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This session is going to be really interac1ve. The point of this session is to help you improve your actual job descrip1on or write yourself one if you don’t actually have one. So what we are going to do is look at your job descrip1ons, highlight the good and bad things and then I'm going to give you a structure for what i think makes a really useful job spec. This will give you a template that you can take back to the office to improve your job descrip1on. Before we start, I know a few of you said that you didn't’t have a job spec so i have printed off a few from the web. Pop your hand up and we will pass these over.
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So a quick show of hands – who doesn’t have a job descrip1on? Who has a brilliant job descrip1on? Who thinks their job descrip1on has room for improvement? So firstly I want to talk about why I think job descrip1ons are so important. Hear is a quick scenario. What happens if an assistant is given a really effec1ve job descrip1on that is used to recruit him or her in the perfect role for their current skills? It is then used to help the assistant seLle into the role and is ul1mately the founda1on of every performance review and evalua1on throughout their career. Would a good job descrip1on that is used by the assistant’s boss to effec1vely manage them make a difference? Yes, I truly believe it would. We know that assistants some1mes are not managed properly and can be taken for granted because they don’t know what is expected of them and neither does their manager. In my experience, this misunderstanding can lead back to a vague job descrip1on. If we can ensure the job descrip1on is relevant and is used correctly then I do think
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In your groups I just want you to spend a couple of minutes talking about generally about your rela1onship with your job spec? AQer that what I would like you to do now is looking at all of your job specs what are the common words and phrases? On your clipboards can you write which phrases are really helpful and describe what you do and which phrases are vague, don’t quite match what you do and are unhelpful in your roles. I’m looking for around 4 or 5 phrases good and bad. I’m going to ask for some feedback from you so if you can spend the next 15 minutes discussing and wri1ng down your notes we can feedback straight aQerwards. The most important thing is that you have learnt from each other and started the balling rolling in improving your job specs.
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So now let’s look at the structure of a job spec – for me this is the ideal template • A 1tle that describes the role. Not just personal assistant or administra1ve
assistant but also whom the assistant reports to and a clear statement detailing how the rela1onship will work.
• A specific sec1on outlining the job func1on and the purpose of the role with clear
objec1ves. • A list of core skills, standards and requirements for the role including educa1on,
experience and knowledge. • A list of the key du1es. Along with everything expected of an assistant but also any
du1es that are slightly unexpected. Does your manager want you to run personal errands? If so, it should be on the job descrip1on to avoid any confusion. Tasks that take up only a liLle amount of 1me should s1ll be added.
• The responsibili1es of the assistant star1ng with the most important. • The key results expected from the assistant. This should be measurable,
achievable but also challenging so that the assistant can grow with the role.
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Can you think of any hurdles that might affect you changing your job spec? HR is a concern because they may have structured the job spec around their competency models and grading system. What I would say is that you can always have two job specs – your official HR job spec and a live working job descrip1on that you use with your execu1ve for your day to day interac1ons and yearly appraisals. So to sum up We all agree that an effec1ve job descrip1on for assistants is vital. • It allows us to understand what is expected of us from the very moment we enter
into the role. • We must use the job descrip1on as a working document, which can be altered and
updated as we become more established in the role. • The job descrip1on must be coherent, focused and detailed so that we know what
we have to do to be successful and our managers know what we do every day, how to manage our ac1vi1es and how to review and reward us accordingly.
Don’t let the hurdles stop you. Reviewing your job spec shows that you are being proac1ve and taking your career seriously. All of your great clipboards will be up in
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