In a part one of this article we featured the California Employment Law Letter’s take on the importance of a good job description. Today, we look at the key components every job description must contain.
| Download our free guide for 5 tips on how to empower yourself to find the best employees while understanding how the best employees will want to come for you, too. |
A job description need not account for every task that might ever be done, says the CELL. Here are the most critical components of a good job description.
- Heading information. This should include job title, pay grade or range, reporting relationship (by position, not individual), hours or shifts, and the likelihood of overtime or weekend work.
- Summary objective of the job. List the general responsibilities and descriptions of key tasks and their purpose, relationships with customers, coworkers, and others, and the results expected of incumbent employees.
- Qualifications. State the education, experience, training, and technical skills necessary for entry into this job.
- Special demands. This should include any extraordinary conditions applicable to the job (for example, heavy lifting, exposure to temperature extremes, prolonged standing, or travel).
- Job duties and responsibilities. Only two features of job responsibility are important: identifying tasks that comprise about 90 to 95 percent of the work done and listing tasks in order of the time consumed (or, sometimes, in order of importance).
-
- The first task listed should be the most important or time-consuming one, and so on.
- Employers can cover 90 to 95 percent or more of most tasks and responsibilities in a few statements.
- It’s more important to list what must be performed and accomplished than how, if there is more than one way to do it. Being too specific on how to accomplish a duty could lead to ADA issues when an employee asks for an accommodation.
Bottom Line
Creating and maintaining job descriptions isn’t difficult. In fact, sometimes businesses use the development of job descriptions as a means of opening new lines of communication with employees. Employees want to be heard, and the development of job descriptions is a perfect opportunity to increase employee involvement.
If employers approach the process correctly, it can even be fun! The reward for management is a useful tool that helps guide many critical employment decisions and serves as an important consideration in the defense of administrative actions and lawsuits.
Writing a clear job description not only helps you find the right person, it also defines what they'll do once you've hired them.
This template will help you:
- define the job title, salary, type of employment (for example full-time or part-time) and who the role reports to
- the purpose of the position
- key duties and responsibilities
- academic or trade qualifications required
- previous work experience or skills you want in your new employee
- the qualities or behaviours you want in your new employee.
For roles that require less detail, use our simple job description template.
By Dr. Kelly S. Meier Updated June 29, 2018
A job description establishes expectations and performance benchmarks. Begin writing roles and responsibilities by creating an outline that identifies and prioritizes duties of the position. Know that prospective employees will use this information when deciding whether to apply. New hires will rely on the job description to gain a better understanding of what they must do to be successful. Be very specific when writing roles and responsibilities because job descriptions guide personnel actions, including hiring and firing.
Since employees depend on job descriptions to better understand their duties and functions, use action verbs to describe roles and responsibilities. Directives such as delegate, review, investigate and collaborate, communicate the expected behavior of the employee. Active starters also provide a clear understanding of visible and measurable performance goals and objectives.
Supervise, train and evaluate 15 full-time employees.
Negotiate purchasing contracts with external suppliers.
Produce three marketing concepts per week for assigned clients.
Detail is important when writing roles and responsibilities in a job description. First, make a list of the tasks assigned to this position, and then group them into related clusters. The art is to write responsibilities that are precise, but not rigid and inflexible. A certain degree of murkiness in job descriptions allows the company to redirect employees’ work to accommodate a changing marketplace.
Work with staff to provide customer service to assigned clients.
Perform research lab functions including cleaning, equipment maintenance, supply stock and other duties as assigned.
As you write roles and responsibilities in a job description, reflect upon a day in the life of the employee who will read this document. Indicate the percentage of time that employees should spend on primary and secondary job responsibilities. Communicate specificity of outcomes in each written role and responsibility.
Develop and implement a sales generation plan for demographic markets congruent with product types. Assess market plan and make adjustments, as needed. Advise product generation team of needed changes, based on market research and testing.
Create and maintain a database of all existing and new clients. Track client contacts and provide bi-weekly reports on client changes and correspondence.
Use roles and responsibilities on a job description to evaluate prospective candidates. If you include specific competencies and skills, hiring assistants performing the initial screening of applicants can quickly see who has the qualifications needed to perform the job. Similarly, clearly delineated job skills will help a manager assess the performance of current employees and provide a roadmap for job improvement. Wherever possible, connect skills to desired outcomes.
