When I think about job descriptions, I remember that many places I have worked only had verbal job expectations given to their employees. I would come into the interview, and the manager would essentially just list a bunch of things that I could expect to be doing in a day. It was difficult to keep track of and remember. The more professional job that I have now is different and has a long, detailed description of what I do each day. It made the job feel more valuable and professional. The job description discussed how I would be monitored, who I would report to, and what the specific expectations were, such as working on my feet and working with high heat.
Importance of Job Descriptions
Besides my own experience, it is apparent that job descriptions are very important in many careers. They are used to hire new employees, and also ensure that current employees are doing the important tasks that they were hired to do. They are also used to redesign certain jobs and see if the tasks that were originally set as the job expectations still hold true. Along with this, they are used to find the ways in which certain positions overlap and build on each other to make a cohesive company. Due to the many things job descriptions are used for, they should be updated regularly (Tyler, 2013).
How to Keep Up With Updates
To confront some of the challenges with keeping job descriptions updated, the HR department can give the job descriptions to managers to use during performance reviews (Tyler, 2013). As a part of the performance review, employees can look over their job description and give feedback on if they are completing those tasks, if other tasks would make more sense to put on the job description and how they see those tasks as a part of their job. This feedback could then be reviewed by the manager and the HR department to see how the job description could be updated or revised. The managers can also decide which tasks are showing KSAO skills and which tasks are not as important to include (Swift, 2021).
References
Tyler, K. (2013, January 1). Job Worth Doing: Update Descriptions. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0113-job-descriptions.aspx.
Swift, M. (2021, July). Job Analysis. Week 3 Learning Materials. Corvallis; Oregon State University.