Every Job Has 3 Job Descriptions

But in the real world, they aren’t the same, and that causes a lot of problems. When perceptions differ:

• Hiring becomes a game of chance—hire to the wrong job description, and you’re not getting a good match for the job
• Evaluation and appraisal become confused—measured goals don’t reflect actual challenges and accomplishments
• Compensation makes no sense—it’s based on erroneous assumptions
• Productivity suffers—confusion abounds about duties and responsibilities

What Causes Job Description Mismatches?

The three-job-description scenario arises from several factors:

Jobs change. For example, adopting newer technology may affect a job dramatically. Take a job that once demanded split-second decision making. Now the computer makes those decisions. Does the job now require a less-skilled worker? Maybe. Maybe not. It might now require computer programming skills.

Products and processes change. The product itself can change, or the equipment or process used to manufacture it can change. That might make the job easier or more difficult to perform; it might also create or eliminate a need for special knowledge.

Physical surroundings may change.  A change in the job’s physical surroundings might affect the level of hazard or fatigue, creating the need for protective garments or equipment and/or creating a need to accommodate an otherwise qualified individual in the job.

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Bosses may not know what their people do. There’s often a disconnect between what bosses think their employees do and what the employees actually do. Maybe you can’t blame the boss too much—everyone’s overstretched these days.

Employees don’t always do what they are told. It’s not unusual for employees to do whatever it takes to get their jobs done, no matter what their job descriptions say. For example, one may have a job description that describes the job as "final assembly and packaging," but the realities of the job are that the real challenge is cajoling other departments to get their portion of the order ready.

As another example, new technology may not work well, so employees tend to do their jobs "the old way." The bosses think the expensive upgrades have changed the nature of the work, but the employees just pay lip service to the technology and use their old systems to get the work done.

Three Job Descriptions or One?

Whatever the causes of job description confusion, it’s HR’s job to get the three job descriptions to match. How can you go about this?

Formal review. First of all, set up a formal review program that requires job descriptions to be reviewed regularly, perhaps at annual review time, or 3 months before annual review. Both boss and employee should complete a review.

Put some teeth into the requirement. Make it part of the boss’s appraisal.

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Informal review. Keep an ear and an eye out. Observant HR people will detect the situations in which people are not doing what their job descriptions say they should be doing. Get out on the floor; talk to people; see how things are going. When you find something amiss, get with the boss and fix it. Soon enough there will be just one job description for each job.

In tomorrow’s Advisor, we’ll take a look at the primary job specifications to eyeball, and we’ll get an introduction to a unique job description program. In fact, you’ll find that your job descriptions have already been written.

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