If one wanted to establish a standard language for describing work requirements, a good place to start would be to listen how managers and employees naturally describe their co-worker skill sets. These descriptions capture the language of roles, which is a natural language for managers and employees. Defining Roles Work roles as defined in this article are different than the concept of social roles put forth by Katz and Kahn and others. These roles result from the work itself rather than through the interactions with others. Work roles represent clusters of situational challenges that naturally occur in the world of work.
Roles are clusters of related work challenges while competencies are clusters of worker behaviors.
Using this operational definition, let's look at an example. Journeyman - Role requires managing moderately complex projects that entail moderate resource and budget and are important to a particular department or unit within the organization. Apprentice - Role requires managing moderately complex projects with modest budget or resource requirements which are important to a particular department or unit within the organization. Learner - Role requires managing simple projects with modest budget or resource requirements which are important to a specific work area within a department or unit. Staffing Projects - Determining the requirements for project personnel and securing individuals with the skill level and availability to do the project.