Job Assignment

What is a Job Assignment?

The job assignment is an instrument of effective leadership according to Fredmund Malik (MZSG Management St. Gallen). In contrast to a job description or job description, which regulates the tasks, responsibilities and competencies of a position for a longer-term time horizon, the job assignment includes what has the highest priority in this position at the current time. The Job Assignment is thus the concrete and priority assignment for the next foreseeable period - for the next foreseeable 6, 8 or 15 months. The job description remains unaffected by the Job Assignment.

The Job Assignment has the following characteristics:

  • It integrates strategic and functional issues.
  • It focuses on key tasks (of the job holder).
  • It is situational, problem-oriented, and prioritizing.
  • It covers a short- to medium-term time horizon.
  • It allows for a high degree of differentiation.

How is a job assignment created?

The key tasks (field number 4) are derived from the job and its main task (field number 1), the strategic challenges of the job (field number 2), and the current context, taking into account personal strengths (field number 3).

 

Specifically, create a job assignment as follows:

  1. Enter the main task of the position (e.g. as in the job posting/job description) in key words in the first field.
  2. Then consider what the strategic challenges of the position are in the overall system of the institute or the service unit as well as the overall organization of KIT. What is strategically relevant and where are the challenges? Enter these challenges in the second field.
  3. Describe in keywords the current situation and the given framework conditions of the position. In doing so, also take into account personal strengths of the position holder or of yourself.
  4. From the first three fields, now derive the key tasks of the position with a time horizon of approximately six to 15 months (depending on which horizon is currently appropriate). If there are several key tasks, then it is advisable to prioritize the individual tasks.

Example of a job assignment of an executive in science

From the key tasks, requirements for the competencies of employees at KIT can be derived in the further course. In order to identify possible areas of strength and development, the KIT competence model serves as structural support. The competence model and its use in the context of the annual appraisal for employees can be found on the subpage Competence Model in the MAJG.