Role Development

1. Communication Plan
Focus – Role Development
Written for UBC’s
Janssen Leadership Team
by Adrienne Henderson

2. Cause & Effect
The Janssen team is undergoing change in
their business structure due to growth of
business.
When a business is expanding the demand for
productivity arises. The leadership of the Janssen
team is up against resistance to re assignment of roles
and creating new roles within their team.
Communication plan Goals:
•Give a mix of tools and ideas to help make the role
development more fluid and successful to meet the
business needs.
1)Incorporate employee opinion with the
implementation of change.

3. Survey’s
Tool #1 Survey’s = Opportunity
•Gained knowledge
•Employee Opinion
•Clear traits to support role assignment
•Promotes a partnership between
employees and the organization

4. Creating Survey’s
Survey’s are a valuable tool in every aspect of business. I
recommend the implementation annual survey’s to gain
feedback from employees on topics such as:
• Job Satisfaction
• Stress Factors
• Expectation Standards
• Management / Leadership Communication

5. Survey Data to Communication
Model
Leadership must analyze the responses of multiple survey’s to create
categories to develop a functional model to assess the findings.
Teams should include: Manager, Human Resources, & Employees
Diversity among the analyzing teams is crucial to get a
comprehensive interpretation of findings.

6. Theoretical Model
Quality of
Information
Enough
Information
Trust
Organizational
Openness
Employee
involvement
The above model is from Thomas, Zolin, & Hartman’s
( 2009) study on communication and trust.
The reason I recommend a simple model to the leadership of
UBC’s Janssen team is to determine:
•If open communication is currently present within the
organization.
2) Create a visual to identify areas to improve.

7. Leadership Development
My interview with Janssen leadership disclosed views/ideas of how role
development currently looks
“The analysis of a job function vs. job roles are most important in assigning roles within the organization.
The organization feels that the function (how they are doing) versus roles (job description)
are key to successful role development .”- Sharon Barnett, Program Director
Andrew’s & Kacmar’s (2001) research concluded that employees that trust their
leadership are more willing to take feed back and offer open
communication.
Examples:
http://www.harmonycc.net/coaching-with-Bill.php
http://www.kenblanchard.com/Management_Training_Programs/Leadership/
UBC’s Janssen team will benefit from stronger leadership and be able to better
achieve their goal of having an “open communication” culture.

8. Time is Money
I recommend the following time line for successful
implementation of these tools:
Immediately
• Employee Survey’s
• Leadership Workshops
3 to 6 months:
• Develop model for transparency
• Assign Roles with clear concise description of expectations
4 to 6 months:
• Conduct individual feedback
• Provide action plan and determine individual goals
6-8 months:
• Resurvey for new findings.
• Make adjustments where appropriate.
10-12 months:
• Revisit roles and duties
• Analyze , assess, and adjust accordingly

9. Future Outlook
Currently the Janssen team has several areas of communication gaps
and disconnections. With the implementation of these tools and
recommendations the Janssen team of UBC can anticipate:
• Proper assessment of needs
• Effectively address opportunities for change
• Assign roles within the team with targeted goals
• Increase in trust and loyalty from employees
• Increased productivity
• Open communication culture
• Working tools that can be revised as business needs change or
evolve

10. 10
• Andrews, M. C., & Kacmar, K. (2001). Confirmation and Extension of the Sources of Feedback Scale in Service-
Based Organizations. Journal Of Business Communication, 38(2), 206-226
• de Vries, R. E., van den Hooff, B., & de Ridder, J. A. (2006). Explaining Knowledge Sharing: The Role of Team
Communication Styles, Job Satisfaction, and Performance Beliefs. Communication Research, 33(2), 115-135.
doi:10.1177/0093650205285366
• http://www.harmonycc.net/coaching-with-Bill.php
• Herold, D. M., & Fields, D. L. (2004). Making Sense of Subordinate Feedback for Leadership Development:
CONFOUNDING EFFECTS OF JOB ROLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL REWARDS. Group & Organization
Management, 29(6), 686-703. doi:10.1177/1059601103257503
• http://www.harmonycc.net/coaching-with-Bill.php
• Meiners, E. B. (2004). Time Pressure: An Unexamined Issue in Organizational Newcomers' Role Development.
Communication Research Reports, 21(3), 243-251.
• Miller, Katherine (2012). Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes. Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
• Myers, K., & Oetzel, J. G. (2003). Exploring the Dimensions of Organizational Assimilation: Creating and Validating
a Measure. Communication Quarterly, 51(4), 438-457.
• Scholarios, D., & Taylor, P. (2011). Beneath the glass ceiling: Explaining gendered role segmentation in call centres.
Human Relations, 64(10), 1291-1319. doi 10.1177/0018726711416265
• Thomas, G., Zolin, R., & Hartman, J. L. (2009). THE CENTRAL ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN DEVELOPING
TRUST AND ITS EFFECT ON EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT. Journal Of Business Communication, 46(3), 287-
310.
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