Purpose of a Job Description Essay

The primary purpose of a job description is to identify the duties, essential functions and requirements of the position. Job descriptions also serve several other important functions. A good job description can assess work flow and eliminate duplication of effort and also help to assist in the evaluation of the employees’ job performance. It should be a statement of what duties and responsibilities the employee is expected to complete and a means for achieving them. Job descriptions can also be used as recruitment tools, compensation surveys and other benchmarks tools. Job descriptions are used for different purposes by the employee and the Human Resources Department. Human Resource managers, can use job descriptions for employee training and development and establishing and updating performance standards. In general, a job description includes the title, a description of the tasks performed, and information on working conditions. It can also include any other attributes that the employer requires for that position such as: education, knowledge, skills and personality suitability. (Verma, 2007) Many business challenges such as the introduction of new technology, or increased business competition, can be more easily met when employees are well prepared and trained to have the required skills. The company I work for, for example, informs all the employees with the latest updates within the company by sending a letter. With detailed job descriptions, you can compare the actual tasks of employees to what needs to be done within the organization. This helps you easily identify critical areas that need to be addressed, ensuring you have a global view of your organization’s strengths and weaknesses and, at the same time, a detailed view of each employee’s areas of strengths and areas for improvement or change. In the recruitment process, a job description gives potential employees comprehensive information about the job for which they are applying. An accurate and effective job description filters applicants who are being evaluated for the opening – helping generate a higher-quality pool of applicants. It also serves as a resource to the supervisor who is filling a position by helping determine the types of selection tools that should be used when hiring. The Sim-Industries HR department has been in place for 1, 5 years now and they still have not made time to develop job descriptions, because the management did not see this as a priority. The company was in its initial fase and all the employees were expected to be flexible during that period. For example, the finance manager worked in the finance department but was also involved in the human resource department and he was furthermore acting as the PA of the CEO. Currently we have two hundred employees and I believe that it is time to start setting up job descriptions. We need structure and the different kind of functions within the company should be defined. It must be clear what duties a colleague has and what he or she is responsible for within the organization. It will be a lot clearer for new employees to have a job description as they will then have a better understanding what the organization is expecting from them. As I can see now in the organization, many employees do not exactly know what their duties are and who is responsible for what. Therefore I think that we should consider the introduction of another type of management. With for example performance management, we will reach more personal involvement between employees and managers due the fact that the system is based on managing the strategy of the organization. The goals in the organization will be more specific when the managers constantly ask themselves: ‘How are we going to reach that? ’ and ‘Who is responsible for that? ’ When they start using the new system, the strategy will become clearer.