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JOB DESCRIPTIONS.
Term Paper ID:27044
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Essay Subject:
Examines importance of job descriptions from corporate & employee perspectives. Creation, revising, flexibility, uses, effectiveness, titles, human resource issues.... More...
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7 Pages / 1575 Words
10 sources, 22 Citations,
MLA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Examines importance of job descriptions from corporate & employee perspectives. Creation, revising, flexibility, uses, effectiveness, titles, human resource issues.
Paper Introduction:
The job description is a concise, complete, organized outline and description of the tasks, priorities, and time allocations of a particular position, often accompanied by designation of the competencies and skills required by the work. But, rather than merely describing the manner in which a job is being done at the moment, it should describe the manner in which the job should be done. Job descriptions can be created prior to a position being activated or can be produced for existing jobs (often with a combination of incumbent self-report, supervisor input, and administrative contributions and control). They can be the result of extensive job analysis or they may be less formally prepared. But, in their most complete forms, job descriptions are one of the most valuable tools Human Resource (HR) managers possess and, if properly executed, published, and
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As Grant notes, the HR literature has "uncovered 132 major managementuses" for job descriptions and there is "probably no other management tool[that] has such potential for usage in such a wide variety of significantways" (11). Having a job description in place "helps in detectingvariances between actual and planned behavior and helps in determining theneed for, and nature of, corrective action strategies" (Grant 13). characterized by infrequent repetition and highjob depth (or discretion) in performance" are addressed and such functionsare sometimes addressed in terms of outputs or outcomes rather than as time-measured tasks (Siegel 483). Grant describes it as "a type ofmodel that can be analyzed and manipulated on paper" to make inferencesabout the impact of new job designs on performance (12). One ofthe primary solutions to this problem is for HR managers to become "expertin the way work is organized and executed" throughout the organization and,thereby, possess an expertise that makes them valuable "partner[s] withsenior and line managers in strategy execution" (Ulrich 124). Job analysis typically produces a great deal of information--all ofwhich is not directly applicable to the job description. The job description alsoserves as a 'blueprint' for job design. "Critical Care for Review Process." Personnel Journal 75.4 (1996): 115-2 .Buhler, Patricia. But since thepurpose of the description is to provide a basic source of information, onwhich employees, supervisors, senior management, and the HR specialist candraw, the larger knowledge base produced by job analysis is entirelydesirable. Butflexibility can be built into job descriptions so long as thosecontributing to the analysis recognize the need to identify common anduncommon variations in tasks and functions. Works CitedAlderhold, LaJuan, Nancy O'Keefe, and Darrell Burke. To gain such knowledge it is necessary to approach each job as anindividual entity that fits into the organization in a particular fashion.The only way to arrive at such understanding is to approach those who knowmost about each position (and whose expectations matter) and, as most HRmanagers soon discover, the ways in which incumbents, supervisors, and thewriters of generic job descriptions differ can be most informative.Certainly, "each job informant is affected by unique factors and thus mayperceive aspects of the job that are not obvious to other job informants"(Sanchez, Zamora & Viswesvaran 2 9). "Job Analysis in the TQM Environment." Public Personnel Management 25 (1996): 485-94.Sunoo, Brenda Park. Basiccompetencies were then further broken down into "skill-building strategies"and a consultant psychologist articulated the "concrete values" and thetypes of interview questions that would display the required competencies(Sunoo, "Creating" 72). "Why Job Descriptions Are Not Used Any More." Supervision 59.4 (1998): 1 -13.Purcell, John. As Purcell notes, there is a "litany of key processes" essential tothe formation of sound policy that meets the needs of a company and theyare all intimately connected with, or essential to, the basic constructionof job descriptions: "recruitment and selection, communication, trainingand learning, job design and work organisation, involvement andparticipation, appraisal and reward" (35). While sometimes thought of as little more than a "to-do"list or a set of constraints, the properly prepared job description hasgreat flexibility. Similarly the identified competencies could be made the goalof employee development schemes for workers who wished to advance to newpositions. Finally it should also be recognized that Human Resource specialistswho do not exploit the tools at their disposal are the ones who raise thequestion of how their knowledge and activities "help senior managersachieve