Role design and job descriptions for Trade associations: one page per seat in a market office
In a small market office, each person drifts into doing a little of everything. One page per seat clarifies the work, the limits and who to ask, and protects staff from endless extra requests.
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Share your requirementsWhy role design and job descriptions matters in trade associations
The clerk was hired to write receipts and now answers the phone, runs errands for office bearers and acts as a messenger between disputing members. The field assistant collects dues, delivers notices and drives the president's guests to the station. When the clerk is away, nobody knows what she did, and when she asks for an increment, there is no description of her work to point to.
A role page states the purpose of the seat, the five to eight main duties, who the person reports to, what they may decide, what they should refer and what they are not expected to do. The executive approves the pages once. The pages become the base for pay discussions, hiring and covering absence, and they give staff a polite way to decline work that is outside their seat.
How to set it up
1. Ask each person for their real week
Spend twenty minutes with every staff member and note what they actually do in a week, including favours and errands. Mark what takes most time.
2. Decide what belongs in each seat
Group the duties into clear roles, shift errands to where they belong or stop them, and list the gaps. Keep each role to eight duties.
3. Write one page per role
State the purpose, duties, reporting line, decisions allowed, referrals and exclusions. Use short sentences in the language the person reads best.
4. Get the executive to approve them
Present the pages and the service list together. Ask office bearers to follow them, and to route extra requests through the manager.
5. Use the pages in daily life
Refer to them in pay reviews, when someone is away and when a new person joins. Update them each year or after a change in work.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask each person to name three duties not in any written description.
- Check how many requests last month came from office bearers directly to a clerk.
- See if the field assistant has a written scope that includes safety.
- Look for any task that two people believe is theirs.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach role design and job descriptions in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Some fear it limits them. Explain that it protects them from overload, supports pay discussions and helps cover for absence. Involve them in writing, so it describes their real work.
Decide whether the association allows any and under what rules. Many stop them or limit them to the manager. Write the decision on the page so staff can rely on it.
Include the area covered, the visit routine, the records kept, what to do if abused and who to call. Add a line on safety and travel. It is a lonely job and the page gives some support.