A job with no job description?
We don’t have job descriptions at TOPdesk. And we’ve never had them. We believe it’s important that all colleagues are considered equally important from the get-go. Regardless of your experience or responsibilities. Everyone is different and they only stand out when you look at their personal talents. Because our colleagues are so different, we don’t force them into a job profile and the qualities that go with it. Are you working at TOPdesk? Then your contract won’t even state a job title. Just that you’ll be working for TOPdesk.
Much more room for initiatives
Perhaps the most important advantage of not having any job descriptions is that it encourages initiatives. Director or software tester? You can share your ideas with anyone! And is it a good idea? Then you can set it up right away and implement it yourself if you want to. We want to create as few barriers as possible for people who want to do their work well. Do you think something is useful for our organization, even if it’s not what you were hired for? Go ahead and do it! Discover our culture.
Easier to switch
Having no job descriptions makes it easier for colleagues to change their role. You can always do something else at TOPdesk without having to amend your contract. We’ve also adjusted our salary system accordingly. We want to prevent people from continuing to do jobs they no longer enjoy, just because it pays better than the job that actually suits them.
Because we don’t have job descriptions, we’re extremely agile as an organization.
An agile organization
Because we don’t have job descriptions, we’re extremely agile as an organization. An example? A few years ago we started working in a more agile way. Together, across departments to help our customers better. From an HR perspective, this was no problem at all. There was no policy, no job structure or salary system to stand in the way of this change. This meant a number of people from different disciplines could sit down together and get to work quickly – completely free to do what they thought was right.
But, is policy totally unnecessary?
Of course, you can’t do away with policies entirely. A certain degree of clarity and organization can be useful and also helps to shape the freedom TOPdesk nurtures. Even at TOPdesk we organize ourselves in a certain way.
Of course we don’t just leave our colleagues to their own devices, but specifically help them to get the best out of themselves and to develop in the direction they have in mind. To do this, we work with talent leads , for example. These are colleagues who are responsible for the personal development of a group of other colleagues. Talent leads ensure that they find the right place in the organization for colleagues to effectively use and develop their skills and talent. They coach people or connect them with others who can help them take their next step.
Here too, what is abundantly clear is that we try and put ourselves in our colleagues’ shoes. Systems can be wonderful, but happy and high performing people are even more wonderful.
