How Expectations and Standards Emerge From Major Duties

The "Major Duties" or "Duties" section of the Position Description (PD) lists a set of the major tasks associated with any given position and a percentage of time that duty is performed. The figure below illustrates how expectations and standards might emerge from a major duty.

For each major job duty...

Expectations and standards should be discussed for each major job duty listed on the PD. This discussion helps the employee make meaning of the job duty and better understand how to translate that into practice. It invites conversation and clarification. The result is expectations will more likely be met.

Expectations and standards as additional documentation

The PD is an official OSU document that accompanies every position. Expectations and standards serves as separate documentation, for the supervisor and employee. It is developed by the supervisor and usually with employee input. While it can be verbal, it is encouraged to be written and accessible. Example templates of how you might design your expectations and standards are provided later in this training. A written document allows the employee to reference it to support their work. It minimizes misunderstanding. If you decide not to put this in written format, you are minimally encouraged to follow up the verbal discussion in an e-mail and bullet points regarding what and when you discussed expectations and standards.

What do you know already?

An expectation that states what gets done, followed by a standard that provides clear measures to assess performance allows the employee to answer the question for him or herself, "Am I doing the task I am asked to do at an acceptable level?" Below are four samples of expectations and standards. Can you determine which are good and which will need further work?