In my most recent role in sales, my job description focused on prospecting new clients, managing their accounts, and meeting monthly sales quotas. Seems straightforward enough, however, the reality I found in the role was juggling several vendor relationships, handling pricing, delivery, and inventory issues, and handling internal company relationships with several departments that had little to do with my day-to-day experience. None of this was in my official job description, but it quickly became expected of me in my daily duties. Over time, this lack of clarity led to burnout; I felt as though I was doing three jobs at once without the structure (or pay) to support it.
My personal experience highlights why accurate and up to date job descriptions are essential. In this week’s readings, we learned that job analysis is the foundation for almost every HR function, from recruitment to training to legal defense (Swift, 2025). When a job description is too vague or outdated, it is hard to align expectations between employees and management, leading to increased turnover, frustration, and even potential legal ramifications.
Developing and maintaining job descriptions is not always easy, especially since roles can evolve when a company grows, technology advances, or shift during promotions. Great managers understand that talent goes beyond skills and is also about recurring patterns of behavior that align with how people naturally think and act (Buckingham & Coffman, 2012). HR professionals must design roles that not only fit business needs but also leverages employee strengths.
There are several things HR can do to overcome these challenges. For one, HR teams should conduct regular job analyses, at a minimum once a year but ideally more frequently, and seek input from both the employee actually in the role, and supervisors. There are multiple tools that can help with this, such as ONet, competency modeling, and skills inventories to keep data current (Swift, 2025). It is also a good idea to be using the job description regularly, and updating it as the role and employee evolves. An article from SHRM states “If you regularly use a job description, rather than just have one on file, you’re more likely to keep it up-to-date. If you pull out a job description every time you work on performance reviews, compensation planning, succession planning, training and development needs, you are a lot more likely to maintain it.” (Tyler, 2023).
Job descriptions are living documents that support recruitment, performance, compensation and development, and should be treated as important as such.
References:
Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. (2012). First, break all the rules: What the world’s greatest managers do differently. Must Read Summaries.
Swift, M. (2025). Job Analysis. Lecture.
Tyler, K. (2023, December 21). Job worth doing: Update descriptions. Welcome to SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/hr-magazine/job-worth-update-descriptions