One problem I’ve seen with writing and updating job titles is that they can quickly become outdated. When technology changes, work loads change, and businesses have to adapt to new market conditions, roles change too. When job titles don’t change, they stop reflecting what workers actually do. This can cause confusion, misunderstandings, and anger on both sides. I’ve seen how unclear or outdated job descriptions can affect performance, engagement, and even hiring decisions.
A way to address this problem is to change how people think about job titles. You shouldn’t think of them as set lists of tasks. Instead, you should see them as flexible frameworks that outline core duties while allowing for growth and change. The book Break All the Rules first discusses how great managers spend less time on strict job descriptions and more time getting to know their employees’ abilities, skills, and knowledge (Buckingham & Coffman, 2016). Instead of putting workers into rigid roles, this method lets roles change based on each person’s strengths.
It can be hard to find the right balance between clarity and freedom. Job descriptions should be clear enough to tell people what is expected of them, but not too detailed that they can’t do their own thing. Organizations can stay legal, improve performance management, and help employees grow by keeping job titles up to date (Tyler, 2013). This balance can be maintained by regularly reviewing and updating job titles, especially during performance reviews or when the company changes.
Lack of workers has also shown how important it is to have job titles that can be changed. During the COVID-19 recovery, many companies had to rethink their roles to hire and retain workers. To do this, they often combined duties or restructured jobs to make them more attractive (Rosenberg, 2021). This supports the idea that job titles should help plan the workforce rather than get in the way of it.
Overall, uniformity, flexibility, and alignment with the real work are the most important things to keep in mind when writing job descriptions. When job titles change along with the company and its employees, they stop being useless pieces of paper and become useful tools.
Sources:
Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. (1999). First, break all the rules: What the world’s greatest managers do differently. Simon & Schuster.
Tyler, K. (2023, December 21). Job worth doing: Update descriptions. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/hr-magazine/job-worth-update-descriptions
Rosenberg, E. (2021, June 12). These businesses found a way around the worker shortage: A big boost in wages. The Seattle Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/these-businesses-found-a-way-around-the-worker-shortage-a-big-boost-in-wages/