SAGE (00:08)

Role clarity is the degree to which an individual understands their job responsibilities, performance expectations and the boundaries of their role at work. It is the extent to which an employee is clear about what they are expected to do, what their goals are, and what outcomes they're responsible for achieving. Clear expectations are one of the most basic and fundamental employee needs and role. Clarity is a key mechanism for creating psychological safety, which is the shared belief that your environment is safe for interpersonal risk taking.

When people know what's expected of them at work, they feel safer to speak up, ask questions, admit mistakes, and be able to learn and grow from them. Unfortunately, only 50% of people know what's expected of them at work. But Gallup found that as more people knew what was expected of them. This increase in role clarity correlated with greater productivity and better outcomes in addition to enhanced productivity research also shows role clarity leads to more effective teamwork and better decision making.