Person Specifications for an Existing Job

 

In developing a person specification for a job type where you have a number of existing jobholders, the job holders compare and contrast between more and less effective jobholders. Constructs are rated and possibly laddered to enable differentiation between similar derived constructs and in-depth consideration of desired characteristics. Then, when we have sufficient characteristics that are clear and different we introduce a new element, `The Ideal Jobholder’ that explores additional desired characteristics. Thus we move from what is real and present to deduce what is desirable.

The Interviewees

In order to pick up differences in accumulation of knowledge or skill and differences in importance or significance you will need to interview a sample of jobholders. Additionally, to ensure characteristics important to others who work with the jobholders is explored, you would want to interview a sample of: -

• direct managers,
• jobholders’ internal customers, and
• other important people with whom they will have to work.

There will obviously be differences in importance identified by the different groups and interviewees and that material will provide interesting insights that may affect the development of the person specification depending on what the organisation is looking for in future.

Additionally there may be contradictions, also providing interesting insights, and these will need to be explored and resolved.

How Many Interviews?

In this situation, with similar kinds of people in a limited field of experience more than twenty interviews will probably not produce much new data. Considerations are the: -

• compromise between information needed and the time expenditure warranted,
• degree to which you feel you need to involve others.

Decisions on how many interviews to do can be made after say ten or so interviews depending on how much new data are being produced and whether all-important issues have been addressed.

Preserving the Past or Preparing for the Future?

The current formula that is successful may need to be preserved or the organisation may need to change to meet tomorrow’s challenges. This issue may be addressed in two ways.

1) By introducing two `ideal’ elements: -

• The Ideal Jobholder of the Past, and
• The Ideal Jobholder for the Future,

and exhaustively differentiating the grid.

2) In the laddering up stage by asking the user to state which pole they preferred in the past and which pole should be preferred in the future. The constructs formulated in this process will guide the resolution of this issue.

The Elements - Jobholders

Nine elements would be adequate, but if the interviewee is unable to name nine, one or two less would be sufficient. Each interviewee would be asked to name existing jobholders as follows: -

• three who are effective,
• three who are less effective, and
• three who are middling of inconsistent or unexceptional ability.

These must be real people, known to the interviewee in the last year and a half or so and whose performance is well known. It is not necessary that the unexceptional job holders be extremely so. What is important is that the interviewee has, in his/her opinion, a selection of jobholders that represent a full range of effectiveness.

Because the object is not to learn how job holders judge individual people, use of nicknames or other disguises must be allowed. To protect the interviewees, at the end of the session the names of the people used must be deleted completely from the record. (Enquire Within^® has this facility built in.)

Use of Computer Technology

Developing person specifications is an example of where computer technology can be extremely useful. Being able to move seamlessly between construct generation, analysis `on the fly’ and laddering will enable interviewees to produce constructs quickly and easily with minimum disruption to their normal work.

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Related Resources

• Overview – Enquire Within Used to Help Write Person Specifications
• Enquire Within Used in the Development of Management Competencies
• Writing a person specification and job description
• What is a person specification?

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