Job Description

'Job description' documents the skills, knowledge, abilities and other characteristics of a job that is necessary for satisfactory performance of the job. It covers among others, the title of the job, its position within the team/department/wider organization, reporting relationships, key ares of responsibilities and deliverables, short/medium/long term objectives, scope for progression/promotion, required education & training, essential softskills/personality traits, location & travel requirements if any and remuneration range/ benefits.

In any organization, it is necessary to have job description (JD) for all jobs right from that of the CEO to the last employee. JD provides clarity to both stakeholders - to the employee as to the job content &  responsibilies and to the employer on the job expectations against which he can hold the employee  accountable. A clear job description helps employees to improve  their  performance as they have clarity on what is expected of them. In the absence of clarity, there is scope for error and under performance. JDs also enable us to compare  and assess where an incumbent stands against the expectations of the job. The gaps can be filled up by training or coaching initiatives. 

A good, up to date JD is a must before making recruitments. This ensures the right candidates are attracted and recruited into the company. Faulty JDs could mean, unsuitable persons are offered employment which can prove to be very costly in the long run. JDs can be effective tools for progression and  leadership development. It also is very useful during performance appraisal. If a well written JD is available, against which assessment is made, the employee himself/ herself would be able to make a self appraisal and to that extent conflicts could be avoided or reduced. A person whose performance is not meeting the requirements specified in the JD would be less likely to challenge the supervisor's appraisal or have a feeling that he /she is biased.  

The JD preparation process starts with a job analysis to understand the tasks & content of the job. This includes gathering, examining and interpreting data about the job, Interviewing employees to find out exactly what tasks are being performed, observing the tasks being performed, have employees fill out questionnaires and collecting data from outside sources such as salary surveys or other public documents. The results should be documented and reviewed by the employee who is currently in the position and his or her supervis for any changes required if any, regarding the knowledge, skills, abilities, physical characteristics, environmental factors and credentials/experience of the position. JD should be updated regularly and periodically to ensure that it reflects the employee's current assigned responsibilities. 

 Although, most business owners understand the need and importance of job descriptions, many do not give it the importance it deserves. This could be because the process is seen as tedious and time consuming. Given its benefits and ability to avoid many pitfalls and conflicts, organizations would do well to get back to the basics, and focus on developing robust JDs for the entire organization. Unlike the situation in earlier times, with the advent of technology, it is not difficult to obtain basic information on any number of jobs. They only need to be tweaked to suit the individual needs of the company.

Moreover, there are many companies like JuvodHR, in US that supply data and support companies to finalize their JDS. In this regard, their platform is built using The Occupational Information Network (O*NET). O*NET is the nation’s primary source of occupational information, a ten plus year effort developed under the sponsorship of the US Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration. It is hoped that JD is embraced whole heartedly and used widely by the companies in our country as well so as to reap rich dividends. 

This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023