5
Your Classification Questionnaire
By ROBERT R. JO H N SO N
Public Administration Service
The new State Civil Service Act pro
vides for the establishment of a classi
fication plan Tor all positions covered
by the Act. Such a position classifica
tion plan is essential for the orderly in
stallation and operation of a merit sys
tem of personal administration. The
Civil Service Commission has engaged
the Public Administration Service to
provide technical assistance in the form
ulation of thé position classification
plan. This is a non-profit organization
which renders technical assistance only
to governmental agencies. By using an
agency thoroughly experienced in this,
kind of work, an impartial judgment
on classification problems, as well as a
wide knowledge of public service activi
ties will be utilized.
In brief, the classification of posi
tions means grouping together jobs
which have similar duties and respon
sibilities^ and designating each such
group of similar jobs by the same title.
Position classification can be compared
with the arrangement of supplies in a
well organized storeroom. In setting up
a storeroom, a storekeeper must deter
mine those supplies which must be
catalogued and arranged. If he finds
that he has pipe fittings • of various
sizes he places those of one size in one
bin and those of another size in another
bin. He must do the same with all
other supplies if he wishes to operate
the storeroom properly.
The same process is followed in
classifying positions. First, it is neces
sary to determine what positions there
are. Each position must be inventor
ied, studied and classified. In doing this
the classification staff is not interested
in personal qualifications and abilities
of the individuals holding positions,
nor in how well they perform their
work. Only the job duties performed in
the position are considered.
In order to analyze the duties of
jobs, the classification staff will fol
low certain procedures. Every attempt
will be made to conduct the study on
a practical basis, and provisions will be
made for employee review and appeals
at various steps in the process.
As the first step the classification
questionnaire and instruction sheet will
be distributed to each employee. The
questionnaire is intended to give each
employee opportunity to describe his
job in his own words. Upon completion
of the questionnaire by the employee
it will be routed to his immediate su
pervisor for additional comments. If
the supervisor should disagree with any
statements made by the employee or
should wish to augment those state
ments, he will indicate his comments
in the space provided. The employee’s
original statements concerning his work
will not be changed, however. Finally
the department head (or his authorized
representative) will review and sign
the questionnaires, noting any further
comments. There may be questions as
to the interpretation of certain items.
In such cases, reference should be made
to the instruction sheet which will
usually provide the answers.
After review by the department
head, questionnaires will be returned to
the Civil Service Commission. Then
they will be carefully analyzed by the
classification staff and tentative class
groupings will be made. In many in
stances additional information about
certain positions will be needed before
accurate determinations on classifica
tion can be made.
In these individual cases members of
the classification staff will discuss the
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