Position Descriptions
Forms
Maintaining accurate and up-to-date staff position descriptions is an important management function to establish clarity regarding employee responsibilities, enable mission-driven goal setting, accurately evaluate performance and ensure proper position classification and compensation analyses.
It is recommended for supervisors to review the accuracy of position descriptions with staff members annually. As our campus administrators respond to evolving business needs within their units, it may be necessary to revise staff position descriptions and organizational structures to continue to meet and exceed the expectations of those we serve. The Office of Human Resources (HR) is here to support the campus by providing position review and compensation analysis services each time a staff position description is revised or strategic operational planning is underway.
Supervisors should complete the following forms when reorganizing departments, creating new positions, revising position descriptions or submitting positions for revaluation of current classification and compensation:
Once these forms are submitted, Total Compensation Team members will review all materials and available data necessary to conduct external market and internal equity classification and compensation analyses. The review process is intended to be collaborative between HR team members and supervisors, and may require meetings to discuss the details of submitted materials to best inform the HR recommendation regarding the appropriate classification and compensation for each position.
Classification requests will be completed within ten (10) business days of submission.
Training Resources: “How to Write an Effective Position Description”
The Office of Human Resources offers a 2-hour training session on best practices for writing effective position descriptions. Please contact Human Resources if you would like to request a session for your campus work unit or inquire about planned offerings. A copy of the session presentation and action verbs handout are provided below for reference.
Frequently Asked Questions for the Position Description and Classification Request Forms
- What is the blue text on the forms?
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Hovering over the blue text reveals instructions, information or examples.
- How do I save the form after I complete it?
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Save the form as a PDF, with a .pdf extension on the file. If you save the forms as MS Word documents, you will lose the formatting.
- What should be included on the Organizational Chart?
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There is not a specific software product recommended. There are several Microsoft options: MS Publisher, MS PowerPoint, or MS Excel, as well as Adobe Acrobat Pro.
- Is there a software product I should utilize to create an organizational chart?
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There is not a specific software product recommended. There are several Microsoft options: MS Publisher, MS PowerPoint, or MS Excel, as well as Adobe Acrobat Pro.
- I can't identify any peer positions, is this field required?
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No, this is not a required field. However, peer positions may not be in your immediate department. You could identify positions in other units or other campuses that may perform similar work.
- What is the difference between the working title and the job title?
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The working title is more descriptive of the function or responsibilities of an individual position, i.e. Compliance Officer and should be easily recognized and understood by internal and external constituencies. The job title is the official title that corresponds to the position classification, i.e. Specialist I.
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On the classification request form, what does the classification review reason for evaluation include?
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Classification Review includes reclassification, reorganization, temporary to regular conversion, update and vacancy.
- I have more than five job functions/responsibilities to describe, where should I put this information?
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If necessary, you can put more than one responsibility area in each box on the form. Assign the correct percentage of time to each function within the box.
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Why am I not able to see the text when I print the form?
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The form will automatically re-size the text to fit within the defined space of the boxes. If the text goes outside of the parameters of the section a scroll bar will allow you to scroll through it; however, the text will not show when the form is printed. Try turning bulleted lists into sentences, moving text to another text box (if appropriate), or condensing information into more concise statements.
- What is the HR Use Only section on the Position Description for?
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This is the section HR will fill in when classification of a position is complete.
- Do employees and supervisors need to sign the position description?
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No, signatures are not required on the position description.
- How do I submit the documents required for classification?
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Submit the forms through your HR representative to your Human Resources Classification staff.