their organizational objectives?" (Tyson 42). For the most part, however, jobs can bebroken down and classified by HR specialists and departmental managers.But this involves "rigorous job analysis procedures which are needed toassure high quality data" for descriptions (Grant 11). Best Practices and Best Fit: Chimera or Cul-de-sac." Human Resource Management Journal 9.3 (1999): 26-37.Sanchez, Juan I., Alina Zamora, and Chockalingam Viswesvaran. "How HR Knowledge Contributes to Organisational Performance." Human Resource Management Journal 9.3 (1999): 42-61.Ulrich, Dave. Yet the full potential of jobdescriptions is seldom exploited because too few managers know how to usejob descriptions; too few organizations know how to prepare them; and toofew Human Resources personnel know how to integrate them into the workinglife of their organizations as effective tools. Simultaneously the identification of thecompetencies needed in each job gave supervisors and HR staff a means ofevaluating flawed performance with greater accuracy and recommendingretraining or skills acquisition as a means of correcting performancedeficiencies. Sunoo, for example, discusses the importance of job descriptions inemployee development and recruiting during a reengineering initiative in alarge firm. Jobdescriptions and job analysis are the foundation of such expertise andwithout adequate command of this knowledge and skills base the HR manageris unable to make a full contribution to the organization. If jobs veer too far fromorganization expectations then redesign or the reassignment of tasks orpersonnel become necessary. Interviewers familiarize themselveswith the basic skills and knowledge required by each position and the jobdescription serves as a guide during interviews. "Recruitment: A Partner in Creating a Competitive Advantage." Supervision 57.2 (1996): 24-26.Grant, Philip C. And a job description that is not "founded ona systematic job analysis within the host organization cannot provide allthe necessary information on the context and specifics of the job" (Sunoo,"Generic" 1 2). The processes that seemed to leave the HR specialistdisconnected from the real work of the firm can, instead, serve as themeans of connection; a result that serves the best interests of employees,managers, and the HR manager. In interviews with HR professionals Sunoo foundthat those who favor generic descriptions believe that "one gainsflexibility because the description addresses expectations andaccountabilities but does not get into the details of how a task should beperformed" ("Generic" 1 2). As Siegel notes, as many as 14 different types of data might beassembled in job analyses, including government-mandated licensing ortraining, professional standards, job responsibilities, environmentalinformation, identification of outputs (products and services), specificmachinery and equipment employed, work performance standards, physical jobdemands, elemental motions, activities, trait requirements (knowledge,skills, abilities and personal attributes), and examples of outstanding orinferior performance in the position (Siegel 12). But, rather than merely describing the manner inwhich a job is being done at the moment, it should describe the manner inwhich the job should be done. Such standardized descriptions are especiallyappealing when a firm has large numbers of people who perform similartasks. In themajority of companies, however, Human Resources work is limited to handlingpaperwork for hiring and firing, processing benefits information, andadministering decisions made by managers. Among the uses discussed in the literature are job design,performance appraisal, rewards, employee training and development, andrecruitment. Such things as "temporary jobassignments, team responsibilities and time spent on unexpected problems ordirectives" need to be included (Grant 11). Instead most companies paylittle attention to what is perceived as a routine task to be attended toby HR staff and then "left collecting dust in file drawers" (Grant 1 ). When selecting the best approach to creating (or revising) jobdescriptions in an organization one of the first questions is whether it isbetter, especially in large companies, to use generic job descriptions orto write individual descriptions of each position. Experts argue thatthe primary function of a fully engaged HR manager is "interpretingsocietal and organizational level variables into HR strategies andpolicies, and adapting employee perceptions to these" (Tyson 42). Since such processes often involve persons, such assenior managers, who may not be intimately connected with the functions andrequirements of the job, "a clear job analysis should be conducted toensure that the interviewer knows exactly what skills and knowledge arerequired in an applicant" (Buhler 24). Another important aspect of using individualized job descriptions isthat American courts "have repeatedly ruled that personnel systems must besupported by job analysis" and a system of generic job descriptions mightleave a company "in a legally vulnerable position" (Sunoo, "Generic" 1 2).In addition job descriptions that offer erroneous or misleading informationor do not describe what the individual believes s/he is being asked to doare useless for purposes such as recruiting, worse than useless foremployee development or morale, and unhelpful