Role Development:

methodology and examples

Anne Clarke, Regional Director Southern England

What is a new role?

Could involve:

‣ The taking on of tasks not traditionally associated with a job,

previously carried out at a different level of the Career Framework

‣ The widening of breadth of traditional jobs, including tasks previously

carried out by other roles at the same level of the Career Framework

‣ The creation of a new job, which might take on tasks previously done

by a variety of traditional jobs at different levels of the Career

Framework

5 Principles of Role Redesign/Development

1. Any change will be based on:

‣ service/service user need

‣ agreed pathways and care systems

‣ service user experience will be improved

Principles of Role Redesign/Development

2. Ensure:

‣ Clarity, accountability and safety for service users

and staff

and comply with:

‣ Relevant Governance and Human Resource

initiatives/ protocols

‣ Existing legislation

Principles of Role Redesign/Development

3. A Business Case for the change is required

This will confirm that the new or changed role:

‣ is sustainable

‣ is supported by the organisation

‣ the benefits of the change are clear

Principles of Role Redesign/Development

4. The skills, knowledge and understanding required by

the redesigned/new role are identified using:

‣ The Career Framework, in conjunction with

‣ Competence analysis

From this information, the right education, training

and assessments can be developed; and future

Continuous Professional Development can be

supported objectively.

Principles of Role Redesign/Development

5. Role development will be built on the growing

evidence and experience of good practice

Essential Steps

• Analysis of need

• Communication plan

• Safety and effectiveness

• Management, accountability and supervision

• Plan for evaluation of impact

• Education, training and development

• Cost and sustainability

Analysis of need & Communications

You need a baseline:

• To understand what you are doing now, so that you can measure

the results of any change

• So you can understand what the impact of any change might be on

other related services

• To take into account any other planned changes that might also

have an effect

• Record these points so that you have them to refer back to, they

may change!

• Who are your stakeholders? Will they change?

• We have extensive experience in developing new roles in the health sector – more than 150 examples are available on our website

• Our established role development methodology incorporates:

National Occupational Standards

Career Framework for Health

Transferable Role Templates

• This approach was developed to enable employers, commissioners and members of staff to articulate the key components of new or redesigned roles in a meaningful and comprehensive manner

SfH role development methodology

National Occupational Standards

What are National Occupational Standards (NOS)?

‣ NOS describe the skills, knowledge and understanding needed to

undertake a particular task or job to a nationally recognised level of

competence

‣ They focus on what the person needs to be able to do, as well as what

they must know and understand to work effectively

‣ They cover the key activities undertaken within the occupation in

question under all the circumstances the job holder is likely to encounter

Career Framework

What is the Career Framework?

‣ The Career framework is used alongside NOS, adding

information about the level at which the job holder is required

to function, ie level of responsibility, decision making and

critical analysis skills

What is a Transferable Role Template (TRT)?

• A TRT is a named cluster of competences and related activities,

levelled to the Career Framework, that is applicable, relevant and

replicable across different geographical locations in the UK

• A TRT may be either a subset of a job at more than one level of the

Career Framework, eg Point of Care Testing; or a whole job at one

level of the Career Framework, eg Orthopaedic Advanced Practitioner

Transferable Role Template

The TRT includes:

• Career Framework level descriptors (these describe a role in terms of

responsibility, level of decision making and critical analysis skills)

• Key functions of the role (derived from the Health Functional Map)

• Core NOS for Career Framework level

• Specific NOS for role

• Local NOS (employer specific requirements)

• Indicative learning and development package

Transferable Role Template

Career Framework Level

Includes level of responsibility, the

type of decision making and analytical

skills required in the job etc

National Occupational Standards

Describe the knowledge and

performance criteria of the activities

and tasks to be undertaken by the

job holder

Employability Skills

Includes the characteristics and

values that an individual must have

before they can do a job effectively

Factors Specific to this job

Particular qualification required, the

context of the job, the location and

timing, lines of responsibility and

accountability, etc

TRT summary

• Our approach is essentially an employer-driven partnership ie

working with you we provide expert support and guidance at each

stage

• We utilise TRTs to support effective role design and ensure rigour and

alignment with professional role expectations across organisations

• The process to develop a TRT uses a series of workshops through

which key stakeholders can help define and shape the role and work

with our experts to identify the key components for the role

Our approach

• Captures innovation

• Saves resources – reduces the time required to specify a role

• Provides development opportunities – for staff and services

• Improves dialogue – between stakeholders in health, social care and education

• Helps to ensure harmonisation of learning and development opportunities across the healthcare sector and improve partnerships with education providers

• Contributes to the development of a flexible workforce with a portable and transferable portfolio of skills and competences

• Facilitates recruitment, succession planning and career development and is applicable in all areas of the healthcare sector

Benefits of TRT approach

Tools

www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/tools

Our website contains a number of tools to support Role

Redesign/Development:

• Competence search - a search tool to help find appropriate NOS

• Health Functional Map - a tool which lists NOS in relation to

Functions, such as Communication, Health and Safety,

Assessment, Health Intervention, etc

• Roles Directory - contains examples of a number of jobs and

roles, in a template identified by Career Framework level, listing

the relevant NOS, including Person Specification, Job Description,

and Learning and Development information

• My Lists - provides an electronic store for you to make your own

lists of NOS, and compare them with other lists you may have

imported or been sent

Roles Directory

• Level 3 Generic Support Worker developed with Berkshire West Ten

(a collaboration of CCGs, Local Authorities and Trusts)

• Level 3 Frail Elderly Monitoring role developed with Western Health &

Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland

• 3 x Integrated Support Worker roles at Levels 2, 3 and 4 developed

with Humber NHS Foundation Trust

• 2 x Well-being Coordinator roles at Levels 4 and 5 developed with

East Cheshire NHS Trust and Age UK

Examples of new roles

anne.clarke@skillsforhealth.org.uk

www.skillsforhealth.org.uk

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