Erin McCann
Head of People
Genomenon
Episode 364
Career clarity: Simple job architecture is the blueprint for fair growth
Current chapter: Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built By PeopleDecember 30, 2024 · 9:48
Thesis
“Effective job architecture, even if simply built, is critical for defining clear roles, enabling equitable performance management, and fostering transparent career progression to achieve organizational goals.”
Show notes
You can't assess someone's performance if there's no clarity on what their role actually requires. That sounds obvious—but most organizations build performance management before they've built the foundation it depends on: job architecture.
Erin McCann has built that foundation four times over as a people team leader in startups, and her message is consistently pragmatic. You don't need expensive HR tech to do this well. A Google Sheet and a clear thinking about competencies—accountability, results, core values, department-specific skills—gets you further than any HRIS module that never gets properly configured. The architecture she builds at Genomenon is transparent to employees: they can see not just what their current role requires, but what the next level looks like and exactly what gaps they'd need to close to get there.
She's also direct about one of the most politically charged issues in startup HR: title inflation. Job architecture gives people leaders a framework for honest conversations about why someone with a C-suite title may not actually be performing at that level—and what a real pathway to that level looks like. When compensation is tied to levels, those conversations become about structure and data rather than personality and perception.
- Start with Google Sheets: why content and clarity matter more than sophisticated HR tooling
- The three-layer framework: competencies, core values, and department-specific crafts for equitable performance evaluation
- Making job architecture transparent so employees can see their own career trajectory and skill gaps
- Integrating performance management with job architecture to eliminate subjective, inconsistent evaluations
- Tackling title inflation in startups: how structured levels create honest career conversations
- Tying compensation to architecture: salary bands that reinforce that promotion means output plus values alignment
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What you'll take away
- 1Start building job architecture with simple tools like Google Sheets, focusing on content and clarity over complex HR technology.
- 2Structure job architecture around consistent competencies, core values, and department-specific crafts/skills to ensure equitable evaluation across all levels.
- 3Make job architecture transparent so employees can understand current roles, see future progression, and identify skill gaps for development.
- 4Integrate performance management directly with job architecture to create data-driven, consistent evaluations based on predefined criteria.
- 5Tie compensation to job levels established by the architecture to ensure fair salary bands and reinforce that performance (output + values) leads to promotion.
What most organizations get wrong
- •You don't need fancy HR tools to implement robust job architecture or performance management; content and structure are more important, and simple spreadsheets can suffice.
- •Challenge the startup tendency for title inflation by using job architecture to have informed conversations about why a title might not align with responsibilities and expectations.
In Erin's words
“The thing I realized was that it was really hard to assess someone's performance if there wasn't clarity on what their roles or responsibilities were.”
This highlights the foundational problem that job architecture solves for performance assessment.
“At Genomenon, I took it a step further and consistently used the same, what we called competencies. So, things like accountability, results, the manager track, that would be like performance management and team structure. And then we built out core values.”
This provides a concrete example of the framework components used for job architecture.
“This puts everybody on the same page and allows managers to, rather than focus on rewriting a job description every 6 months or every year, remembering all of the work that's happened over 12 months if you're doing an annual cycle, it really focuses on the right behaviors that we know will help achieve the outcomes that we need as an organization.”
This emphasizes the efficiency and clarity benefits for managers by using structured job architecture.
“I know that there's this desire to reward folks with a big title. When it comes to the people team and trying to roll out something like this, it can be a real challenge. However, this does give a pathway to having a solid conversation about why someone might not be a C-suite employee, but they have a C-suite title...”
This addresses the common issue of title inflation in startups and how job architecture can facilitate honest career conversations.
“Don't wait for a fancy tool to come around and fix this for you. You can get started really easily, pen to paper with ChatGPT.”
This is a key piece of advice, advocating for immediate action and focusing on content over sophisticated tools.
The problems this episode addresses
- •HR teams struggle to assess employee performance fairly and consistently without clear role definitions and expectations.
- •Managers lack clear guidance and alignment on what 'great' performance looks like, leading to subjective and time-consuming evaluations.
- •Employees often lack transparent career pathways, making it difficult to understand how to advance and what skills they need to develop.
- •Organizations face challenges with title inflation, where high titles don't always align with responsibilities, creating internal inequity.
- •Ensuring performance management captures both output and alignment with core values to avoid 'brilliant jerks' or 'underperforming superstars.'
In this episode
Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built by People
How do you design job architecture that supports clear career pathways and performance goals
How to Build a Career Pathway
Job architecture helps set fair and achievable performance expectations for employees across levels
Do Job Architectures Affect Performance Management?
Job architecture and performance management can be challenging in small companies
Post-Acquisition Job Architecture and Performance Management
Erin, any other parting advice you'd like to share with our audience
In the Elevator With Erin Flannery
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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