The role of a job description is key in the workplace. They describe what is expected in a role and what you should be doing while in it. When looking at my own experience, when job descriptions are out of date or nonexistent, it can lead to confusion among managers and team members, while it can also cause duplications in effort, or in worst-case scenarios, employee burnout. Precise job descriptions also aid in hiring, training, and even in determining fair evaluations
Challenges:
The big challenge is that jobs change fast. New technologies, the reorganizing of teams, or changes in business strategies can make a job description outdated in a matter of months. This week’s module states that workforce planning is based on knowing precisely what is required of each job. When a job description doesn’t match what’s actually being done, it’s difficult to predict staffing requirements or address areas of need.
Another problem is that job descriptions are often composed by HR or upper management without sufficient feedback from the people who are actually going to be doing the work. The result of this is that descriptions are often off the mark, too incomplete or too broad to be of any use to the people already working there, or the right people they want to recruit.
Solutions:
In my opinion, the answer begins with redefining job descriptions as living documents. The conditions of these documents should be updated regularly, and optimally during a performance review, so that the documents reflect the changing nature of work. This also matches the forecasting methods we studied, such as skills inventories and transition analysis to prepare for future roles and replacements.
Another key is involving employees in this process. In addition to increasing the accuracy of the descriptions, it can also favour engagement. Lastly, HR software can also assist with tracking changes and facilitating updates throughout departments.
In today’s market, where talent is so hard to come by, having strong job descriptions isn’t only an HR requirement, but it is also an advantage.