A jobs description not only helps you to have better job postings to attract the right candidates, it also helps you to avoid being in a situation where your employees are not fulfilling their duties. It sets clear expectations at the outset of their employment and ensures you stay on top of performance management.
We’ve set out our top benefits of a description of a job:
The Hiring Process
It all starts with when you are recruiting staff. Your job advert needs to clearly outline what the job entails and what you need the person to be able to do. This ensures both you and the applicants understand the job role. You can, therefore, use this as the starting place for your jobs description, as the outline details which define a person’s role and accountability are already there.
How to Write a Job Description
The process of writing a description of a job is actually quite easy and straight-forward. Start off with a list of tasks, and then refine this to focus on a summary of key tasks of around 8-12 points. For our smaller clients we recognise that staff may cover a wider or mixed range of duties and responsibilities. Therefore you may need more points, circa 15-16 – try to avoid anything longer, as this can become less effective.
A good jobs description should enable anyone who reads the document to have a clear understanding of the purpose, duties and responsibilities of that job.
A jobs description should include:
- Background and information on your business
- The position that the employee will be reporting to (e.g Operations Manager, Supervisor)
- Who will be reporting to them
- Title of the role and a summary
- A list of daily tasks
- Qualifications, experience, and skills required
- Licences, certificates, and registrations
- Company values and culture
Performance Management
A jobs description can have a great tool to have for performance reviews. It allows you to stay on track of what has been achieved and what has been slipping since an employee’s last review.
If an employee is doing a great job and are living up to the description of a job, you can give them recognition at a performance review or team meeting. This will boost morale and will motivate them to continue to improve.
If you have job descriptions in place and have set clear expectations for your employees, and you subsequently find that your employee is not fulfilling their duties you can refer back to this. Having first investigated why this is happening, you are then well equipped to engage in the formal disciplinary process for poor performance.
If you’ve already got your staff in place but don’t have a jobs description, you can involve your employees in compiling their job description. This is good as it will help to clarify expectations between you both.
With a description of a job in place, your employees will be clear as to what is expected of them. Without this in place, it can be difficult for your employee to be held accountable for their role.
Fair Pay
A jobs description allows you identify if your employee is being paid what they deserve. You must analyse the pay scale in the job description and make sure that people with the same job role or responsibilities are being payed fairly across the board.
Your employee may have had the same role in your business for a long time. However, their responsibilities have increased, the national average for that role has increased, and the cost of living has changed. You should then look at appropriate compensation for this employee. If you’ve not already, we encourage you to offer your employees at least the real living wage.
Training & Development
A description of a job allows you to identify skill sets so you can resolve any gaps. You will then be clearer on what training and development your employees will benefit from. It can also help you to identify employee progression and what the next step is in their career.
In Conclusion
To conclude, jobs descriptions will help improve your ability to manage your staff in the following ways:
- provides you with an essential reference tool in issues of disputes with your employees
- provides you with a key point of reference for disciplinary issues
- clarifies your expectations of your employees
- provides you with a basis of measuring job performance and carrying our performance reviews
- provides you with a structure to ensure that the necessary activities, duties and responsibilities of your business are covered by one job or another
- provides continuity of understanding of a job role irrespective of who is doing the job or managing your staff
- provides you with important reference points for any training and development areas
Contact Us
Here at the HR Booth, we have the experience and skills to help make this as easy as it sounds for you and your business, from helping you recruit your staff to help you to ensure that your employees are doing the jobs you are paying them to do. Contact our HR experts if you would like support with a jobs description.
