Using Design to Make Jobs Better
Goal
Improve job quality and strengthen worker voice with 8 employers across 5 states, helping employers redesign practices collaboratively and inclusively using human-centered design.
Program design · Capacity building · Innovation & prototyping · Facilitation
Partners
Shift Work Forward (formerly the National Fund for Workforce Solutions), in partnership with Design Impact, WORC, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Role
Designed and led an adaptive, multi-site innovation program across 8 locations in 5 states
Worked hand in hand with front line workers, middle managers, senior leaders and local workforce development partners to make jobs better, improve retention, and operationalize equity in frontline jobs.
Facilitated 12+ months of bi-monthly capacity-building sessions for employer teams
Coached teams from discovery through prototyping, pilot, and evaluation
Built trust and shared power between frontline workers and leadership
Contributed to the development of the Job Quality Map framework and initial testing with employers.
Co-authored the Human-Centered Workplace toolkit and evaluation report.
Outcomes
Three employer prototypes moved to full rollout. Pilots increased employee voice, engagement, perceived support, and organizational commitment, while strengthening leadership buy-in for sustained equity and innovation practices. Staff built skills and capacity that has positioned them as future organizational leaders. The process gave participating organizations space to innovate while moving concrete outcomes forward.
In partnership with Shift Work Forward (formerly the National Fund for Workforce Solutions) and WORC, we tested and launched Job Quality Maps that directly connect better job design to business outcomes. The HCD model has been adopted and scaled by the National Fund and employer partners, driving continued worker-centered innovation.
Explore the Jobs Quality Maps.
Download the Human-Centered Workplace Toolkit.
Read the Project Evaluation report.
“This process became a refuge. To step away from the stuff that had to be done, the fear, the intensity of that, and go away to something that was different… allowed the creative mind to work.”
— Frontline Worker
“Having staff involved made this work. They were our strength. They have the capacity and, now, the comfort level to step into their roles as leaders and influencers.”
— Senior Leader