PBSci Personnel/Payroll
5th Floor Physical Sciences Building
Mail Stop: PB Sci. Pers/Pay Res. Acctg.
Fax: 831-459-5599

Audit Preparation Notes For Employees

PREPARATION FOR CLASSIFICATION REVIEW AUDIT
Be Prepared (allow yourself sufficient time to prepare thoroughly for audit).

This is your opportunity to describe the responsibilities of your position to the Staff Human Resources (SHR) Analyst who will be reviewing your position.

• This is not the time to be modest about your contributions (in terms of your responsibilities) and the skills, knowledge and abilities you must possess to do your job. Try not to think of an audit as needing to advocate for yourself but as providing an overview, with a few examples, to someone who may be interested in applying for your position were you to leave.
• Arrange for the audit in a place where you will not be interrupted.
• Discuss your job description thoroughly with your supervisor along with the examples you plan to provide to the SHR analyst during your audit to be sure you are both clear on the following:
  • all reporting relationships
  • level of independence
  • authority for decision-making
  • extent of supervision you exercise over others, if appropriate.
• Discuss the background leading to the need for this review
• Focus on the major/significant changes in specific tasks and/or responsibilities between
  • the old job description and the new one
  • and/or the changes in the unit and/or complexities due to policies, procedures, organizational changes, etc.
• Discuss each functional area of your job description and have specific examples ready for each major area of responsibility
• Use well thought out examples; avoid using a "spur of the moment" example unless you are confident it is truly indicative of the "norm"
• Record examples in the margin on a copy of your job description to ensure mentioning them in a logical, easy to follow order
• Have a few samples of your work available, if appropriate
• To aid in gathering a good range of examples, review the following:
  • your calendar for the past 6-12 months
  • old and current files
  • old and current "TO DO" lists
  • tickler files
  • master calendars
  • Include examples that demonstrate the following:
    • types of issues/problems you have authority to make decisions or recommendations on
    • he ramification and/or impact of your decisions or actions, including what and/or who would be impacted
• Discuss aspects of your position that require innovation or creativity (process redesign, policy interpretation, new program implementation, design, fabrication, etc.)
• Discuss resources you use or have to be knowledgeable about in order to do your job (e.g., policy manuals, procedural manuals, regulations, etc.)
• Provide names, titles and affiliation of individuals with whom you work on a fairly regular basis (both on and off campus) and regarding what issues.
• Discuss the skills, knowledge and abilities required to do your job.
• Do not let the audit finish until you feel you have said EVERYTHING you wanted to say, including discussion of examples you've prepared.
• Consider discussing what you find to be the most difficult aspect of your position--is it one particular function, or juggling many different responsibilities, or the sensitive nature of the work, or the liaison with various individuals, or a radically changing environment, or something else specific to your position, or some combination.
• Avoid:
  • drawing conclusions for the SHR analyst about what level the position should be
  • describing the complexity of the position with "buzz words" (analyze, manage, etc.)
  • getting too focused on one particular aspect of the job
  • providing exceptionally detailed information with each example
  • providing too many examples of FUTURE projects or changes; demonstrate CURRENT responsibilities
• Stay focused on YOUR duties, responsibilities, skills and knowledge--your examples will convey the critical information.
• If you know of positions with similar responsibilities, you may want to mention that during the audit; discussing the responsibilities, not the classification.
• After outlining the examples you plan to use during your audit, step back and try to look at them objectively or as an outsider would (just as the SHR Analyst will be doing). Have you represented and emphasized aspects of your job fairly, appropriately, realistically and adequately?
• Keep in mind, the SHR analyst will be assessing the following:
  • the nature of the work (kind of work)
  • the variety (scope and range)
  • the difficulty of the work (judgment, skill, knowledge)
• Remember:
  • this is not a closed-book test and no one is trying to catch you off-guard
  • this is an opportunity to explain what it is you are responsible for
  • preparing well will help you and the analyst
  • positions are classified, not people--the duties and responsibilities assigned to you will determine the classification
  • performance and/or longevity is not a consideration in a classification review
  • be prepared and be relaxed
  • SHR Analysts really enjoy meeting you and learning about your job