In today’s complex work environments, understanding the nuances of role clarity, role conflict, and role ambiguity is crucial for maintaining a healthy, productive workplace.

Drawing from extensive research, this webinar explores these concepts and their profound impact on employee satisfaction, retention, and performance. By breaking down these foundational ideas, we can start to see how they influence everyday working life and what can be done to manage them effectively.

You can read a summary of the session below and watch the video recording. 

 Understanding Role Clarity, Role Conflict, and Role Ambiguity

Role Ambiguity comprises:

• a lack of clarity in the individual role, job objectives, and associated responsibilities that are necessary for employees to perform the job role adequately (Kahn et al., 1964)​

• an employee does not feel they have the necessary information to perform their role adequately, and they are uncertain about what others in the workplace expect of them. This uncertainty may be regarding the task or the social environment (Walker, Churchill Jr, & Ford, 1975)​

• an employee cannot be sure of the job requirements or ways to succeed. An employee suffers from socio-emotional ambiguity when they cannot predict the possible outcomes of their informal behaviors (King & King, 1990) ​

Role Clarity refers to: 

• incongruences in role expectations and demands; incompatible role demands (Kahn et al., 1964)

A lack of role clarity can have severe implications for both the individual and the organisation.

Research has consistently shown that unclear roles can lead to chronic workplace stress, resulting in psychological and/or physical injuries. Without clear roles, employees are more likely to experience job dissatisfaction, reduced performance, and heightened conflict and ambiguity within their roles.

This not only affects individual employees but can also lead to broader organisational challenges such as high turnover rates and decreased overall productivity.

Role clarity ≠ up-to-date job description​

Formal job descriptions are usually highly effective in clarifying roles. However, role clarity goes beyond ensuring your employees have up-to-date job descriptions. There are also informal and humanistic factors that inform role clarity. Even if their job descriptions are crystal clear, people’s expectations about a position may vary significantly.

With that in mind, we'd like to offer you our definition for role clarity. 

Role clarity comprises the following aspects: ​

• Clarity about role description, objectives and responsibilities

•  Having all the necessary information to do your job well, or knowing where to find it

• Explicit understanding of what is expected of you both formally and informally (social environment)

• Understanding the requirements needed for you to succeed in the role

• Knowing how to handle emerging role conflicts

•  Having the knowledge, confidence & ability to prioritise your work

The Consequences of Low Role Clarity

• Low job satisfaction & low job performance (Khuong & Yen, 2016; Saha, Reddy, Mattingly, Moskal, Sirigiri, & De Choudhury, 2019; CahayaSanthi & Piartrini, 2020)​

• High job stress & depressive symptoms (Karetepe & Uludag, 2008; Zhang et al, 2021)​

• Low customer service quality (Lin & Ling, 2018)​

• Compassion fatigue (Wells, 2021)​

• Role conflict can result in higher creativity in the presence of support from leader and adequate resources (Diaz-Funez et al, 2021)​

Checklist for identifying role conflict and role ambiguity

Addressing role clarity explicitly in manager-report one-to-one meetings can be a highly effective way to identify any issues.

We offer you below a checklist that can help you structure this conversation.

Share this checklist with your reports before your one-to-one meetings and ask them to mark which items they are experiencing often or have experienced for a long time. 

The items in this checklist originate from the Role Conflict and Ambiguity Scale developed by Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman in 1970.

The Add-On items are our additions based on our experience. 

Role conflict:

1.I have to do things that should be done differently

2.I have to buck a rule of a policy in order to carry out an assignment (do things that are not allowed)

3.I receive incompatible requests from two or more people

4.I do things that are apt to be accepted by one person and not accepted by others

5.I work on unnecessary things

6.I work with two or more groups who operate quite differently

7.I receive assignments without the resources to complete them

8.I receive assignments without adequate resources and material to execute them

Role ambiguity:

1.I know exactly what is expected of me

2.I know that I have divided my time properly

3.Explanation is clear of what has to be done

4.I feel certain about how much authority I have

5.I know what my responsibilities are

6.Clear, planned goals and objectives exist for my job

Add-Ons:

1.I feel confident that my behaviour at work is not misinterpreted or misunderstood.

2.I understand and agree with the unspoken social rules of our workplace

3.Prompt for managers: Can you tell me in your own words what are your responsibilities at work?

You can download this checklist by clicking the button below.

Implementing Effective Controls

Effective management of psychosocial risks requires a structured approach, incorporating both legislative frameworks and internal policies that focus on prevention.

• Controls will differ vastly depending on your organisational context​
• There is no prescribed approach guaranteed to work in all contexts​

Mandatory first steps:​

1. Review what other hazards and risks are present​
2. Quantify which are compounding, which are mitigating​
3. Establish root causes

Hierarchy of Controls:
This framework, traditionally used for physical hazards, is equally effective for managing psychosocial risks. It includes:

• Elimination: Removing the risk entirely, such as altering high-stress work practices.
• Substitution and Engineering Controls: Modifying processes to reduce stressors.
• Administrative Controls: Implementing flexible work schedules or clear job roles.
• Personal Protective Equipment: Providing resources like access to counseling or mental health days.

Clear Role Descriptions and Responsibilities
Ensuring every role within the organisation is well-defined and regularly updated is crucial. This involves reflecting changes in the organisation's structure or market conditions to keep job descriptions relevant and clear.

Consistent Management Practices
Training managers to communicate effectively and consistently is essential. This not only helps maintain clarity in roles and responsibilities but also ensures that the management is able to support their teams effectively through clear guidance and expectations.

Performance Management Systems
Introducing clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and regular feedback sessions can help employees understand their contributions towards the organisation’s goals. This also aids in aligning their performance with the strategic objectives of the organisation.

Enhancing Job Autonomy

Autonomy has a mitigating effect against negative impact due to low role clarity (Zhang et al, 2021). Job autonomy relates to employees’ freedom and empowerment to innovatively engage in their jobs, to determine their own work, pace, and effort in completing their jobs, and therefore increasing employees’ motivation and self-determination (Bysted, 2013; Deci & Ryan, 2000).

According to Self-Determination Theory (SDT), autonomy is a critical psychological need that influences self-regulation and motivation. Empowering employees with job autonomy enables them to innovatively engage with their roles, set their own work pace, and apply themselves creatively to meet job demands. This freedom significantly boosts motivation and self-determination, potentially moderating the stressful impacts of job demands on psychological health. 

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership style in line manager can help employees convert role conflict into growth and high performance in the presence of sufficient resources (Diaz-Funez et al. 2021). 

Understanding the balance between transformational and transactional leadership can also serve as a control measure. While transactional leadership focuses on clear exchanges and rewards for meeting specific goals, transformational leadership inspires employees beyond these transactions. It fosters intrinsic motivation by expressing the value and purpose behind tasks, which can lead to higher performance and satisfaction.

​Insights from our Psychosocial Hazards Audits & Risk Assessments​

• We investigate over 30 hazards and burnout markers​
• We quantify risk factors and protective factors​
• We uncover underlying causes​
• We calculate the risk of staff psychological injury
• We give you recommendations for controls​