, teams duplicate efforts and trust erodes.

The remedy is straightforward but rarely followed: connect job responsibilities to the organization’s objectives, and revisit those connections regularly. This requires more than numbers-driven updates. It means conversations about priorities, strategy and context. Leadership isn’t something to squeeze in when time allows. If leading people isn’t first on a manager’s list, it’s worth questioning whether they’re in the right role themselves.

After years of working with organizations, I’ve found the difference between effective leaders and ineffective ones comes down to whether they treat “leading people” as central or incidental. You can tell a lot about a manager’s effectiveness by asking employees four simple questions:

• Do you understand your company’s strategy and how your job helps achieve it?
• Do you understand your job and what your manager expects of you?
• Do you and your manager have meaningful conversations regularly?
• Does your manager keep those meetings rather than cancelling them?

Weak answers to those questions almost always point to a lack of clarity.

Employees also carry responsibility. The best way to cut through fog is to ask. Even if you think you understand your role, it pays to confirm. In a fast-changing workplace, assumptions are dangerous. A candid question can prevent months of wasted effort.

Our economy cannot afford wasted energy or disengaged talent. Businesses already face labour shortages and weak productivity growth. Role clarity may not be as trendy as AI or sustainability, but it is the foundation without which no strategy works.

If leaders want engaged employees, resilient teams and organizations ready for the future, they need to start with a simple discipline: make sure everyone knows exactly what is expected of them, why it matters and how it connects to the bigger picture.

That’s not a soft skill. It’s the hard edge of leadership—and it’s the difference between success and failure.

Rebecca Schalm, PhD, is founder and CEO of Strategic Talent Advisors, a consultancy that provides organizations with advice and talent management solutions.