Although it may seem unimportant, job descriptions are vital to the success and maintenance of an HR program. Not only do they clarify the nature of roles, but they list competencies, requirements, and other classifying information in order to best represent the role and talent needed to successfully fill it. This standardization process allows for companies to scale-up their HR functions and make sure everything is uniform across platforms. Job descriptions are also hugely important in terms of liability and performance evaluation. If for some reason the business gets sued over issues of role purview or something similar, then HR/management can cite the job description in order to protect themselves. Although it’s important HR keeps tabs on these descriptions because that same logic can work in the opposite direction if an employee is being made to perform duties outside of their role. In order to combat this, HR should review descriptions at least once a year, or ad hoc in order to keep up with any changes. These job descriptions need to be accurate in order to correlate to the appropriate development tracks, compensation packages, and any other changes to an employees path or benefits. Companies can address these problems by performing job analyses on various levels/roles, whether in-house or through a consultancy. Jobs can be redesigned if needed, and descriptions updated to match. As I previously mentioned, once the system is set up and standardized it becomes a much easier and cheaper process to maintain than a decentralized jumble of vague descriptions that leave everyone feeling taken advantage of.