Job descriptions may seem mundane, but when they show up in court, they can kill your case if they’re not accurate. About.com‘s Susan M. Heathfield shares three key warnings for employers.
1. Job descriptions sometimes become outdated as soon as you write them.
In this fast-paced, changing, customer-driven environment, it’s a challenge to keep job descriptions up to date. Supplement the job descriptions with regularly negotiated goals and developmental opportunities, Heathfield says. Regular meetings help you focus on how the employee is investing his or her time.
Change the job description if it doesn’t match what the employee actually does, Heathfield advises.
2. Employees with inflexible job descriptions will have a more difficult time working “outside of the box.”
Job descriptions that are too rigid and confining will keep blinders on your employees. “Job descriptions must be flexible enough that people are comfortable with cross-training, with helping another team member, and feeling the freedom to make appropriate decisions to serve customers,” Heathfield says.
3. Poorly written job descriptions can end up as evidence of wrongdoing or wrong-telling.
For example, you don’t want to be on the witness stand saying you fired a person because he or she couldn’t do a certain task, and then find that the task isn’t on the job description (that you signed off on). Whenever the issue is related to performance, the job description will be one of the first documents examined.
Set that keyboard aside! Your job descriptions are already written. Click here to see why thousands of managers have a permanent place in their offices for BLR’s classic Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.
In yesterday’s Advisor, we started the checklist for handling special requirements in job descriptions from BLR’s popular Job Descriptions Encyclopedia. Here are the lists for mental and environmental requirements. (Go here for the physical requirements checklist.)
Mental Requirements
__ General Intelligence (typical requirement for machine operators, office staff, etc.) | Does the employee have the ability to learn and comprehend basic instructions and orientation to the job? |
__ Motor Coordination Skills (typical for a hand assembler, automobile mechanic, watch repair technician) | Is the employee able to coordinate eyes, hands, and fingers rapidly and accurately and handle precise movements? |
__ Coordination of Eyes, Hands, and Feet (typical for a tractor trailer driver, foot-press operator) | Does the employee have the ability to coordinate the eyes, hands, and feet with each other in response to visual stimuli? |
__ Verbal Intelligence (typical for a sales clerk, a production supervisor) | Does the employee have the ability to understand the meanings of words and respond effectively? |
__ Numerical Intelligence (typical for an accounting clerk, a shipping checker) | Does the employee have the ability to perform basic arithmetic accurately and quickly? |
Workplace Environmental Conditions
__ Noise Conditions (typical environmental condition for a manufacturing plant worker) | Is the employee exposed during a shift to constant or intermittent sounds at a level sufficient to cause hearing loss or fatigue? |
__ Heat (typical for a furnace operator or heat treater) | Is the employee subject to high temperatures that result in significant body discomfort? |
__ Cold (typical for an outdoor worker in cold climates or a freezer operator) | Is the employee exposed to low temperatures that result in significant body discomfort? |
__ Injury Exposures (typical for electricians, forklift truck operators, tractor trailer drivers) | Is the employee exposed to workplace hazards more frequently than normal? To potential injuries? |
__ Atmospheric Exposures (typical for welders, solvent handlers) | Is the employee exposed to dusts, fumes, vapors, or mists that could affect the occupational health of the employee? |
Now comes the big question: What’s the state of your job descriptions? Are they complete? Up to date? Do they accurately reflect physical, mental, and environmental requirements? If not—or if you’ve never even written them—you’re not alone. Thousands of companies fall short in this area.
It’s easy to understand why. Job descriptions are not simple to do—what with updating and management and legal review, especially for the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) requirement of a split-off of essential functions from other functions in the description. Wouldn’t it be great if your job descriptions were available, already written?
Actually, they are. We have more than 700, ready to go, covering every common position in any organization, from receptionist right up to president. They are in an extremely popular BLR® program called the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.
First created in the 1980s, the “JDE” has been continually refined and updated over time, with descriptions revised or added each time the law, technology—or the way we do business—changes.
Prewritten job descriptions in the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia now come with pay grades already attached. Click here to try the program at no cost.
Revised for the ADA, Pay Grades Updated
There was a major revision, for example, following the passage of the ADA. In fact, BLR editors reviewed every one of those 700 descriptions to ensure they were ADA-compliant.
Another enhancement was the updating of pay grades for each job. According to our customers, this is an enormous timesaver, enabling them to make compensation decisions even as they define the position. You can see a sample job description from the program by clicking here. (Yes, it is the one for HR Manager. Pay grade: 38.)
The BLR Job Descriptions Encyclopedia also includes an extensive tutorial on setting up a complete job descriptions program, and how to encourage participation from all parts of the organization. That includes top management, the employees, and any union or other collective bargaining entity.
Quarterly Updates, No Additional Cost
Very important these days, quarterly updates are included in the program as a standard feature—key at a time of constantly changing laws and emerging technologies. We’ll send you new or revised descriptions every 90 days. And the cost is extremely reasonable, averaging less than 43 cents per job description … already written, legally reviewed, and ready to adapt or use as is.
You can evaluate BLR’s Job Descriptions Encyclopedia at no cost in your office for up to 30 days. Get more information or order the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.
Download product sample
Download list of job descriptions included
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