ValuingWork@Wellesley
Role Documentation

An important foundation of the Valuing Work @ Wellesley College program is the understanding and documentation of our roles at work. While specific duties change frequently our roles are designed around some basic purposes and elements. It is these that we aim to capture in the role documentation process.

Purposes of Role Documentation

There are 5 important outcomes of role documentation at Wellesley College:

• First, a role document provides a clear statement of accountabilities, skills and expectations for work to be done in various areas of the College. It provides basic information for the employee and his/her manager.
• Second, role documentation is a key tool in effective performance planning and performance management. The collaborative process between manager and employee in completing the role document sets the stage for defining expectations of skill and in articulating appropriate goals, as well as evaluating progress.
• Third, the role document details information needed to classify a role into the appropriate level of Wellesley's Role Classification System. The role document asks for information in categories that match closely with the competencies or compensable factors found in the classification model such as Accountability/Responsibility, Communication, and Service to Constituents.
• Fourth, accurate role documentation allows Human Resources to match a role to similar roles in comparable organizations in Wellesley's competitive marketplace. This process ensures Wellesley's ability to maintain competitive rates of pay through the use of salary surveys.
• Finally, the role document serves as a source of recruiting information for Human Resources as well as for candidates in understanding a position.

Job vs. Role: What is the Difference?

The role documentation process at Wellesley College is concerned with the collection of information on "roles" rather than "jobs". This distinction is not simply one of jargon. In Valuing Work @ Wellesley:

A job is concerned with a group of tasks and specific results, and tends to be somewhat unique for each different person performing the job. Each new or changed task, indeed, each new job holder, will change this collection of activities. Every individual needs to describe his/her job differently, and so this type of job description frequently becomes outdated and inaccurate. A job description, by its very nature, tends to overlook the similarities between various jobs.

A role is concerned with elements such as which groups or areas the position serves, the end accountabilities of the role and the overall skills and abilities required for the specific type of work. When viewed from this perspective, a number of jobs can usually be grouped into a role because, while tasks and specific goals may differ, the overall purpose, elements, and skills or competencies required are very similar.

For example, each Admissions Counselor at Wellesley covers a distinct geographical territory (prospective students and their families) but in all other respects each Admissions Counselor performs the same role. At Wellesley, we would develop one role document to describe the Admissions Counselor instead of a job description for each Admission Counselor. This streamlines the documentation process because fewer documents are required and the concentration on role similarities, rather than job differences, provides more flexibility. Employees can take on new assignments and tasks within the same role, or move into similar roles in different areas of the college.

Tools Used in Role Documentation

The tools provided to Wellesley employees in the Role Documentation process are:

The Role Documentation Questionnaire-

Download PC version of the Role Documentation Questionnaire
Download Mac version of the Role Documentation Questionnaire

This questionnaire is designed to collect meaningful information about role content, performance requirements and the employee's required skills.

Each section deals with a different aspect of the role being described, including:

• General identifying information
• Role summary
• Primary responsibilities
• Performance expectations

Open-ended and multiple choice questions are designed to collect information about competencies that have been identified as those critical to success at Wellesley, including:

• Service to Constituents
• Expertise
• Leadership
• Accountability/Responsibility
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Innovation &Problem Solving, Critical Thinking
• Development of Self & Others

Complete and accurate documentation of a role is extremely important for classification, performance planning and performance management, and accurate salary comparison with similar jobs across the college and in the competitive marketplace.

The Role Documentation Completion Guide

The Role Documentation Completion Guide (download this PDF file) is a step-by-step instruction manual to assist managers and employees in the documentation process. Each section of the Role Documentation Questionnaire is described in more detail and examples are provided for clarification purposes. It is recommended that you read the Completion Guide carefully before beginning to fill out the Questionnaire, and refer to it regularly during the documentation process. We suggest you print a paper copy of the Guide for easy reference during the role documentation process.

The Role Documentation Process

The process for completing the Role Documentation Questionnaire described in the Role Documentation Completion Guide is directly connected to its quality and accuracy. The key element of the process is collaboration - between manager and employee, among fellow employees, across hierarchical levels - which we at Wellesley believe significantly enhances the experience and the documentation product. Various methods are suggested for completion, including:

Dynamic Duo Method

The manager or supervisor chooses two individuals who perform the same role to complete the questionnaire together. For example, two admissions counselors or two accounts receivable clerks could share the task. In this way, the document is written reflecting more than one perspective of the role. The manager or supervisor discusses and modifies the role document in collaboration with the two employees, providing a third perspective. Final review and approval is required by the manager at the next level and the senior staff person for the area.

Team Method

The manager or supervisor chooses three or four individuals, all of whom perform the same role, to complete the document. This method is particularly useful when a role has many incumbents or when the role can be found in multiple departments, necessitating multiple viewpoints. In cases where the Team method is used, we suggest asking your Human Resources Representative to facilitate the completion session. Teams should be kept small, as groups larger than three or four employees can have difficulty reaching consensus and are much slower to complete the task. The manager or supervisor reviews and discusses the document with the whole team. Again, final review and approval is required by the manager at the next level and the senior staff person for the area.

Supervisor/Incumbent Method

In this case, a supervisor or manager works with a single employee to complete role documentation. This method is particularly effective when an employee is new to a role or to Wellesley College; in cases where there are concerns about performance or understanding of the role's components; or, where the role is undergoing major content changes. This method involves a similar review and approval process to that described above.

Single Employee Method

The Single Employee method allows for the employee or the manager of the role to complete the questionnaire. For roles with only one employee, or for a vacant/new position, this may be the only method available, but it is the least collaborative, and therefore, the least preferred. Review with the employee (if applicable) by the manager and by the senior staff person for the area is particularly critical when using this method, in order to provide perspective.

Important Note: Role Documentation questionnaires should take two to three hours to complete, regardless of the method chosen. We strongly recommend that work time and a quiet place be set aside for this task, reflecting its importance as a foundation element of the Valuing Work @ Wellesley program. Employees should not be asked to complete Role Documentation questionnaires in off-work hours.

When to Complete a New Role Document

A new Role Documentation Questionnaire should be completed when:

• The role is newly created at Wellesley
• The role has changed significantly enough to require new documentation

Managers should consult with their peers, Human Resources and their own managers when considering creation or revision of a role document. For further information about role re-classification, please see your Human Resources Representative.

The reclassification process and the classification review request form can be found by following the links below.

Reclassification Process
Reclassification Form (MS Word)
Reclassification Form (Adobe Acrobat)