Analysing RolesCcompetencies and Skills

Role analysis is a fundamental HR process. It provides the information needed to produce role profiles and for use in recruitment, learning and development, performance management and job evaluation. For reasons given below, the terms ‘role analysis’ and ‘role profile’ are rapidly replacing the terms ‘job analysis’ and ‘job description’. However, role analysis uses basically the same techniques as job analysis and many features of role profiles are found in more traditional job descriptions. Job analysis is also still used to provide the data for job evaluation, as explained in Chapter 44.


In this chapter, role analysis is covered first and the chapter continues with descriptions of the associated techniques of competency and skills analysis.

                                                  ROLE ANALYSIS

Role analysis defined 

Role analysis is the process of finding out what people are expected to achieve when carrying out their work and the competencies and skills they need to meet these expectations

Role profiles 

The result of role analysis is a role profile, which defines the outcomes role holders are expected to deliver in terms of key result areas or accountabilities. It also lists the competencies required to perform effectively in the role – what role holders need to know and be able to do. Profiles can be individual or generic (covering similar roles).

Roles and jobs 

If it is used in its strictest sense, the term ‘role’ refers to the part people play in their work – the emphasis is on their behaviour. For example, a role profile may stress the need for flexibility. In this sense, a role can be distinguished from a job, which consists of a group of prescribed tasks/activities to be carried out or duties to be performed. 

Job analysis defines those tasks or duties in order to produce a job description. This is usually prescriptive and inflexible. It spells out exactly what job holders are required to do. It gives people the opportunity to say: ‘It’s not in my job description’, meaning that they only feel they have to do the tasks listed there. 

Increasingly, the practice is to refer to roles, role analysis and role profiles rather than to jobs, job analysis and job descriptions. The latter are no longer in favour because they tend to be prescriptive, restrict flexibility and do not focus on outcomes or the competencies needed to achieve them. Role profiles are preferred because they are concerned with performance, results, and knowledge and skill requirements and are therefore in accord with the present-day emphasis on high-performance working, outcomes and competencies.