RSS feedsWriting job descriptions does not generally rank as one of the most exciting or enjoyable tasks. Indeed, they may be seen as restricting management flexibility and the legal requirement is only for ‘the title of the job the person is employed to do, or a brief description’. So why bother?
There are a number of compelling reasons why job descriptions, or role profiles, and person specifications are necessary. First, they are a vital aid to management. It is important to be clear about what is expected of an employee, not only to ensure that you recruit the right person, but also to enable you to judge performance and identify training and development needs.
They also provide clarity to employees about what is expected of them. In the event of any dispute about job performance a clear job description will be valuable evidence.
Without an accurate job description, it is likely that jobs will not be evaluated and paid correctly. Where any equal pay issues arise, job descriptions have to be prepared for both claimants and comparators. It may be more difficult to resist such claims without job descriptions.
They have their limitations of course. Different people do the same job in different ways. If written too rigidly some employees might refuse to carry out activities they see as outside the scope of the job. Jobs are often designed around individuals to take advantage of their particular skills.
Finally, the quality of a job description will vary according to the writing skills and perceptions of the writer. The best way of combating these problems is to ensure that job descriptions are written flexibly by focusing on job objectives, rather than on the actions required to meet those objectives, and to update them regularly.
Where individuals change the job content, the job description should be amended to include these changes if they are now a permanent feature of the job.
Making sure the job matches the description
There are no hard and fast rules about the content of a job description, but it should normally include the following:
- Job title You need to remember that you are sending messages internally and externally and that job titles matter to people. In one organisation an administrator was allowed to select his own job title, decided that chief operating officer sounded good and then brought a claim for increased pay citing the job title as evidence that it was a senior role.
- Reporting line You should generally include the title of the job to which this one directly reports. This should be the title, not the manager’s name, since names frequently change.
- Main purpose of the job The job description should set out the key purpose of the job and this should clearly distinguish it from any other jobs in the organisation.
- Principal accountabilities This core section should set out the main accountabilities, responsibilities or tasks to be carried out. These should focus on end-results. Generally, there should be no more than about ten such statements, as significantly more either means that there is too much detail or that the job is overloaded. To avoid the classic retort: ‘not in my job description’, you can always add ‘such other duties as may be required, etc’.
- Knowledge, skills and experience While the knowledge, qualifications, skills and experience required to do the job are strictly part of a person specification, it is useful to include them in one multi-purpose document. This should describe what is required for effective job performance, not what the jobholder actually has.
- Competencies Role profiles, as distinct from job descriptions, often describe the competencies required. The key is to describe them in a way that can be measured.
- Signatures and date Any job description should be signed by the jobholder and the line manager to indicate that it is an agreed document.
A job description can be a valuable management tool, provided it is well-written and includes the above as a minimum.
Barry Cushway is an HR consultant and personnel adviser to the Institute of Directors
