Job Description

Job Description- Job descriptions are tangible products of job analysis conducted by organizations.  As stated earlier, a job description is the resulting product of a job analysis. It is a broadly generalized, written statement of a specific job and lays out the basic tasks and responsibilities of a job along with the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) required for doing the job effectively. A job description also includes a description of the physical conditions of a job along with any physical requirements a worker needs to meet. Finally, a job description also outlines the title of the job along with the title of any supervisory or subordinate relationships associated with it.

Job descriptions play an important role in targeting and attracting the right candidate for the job. They include information such as job title or designation, job location, reporting structure, job summary, working conditions, machines, tools, and equipment to be used, skills needed by the and salary range.

Benefits of Job Descriptions

The two primary areas of work that benefit from job descriptions are recruitment and performance. A good job description allows recruiters to correctly target the right candidates and evaluate them against the requirements of the job. In turn, a clearly defined job allows candidates to self-select out of the recruitment process if they do not meet the criteria thus saving the recruiter time.

The performance management process also benefits from good job descriptions by making it easier to evaluate good performance and bad performance based on the requirements of the job.  Career-pathing also becomes easier since someone aspiring to a particular job can understand exactly what is needed in order to be promoted or transferred into that role.

Job descriptions also help in building robust compensation & benefits policies by making it easier to compare the relative worth of jobs within an organization based on the relative requirements laid out in a job desktop.

Creating a job description is a daunting task that is generally performed with the help of the human resource department. A job description is usually developed by conducting a job analysis, which includes examining the tasks and sequences of tasks necessary to perform the job. Then a list of requirements, related to skills and qualifications is laid out, a list of the possible roles, duties, functions and responsibilities is also considered and laid out to set out the purpose of a job, where the job fits into the organisation structure, but mainly the job description is helpful to ascertain the accountabilities and responsibilities of the job and the key tasks to be performed.

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