Well-written
job descriptions are worth the effort
What is a
job description? Seems simple enough, doesn’t it? A job
description describes somebody’s job. But, like most things in
life, it’s not that simple. Job
descriptions serve a multitude of purposes, and the better they’re
written, the more useful they are.
Who uses
job descriptions and how do they use them?
Supervisors
Faculty and staff supervisors
can use a well-written job description to:
Employees
Upon hire,
give employees a copy of their job description to help them understand
the specific duties and responsibilities of their new position.
Employees can refer to their job description to measure whether or not
they are performing satisfactorily and meeting expectations. If
written properly, job descriptions can help employees understand how
they fit in the organization and how their work helps achieve the
organization’s goals.
Employment
and Compensation
University
employment recruiters use job descriptions to post vacancies and to
screen applicants. The recruiters rely on the descriptions to tell
them the minimum qualifications and the essential functions of each
position.
Human
Resources staff members use job descriptions to compare one position to
another. The comparisons assure that job classifications, pay
decisions, and benefit allocations are fairly and accurately handled.
Purdue’s compensation analysts also use the descriptions for matching
jobs on surveys so that Purdue can determine how the University’s pay
stacks up against that of other employers. Additionally, the job
description allows Purdue to meet its obligation to define
"essential" responsibilities and job demands as required by
some laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Employee
Relations and Staff Benefits
Both Staff
Benefits and Employee Relations use job descriptions to help employees,
supervisors, and physicians determine the essential duties of a job,
including the mental and physical requirements of the job for worker’s
compensation and return-to-work issues. Job descriptions also help
determine reasonable accommodations for temporary or permanent work
restrictions.
Vice
President for Human Relations
The Office
of the Vice President for Human Relations and the Affirmative Action
Office monitor the composition of the workforce by using the
classification codes assigned to job descriptions and other codes
assigned to employees.
Anatomy of
a job description
With all
these uses for job descriptions, an explanation of the elements they
contain is in order. Generally, each job description includes the
following:
 |
Organizational
information: Information such as the job title, department name,
reporting relationships, and whether the job is regular or temporary
and full-time or part-time. |
|
Job
summary: Two to four sentences to answer the question "Why
does this job exist?" |
|
Duties/responsibilities/percentage
of time: A listing of the major duties and responsibilities of
the position organized from essential to non-essential or most
important to least important or most time spent to least time spent.
|
|
Working
conditions: The physical, mental, and environmental conditions
in which the work is performed. |
|
Job
specifications: The minimum education, work experience,
knowledge, skills, and abilities required to do the job. Also
lists any needed licenses or certifications. |
|
Disclaimer:
A brief statement indicating that the job description is not
designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities,
duties, or responsibilities required of the employee. |
|
Signature
approvals: Signatures are needed from the position’s
supervisor and the person who controls the budget that will pay the
position’s salary or wage. |
Compensation
analysts review the components contained in job descriptions to test them
for legal compliance. Are the job specifications defensible? Does
the described job content support the knowledge, skills, and abilities
being required? Will the job pass an exemption test under the Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA)? Would any listed job processes or
equipment prohibit a disabled person from performing a particular activity
and is that activity essential to the performance of the job?
Ensuring a
job description that’s useful for you, your employees, and the
University
If you want to
create a well-planned and useful job description, work with your
compensation analyst!
We’ve found
that the best approach is for the supervisor to write the job description
using the forms found on our Web site. By following the format, you
stand the best chance of capturing the information that Purdue needs to
defend its decisions and that you need to help your employee be
successful.
To focus the
information, it is useful to write down specifically what work needs to be
accomplished. Varying levels of detail may be necessary, but the
goal is to include information that is thorough enough to give a good
understanding of the essential functions without being so exhaustive
that every task is listed individually.
It’s also
useful for you and for us to include an organization chart that shows how
the position fits within your work area. What position does it
report to and what position(s) report to it? This gives a good sense
of the level of responsibility that the incumbent needs in order to
accomplish the tasks required.
If you are
updating a job description, it is very useful if you to explain what has
changed. It’s not necessary to update a job description when minor
changes occur. Likewise, you don’t need to initiate a new job
description form to reword the same duties.
Quality job
descriptions are never a waste of time. The effort put into a
quality description makes it more understandable and useful to recruiters,
applicants, employees, supervisors, medical providers, and a host of
others.
For additional
general information about Purdue’s processes for writing and classifying
job descriptions, visit
our Web site. For information on specific policies, visit the University
Policies Web site.
-
Compensation and Classification Team
