WDG(JR+): document the before-and-after job design

A WDG(JR+) project should show how work changes, not only that a consultant delivered a report or a technology was installed. The before-and-after job design is the bridge between the business problem, redesigned process, worker capability and measurable outcome. It should be written early enough to guide implementation and worker consultation.

Build the current-state job record

Select the affected roles and sample actual work over a representative period. Record tasks, decisions, handoffs, systems, volumes, cycle time, error points, customer impact and skills used. Use the current SBF WDG(JR+) page and the official EWTP factsheet for the programme context and current support structure.

Distinguish the formal job description from work actually performed. Include exceptions, workarounds and peak periods. Ask employees and line managers to validate the baseline, while protecting personal and performance information that is not needed for the redesign decision.

Design the future role and transition

For each task, state whether it is removed, automated, simplified, transferred, expanded or retained. Identify new judgment, customer, data and supervisory responsibilities. Map the changed workflow to skills, training, technology, access, procedures and manager support.

Set transition stages rather than switching every role on one date. Define readiness checks, supervised practice, fallback operation and escalation. Technology should be bundled with job redesign only when it enables a real workforce outcome; a software purchase alone is not a before-and-after job case.

Measure worker and business outcomes

Choose a small set of measures such as cycle time, rework, service quality, capacity, safety, employee proficiency and adoption. Record the baseline, target, source, owner and review period. Separate forecasts used in the application from verified results after implementation.

At each milestone, compare actual tasks and results with the approved redesign. Document employee feedback, unintended workload, control failures and corrective action. Retest the measures after the initial implementation period so early novelty does not appear as durable improvement. The final handover should give line managers enough capability to maintain the redesigned work after external support ends.

Turn the decision into a controlled file

Use a dated decision record that identifies the applicant, business need, current official source, chosen route, responsible owner, costs, milestones and evidence. Separate facts already verified from forecasts and assumptions. A catalogue listing, supplier statement, consultant recommendation or portal acknowledgement does not establish approval. The company remains responsible for its declarations and commercial decision.

Give each quotation, contract, invoice, payment and deliverable a stable reference. Preserve earlier versions and explain material changes instead of silently replacing them. Where the authority, tax adviser, auditor or another professional must decide a point, record the open question and obtain the required view. Do not convert uncertainty into a confident eligibility statement.

Review before commitment and again before closeout

Run four reviews: suitability, authority, implementation and closeout. At suitability, test the entity, activity and business outcome. Before commitment, freeze the proposed scope, vendor and financial assumptions. During implementation, compare actual work with approved terms. At closeout, reconcile deliverables, accepted results, invoices, full payment, operating evidence and obligations that continue.

Name the person who may approve each stage and the records that person must see. Procurement should not treat a draft application as permission to contract. A project team should not treat supplier completion as company acceptance. Finance should not treat a submitted claim as cash received. Clear status words prevent accidental commitments and weak reporting.

Handle exceptions without rewriting history

Maintain an exception log for changed facts, delayed milestones, supplier variations, cost movements, missing records and failed tests. State the effect on scope, eligibility, timing and expected value. If an authority decision or formal variation is required, use the published route before relying on the change. Silence and helpdesk receipt are not approval.

If a material defect appears, pause the affected acceptance, filing or claim item. Keep original evidence, assign corrective action and set a review date. Do not backdate records, move costs between categories or adjust a baseline after seeing the result. A candid exception with an owned resolution is more credible than a clean-looking file that cannot explain what happened.

Plan handovers before the original project team disperses. The handover should identify the current version, source locations, system access owner, next review date, open exceptions and any condition that continues after payment or filing. Restrict personal, financial and commercially sensitive records to authorised users, while giving each responsible owner enough information to perform the assigned control. Record the external event that should trigger an earlier review, such as a changed programme page, revised authority letter, supplier failure or material business change.

Verify the final outcome independently

Ask someone who did not prepare the final pack to compare the decision, current official source, approved terms, deliverables, payments and operating evidence. Recalculate totals and sample source records. The reviewer should be able to reproduce the conclusion without relying on the preparer’s memory. Record unresolved points with named owners and dates.

Use the WDG(JR+) benefit-measurement guide for the wider decision and keep this article as the narrower operating guide. After submission, preserve the receipt and reconcile questions, adjustments and the final registered or paid outcome. Continue any reporting, retention, asset-use or other condition that survives closeout.

Practical review checklist

• Current work sampled
• Future tasks mapped
• Worker input retained
• Transition controls set
• Outcomes measured

The job design is credible when employees, managers and an independent reviewer can see what work changed, why it changed, how people were prepared and whether the expected outcome appeared.