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Class Specification Information
Below are prior articles and Q & A's published in The Pen newsletter on this topic. Other
topics are listed on the left menu navigation bar.
Rule 4 - The Classification Plan
Overview of functions handled by the Pay & Classification Division
Your Benefits and Compensation
a monthly column in The Pen Newsletter covering Benefit & Compensation topics
Q. Can you tell me where I can find Job Descriptions for the County?
A. Employees can locate the classification specifications on the county web page by going to the Human Resources Department Class Specification web page.
It is important to understand that what you will find on the web page is a classification description and not a job or position description. So what is the difference? A classification is a broad description and encompasses the general duties of various jobs within the description. For example the classification specification for an Administrative Support Specialists lists duties such as the following: training and supervising work, preparing requisitions, monitoring grants, conducting claims reviews, preparing payroll, among others. Yet there are Administrative Support Specialists who may do some of these duties and not others.
The specific job description should be maintained within the department as it is more detailed about the duties of the individual position. Positions have what is known as the Position Requirement Profile that is much more specific to the individual job.
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Class Spec VS Job Descriptions - knowing the difference
For County purposes (because we group similar jobs into classes) a Class Specification is a general overview of a particular occupational area (such as Office Specialist or Equipment Operators) developed from information gathered during the job evaluation process. Class specifications are used to recruit, examine and screen applicants and include:
the level of job duties to be performed by anyone who has a position with that job title
the nature of work to be accomplished
examples, generally generic in nature, of work duties to be performed
knowledge, skills and abilities that are necessary to perform the job
the minimum qualifications needed in order to perform the job adequately
A is job specific with well-defined statements that clearly identify and describe the scope and contents of the job. Employees should request a copy of their job description from their Manager. It provides the basis for setting performance standards over the course of the annual appraisal period, to include performance plans and job expectations. It also identifies education, skills and experience required to perform a job satisfactorily. A job description helps management avoid discriminatory hiring and promotion practices by outlining the essential and non-essential functions of the job as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act and other anti-discrimination laws. It should also accurately present a picture of the conditions and requirements of the job to include:
relevant facts affecting the job, primary responsibilities, functions and working conditions
reporting relationships
physical and mental skill required.
In summary,
Class Specifications provide the most important features of a job, including a general description and the level of work performed. More than one person may be assigned to a job classification.
detail specific tasks required for expected performance in the assigned job. A job is performed by one person. This means that the number of jobs in an organization equals the number of employees. Finally, it is important to remember that both methods describe and focus on the job itself, not on any specific individual who might fill the job.
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DEVELOPING AND USING POSITION DESCRIPTIONS
Previous PEN articles have referred to position descriptions and the role they play in performance management and career progression. Position descriptions provide the basis for setting job standards and performance expectations. A good position description is factual and to the point, written in the third person, not personalized, the tasks are job basednot person based, and it should be results oriented. It contains all relevant information of a given job, identifies why the job exists in the organization, and the skills, knowledge, abilities and authority required for successful performance. The position description provides a written record of a specific job, at a specific time, and should not be written to present all the details of a job. It also provides an outline of the general responsibility levels and major duties of jobs in a general functional area of the organization.
A position description should be clear and brief. Its far better to have five bullets describing the primary duties than a laundry list of tasks. Active verbs are the key to writing short descriptions of duties and will help to reduce lengthy lists of tasks into useful functions. A well-written position description should include the following elements:
Job Title the working title of the position
General Purpose or Nature of Work (how the job fits within the organization)
Primary purpose (why the job exists), and organizational level
Scope of position
- information on the specific job characteristics (number of subordinates, size of budget managed, etc.)
- responsibility level indicated by the incumbents freedom to act (works independently or works under close supervision), and
- degree of productivity expected from job incumbents.
Job related behaviors sound judgment, discretion, cooperativeness, initiative, creativity, service orientation, etc.
Skills & Education Requirements
General educational experience
Specialized knowledge requirements to include particular systems, processes, equipment, materials or products
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
Includes a short description of the job duties, responsibilities, and behaviors performed on the job.
- Should be arranged in some logical order, such as sequence in which duties are performed, order of importance, or amount of time devoted to each item.
- Indicates the amount of judgment the incumbent must exercise.
Describes complexity of work and analytical skills, the social interactions associated with the work (for example, size of work group, internal/external contacts, amount of dependency in the work) and development or enforcement of policy and procedures.
Include Disclaimers used to cover any omissions in
description, i.e.; may perform other duties as required by Management.
Other Critical Job Requirements Essential to Performing Duties -
Physical demands walking, stooping, lifting, handling boxes, talking, seeing, etc.
Equipment a clear statement of the tools, equipment, and information required for successfully performing the job.
Working Conditions - the location of the job, lighting, ventilation, temperature, and other relevant characteristics of the immediate work environment such as dust or noise level.
Hazards including mental and physical qualification required to perform work safely; occupational safety and health issues including exposure to fumes, cleaning products, lifting requirements or other similar hazards.
Position descriptions are valuable in measuring performance as they can be used:
to provide employees with job standards and expectations;
to establish objectives to measure performance;
to evaluate each jobs relative worth to the organization, and;
to identify career paths and
establish line of progression.
The essential goal of a position description is to accurately and briefly describe the major job duties and
requirements. The PAQ (Position Audit Questionnaire) is an excellent tool in determining the duties and responsibilities of individual jobs. Position descriptions are used as vital tools to identify the necessary skills and qualifications required for recruiting, hiring, promotions, transfers and workers compensation determinations.
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Employee classification plan used by governmental employers nationwide
Proud of what we do and how well we do it, many employees feel, My job is different from others. However, creating and administering almost 4,000 individual job classifications would not be practical. So instead the County decided to follow the employee classification plan used by governmental employers nationwide. Currently the Human Resources Department has developed 700 specific job classifications. The majority of these are assigned to the Classified Service and the remainder to the Exempt Service. This plan identifies the major duties and requirements of every job and determines to which class it belongs. Class Specs, as Personnel Analysts call them, group people doing similar work the majority of their time into one general class. For example, the Craftworker I class may have employees that specialize in plumbing, painting, electrical or carpentry work, yet they are all considered Craftworkers.
One of the critical functions of a Class Spec is to develop exams that determine an applicants eligibility on a register. This is determined by the minimum qualifications which are developed based on the minimum education and experience requirements for a class, -- not the desirable requirements. In assigning positions appropriately, the Pay and Classification Division must consider three things:
- Identify work factors like scope and complexity, independent decision making limitations, extent of supervision, required formal education, job skills, and previous work experience
- Achieve system-wide order and uniformity
- Ensure performance standards that work for all jobs within a class
Becoming familiar with different job classifications offers special benefits. Careful reading of Class Specs can provide a serious-minded employee with cues for climbing promotional career ladders. Additionally they may alert training specialists to the need for new educational programs.
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