for planning. But in almost every case "the activities of HR appear to be--and often are--disconnected from the real work of the organization" (Ulrich 125). The HR manager who hassystematically instituted and executed a protocol for job descriptionconstruction and has instructed others in the variety of uses to whichthese descriptions can be put has acquired a full, practical knowledge ofthe firm and integrated her/himself into the actual operations of theorganization. . Abrief review of the elements of job descriptions and a discussion of someof their principal aims and uses will demonstrate how little of theirpotential is being tapped when this view prevails. "Creating Worker Competency Roadmaps." Workforce 78.3 (1999): 72.Tyson, Shaun. The importance of job descriptions is recognized by most managementexperts and job descriptions (as well as related processes such as jobanalysis and competency identification) are treated as prerequisites to theimplementation of change initiatives within organizations (such as TotalQuality Management (TQM) or reengineering). Moderators of Agreement between Incumbent and Non-incumbent ratings of job Characteristic." Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 7 (1997): 2 9-18.Siegel, Gilbert B. But they also depend heavily on what the organization says the jobconsists of and the use of prefabricated descriptions precludes theacquisition of a deeper understanding of processes, knowledge of caseswhere jobs do not conform to descriptions, and insight into the roles ofpositions within the organization as a whole. And within every company similar jobsmay be radically different depending on who is filling them or howsupervisors and managers conceive of the work in different departments. A job description is not meant to be "a description of what is [but]a prescription" in which the tasks and responsibilities the worker shouldbe engaged in are identified as well as "a statement of where, when and howfrequently the worker should spend time on various duties" (Grant 11). . For those who employgeneric job descriptions there are numerous tools available ranging fromvolumes of general descriptions fitting thousands of job titles to computersoftware and hardware products (that can also be useful even when separatedescriptions are created). Managers frequently avoid using job descriptions because they are"written in language that is too general to be meaningful," which is oftenbelieved to be necessary if job descriptions are to be flexible and allowmanagers to "'adjust course' as business demands dictate" (Grant 1 ). Aderhold, O'Keefe and Burke deemed job descriptions essential to theperformance appraisal process, on which pay raises were based, in areengineering initiative carried out in a large hospital. "Generic or Non-generic Job Descriptions?" Personnel Journal 75.2 (1996): 1 2.Sunoo, Brenda Paik. Thedifficulties inherent in describing such proportions of times andidentifying "tasks" increase disproportionately as higher levels of"knowledge-type work . In this respectthe job description serves as a standard with which real job behavior canbe compared. Forpurposes of hospital accreditation "a stand-alone competency managementprogram [was] in place" and competency profiles were developed as a meansof examining discrepancies between employees and the descriptions ofpositions they were expected to fill (Alderhold et al. Job descriptions can be created prior to aposition being activated or can be produced for existing jobs (often with acombination of incumbent self-report, supervisor input, and administrativecontributions and control). The job description is a concise, complete, organized outline anddescription of the tasks, priorities, and time allocations of a particularposition, often accompanied by designation of the competencies and skillsrequired by the work. Information on the functions of each job allowed managers todevelop lists of competencies required to meet job demands. But, in their mostcomplete forms, job descriptions are one of the most valuable tools HumanResource (HR) managers possess and, if properly executed, published, andcomprehended, can be of equal value to managers and employees throughoutthe organization. Yet managers and employees arecorrect in recognizing the danger of overly restrictive job descriptionsthat can be interpreted too narrowly by either side in disputes over whatis or is not "my job." Ample job analysis and full, detailed jobdescriptions prevent such problems, and extend the uses of job descriptionsbeyond the role of guides for employees and supervisors. It can and should be used in everything from job designand recruitment to performance evaluation and employee development. "A New Mandate for Human Resources." Harvard Business Review 76 (1998): 124-34. Ifjob descriptions are to be used as more than basic information which can befiled and forgotten it is necessary to have far more detail and to payattention to individual differences. They can be the result of extensive jobanalysis or they may be less formally prepared. In some cases HR specialistsmanage recruiting or training and develop programs or take responsibilityfor some aspects of compliance--such as training or licensing requirements. 119). Buhler describes the essential role of job descriptions in therecruiting process.
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