When Your Role Starts Changing Before You’re Even Told About It

Job positions are not set in stone but are dynamic processes that change with corporate goals in most companies. Organizations tend to revise internally documented job descriptions in response to innovations, organizational restructuring, or new strategies. Studies conducted by the World Economic Forum confirm the growing fluidity of job roles, which respond to market pressures and agile organization needs (WEF, 2022). These revisions happen without fanfare and without informing staff members until after the fact. Logically, from a practical point of view, such an order ensures efficiency in matching tasks and reporting structures. Still, when employees come across these changes passively, through internal systems, for example, it creates a perception problem since they were not aware of any changes beforehand. The intended back-office process swiftly turns into a front-line problem, particularly because people feel left out of a process that directly impacts them.

Silence affects communication, mainly

It is important to understand that the moment of communication has a big impact on how changes will be perceived by people. If role changes take place when people have not been informed about them, they can create an atmosphere of a lack of transparency, although it was never meant to be like that. Transparency is strongly correlated with employee trust and engagement (WEF, 2022). The fact that people are unaware of what happens within the company creates mistrust in the leadership's actions and raises many questions for employees, who start asking themselves why certain decisions were not shared with them. Lack of information creates an uncomfortable and even stressful environment as people tend to guess what is going on around them when there is a communication gap.

The perceptions of fit start changing

In addition to communication issues, employees analyze these changes in terms of how they impact their perceived fit within the company. Research on person-job fit indicates that having one's abilities aligned with their position impacts job satisfaction and performance (NCBI). In the case of changing job descriptions without explanations, employees tend to start wondering if their current skill sets fit anymore. As a result, they become anxious and less willing to adjust to the changes because they no longer see themselves as suitable candidates for their positions. This issue may arise even in cases of minor changes if these changes lack context. The way employees perceive the situation becomes more important than the changes themselves.

How do you balance agility and trust?

It should be acknowledged that the issue of speed vs. transparency poses an authentic problem for organizations. On the one hand, changes are often introduced internally before the official communication takes place; on the other hand, such a process can have negative effects that should not be underestimated. Employees who feel like part of the process and are informed about any changes will be able to react appropriately. Those who are taken by surprise, on the contrary, will remain indifferent and possibly resistant. It goes without saying that the change in the process of documentation updating can also mean that a new corporate culture becomes established.