Job descriptions at LIFE - guidelines

General

 

Process: The job description must be completed by the employee together with his or her immediate superior. Prior to submitting the job description to HR, it must be certified by the head of department.

 

Dialogue tool: The job description must describe the job functions, areas of responsibility and the job’s place in the organisation. In addition, it must describe which professional and personal skills are required.

In this way, the job description can (and must) be used as a dialogue tool in connection with employee development interviews and organisational change – and as the basis for pay negotiations. The actual job description should, however, not consider the salary level – this will still be subject to negotiations.

 

Existing job descriptions: Any existing job descriptions must be transferred to this template. Elements which do not fit into the template, can be added under Comments or be enclosed.

You are all welcome to submit any proposals for changes to the template to HR or your shop stewards.

Personal information

 

Job title: Employees will as a general rule keep their existing job title in connection with the transition to the new pay system, Ny Løn.

 

Salary group: See the guiding criteria for salary group place in LIFE’s salary agreements with trade unions or the relevant collective agreement/trade union agreement.

Organisation

 

Immediate superior: The manager with staff responsibility, i.e. the manager with whom the employee holds his or her employee development interviews. It will normally also be the same manager who signs the job description. It is important to specify the manager’s function/title and area of responsibility (e.g. “area manager of area x” or “project manager for the xxx project”).

 

Professional manager: Must be specified if the employee has another professional manager (e.g. day-to-day work coordinator) than the manager with staff responsibility.

 

Staff responsibility: If the employee is responsible for staff (i.e. holds employee development interviews), the number and type of employees must be specified.

 

Professional management: Management may be professional without involving staff responsibility. Professional management may, e.g., be independent project management or team management. The number and type of employees must be specified. The function is described in more detail below under Responsibilities and decision-making authority.

Functions, areas of responsibility and competency requirements

 

General:

If some of the functions or areas of responsibility are time-limited or only pertain to a project/task, it is important to specify this.

It is very important that the description of functions and responsibilities is short, precise and adequate and does not contain so many details that it becomes obsolete too quickly.

 

Main tasks:

The most important tasks must be described briefly, precisely and adequately. Current development projects may also be briefly described here.

As a supplement to the description, you can, if required, specify the percentage of your working hours which you expect to spend on the task.

 

Secondary tasks:

Other tasks which the manager/employee considers significant to provide a true and fair description of the job, e.g. tasks in connection with which the employee is substitute/backup on another employee’s main task.

 

Responsibilities and decision-making authority:

Independent areas of responsibility and functions, including, e.g.

· Budget responsibility

· Supervision

· Training

· Project/team management

· Other independent decision-making authority (authorisations)

· …

It is important to emphasise the word “independent”, which means functions and decisions of some importance performed/made without supervision or prior approval.

 

Required competencies expected/educational requirements:

The competencies required for the job. It will typically be a combination of educational requirements and ‘soft’ competencies

The employee may be said to be unqualified for the job if not all requirements are fully met, but the degree of fulfilment, which is typically discussed at the employee development interviews, may serve as guidelines for personal development plans and pay negotiations.

Be careful not to exaggerate the requirements for basic jobs.

 

Other professional and personal competencies used:

Professional and personal competencies used by the employee and which are relevant to the performance of tasks, but which are not actually required for performing the job.

 

Any job objectives:

These are NOT objectives for the employee in question, but for the development of the content and responsibilities of the job. Personal development plans must not be included in the job description.

Comments

This box is intended for other important aspects of the job, e.g. if the job is temporary, any function-related bonuses or interdisciplinary collegial tasks (committees etc.), positions of trust etc.

As a general rule, collegial tasks are not a part of the job, but may be relevant in connection with employee development interviews.

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