Use quantitative and qualitative research skills to assess project success outcomes and make recommendations for future investments.
Use analytical skills to compile market share data and create an evidence-based client recruitment strategy.
Roles and responsibilities in a job description should convey the company’s branding, values, standards and quality indicators. Employees should fully understand what it means to be loyal and true to organizational principles. Review the organizational mission statement and ideals when writing roles and responsibilities.
Ensure that all products and services contribute to sustainability and the greater good of society.
Maintain client confidentiality and preserve integrity of company records and documents.
A job description is a written document that clearly states the required duties and responsibilities of a specific role, including the essential skills, education and experience required of a successful candidate.
Writing a good job description can help streamline the recruitment process and increase the chances of attracting more suitable candidates. By keeping the description relevant and up-to-date, they can also be used to measure performance standards during performance appraisals.
What to Include in a Job Description
As the first piece of information a potential candidate reads before they apply for a job, the job description must clearly describe everything the candidate wants to know in a few brief paragraphs.
First, let us take a look at the basic details you should include in your job description:
- Job title
- Duties and responsibilities
- Type of employment (full-time, part-time, casual or other)
- Required skills, education, licenses, qualifications and work experience
- Location
- Weekly work hours and days
- Type of remuneration (wage, salary, commission or piece-rates)
- Who the candidate will report to
- Brief background of the company
- If needed, any physical requirements
While it is important to include these details, they are not enough alone to write a convincing job description. Today’s job seekers have access to a range of online job platforms so they are able to access numerous available positions each week. For a successful recruitment process, the job description must go further and really sell the benefits of the position itself.
Describe in detail what it is like to work at your company and who would be suited for that role. Is the position suitable for someone wanting a fast-paced yet rewarding environment, or a self-motivated person who prefers working by themselves? By helping candidates draw a mental picture in their head, they can decide if they want to apply for the position.
Call Our Team of Advisers Who Will Help You with Your Workplace Questions.
Types of Job Titles
Aside from having a well-written job description, the role must be neatly summarised into a job title that clearly describes the position.
To make this process easy you can break down job titles into two types: Titles that describe what the person does (e.g. mechanic, accountant or chef), and titles that describes the responsibilities of the role (e.g. executive, manager or director). In some cases a combination of both types is acceptable.
If you are unsure on how to title a certain role, look at similar roles in the industry and use them as a reference to create your own.
Duties and Responsibilities
This section clearly explains the tasks, duties and responsibilities that come with a specific role.
When writing job duties, ensure the tasks are specific and relevant to the position. For example, instead of saying one of the tasks is to ‘review financial records,’ say the job requires candidates to ‘analyse data collected from internal records and customer invoices to assess the company’s financial position.’
If the position is a managerial role, explain how much authority the employee has over their specific department or the company itself. Do they have to maintain work schedules? Are they responsible for the Health and Safety of a department? Be specific about these details.
For positions that are relatively new or niche, you may need to research online and seek out valuable insight from industry experts to learn about the kinds of tasks, duties and responsibilities that come with the role. After gaining this information you can personalise the job title and description to suit your specific business needs.
General Skills
General Skills are also known as transferable or employability skills and do not fall under a particular role or industry. Instead they are general competencies that can be used to complement the role-specific skills you already possess.
Examples of general skills include:
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Problem solving
- Planning and organising
- Self-management
When writing a job description, you should specify what kind of general skills you are looking for. For example, if the job is for a retail position, you can specify that candidates must have strong communication skills and previous experience in customer service.
Types of Employment
Each type of employment has different rates of pay and entitlements. The types of employees in the workplace you choose will depend on the needs of the business, the industry standards of that particular role, and your budget.
The most common types of employment include:
- Full-time
- Part-time
- Casual
- Fixed-term
- Shift workers
- Daily hire or weekly hire
Regardless of which employment type you choose, the terms of the arrangement must be outlined in the job description.
Employsure can help you write, review and revise the job descriptions in your company. For peace of mind, please contact us on 1300 651 415 to learn more.
Call Our Team of Advisers Who Will Help You with Your Workplace Questions.