Job descriptions are important documents that most organization create once and only think of when it comes to recruiting to fill a position, but they provide so much more value to an organization.
Job descriptions have the following uses:
- Recruiting – finding a new employee
- Development – helping an employee work towards the next level of expertise
- Promotion – determining what skills, experience is needed for an employee to grow within the organization
- Setting goals – what are the expectations of the position
- Ensuring compliance – following the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act
- Unemployment claims – being able to provide the correct information on a claim
- Worker’s compensation classifications and claims – proper information and duties necessary to do the job
- Termination or reassignment – determining that an employee no longer has the necessary skills, etc. to be in that position.
Creating or updating a job description is not the responsibility of one person. The manager, human resources and the employees (if a larger group then the organization should get a sampling of that group to review the job description) in that position should take part in creating and revising the job description. Managers may be surprised at what the actual duties are of the position and how employees in the same position go about in different ways to complete their responsibilities.
A job description should be reviewed at minimum on an annual basis, but if there are significant changes then the job description should be updated at that time. This will help the organization determine if the right person is in the role, is there an increase or decrease in skills set and pay, etc.
The job description should include the following information:
- Organization’s logo
- Position title
- Information about the organization
- Organization’s culture
- Position description
- Short-term deliverables
- Annual deliverables
- Organization core values
- Responsibilities
- Education requirements
- Skills and experience requirements
- Additional desired skills and experience
- Travel requirements, if any
- Physical demands of the position
- Disclaimer
- Date created and revised
A job description is not a document that an organization creates only when they are looking for candidates, but a document that continues to grow and be revised on a regular basis. It provides valuable information to the candidates, current employees, managers, government agencies, legal representatives, etc.
When was the last time your organization reviewed their job descriptions?
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