Most people do the same thing Sharon did when they need work: they look at the job listings and look for a job that they think they can get. This is one of the worst ways to get a job, and actually has the lowest success rate (we’ll discuss the phenomenon in detail in chapter 7). This way of thinking is not design thinking; it’s just grasping whatever might be in reach, and it’s unlikely to result in long-term satisfaction. If the kids are hungry, the bank is about to foreclose on your house, or you owe a guy named Louie a lot of money, then by all means take whatever job you can get.

UNCOMMON TAKEAWAYS

• The goal of an excellent service organization is to deliver outstanding results with average employees.

• Many companies design service models for employees they don't have — for a payroll filled with superstars when, in fact, there's a healthy range of talent and initiative on the team. Capture this reality in the design of the business model.

• Successful employee management systems have four main components: selection, training, job design, and performance management.These components must be internally consistent and aligned with the rest of the service model. There's no such thing as good or bad selection, for example. The issue is whether it's consistent with the rest of the employee management system and whether the system is consistent with the rest of the service model.

• IT solutions can help or hurt your employees' productivity, often in dramatic ways. IT tools that work are sensitive to the employee experience, including how and when data is entered in the rhythm of a particular job.The best solutions are developed in tandem with the role itself — not piled on after a job design is already in place.

• The average service employee is overwhelmed by the increasing complexity of his or her job. When a company identifies a gap like this between operational complexity and employee sophistication, it has two choices: change the people or change the job. In other words, (1) train and hire differently or (2) redesign the job so that your current team can do it.

First, not all of your employees are superheroes. Most companies have a continuum on the payroll, from the exceptionally talented to the should-definitely-be-doing-something-else- with-their-lives. This isn't easy to acknowledge. Any number of things can get in the way of doing so, from the role you played in hiring someone to good, old-fashioned conflict aversion. Here's a safe assumption: unless you have the resources and capacity to systematically attract, reward, and unleash the very best in your industry, some of the people now reporting to you cannot be objectively characterized as outstanding. Second, you're probably making your employees' job harder. The hunt for new sources of revenue within organizations often leads to an increase in operational complexity. New products and services — or even new variations on old ones — lead to new processes, policies, and regulations; new organizational structures and technologies; new customers with new needs being channeled toward new touch points. In one quick-service restaurant we studied, the menu had grown from twenty-five items to more than a hundred in just a few years.

Again, the nemesis of good job design is complexity. Complexity has a bad habit of creeping into your systems and jobs over time, as you respond to dynamic market conditions and chase new sources of revenue. You may have tamed complexity five years ago with roles and responsibilities that matched your world of five years ago and your employees of five years ago. But the threat requires constant vigilance. What matters is whether your current job designs match the people who are doing them right now.

UNCOMMON TAKEAWAYS

• The goal of an excellent service organization is to deliver outstanding results with average employees.

• Many companies design service models for employees they don't have — for a payroll filled with superstars when, in fact, there's a healthy range of talent and initiative on the team. Capture this reality in the design of the business model.

• Successful employee management systems have four main components: selection, training, job design, and performance management.These components must be internally consistent and aligned with the rest of the service model. There's no such thing as good or bad selection, for example. The issue is whether it's consistent with the rest of the employee management system and whether the system is consistent with the rest of the service model.

• IT solutions can help or hurt your employees' productivity, often in dramatic ways. IT tools that work are sensitive to the employee experience, including how and when data is entered in the rhythm of a particular job.The best solutions are developed in tandem with the role itself — not piled on after a job design is already in place.

• The average service employee is overwhelmed by the increasing complexity of his or her job. When a company identifies a gap like this between operational complexity and employee sophistication, it has two choices: change the people or change the job. In other words, (1) train and hire differently or (2) redesign the job so that your current team can do it.