Building a Governor in Council Position Accountability Profile

Management Priorities and Senior Personnel Secretariat
Privy Council Office
January 2001

Adobe Acrobat Version

Table of Contents

Section One — Introduction

Section Two — Building the Accountability Profile

Step One: Gathering the Job Information

Step Two: Position Identification

Step Three: Primary Focus

Step Four: Specific Accountabilities

Step Five: Reporting Relationships

Step Six: Dimensions

Step Seven: Challenges, Issues and Initiatives

Step Eight: Working Environment and Conditions

Step Nine: Core Competencies

Section Three — Review Checks

Appendix A — Information Gathering Checklist

Appendix B — Model Accountability Profile

Appendix C — Accountability Profile Template  

• Downloadable Versions

Section One — Introduction

An Accountability Profile is a short and concise description of a position, presented in a structured manner, that contains all of the information necessary to evaluate the position against the Governor in Council Position Evaluation Plan. It also contains the basic information for staffing the position.

This manual outlines the steps for building an Accountability Profile. It is important that the Profile clearly and concisely describe the:

• nature and scope of the work to be performed,
• conditions under which the work is carried out, and
• core competencies required to achieve the results expected of the position.

With this information, a position is evaluated under three factors in the Governor in Council Position Evaluation Plan:

Knowledge and Skills

This factor measures the depth and fields of specialized knowledge and the skills required by the position to:

• achieve intended results that are associated with the mandate and mission of the organization,
• co-ordinate/manage/consider policy and operational issues and the diversity of the elements that must be brought into the decision making processes, and
• analyze, identify, define, evaluate, draw conclusions about and resolve issues, make decisions and exercise judgement.

Accountabilities and Obligations

This factor measures:

• the level of influence and the extent of the impact of the decisions made by the position,
• matters affecting the achievement of the organisation’s mandate,
• the degree of ambiguity in the information available and/or the relationships that must be factored into concrete actions or decisions, and
• the opportunity for activity or thought and the time horizon that is affected by decisions and the degree of risk associated with these decisions.

Working Environment and Conditions

This factor measures work pressures, sensory attention and physical effort.

The Accountability Profile brings together critical factors that make up work: what needs to be done is linked with the core competencies that are required to successfully achieve the objectives and results established for the position. In this way, the work is viewed by the evaluator in a holistic manner. The Profile facilitates both the analysis and the evaluation of the work and the staffing of the position.

The core competencies describe those behaviours that must be demonstrated in achieving the results for which the position is accountable. The core competencies for GIC positions are:

• Conceptual/Innovative Thinking,
• Leadership,
• Flexibility,
• Impact and Influence, and
• Listening, Understanding and Responding.

Over time, work changes. This means that the Accountability Profile will have to be periodically updated. While there is no quick or easy route to writing a good Accountability Profile, this manual contains some approaches and tips that can assist the writer complete the task more easily and more effectively. The primary demand is clear thinking about the job. Once the accountabilities and the roles of the position have been clearly identified, it is usually less difficult to complete the Profile.

A quick checklist of the information the Profile should cover is included in Appendix A. A model Accountability Profile is included in Appendix B. A template for completing all the sections of the Accountability Profile, including a brief description of each section, is included in Appendix C.

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