The Challenges of Maintaining Job Descriptions
With today’s job market being so tumultuous, it is becoming more and more important for both people seeking jobs, as well as those looking to hire, that job descriptions are kept as accurate and up-to-date as possible. Especially when jobs now can rely on the understanding of a coding language, specific project management software, or other specific technical knowledge, employers need to keep their posted job descriptions transparent and clear.
Many view job descriptions as static when in reality they should be looked at as amendable, flexible, living documents, that can and should be reviewed at least once a year (Tyler, 2013). The employees who do the job, along with their managers, should review the job description regularly with HR to ensure that the job being marketed is as accurate as possible. Additionally, depending on the level of inaccuracy, a misleading job description could get a company in legal trouble.
The largest challenge with job descriptions can be the nature of the jobs that are being described, as in some jobs can be easy to quantify into a job description, and some can be much more nebulous to describe with a simple list of tasks. HR departments can use different types of analyzing jobs to better describe them in job descriptions. Instead of sticking to a list of routine tasks that that job will perform, employers could offer a list of skills required, and problems that they will be required to solve on the job, for example.
Creating and maintaining accurate job descriptions is an oft-overlooked and underappreciated task for HR managers. By leveraging employee collaboration to review and revise job descriptions, and treating them as living documents, as well as changing how jobs are described, companies will be more successful in recruiting and retaining employees who will be happier because their actual job matches closely with the job that they applied for.
Sources:
Tyler, Kathryn. “Job Worth Doing: Update Descriptions” SHRM. Last modified January 1, 2013. https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/hr-magazine/job-worth-update-descriptions.
