In many mission-driven organizations, employees stretch beyond their job descriptions in service of the greater good. Sometimes this flexibility creates valuable development opportunities. Other times, it’s a sign of a less benign dynamic—what I call job content drift—and it’s a signal that managers need to engage more intentionally.

Understanding how job content evolves, and knowing when and how to intervene, is a key management skill—one that protects both individual well-being and organizational integrity.

What Is Job Content Drift?

Job content drift happens when the actual work performed by an employee gradually diverges from what’s described in their job classification or intended in the staffing model. It often starts for good reasons:

• A short-term need to pitch in during a staffing shortage
• A motivated employee taking on stretch assignments
• The natural evolution of business needs

But over time, what began as a temporary deviation can become embedded in the unit’s operations.

So how do you know when it’s a problem?

• When the predominant nature of an employee’s work shifts from their defined role
• When the team becomes structurally dependent on that shift to function
• When there’s no clear plan or endpoint to resolve the misalignment

This isn’t just about titles or technicalities. It’s about fairness, burnout risk, compensation integrity, and maintaining a functioning workforce strategy.

The Manager’s Role

As a manager, your responsibility isn’t just to get the work done—it’s to get the work done in alignment with your staffing model and job classifications. That means:

• Knowing the work: Understand what your people are actually doing day-to-day.
• Monitoring pressures: Pay attention to creeping changes in demand or scope.
• Responding early: Don’t wait for annual reviews to flag misalignments—tackle them while they’re still small.
• Avoiding dependence: Don’t let your unit become reliant on out-of-class work, even if the employee is capable.

If longer-term changes to scope are needed, either:

• Advocate for a redesign of the job and/or structure (through appropriate channels), or
• Redirect the work to stay within bounds, adjusting priorities or reassigning tasks as necessary.

Developmental Assignments: Use with Care

Temporary assignments beyond someone’s usual scope can be great for growth. But they must be:

• Time-limited
• Voluntary and clear
• Not a workaround for staffing gaps

If developmental work becomes routine, you’re no longer offering an opportunity—you’re setting up an expectation (without the structural support to match).

Building a Culture of Alignment

Proactive managers normalize conversations about workload, job scope, and stress. Consider using these tools:

• Desk audits: Ask employees directly, shadow their work, or track projects over time.
• Job description reviews: Use the current JD as a starting point for real conversations.
• Team discussions: Explore which pain points staff are trying to solve with out-of-scope work.

Also talk with your manager:

• What business changes are coming?
• What are your staff’s aspirations?
• Where is there tension between actual and described work?

These are not just HR compliance activities—they are strategic workforce practices.

Final Thoughts

We all wear extra hats sometimes. But sustained misalignment between job content and job structure isn’t harmless. It can quietly erode engagement, fairness, and performance.

By actively managing job content, you:

• Protect your people from unacknowledged overload
• Preserve your team’s alignment with the organization’s goals
• Strengthen your credibility as a leader

Manager’s Job Aid for Job Content Management

Use this one-page decision tree to support effective job content management: