How to Write a Great Role Profile

Why Have Role Profiles?

Individual:

• clearer understanding of what is expected from them
• foundation for performance review, objective setting and personal development

Management:

• clarity of each role - overlapping; team building; project work, etc
• foundation for recruitment, performance review, objective setting and role development

Organisation:

• foundation for recruitment, planned progression and role evaluation
• standard format across the organisation, using a simple document which can be regularly reviewed and updated
• improved communication

Difference Between a Traditional Job Description and a Role Profile

Job description:

• ‘task’ or ‘duty’ - focuses on the ‘what’
• list of tasks or an instruction manual
• too rigid and stifles initiative

Role profile:

• ‘performance and delivery’ - focuses on the ‘how’
• one sentence definition of the overall purpose, followed by the key accountabilities
• combines the role specification and person specification

General Points

• The role profile is to be completed for recruitment, development and role definition purposes.
• Role profiling is NOT concerned with the individual role holder's ability, performance (good or bad), length of service or personal attributes.
• The role profile should reflect role demands and required behaviour at proficient level, although it also defines entry level requirements and other stages of development.

Below are the key sections of a role profile:

PART 1: Introductory Section 

Role Title / Reporting to

The role title must be completed in order to identify the role.  In addition indicate which role title the role reports to.

PART 2: Role Purpose

All roles play a part in achieving the goals and objectives of the business, i.e. helping the wheels go round. That is why they exist.

The Role Purpose statement should describe in a single sentence why the role exists and its contribution. The statement should be specific to the role in question i.e. not a general statement which might apply to a number of varied roles in a department.

Thus a Secretary to the Finance Director might say: To provide a comprehensive secretarial service for the Director and professional staff of the Finance Division.

The format for this section should be as follows:

• The word TO, followed by:
• Verb(s) describing the action such as supervise, manage, operate, design
• Object affected by the word such as customer service, management accounts, IT provision
• Reason such as in order to ensure that weekly/daily targets are achieved
• Constraint such as whilst meeting health and safety legislation, within agreed budget and timescales and agreed policy guidelines

PART 3: Role Specification

Responsibilities of the Role - These are the key result or key performance areas or main duty areas which the role holder is asked to deliver. Each accountability (key result area) should be entered into a separate box on the left and each should be a different aspect / area of the role.  It is unusual to find roles which require less than three or more than six distinctly separate areas.  Hence the reason why there are six on the form.

Key Elements - The key elements for each responsibility should be bulleted on the right.  These statements should be precise, not vague.  However, they should not be a list of day-to-day activities. For example, a Manager might have the following as an accountability: 

• Training
  • Deliver internal training courses
  • Source external training
  • Evaluate effectiveness of training

Percentage of Time - Indicate the approximate broad percentage of time (averaged over an appropriate period) spent on each main duty/accountability, ensuring that the percentages add up to 100%. This is to give an idea as to the priority attached to each of the key accountabilities. It helps individuals focus on what is thought important in the role.

Key Areas of Decision Making - What are the key areas for decision making in the role? What risk is placed on the role holder if the role was not done effectively? What typical mandates are given to the role holder?  When would authorisation or assistance from others need to be obtained?  For example: 

Commissioning services from suppliers 

or         Authorisation of capital expenditure up to $5,000

PART 4: Role Dimensions: Numerical Measures in the Role

This section is intended to capture the “size” of the role.  Generally these dimensions fall into two categories:

• Financial  (money related): This would include the size of any budgets, contract values or value of equipment
• Non-financial: This would include any other aspect of the role which can be expressed in numbers e.g. the staff who report directly to the role holder, average number of calls made, number of documents processed, average number of queries taken, etc.

PART 5: Work / Business Contacts

Who are the key contacts/customers for this role?  Is this routine or occasional?  What sort of impact - is it high profile or demanding?  What is the main purpose? For example, interviewing witnesses, presenting case histories to outside agencies.

PART 6: Competencies

Core Competencies - Using the Competency Framework, select for each core competency the ‘Expected’ competency level required by a role holder to carry out effectively the responsibilities of the role.  If Level 1 is required, write ‘1’ on the role profile.  If Levels 1 and 2 are required, write ‘2’ on the role profile.  In this case a role holder will need to be displaying the indicators in Levels 1 and 2 to be an effective performer.

Role Specific Competencies -  In addition, select up to six Role Specific competencies and the required levels which are applicable for this role.

PART 7: Progression in Role

Entry - Role Related Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Qualifications at Recruitment

If you had to recruit for this role tomorrow what would you specify as the minimum requirements for job applicants in the role?

Normally, this would include certain role related skills.  These are likely to fall into some of the following categories:

• Previous role related experience
• Qualifications, ie professional qualification, graduate, NVQ
• Knowledge in specific areas, ie statutory requirements
• Professional skills, ie presentation skills, budget management skills
• Technical skills, ie keyboard skills, MS Office
• People based experience ie member of a team, staff management experience

PART 8: Initial Induction / Training Requirements

What induction or initial training is required?  For example:

• Knowledge of departmental procedures
• Local area knowledge
• Particular aspects of the role
• Operation of computer systems
• Knowledge of specific customers

Congratulations!

You have now described the role in a high degree of detail.  You should have a very focused view about what is expected, the skills required and how others might be recruited or progressed in such a role.

This will help in:

• Performance reviews
• Future recruitment
• Ongoing development

Customer Care's Operational Imperatives

Customer Care’s primary role is providing customers with support ranging from sales, retention, and help queries. It is the one key “company / customer” touch point serving to reinforce your company's brand values and its customer relationship.

Customer Care servers as the “filter” between the business and its customers. It captures customer contact reasons and provides information throughout the organization in order to improve the Customer Experience and minimize unnecessary support queries and subsequent costs. Thus, Customer Care has the following 3 operational imperatives:

1.      Call Avoidance – Review contact reasons codes and call metrics in an effort to identify process improvements and appropriate measures to mitigate unnecessary support queries.

2.      Cost Reduction – Focus on “Continuous Improvement” to reduce operational costs and improve department productivity and efficiency – do more for less.

3.      Customer Experience – Design processes and procedures form the customer’s perspective (outside in), use common contact handling procedures, call scripts, support applications, and metrics/measures.

As a starting point to help define you define your own Customer Care strategy, I propose the following statements and objectives:

Mission Statement:

To treat every customer contact and task as an opportunity to strengthen our company’s relationship with that customer.

Vission Statement:

To dramatically improve our customer’s perception y dealing with customers professionally, in a manner and where they prefer, and by ‘doing it right the first time’.

Values: 

1. Make every customer contact an easy and rewarding experience by being knowledgeable, reliable, and respectful.
2. Represent the customer by communicating actionable information to drive improvement measures.
3. Ensure data capture is accurate, relevant, and complete.
4. Employ and retain dedicated, motivated, and skilled professionals.
5. Create a work environment that our employees find enjoyable and rewarding.
6. Invest in and value our employees through continuous performance assessment, professional skills development, and timely feedback.

Customer Experience Statement:

We will be renowned for our reliable service. Our people will be knowledgeable and respond and resolve all customer queries promptly, therefore making customers feel assured. This will be delivered in an enjoyable and caring way that will ultimately make our customers feel special and valued. Our customers will trust us and believe we provide value for money.

Business & Performance Objectives: 

Local Work Instructions

One of the most important documents you can create for your call center is a Local Work Instruction (LWI). Procedures describe:

• "What" the activity is-
• "Who" performs the activity-
• "When" the activity is takes place-

Local work instructions describe "how" the activity is performed.

Questions that need to be answered in a procedure include:

• Where do the inputs come from (suppliers)?
• Where do the outputs go (customers)?
• Who performs what action when (responsibilities)?
• How do you know when you have done it right (effectiveness criteria)?
• What feedback should be captured (metrics)?
• How do we communicate results (charts, graphs and reports)?
• What laws (regulations) or standards apply (e.g., ISO 9001, 8th EU Directive, IFRS, Sarbanes-Oxley)?

Before your write your LWIs, it's important to first understand the four components of the document pyramid:

1.  A policy is used as a course of action to guide and influence decisions. The purpose of this level of documentation is to state concisely the policies and objectives of the company, organization, or division.  Policies are similar in some ways to mission statements.

2. Your procedures are the second level of documentation, which should be more detailed and describe who does what and when (in sequence or order).   Procedures describe the process: who does what, when they do it, and under what criteria.

3. A local work instruction describes how to accomplish a specific job.  Visual aids, various forms of job aids, or specific assembly instructions are examples of work instructions.  Work instructions are specific.

4. The last level of documentation includes forms used to create records, checklists, surveys, or other documents used in the creation of a product or service.  Records are a critical output of any procedure or work instruction.  They form the basis of your process communications, audit material, and process improvement initiatives.

As you create your local work instruction, make sure they adhere to four basic characteristics: credible, usable, accessible and consistent. 

• ·Credible: For work instructions to be credible, agents must believe that they define the one, single, proper way to perform a task. Avoid making changes or updates to the standardized process without first updating the written LWI.
• Usable: A clear LWI can be quickly understood by the agent with little effort. Use graphics, illustrations, minimal clarifying text as much as possible.
• Accessible: Local Work Instructions are accessible when they can be located quickly and easily. "Quickly" means within seconds and "easily" requires a retrieval system that the worker knows, understands and trusts. In a call center environment, LWIs are typically stored on an internal document management system such as SharePoint and easily accessible to agents via their desktops.
• Consistent: Consistent work instructions conform to a style guide developed specifically for procedures and work instructions. There must be rigid consistency of terminology so that the same word means the same thing every time. There can be no undefined acronyms and confusing technical terms. All instructions should follow the same format so that the user always knows where to find information such as required tools or control settings.

Process Flow Diagram Example

Local Work Instruction Example

Different Types of Customer Service Agents

Managing a highly effective call center requires the manager assume the role of leader, teacher, psychologist, mentor, adviser, and parent. You need to understand your team's different personality types and what motivates them.

How agents perceive the call center:

• The Call Center must exceed the competition
• Keep compensation steady
• Offer an appealing communication culture
• Offer steady management
• Desire fair resolutions to disagreements
• Offer extensive training 
• Want a management team that is empathetic
• Maintain a balance between discipline and flexibility
• Have rules that are clear and easy to understand
• Have rules in writing to maintain consistency
• Have rules that are fairly enforced

A good manager and/or supervisor understands the different types of agent personalities:

1. High Maintenance

• CSRs that always have issues, criticisms, questions and input regarding any imaginable topic. They bring any issue to the SCSR’s attention. They complain about the temperature, the computer, the customers, the computer screen emitting radiation, the challenges of the job, the chair, the compensation plan, the headset manufacturer, friends and enemies in the Service Center, and what those friends and enemies do in the telephone and at break.
• We can’t live without high maintenance CSRs because they demonstrate accountability and caring with regard to their jobs. They take pride in their  work, and they work admirably. They are inquisitive by nature, and passionate about everything. They also tend to be sensitive and emotional.
• When a high maintenance CSR comes to you for feedback, you must immediately recognize that you should react very slowly and thoughtfully because the way they feel can change so quickly that the way you respond is critical. 

2. Low Maintenance

• CSRs that are the exact opposite of high maintenance CSRs. They tend to see the “big” picture in the Service Center. They have been through the mill, recognize how challenging the SCSR’s job can be, and recognize the value of their own job. They are extremely consistent in their communication habits, think before acting, and tend to portray the same disposition each day.
• When CSR feedback takes place, the SCSR recognizes that he may be able to react and provide a fair solution to issues before those issues become a problem. Low maintenance CSRs are self-starters and tend to display a maturity that makes the SCSR job quite easy.

3. Attention Driven

• This type of CSR is a sub-set of the high maintenance CSR. They want to be seen by everybody in the Service Center. They may contact the SCSR 4 or 5 times a day to ask a question that has no relevance. Sometimes, these CSRs will substitute involvement at work for a lack of involvement at home. They care about how they are perceived by their peers. They want to do the right things, and they want management to recognize they are doing the right things. They want their peers to commend them on their performance

4. Authority Pleasing

• This type of CSR is a sub-set of the high-maintenance CSR. They want to be seen by their SCSR as often as possible. They may contact their SCSR 4 or 5 times in a day simply to ask questions that have no relevance, or to obtain simple answers the CSR may have been able to find on her own. They car about how they are perceived by those in power. They want to do the right things, and they want management to recognize they are doing the right things. 

5. Aloof

• The aloof CSR is the introvert prefers anonymity. They care about doing the job well. They don’t want to be absorbed in the workings of the Service Center operations. They may participate in activities as a secondary figure, but they are more than likely to decline an invitation to join in events.

6. Paranoid

• They believe that trouble is on the horizon and spend as much time as possible fretting about the gloom and doom of myths and realities. For example, paranoid CSRs tend to gossip and start rumors about potential layoffs, new bonus plans, management changes, tariff plan changes, etc. SCRS should take note that paranoid CSRs are the most fun to work with in the Service Center, because they are the easiest to manipulate!

7. Unhappy

• The unhappy CSR should get another job elsewhere. They are almost always veteran CSRs. They may be unhappy about not advancing, about compensation, about the way they are supervised, etc., or they may be unhappy as a way of gaining attention. An unhappy CSR can destroy a culture. Usually, however, they bring most of their disappointments upon themselves.

8. Consistent Performer

• This is the type of CSR every SCSR enjoys managing. This category is a sub-segment of the low maintenance CSR. They understand the foundation of their job; they recognize what their role is in the Service Center; they always meet and exceed company objectives; they rarely pose a problem to management without offering some sort of support or solution to the issue. They see the big picture and enjoy their jobs. 

9. Job Performance in Jeopardy

• This category of CSR is on a performance development program. They may still need to be talked with, or perhaps they have been spoken to and are on a performance plan. In either case, they are the CSRs who can see that their careers may come to an end soon.

10. Why Did We Hire This Person

• This type of CSR may not show up to work on time, or may be painfully non-qualified for the role. In the new hire training, this type of CSR may lack simple communication skills, or even fall asleep in class. On the floor, the CSR may contribute nothing, in any area, to the Service Center.

11. Authority Challenging

• This is the SCSR’s worst nightmare. They are a sub-segment f the high maintenance CSR, however, the authority challenging CSR doesn’t like to take “no” for an answer. They always believe their actions or ideas are worthy of full implementation. They spend time pitting one SCSR against another, and one SCSR’s decisions against his boss’ decisions. They want to know why. They continually look for avenues to find a path to get their own way. They pit peers and management against one another for their own good. 

12. Super Achiever

• This type of CSR is a spectacular employee who does everything well. These don’t come around very often.

13. Energizer

• This CSR has a high energy level that contributes enormously to the culture of the Service Center. He is a doer who cares about his position and the position of the company. They are CSRs who tend to volunteer and they may spend hours after work designing programs to help the Service Center succeed.