Charles Mossiat

Maintaining and Creating Job Descriptions

Job descriptions are an imperative component of the hiring component of a business. I like to think of them as the “first domino”. A job description is one of the first things that an employee interacts with, an improper one can lead to people not applying which in turn leads to vacancy in a business. A well-written one that does not properly describe the job itself is also an issue because it may result in false expectations or qualifications outside of the applicant’s skill set. Creating a description is a difficult task as usually the creator of it is not physically working in that position. With technology and company goals constantly changing, there is also always a need for job descriptions to be updated. It is critical that management is constantly re-evaluating jobs and creating new courses of action that allow for a proper display of what said job will be like. They also act as a guideline for keeping employees on task and performing in their field. A poor description could lead to what many people in the business world call “not my job syndrome” which is when important job-specific tasks are not getting done because employees are unaware that it is in their department. It is a simple yet immensely important part to a company and should be discussed more by managers in order to have a sound understanding of what people are supposed to do to best generate potential success for the company.