Job or a Role?

Sometimes it isn’t really clear which are jobs and which are roles. Here are some tips to help figure out which is which.

Jobs

• Jobs are typically what we are hired into.

• Jobs have more official titles.

• Jobs tend to be consistent from company to company.

• Jobs encompass most if not all the work.

• People identify what they do with their job.

Roles

• Roles are typically a part of a job and not the whole job.

• A role could be a way a team breaks up responsibilities. Each person gets a role which is a part of the entire work they do.

• A role could also be shared across several different jobs. Think of a team’s trainer. This person has a day job but then is also responsible for training new people. It’s a similar role whether you are an accountant, fire fighter, or a chef.

When we are digging into a job or a role analysis, its helpful to clarify the scope of the training solution. You can identify which jobs or which roles will participate in this training. It gives you a boundary to work within to learn more about your learners, what they do, what they struggle with, and then, what to train them on.