Position
ConceptintermediateOne instance of a job: a specific role in the enterprise that can be managed independently of the person in it, belonging to one department or organization, carrying a unique name, and continuing to exist when it has no holder.
What people get wrong
The confusions are the difficulty. Each one is a belief that sounds right and is not.
- That a position disappears with its holder. It does not, which is what keeps direct reports reporting to the role when an incumbent leaves.
- That a position is defined globally. A job can be defined in the Common set; a position is defined within one business unit.
Recall it
What is a position, and what happens to it and to the reporting line when the person in it leaves?
A position is one instance of a job: a specific role in the enterprise that can be managed independently of the person in it, belonging to one department or organization, carrying a unique name, and defined within one business unit where a job can live in the Common set. It continues to exist when it has no holder, which is what keeps direct reports reporting to the role, so a replacement manager is assigned to the existing position rather than to a new one.
Memory hook: The job is the noun, the position is the chair, the assignment is the person in it. The chair stays when the person stands up.
Rests on COREHR-POS-004, COREHR-POS-005, COREHR-POS-006.
Taught in
Related
- Terminology glossary — what a term means, and what people get wrong when they use it