What a Job Description Should Be
If you are currently employed, have you seen your job description? Did the organization where you are working now show it to you before you signed the contract? Were you even interested in reading it first before you decided to apply for the job? Whatever your answers are, the fact is many employees say that their job description hardly gives the correct picture of where they are right now within the company. They complain that they did not see anywhere in their job description what management expects from them, and what tasks they were supposed to perform to help the organization achieve its goals. Many of them believe that their job description failed to provide them with the complete representation of the company and what they got was a vague one instead. They expected their job description to state the important elements of their position and found none at all. The worst thing they did not like was that because of the incomplete and vague job description they got, they feel that management has neglected to communicate their expectations and so they have not performed as management wanted them to perform. Surprisingly on the other hand, many of their managers say they assumed that their employees already knew what was expected of them!
A study was conducted to reveal why this was happening and researchers found several essential factors missing from job descriptions. The study showed that job descriptions often did not contain provisions for employees to have control responsibilities, communication and planning. Although these aspects are primarily under managerial class, employees under them still expect to do planning and control activities within the scope of their responsibilities. They expect to have the ability to plan their work flow and have control of their work’s progress and direction, cost and quality. These employees want opportunities to communicate what they can do and what they have done to their managers yet, their job description failed to give them the parameters on how to achieve what they want and expect to do. They know however, that managers want them to do their own problem solving when they encounter issues at work. However, most employees’ job description do not have explicit statements that allow the employees to actively engage in problem solving that could potentially save the company hundreds of dollars.
The study also found out that many companies failed to specify what employees can do to help the company as a whole. While their job description is clear on what they can do within their particular section, there are no statements that point towards what they can do beyond what they have already done. There is no follow up to their contributions once they have reached the end point of their responsibilities, which effectively limits their capacity and enthusiasm to do more.
Job descriptions exist so that employees and employers can be on the same page when it comes to expectations from both sides. They can only fulfill this function and become effective if they incorporate what have been mentioned above as missing elements.
Author Bio: Loren Yadeski, author of this article is also interested in job descriptions and recommends you to please check out best job descriptions if you liked reading this information.
Category: Career
Keywords: Job Description, Job Descriptions, Job, Description
