This webinar covers the key components of job descriptions including the position summary, knowledge skills and abilities, job duties, and working conditions. The presenter will demonstrate how to create and update a job description in the PeopleAdmin system. The objectives are for attendees to learn how to summarize a job in 2 paragraphs, identify responsibilities and time spent on each, and complete a job description in PeopleAdmin.

1. Topic/Content Script Slide
Introduction to self
and webinar
Good afternoonandwelcome totoday’swebinaronunderstandingandwritingjob
descriptions. Thiswebinarismeanttofacilitate the universitywidejobdescription
projectwe launchedbackon the 1st
of thismonth.
I see some familiarfacesbutforthose of youwho don’t knowme,I am Mary Hauser
and I workas the talentmanagementspecialistinthe HR office here atRoosevelt.I
have beenwithRooseveltgoingon5 years,and2 yearsinthe HR office.
Thank youall for joiningme today.Iwouldlike toaskand remindeveryone tokeep
theirmicson mute unlessyouwishtoaska question.
CoverSlide
Agenda In today’swebinar,we willgooverthe keycomponentsof ajobdescription:Position
Summary,KnowledgeSkillsandAbilities,jobduties,andworkingconditions.
We will thendoa demonstrationof howtocreate andupdate a job descriptionin
PeopleAdmin
I will allowforquestionswhile goingthroughthe sectionsabove.Please feel freeto
unmute yourself if youhave aquestionyouwanttoask.
Slide 2
Purpose Why dowe needtoupdate ourjob descriptions?WhyisHR tellingyoutocomplete
thisproject?
To beginwith,we are findingthatmanypositiondescriptionshave notbeenupdated
overthe yearswhenthere hasbeena change in staffingorinduties.Also,the
universityhasn’tledaninitiative like thisinmanyyears,soitisbestpractice to doso
nowin lightof the manychangeswe have seenoverthe past year.
At the mostbasic level,jobdescriptionstellemployeeswhatisimportantand
expectedof themintheirrolesandallowbothemployeesandsupervisorsto
connectdutieswithoutcomesandaccountabilitiesduringperformance evaluations.
Theyalsoensure we are complyingwiththe AmericanswithDisabilitiesAct,andthe
Fair Labor StandardsAct.
Slide 3

2. Anotherreasonis,ingeneral,theyallowhumanresourcestoestablishpaylevelsfor
the work completed.Thoughthisisnotthe purpose of ourcurrentproject,itis
somethingthatwe mayconsiderreviewinginthe future once the universityisina
betterfinancial positiontodoso.
On a higherlevel,theypromote betterworkperformance andengagement.They
alsoallowstaff tounderstandtheircareerdevelopmentandprogressionplan.
Havingupdatedjobdescriptionsare goingtoreallybe usefulaswe go intothe
annual performance reviewperiodoverthe summer,astheycanbe usedassort of a
road map forsettinggoalsandexpectationsgoingintothe upcomingyear.
Objectives/Goals So whatare the objectsof thiswebinar?Obviously,we are all here tolearnmore
aboutjob descriptions…butwhatdoIwant youto walkaway with?Well,these are
the takeawaysIwant youto have.
At the endof thiswebinaryouwill be able to:
- summarize the jobyouare writingin2 brief paragraphs
- Identifyatleast3 areasof responsibilityandcalculate the percentageof
time spentoneach responsibility
- Define the KSAsforthe positionyouare writing
- Complete ajobdescription
- Navigate andutilize PeopleAdmin
I recognize thata lotof youmay alreadyknowsome of thisinformation—andthat’s
ok.I am hopingthisshouldserve asarefresherforyou.
Slide 4
Componentsof a
Job Description
Let’stalkbrieflyaboutthe componentsof ajobdescription:
As the graphicshows,there are fourmainparts. Each of these partsare integral to
providing
Slide 5
Job Analysis So inorderfor us to update or write jobdescriptions,we will needtodowhat is
calleda jobanalysis.A jobanalysis determinesthe responsibilities,qualifications,
and conditionsof arole throughdifferentmethods.
Thisis especiallyuseful if youare notveryfamiliarwiththe position,orif ithas
changedand itis unclearwhatnewdutieswere takenon.
Slide 6

