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GUIDANCE ON REVIEWING JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

APRIL 2004

UNISON GUIDANCE ON REVIEWING JOB DESCRIPTIONS & PERSON SPECIFICATIONS


This guidance note is intended for UNISON members and activists in Health branches to assist in the process of reviewing job descriptions and person specifications. This is not only a necessary part of Agenda for Change preparation but also an essential requirement of good employment practice. Contents 1. 2. 3. Frequently Asked Questions (pages 1 & 2) Guidance on writing Job Descriptions and Person Specifications (pages 3, 4 & 5) Annex 1 The Agenda for Change Process (page 6)

What are job descriptions and person specifications? A job description details the key duties and responsibilities of a post. A person specification details the knowledge, skills and experience that a postholder will need to have, and to what level they will need to have them, in order to fulfil the key duties and responsibilities as outlined in the job description. Why do I have to review my Job Description now? The Agenda for Change pay system would use job descriptions and person specifications to provide the necessary evidence to determine where staff should be placed on the new pay bands. It is therefore very important to ensure that both your job description and person specification are reviewed and, where necessary, rewritten to make sure they reflect accurately the job that you do now. The review of job descriptions, as with the whole Agenda for Change process, should be undertaken on a partnership basis with staff, their trade union representatives and management working together as equal partners. Your employers Agenda for Change Joint Steering Group should oversee the entire process. An important lesson which has emerged from the Early Implementer (EI) test sites is that the work to review and update job descriptions and person specifications should be happening now. It will be of value to branches whatever the outcome of the second ballot and doing the preparatory work now could help prevent some of the delays experienced by the EI sites if Agenda for Change is introduced across the NHS.

What will the Job Description and Person Specification be used for? The Job Description and Person Specification would be used for two main aspects of the Agenda for Change pay modernisation scheme: i. To match the post to a job profile They would be the primary documents used by the union/management partnership job evaluation matching panels to assign every post to an appropriate pay band. A national job profile would be compared (on a factor-by-factor basis) to the local job description and person specification for a post, in order to see if they matched. If there was a match then the post would be placed on the relevant national pay band. If there was no match, then a local evaluation would take place to determine where the post should be placed. A complete description of the process is set out in Annex 1. ii. To produce a Knowledge & Skills Framework for the post Every employer would have a joint union/management Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) Group who would use the same job description to write a Knowledge and Skills Framework for the post. This framework would identify and describe the knowledge and skills that individuals would need in order to meet the demands of their post and help guide their development. What do I need to do to ensure my job description is accurate? UNISON recommends that you follow the steps below: a) Ask your line manager or personnel office for a copy of your job description, study it and ask yourself whether it describes in full the job that you do. Be sure that it includes all the key tasks and responsibilities attached to your job. b) Talk to others doing the same or similar job(s) and do some group work to revise the existing JD, or where necessary, rewrite it to reflect your current duties and responsibilities. c) Do not be pressured into signing a JD that you do not completely agree with. Seek advice and guidance from your local UNISON representative. (UNISON is providing training for its representatives so that they can help members through this process.) Does my Job Description have to be agreed? Yes, in order to go forward for matching, your job description must be agreed between you and your line manager. If you are not happy that the job description reflects accurately the key duties and responsibilities of your post, consult your union representative for advice and guidance. Should my JD be reviewed on an individual basis, or as part of a group? Where appropriate, similar jobs may be grouped together within a department or ward so that a job description can be produced for a number of posts where the duties and responsibilities are the same. This approach would help to simplify the matching process, but should only be used where there is agreement between the staff, trade union representatives and management.

GUIDANCE ON WRITING JOB DESCRIPTIONS Your workplace should have an established house-style for job descriptions, which you can use as the basis for the revised documents. The individual layout of the job description is not important, as long as the key duties and responsibilities are described in a concise and clear way. Try to make sure the language used is in plain English and that technical words are used only when necessary or when referring to specialist format equipment/treatment/techniques e.g. prepares pharmaceutical products using laminar flow equipment Use verbs (doing words) to describe the nature of duties e.g. authorises outgoing invoices rather than using vague terms e.g. responsible for invoices Other postholders should be referred to by their position: e.g. presents a monthly progress report to the Director of Finance rather than using proper names e.g. reports on waiting list compliance to June Johnson Make sure the job description does not use words relating to the gender of the postholder Avoid using words which may undervalue a task, e.g. only, routine, just, etc

What duties should I include? The key roles and functions of your post should be detailed clearly and accurately, describing the nature of the responsibility and how this is measured. Most job descriptions will take into account the following types of key roles: Responsibility for staff: Does the postholder supervise or manage any staff? What aspects of management is the postholder responsible for? What kind of and how many staff are supervised/managed? Does the postholder have input into ongoing staff development? What is the nature of this input?

