When I first started working during college, I joined a small construction company that had the job descriptions very subtle and were pretty much nonexistent. Everyone had a general idea of what needed to be done, but no one had an official list of responsibilities. At first, that seemed fine, most of the people just helped wherever they could. However, over time, it became a problem. Tasks began overlapping, certain responsibilities were ignored, and when something went wrong, hardly anyone confessed or it was someone else’s work who wasn’t remotely qualified. That experience showed me how messy things can get when job descriptions aren’t properly developed or updated.
When we think of creating job descriptions, they sounds easy in theory. In reality, it’s actually one of the hardest parts of managing people. The biggest challenge I’ve noticed is that jobs constantly evolve and change. As companies change, roles shift to cover new tasks, but the descriptions rarely keep up. For example, when our company started using new project management software, field supervisors began doing more digital documentation than before, but their job descriptions were still outdated and focused mainly on manual reporting. That disconnect caused tension because supervisors ended up working longer hours on duties they hadn’t officially agreed to.This caused a lot of resentment within the company and the blame game would start.
Another challenge is keeping everyone involved. Writing and maintaining job descriptions shouldn’t be an HR only task. The people actually doing the job need to have a say and describe what their job entails. Whenever job descriptions get updated without employee input, they can feel out of touch or unrealistic. What worked best in the long run of the constant issues was having short team checkins every couple of months. This is where people could suggest updates or bring up things that didn’t match their day to day workload.
The overall realization was that job descriptions aren’t just paperwork. They’re a foundation for fairness. When they’re done right, everyone knows what’s expected of them and can take pride in meeting those expectations. However, when they’re ignored, even the best teams can start to fall apart.