The job description is a part of job analysis and there are many details and information that go into it. The job description is important for the company and its employees because it explains what is everyone’s role and what do they need to do as a part of their job. A lot of details that make up a job description mean that there are many places that someone could make a mistake and that there are many challenges that could arise from it too.
Some of the challenges with forming and practically applying job descriptions are that they “could be outdated” (Lecture 1), that if wrongly written can lead to legal issues, and “what if an employee’s job description and daily tasks do not match”(Job Worth Doing, 2013). If the job description gets outdated the company should make some changes in the organization and try to stay up to date with current technological improvements and industry standards. If a job description causes legal consequences the company should check their standards and legal papers before they submit the job description, all in hope that they improve the description before it comes to the court and makes sure to have to check processes in place to avoid negative legal consequences. If job descriptions do not match employee’s daily tasks the company should “ask the leader to come to HR to work through the issue” (Job Worth Doing, 2013). From there they should all work together to understand the problem and address it. Also, after they resolve the gap between the job description and “reality” they should make sure to make certain changes for future employees that would work on the same job.
In addition, the company should not base their job description on specific employees who have some unique skills that help them perform certain jobs because then it will be hard to find another person like that. Additionally, it is good to have different people who solve the same problem in different ways. This could bring diversity and new ideas to the organization.
Reference: Tyler, K. (2018, April 11). Job Worth Doing: Update Descriptions. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/Pages/0113-job-descriptions.aspx.