When applying for a new position, the qualifications or position requirements may say, "bachelor's degree, five years experience, master's degree preferred, or demonstration of progressively responsible experience." What is progressively responsible experience, anyway?
Progressively responsible experience basically means you "climbed up the ladder." In each position, you should have gained more responsibilities than in the last. A good rule of thumb is at least a 20% increase in responsibility or a 10-20% increase in salary. Those two things do not always necessarily coincide. Here are items that demonstrate progressive responsibility.
1. Increase in the number of job duties. Many frontline positions start off with one primary job duty. The more job duties you have, the more things for which you are responsible. For example, a patient access clerk is primarily responsible for registering patients. However, imagine that the person receives a position as an office assistant. In their role as an office assistant they sometimes register patients, but they also are required to collect billing statements, type letters for administrators and office staff, sort the mail, and respond to patient and customer emails. As you can see, the person's job duties increased considerably from having one primary responsibility to having multiple responsibilities.
2. Increase in salary. This one can be a little tricky because, especially in healthcare, salaries can range significantly particularly between non-profit and for-profit organizations. The same job may not have the same amount of responsibilities in each organization or also may depend on the incumbent. Also, from organization to organization, titles may vary. In one organization, an office specialist may be an office assistant, whereas in the next it may be more of an office manager role. An office assistant position may pay $35,000/year whereas an office manager position salary may be $50,00/year. For the purpose of this discussion, assume that after one year as a patient access clerk the individual received a promotion to an office assistant. The promotion included a salary increase from $28,000/year to $35,000/year. That's a 25% increase in salary, which is a pretty big jump in the salary world.
3. Increase in employees or projects supervised. Suppose now that after a year doing an incredible job as an office specialist, the person is then promoted to an office manager. In that role, she receives a salary increase to $43,750, another 25% increase. Of note, these numbers may be atypical because some organizations have rules about the percentage of increase they can give employees unless it is at the salary baseline of the next level position. As an office manager, the individual is responsible for ordering all things for the office, serving as an assistant for the administrator, and supervising two office assistants and an office clerk.
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4. Increase in the number of departments affected. As it turns out, this employee is a really great employee. One year later, the person is promoted to a role as a project manager. Notice the word "manager" is in both the project manager title and the office manager title. However, the responsibilities of those managers are different. In the project manager role, the employee is given another 25% increase in salary to $54,688/year. In this role, the project manager completes projects for all of the administrative departments in a large clinic, admitting, billing, administration, and medical records. The person continues to report to the administrator but also has an invisible reporting relationship to other members of the organization, including other department managers and directors. However, because more departments are involved, the position is considered progressively responsible.
5. Increase in number of locations where responsibilities occur. After two years as a project manager, the individual is considered for a promotion. A new position is actually created, called a Director of Special Projects. The individual receives another 25% increase in salary to $71,778/year (assuming an annual merit increase as well). In this role, the individual is responsible for all special administrative projects at the clinic and the clinic's satellite location. The individual's responsibilities have nearly doubled because the locations have doubled.
6. Increase in organizational chart and accountability. When someone becomes a manager, the person becomes an agent for that organization. In the prior roles, the person served as an actual "people" manager in a single role, although the person managed people as part of projects. Imagine after three years the person has been selected to be an assistant administrator for the second clinic location. The person receives another salary increase of 25% to $98,919 (again assuming annual merit increases). Although the number of locations has decreased, the person is now responsible for nearly all operations in the second clinic, not only special projects. As such, the individual also has acquired 15 new direct reports, each of whom also has multiple direct reports. The employee's responsibilities increased significantly.
The above scenario provides a great example of progressively responsible experience within an organization. This example shows how a patient access clerk became an assistant administrator within 10 years' time. This experience may be further dependent on a person's education and other skills.
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