Responsibility for NHS patients: What type of contact does the postholder have with patients? What is the nature of any care provided? Does the postholder have a responsibility for designing care programmes and if so, do these cut across other healthcare disciplines? How is this care delivered e.g. in outpatient clinics, in the home, in theatres, over the telephone etc? Responsibility for resources: Does the postholder handle cash/cheques? Does the postholder authorise payments to internal/external contacts? Is the postholder responsible for security of goods/equipment? Does the postholder administer, monitor or set budgets?

Responsibility for administration: What administrative functions are key duties? Does the postholder have administrative responsibilities for any committees/groups? Is the postholder responsible for keeping records updated e.g. patient medical records; annual leave spreadsheets etc? Strategic and service responsibilities: Does the postholder undertake medium or long-term planning as a key duty? Does the postholder represent the team/department/organisation on any long-term planning or development groups? Does the postholder develop or implement changes to established practices/policies? Does the postholder have responsibilities across more than one department/function/service? Areas of specialism: Is the postholder required to have expertise in a particular speciality? e.g. an accountant with special expertise in taxation regulations a podiatrist with special expertise in treating diabetic patients a porter with special expertise in lift rescue Is the postholder required to undertake any major special projects as part of the role? So, to summarise, you will need to ensure that your job description is: Clear: uses: Plain English, no unexplained abbreviations/acronyms, no unnecessary jargon, no gender specific terms Concise: provides a brief summary of the nature of the responsibility Correct: is an accurate reflection of duties. This will need to be signed off by the postholders manager too. Consistent: uses the organisational style; fits with skills and experience detailed in the person specification GUIDANCE ON WRITING A PERSON SPECIFICATION A Person Specification (PS) describes the qualifications, skills and experience that a post holder would usually have in order to undertake the duties and responsibilities outlined in the job description. Writing a PS requires the same use of plain English and avoidance of jargon as a job description; The PS should emphasise the skills and abilities that are actually and realistically required to undertake the role.

The following areas are usually detailed within a Person Specification: i. Qualifications and Knowledge What qualifications are actually required to undertake the role? Could individuals gain the necessary knowledge through experience rather than through formal study? Are there any legal / statutory requirements (e.g. state registration)? Does the post holder require any particular physical skills (e.g. shorthand, driving, etc)? 4

ii.

Experience Experience should be listed with reference to the duties and responsibilities set out in the job description e.g. if the job description lists staff supervision as a duty, the person specification could list experience of allocating and assessing the work of a team of 1-5 people as relevant experience. Communication and people skills Who does the postholder communicate with? What sort of environment will the postholder need to communicate in? e.g. the postholder will have the ability to present information to large groups of staff from across hospital departments at monthly staff briefings What information is communicated? What method(s) of communication are used? Are there any IT/technical communication skills needed?

iii.

iv.

Organisational skills What sort of planning and prioritising skills will the postholder require? Are there any requirements for the postholder to have project planning skills? Will the postholder be required to prioritise many competing demands? Will the postholder need the skills to prioritise the work of other staff?

The Person Specification should identify how these skills are measured and should specify those skills which the post holder will be expected to demonstrate at interview.

ANNEX 1 THE AGENDA FOR CHANGE PROCESS This Annex describes the process that each NHS employer should follow in order to review and agree job descriptions in preparation for the potential rollout of Agenda for Change. This process incorporates the partnership arrangements enshrined in the national proposals whereby management and staff representatives work together during the process of preparation. 1 Registering Job Types A joint panel of union representatives/managers in each section/department should undertake a mapping exercise of current job types with job descriptions and person specifications and should then send summary information to the employers Joint Project Group. If no job description exists or where current job descriptions are out-of-date then these posts should be identified. 2 Job Grouping The Joint Project Group or other agreed panel would then consider which jobs could be grouped together for job description purposes. (Job grouping describes a process whereby similar jobs may be grouped together within a department or ward so that a job description can be produced for a number of posts where the duties and responsibilities are the same.) 3 Agreeing Job Descriptions In some areas it has been recommended that where job descriptions cannot be agreed within a department/section, then they are referred for arbitration to a joint Project Group. UNISON recommends that where members are having difficulty agreeing their job descriptions, they should consult their trade union representative. Job descriptions must be agreed by individual staff members before being submitted for joint evaluation. Information Required for the Process The joint panel for the section or department should do the following before proceeding to the review process: Provide an organisational chart for ward/department/section. Identify all posts against the chart by: post title; post number (if appropriate); current grade; current whole-time equivalent if filled by part-time or job-share staff; current post holder (including a note of any acting or secondment arrangements, longterm sick or maternity leave); which post they report to; posts which do not have a JD; posts which do not have a current person specification; current qualification or knowledge and skills required for the post. Verify the accuracy of this information with staff representatives. Send chart and other information to the joint Project group who will maintain an overall log for reference by management and staff representatives. The most up-to-date job descriptions should be sent to the Project group and the section/ department joint panel should collect person specifications for posts. Human Resources will send them the versions they have used for recruitment purposes where these differ. It would be useful if any problems with this process could be reported to the UNISON Regional Office so that we can evaluate its effectiveness at local level. 6

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