Are job descriptions important in today’s ever-changing business environment? While you should never answer a question with another question, let’s try it just this once: Does everyone in your company know what their responsibilities are?
While you may think that all of your employees know what their job is, most employees don’t know everything they’re supposed to do without being given some direction.
Job descriptions can clarify who is supposed to do what. It will help people understand the difference between a Technician and a Mechanic, or the difference between a Level 1 Programmer and a Level II Programmer.
In a nutshell, it will answer the most important question an employee will ever have: “Why am I making $10 an hour while this other guy is making $14?”
These descriptions make it easy to assign pay ranges and create career advancements for your employees.
If an employee knows what education or certifications are needed for a position, they will know what it takes to get promoted, assuming their performance matches their qualifications.
The first part of creating a job description is writing down all the things you want this role to do. without taking into account the person who is currently in the role.
Why? If you consider who is actually on the job, you will write the description for that person and not for the tasks that need to be performed on the job. Job descriptions should rarely be written for individuals or you will rewrite them every time someone leaves or is promoted.
The next step is to make sure that the tasks you’ve described can be performed in a normal workweek, especially if the role is not exempt or paid by the hour. Non-exempt roles must be able to be performed in a 40-hour period, unless you plan on the role consistently getting overtime.
Exempt positions do not have this restriction, but you must ensure that the position can be performed in a reasonable number of working hours.
The next steps involve a lot of legal and regulatory elements. Once added, these items can be copied to any new description. These statutory articles cover physical abilities (eg, “Must be able to lift 40 pounds”), as well as educational and technical needs, just to name a few.
Getting started will probably require some initial direction, but once you’ve successfully completed the process, it’s fairly easy to maintain.
(C) 2011 Jerry Ballard, Perfect People Solutions