A REFERENCE GUIDE
September 2006
Job descriptions an their usefulness
An accurate job description, composed with clarify and brevity and based on
the careful analysis of the tasks performed, is essential not only for the
staffing process but for job evaluation and the full range of Human
Resources functions. Without job description as a guideline, interviewing
job candidates would be difficult, selecting the right person would be a
gamble. Performance appraisals would be more guess work, evaluations for
promotions would be subject to personal rather than professional
considerations, selecting for training would be haphazard, and comparison
structure might be invalid. Having a set of job descriptions doe s not
automatically solve all personnel problems. But considering how valuable
and useful they are, it is surprising that many companies avoid them or are
content to use that are too vague or too good to be meaningful.
It is in this context that the following guidelines are issued so that with little
practice and training the companies would be able to develop and update an
on going basis their job descriptions.
Job analysis :
They are :
b) Make sure that the purpose of the activity is clearly communicated to the
employees whose jobs are to be analysed.
d) Gather the necessary specific information about the jobs as they are
analysed and verify them.
a) The facts obtained and recorded must refer to the ‘Job’ and not the
‘Person’ employed in it.
b) The duties and responsibilities must reflect the content of the job as it
exists now. Not how it has existed in the past, might exist in the future
nor how it could exist under different circumstances. The minimum
requirements must be adequate to support satisfactory performance of
such duties and responsibilities by an average employee.
c) The Job Analyst must verify the facts and ensure that they are essential to
the operation of the unit, accurate, factual and realistic. The analyst’s role
is to record them and not to reach conclusions concerning them.
d) The duties of such job must be cordinated with the duties of other jobs,
above and below, in the organisational unit and with related and
benchmark jobs in other parts of the organisation. Where there is more
than one incumbent in a job only one job analysis form is required.
f) Where the job has more than one application such as Secretary or Clerk,
it is advisable to obtain details of the application in various units in order
to ensure adequate coverage.
The job analysis exercise must be carried out using the job analysis form
which is attached hereto.
JOB ANALYSIS FORM
_____________________________________________________________
DEPARTMENT : DIVISION :
LOCATION : SUPERVISED BY :
Briefly describe the overall goal and purpose of the job. This statement should be a
general summary of the responsibilities of the job.
2. Duties and responsibilities : Percent of time
4. WORK CONTACTS
• Immediate Associates
• Other Divisions
• Div.,/Dept. Heads
• Government Officials
• Public
• Contractors
• Others
5. INDEPENDENCE OF OPERATION : (Check applicable items and
explain as indicated)
a) Self made :
b) Shared :
c) Normally recommended to higher authority for approval.
Number : Nature :
Indicate the amount, type and duration of physical effort required in the
job and the tools, equipment and machinery operated.
9. WORK ENVIRONMENT
Indicate the normal work conditions encountered during the day to day
performance of the job. (Check applicable items)
- None - None
- Literacy - Years of training up to
- Years of schooling secondary level
(elementary thro’ secondary) - Years of training beyond
- Years of University secondary level
Specialty
Date : Date :
Job Description
Basic issues
a) Identification
b) Precision
The description must be precise and use specific terms, clear in layman’s
language, aimed at defining each function fully.
c) Conciseness
d) Organisation
e) Coordination
Each job forms a part of the organizational structure. Accordingly the job
description must be prepared not in isolation but in close coordination
with other jobs in the organization.
f) Standardization
The description must be compiled in a uniform manner and presented in
a standard form provided for this purpose.
Job description preparation guidelines
The purpose statement will seldom exceed three or four lines, e.g. the
statement for a Personnel Manager’s job might be as follows :
“To acquire, develop and retain the quality and quantity of employees
required for company operations by planning, developing,
recommending and implementing sound personnel policies and
practices”.
Please note that the purpose statement is not a list of activities and they
do not describe how the job is achieved.
- what would not get done if the job did not exist ?
- what does this job do that other jobs don’t?
b) Principal Duties
This summarizes the end results required of the job. It should answer the
question about the principal areas in which the job must produce results
in order to achieve its basic purpose.
* Realistic
• Challenging
• Explicit
• Guides to action, suggestive of methods of measurement, e.g. in a
Secretary’s job description, you may find a statement such as :
Manager
Supervisor
Often the 1st and 2nd level of coordination above the direct operator
Controlling work within a daily cycle of production. The job is certain to
be governed by procedure or precedent. You may have to explain the
degree of control of staff.
Specialist
This should reflect the particular kinds of specialist problems the job is
required to solve.
Operator / Clerk
d) Work contacts
This identifies the most important working relationship both within and
outside the company. It contains the nature, frequency and purpose of
such contacts and looks into the level the job represents such as division,
department or company.
f) Physical effort
h) Minimum Requirement
The Job Descriptions shall be developed using the job description form
which is attached hereto.
JOB DESCRIPTION FORM
______________________________________________________________________________________
DEPARTMENT :
______________________________________________________________________________________
LOCATION : SUPERVISED BY :
______________________________________________________________________________________
1. Basic purpose of job : Give a brief statement of the main reason for the job’s
existence. This is roughly equivalent of a one sentence answer to the question “Why
does the company have this job ?”
======================================================
* Immediate Associates
• Other Divisions
• Div./Dept. Heads
• Government Officials
• Public
• Contractors
• Others
4. RESPONSIBILITY
b) Grade : b) Level :
8. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS :
Put the person at ease, gain his confidence and establish the
atmosphere where effective communication can take place. A
relationship of mutual confidence between you and the interviewee
is necessary to set the best results.
Often the job holders believe that they are being appraised or
evaluated by you. Explain clearly the nature of your role. Stress
that you are collecting and analyzing information for an objective
description of his job.
You will usually find it easiest to start the interview by getting the
Job holder to sketch out an organization chart showing the job in
the unit. This will help you to place the job in the overall
perspective of the company and indicate the line of questioning.
- What ?
- How ?
- Why ?
The job holder will expect you to ask direct questions but may not
be able to answer them immediately. You can ask him to process
the information before he answers. Listen carefully and decide what
is relevant.
Once the job holder starts talking there are a number of responses
you can use to indicate you are listening.
They include :
a) Non-committal response
b) Echo response
This merely echoes what the job holder last said. It shows him
that you are listening an encourages him to enlarge on what he
has been saying.
An example
This type of response shows that you are listening. But there is
Also a pitfall, when you interpret the job holder may feel that
you are judging or making assumptions. Be cautious !
At times you may find your working with a job holder who is
reluctant to talk. This calls for skill, tact and self-discipline on
the part of the job analyst.
When you reach the end, it will be polite to ask if there are any
questions or comments. This will give the job holder an
opportunity to clarify a point which has been troubling him.
g) Listen “between the lines”. Things unsaid, hinted at, implied can
be very important.
List of action verbs commonly used in Job Descriptions
Website: http://www.madure.org