Job Description

Job descriptions are an essential part of hiring and managing your employees. These written summaries ensure your applicants and employees understand their roles and what they need to do to be held accountable.

Job descriptions also:

• Help attract the right job candidates.
• Describe the major areas of an employee’s job or position.
• Serve as a major basis for outlining performance expectations, job training, job evaluation and career advancement.
• Provide a reference point for compensation decisions and unfair hiring practices.

A job description should be practical, clear and accurate to effectively define your needs. Good job descriptions typically begin with a careful analysis of the important facts about a job such as:

• Individual tasks involved.
• The methods used to complete the tasks.
• The purpose and responsibilities of the job.
• The relationship of the job to other jobs.
• Qualifications needed for the job.

What to Avoid

Don’t be inflexible with your job description. Jobs are subject to change for personal growth, organizational development and/or evolution of new technologies. A flexible job description encourages employees to grow within their position and contribute over time to your overall business.

What to Include

Job descriptions typically include:

• Job title
• Job objective or overall purpose statement
• Summary of the general nature and level of the job
• Key functional and relational responsibilities in order of significance
• List of duties or tasks performed critical to success

Additional Items for Job Descriptions for Recruiting Situations

• Job location where the work will be performed
• Salary range

What the Terms Mean

Before you begin writing job descriptions, it's helpful to understand the common terms used in job descriptions:

• Job is a basic term that describes a set of duties and responsibilities performed by one person or multiple people.
• A position is a job held by one person.
• Responsibilities are major areas of accountability and are the primary functions of a job.
• Tasks are specific activities that jobholders perform to accomplish larger duties and responsibilities. For example, a jobholder might perform the task of inputting general ledger entries into the accounting system as part of the larger responsibility of maintaining the organization's financial accounting system.