3. PositionDetails Thissectionincludesthe detailsaboutthe position,andthe positionsummary. Slide 7
PositionDetails
cont’d
Here you will includethe informationaboutthe detailsof the position.The FTEfor
all full time staff at37.5 hours is1; for anypart time workers,use the following
formula:
Hrs per week/37.5
There isalso a table inthe guide thatcan furtherprovide guidance.
If you needtochange the jobtype and/orFSLA status,contact HR to do so.
Slide 8
PositionSummary The positionsummaryisa brief overviewof the job—itisusuallyone ortwoshort
paragraphsand includesthe who-what-why-whereof the job.Whodoesthisperson
reportto, whatdo theydo, whydo theydoit, andwhere theydoit.
You shouldnotgo into greatdetail inthe summary,as the detailswill be listedinthe
descriptionitself.
Slide 9
KSAs The knowledge,skillsand abilities,orKSAs, sectionof the jobdescriptionoutlines
the knowledge andskillsrequiredtosuccessfullyfunctioninthe job.
Slide 10
KSAs contd Knowledge
Knowledgefocusesonthe understandingof concepts.Itistheoretical andnot
practical.Anindividual mayhave anunderstandingof atopic or tool or some
textbookknowledgeof itbuthave no experience applyingit.For example,someone
mighthave readhundredsof articlesonhealthandnutrition,manyof themin
scientificjournals,butthatdoesn'tmake thatpersonqualifiedtodispense adviceon
nutrition.
Skills
The capabilitiesorproficienciesdevelopedthroughtrainingorhands-onexperience.
Skillsare the practical applicationof theoretical knowledge.Someone cantake a
course on investinginfinancial futures,andtherefore hasknowledgeof it.But
gettingexperienceintradingthese instrumentsaddsskills.
Abilities
Slide 11

4. Oftenconfusedwithskills,yetthere isasubtle butimportantdifference.Abilitiesare
the innate(ornatural) traitsortalentsthata personbringstoa task or situation.
Many people canlearnto negotiate competentlybyacquiringknowledge aboutit
and practicingthe skillsitrequires.A feware brilliantnegotiatorsbecause theyhave
the innate abilitytopersuade.
Exercise 1 Nowwe’re goingtodo a brief exercise totestyourself tosee if youcan identifythe
knowledge skills andabilitiescommonlylistedonjobdescriptions.
Slide 12
Listedare some statements.Thinkaboutwhattheyfall under,aknowledge,askills
or an ability.
I wantsome volunteerstoguesswhichstatementsfall underwhattype of
competency.
Slide 13
Qualifications The nextsectionwe are discussingisqualifications. Slide 14
While KSAsare alsoconsideredqualifications,there are additional onesthatmerit
separation.These include yearsof experience,education,minimumandpreferred
qualifications.
Experience
Experience requirementstypicallyrefertotime ina specificfieldorrole relatedto
the position.Theymightalsoincludeworkingwithaspecificpopulationorina
specificindustryoremploymentsector.
Identifythe minimumnumberof full-timeexperience requiredintermsof yearsand
the type of workexperience thatanemployeeneedstobe qualifiedforthe job.
Shouldinternships,undergraduateworkexperience,andgraduate assistantshipsbe
acceptedlevelsof experience;thiswill needtobe specificallystated.
Educational Requirements
Some positionswill require applicantstohave acertainlevel of education.For
example,the jobmayrequire ahighschool diploma,acollege degree,ora graduate
degree.Insome cases,relatedworkexperience,knownasequivalentexperience,
may be substitutedforsome orall of the educational requirements.
Slide 15

5. At Rooseveltwe have setthe minimumeducationalqualificationformost
administrativepositionsasabachelor’sdegree. Some positionsmayrequire a
higher-level degree dependentonthe scope of work.If youneedhelptodetermine
if thiswouldbe a minimumqualification,youshouldreachoutto HR.
Minimumqualifications:
You can simplystate “refertoknowledge,skillsandabilitiesabove”unlessyouhave
additional qualificationsyouwanttoadd that are notpart of the KSAs.
Preferredqualificationsare nice tohaves,sokeepthisinmindwhenlisting.These
shouldnotbe the minimumqualificationstoperformthe jobefficientlyand
successfully.
Duties&
Responsibilities
The purpose of thissectionisto define the workthatneedstobe performedinthe
role and the thingsan employee inthe jobwill be accountablefor.
Thissectionoften endsupbeinganexceedinglylonganddetailedlistof tasksthatis
toughto maintain,buteventougherforanemployee torememberandapplyin
theirday-to-daywork.Also,alengthytasklistisoftennotveryusable whenitcomes
time to create a jobdescription,evaluate anemployee'sperformance,address
developmentneeds,define learningpathsorcompare jobsfor classification/pay
scale creation.
So howdo youwrite effective jobresponsibilitiesthatare useful andmanageable,
while still capturingall the importantdetails?
Slide 16
Three Main
Elements
• KeyAccountabilities:The mainareasof responsibilitywithinajob,or
“bucketsof work.”A job descriptionusuallycontainsthree tofive Key
Accountabilities.
• Duty Statements: Sentencesthat provideadditional informationaboutthe
tasksassociatedwiththe KeyAccountability.
• Percentage of Time:Estimatesthe portionof the jobthatisspenton a
particularKeyAccountability
Slide 17

