At its core, Inclusive Job Design is about extracting specific tasks from an existing role, creating a new job profile, and assigning it to a new employee. These are often tasks that don’t make it into job descriptions—usually the repetitive duties that employees are less enthusiastic about. Think of the carpenter spending a staggering hour and a half a day fetching and delivering materials. Or the nurse performing critical medical procedures but also making hospital beds. These tasks are just “part of the job,” right?

In the past, this wasn’t a big deal; you just got on with it. But times have changed. Employees now face high workloads, and labour shortages are widespread across many sectors. As an employer, you need to adapt—perhaps through digitization or by applying Inclusive Job Design.

The key to success? Happiness. Yes, really—making people happy. From employers to managers, from employees to job seekers. Everyone. Because if everyone isn’t on board, it simply won’t work.

You might assume that relieving an overworked employee would automatically spark joy, but it’s more complex. The employee might feel they can do it better or faster themselves or worry about entrusting their tasks to someone else. This makes it essential to ensure that the new person can perform these tasks well—not just in terms of capability but also suitability. Matching the tasks to the person is critical. And then there’s the psychological factor: trust and collabouration are crucial.

Once you understand how to make this work, the results are transformative—for everyone involved. Happiness becomes the foundation for success.