Job specification involves a definition of qualifications, experiences and competencies
required by the jobholder and any other necessary information on the special demands
made by the job such as physical conditions, unusual hours or travel away from home.
Job specification sets out terms and conditions of employment such as pay, employee
benefits, leave etc. Table 5.2 gives an example of a person specification template.
Table 5.2 A sample of person specification form
Name of the organisationAcademic and professional qualificationsCareer experienceFunctional competencies
Essential DesirableBehavioural competences
Essential DesirablePotential talents for developmentRecruitment and selection process
Managers responsible for recruitment and selection should be clear on the type of em-
ployees they are looking for. Lack of clarity may lead to poor selection criteria and may
result in the wrong person being recruited for the job. Based on research, Bates et al.
(2008) have linked job requirement and the level of the quality of the job as presented in
Table 5.3.
Table 5.3 The relationship between competencies and job quality
Criteria Job quality in %
High Medium Low Total
Specific technical skills 25 16 13 19
Generic skills 15 19 20 17
Level of qualification 9 13 9 10
Experience 7 7 1 5
Motivation/attitude 41 45 56 47
Others 1 0 1 1
Do not know 0 0 2 1
Total 88 31 71 0
Source: Bates et al. (2008).
The data in the table suggests that what matters most in terms of the quality of the job
are motivation and attitude of the work followed by technical skills. The argument is
that a demotivated employee may produce poorer quality work when compared to moti-
vated staff with a positive attitude towards work. Indeed, the level of qualifications and