6. Methods There are essentiallytwomethodstogettothe endgoal.I will discussithere and
thenwe will doan exercise.
Method1 involvesmovingfrombigpicturestosmall details.Youwouldstartby
categorizingthe mainareasof workyou performaspart of your job. Let’s call these
categoriesorareas of responsibility‘buckets’…we wouldthenmove onandstart to
listoutall our tasks undereachbucket.For example,inmyjobI am responsible for
areas of recruitment,onboarding,performance managementandtraining.
I wouldlistoutmy tasksunderrecruitment,onboarding,andsoon.So, I wouldlist
out,underrecruitment,postingajob,extendinganoffer,doingabackgroundcheck.
You getthe idea.
The secondmethodisthe inverse—movingfromtreestothe forest,if youwill.Here
youwill startby listingall the tasks,reviewingthem,andthengroupingthemby
areas.So, I wouldlistall mytasksthengroupthemintobuckets.
Both methodsare effective,and,touse the expression“can’tsee the forestforthe
trees”,it’sreallyapreference of forestfirst,ortreesfirst.
Slide 18
Action Statements Nowwe justneedto massage those tasksandintoworkingsentences,orkey
accountabilities.There isafairlysimplewayof goingaboutthis.
Use actionverbs.As a reminder,actionverbsare wordsthat expressphysical or
mental actions.Youcan finda listinthe guide thatwassentto you earlierthis
month.
Here we can see the basicformatof the sentence.We use anactionverb,followed
by an objectanda phrase thatexplainswho,whatourwhy.
The table belowgivessome examplesof dutystatementsthatillustratecommon
tasksand duties.
Slide 19
Time Spenton
Duties
Nowwe will come tothe part where we calculate percentageof time onduties.It
soundsquite complicatedbutletslookatthe howthisworks.
Thinkof how oftenthe taskis done.Isitdone daily?Weekly?Monthly?Yearly?
Slide 20

7. Next,thinkof howmuchtime youspendinhourson the task
daily/weekly/monthly/yearly.
Take this number,the hoursspent,anddive bythe qualifierhours.Thismeans,if itis
a full time positionat37.5 hours a week,andyouspend4 hours dailyontasksof
that responsibility,thatis 4 (hoursa day)x5(daysperweek) /37.5(work
hours)=0.53%
What if you onlyattendtoone responsibilityonce amonth?
Let’ssay youspend4 hours a day for 3 days onmonthlydata analysisandreporting.
That wouldlooklike 12 hours(total hours)/150(hourspermonth)=.08 whichrounds
aboutto 10%. Thusyou can say that Data Analysis,asaresponsibility(whichincludes
all tasksassociatedwithit) is10% of your work.
If the role ispart time,youwouldcalculate basedontheirhoursperweekworked
rather thanthe 37.5.
If the time spentforanyone responsibilityexceeds25%,considersplittingthe task
statementintotwoor more statements.The total of all percentagesshouldaccount
for at least80% to 90% of the position’stimeandshouldnotexceed100%.
Lastly,whenwritingoutyourstatements,listthese onorderof importance and
weight.The mostimportantislistedfirst.
Exercise 2 Take a momenttothinkaboutan area of responsibilityinyourownwork.Doyou do
tasksin that areadaily?If not daily,isitweekly?Monthly?Onlyyearly? Tryto
calculate the percentage of time spentonthatarea of responsibility.Iwouldlove to
hearfrom a fewof you whatyour calculationresultsare.
Slide 21
WorkingConditions The last and final partof the descriptionisthe workingconditions section.Though
thissectionissmall,itismighty!Because thissectiondescribesthe environmentthe
personworkinginthisrole will be requiredtobe in,andthe physical requirements
theymustmeetto do the jobsuccessfully,itisimportanttobe as accurate as
possible asitmaybe usedforreasonable accommodationrequestsandforADA
compliancy.
Slide 22

8. WorkingConditions
cont’d
Thingsto be listinclude:
 Environment,suchasoffice oroutdoors.
 Exposuresencountered,suchashazardousmaterials,loudnoise,orextreme
heat/cold.
 Essential physical requirements,suchasclimbing,standing,stooping,or
typing.
 Physical effort/lifting,suchassedentary - upto 10 pounds;light - up to 20
pounds;medium - upto 50 pounds;heavy - over50 pounds.
 Indicate if requiredtoworkweekends,nights,orbe on-call asa regularpart
of the job.
 Travel requirements.
At Roosevelt,ourworkenvironmentsdonotvarymuch fromone administrative
positiontothe next. More oftenthan notthe descriptionwill be avariantof
“standardoffice environment”.Youcanadd anyadditional factorsthatyouthinkare
importantto the standardoffice environmentdescription.
Slide 23
Physical
requirements
The physical requirementsof the positionare listedoutwith percentagesbasedon
frequency.Thisisdescribedinthe writingguide,butyoucansee here howto listthe
information.
Task takeslessthanone-thirdof the time—describe as“occasionally”
Task takesone-thirdtotwo-thirdsof the time—describe as“frequently”
Task takesmore than two-thirdsof the time—describeas“constantly”
If the amountof time spentona task or responsibilityis“none,”thenomitthattask
fromthe job
description.
Alsolistthe numerical weightinpoundsforlifting/carryingandforpushingand
pulling.
Slide 24
Questions Nowwe will take a momenttoansweranyquestionsbefore we moveonto
PeopleAdmindemo
Slide 25

9. PeopleAdminDemo As everyone knows,we use PeopleAdmintobothstore and update ourjob
descriptions.Iwill walkyouthroughusingPeopleAdminif youare notfamiliar
already.
- Loggingin
- Accessingyourpositiondescriptions
- Startingupdate process
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