Job Description –  all about JD

What is Job Description?

Job description or JD is a written document that states the duties, tasks, responsibilities and qualifications of a job based on the conclusions of job analysis. The job description is used in the recruitment and performance management processes. In recruitment JD is used to inform the job applicants of the profile or job role where as in performance management it is used to evaluate the employee’s performance. Job description specifies who is responsible for certain types of work, how that work will be completed as well as the frequency and purpose of work in relation to the organization’s mission and goals.

Job Description Meaning

Job description is a written document that specifies the duties, tasks, responsibilities and qualifications of a job based on job analysis. Job description is used in the recruitment process to inform applicants about the job profile and requirements, as well as in the performance management

All the information related to job is properly outlined in the job description. It conveys the working conditions in which the employee has to work in the organization as well as the compensation the employee will receive. At the time of recruitment process job description as a guideline for the search of ideal candidate for particular job profile. It helps the hiring managers to attract the candidates by providing the idea about task, responsibilities and compensation. Also, during the selection process based on the responsibilities listed in the job description (JD) the hiring manager can ask relevant question to the candidate. The need of training is also recognized with the help of job description, the HR Department plan and implement appropriate training method and further according to the identified key skills of the candidate a suitable training program is arranged to enhance the skills of the employees.

Job Description Definition

A job description is a statement that details the duties and responsibilities of a certain job or position within an organization. It goes into great detail regarding the job's responsibilities and conditions. Companies usually do a job analysis, which examines the work in detail in order to develop a detailed description of what the job includes.

Definition by Scholars / Eminent Authors:

JD is important has its own value in HRM.  Many authors have defined job description as follows:

Gary Dessler “Job description is a list of job duties, responsibilities, reporting relationships, working conditions, and supervisory responsibilities”

DeCenzo and Robbins "A job description is a written statement of what the job holder does, how it is done under what conditions it is done and conditions of employment. It should accurately portray job content, environment and conditions of employment"

Edwin B Flippo "A job description is an organized, factual statement of the duties and responsibilities of the specific job."

Pigors and Myres "Job description is a pertinent picture (in writing) of the organizational relationship, responsibilities and specific duties that constitute a given job or position. It defines a scope of responsibility and continuing work assignment that are sufficiently different from those of other job to warrant a specific title."

Smith and Stakeman "Job Description is a bailed down statement of the Job Analysis and serves to identify the job for consideration by other Job Analysis"

M. W. Cumming "A Job Description is a broad statement of the purpose, scope, duties and responsibilities of a particular job."

Writing a Job Description

A job description serves many purposes and hence the gravity of a job description cannot be dilapidated at all. It requires a thorough understanding and HR skills to create a right Job description in HRM.   The HR professional who is assigned to do this job must carry immense knowledge & confidence to co-ordinate with all the stakeholder and must take their view on inputs and cover it all before writing the Job description.  Writing a well-crafted job description is an art and as it is not a common document.  A JD - Job description, presents the moxie and knack of the head honcho towards his organization and the employees, hence writing a job description is a crucial prerequisite for any organization as well as the candidate, to do justice with the organization and the member who might soon become the part of the organization, is the recruiters’ onus. Furthermore, to understand and polish the skills of creating and writing a job description the following information will serve to be fruitful.

Components included in writing a job description

A good job description or JD should describe the job in a true sense. Thus, there are ten important components which should be included in the job description (JD)

1. Job Title- An appropriate title of job which describes the position/level of job and area of work.
2. Job Purpose: The job purpose is a brief summary of the job role, level and scope of responsibility.
3. Job description After the job title is drafted a JD should be written in one to three sentences to highlight how the job role delivers value to the organization
4. Roles and Responsibilities- The task to be performed, goals that has to be met by the employee, daily activities and addition workloads are includes in roles and responsibilities.
5. Qualifications- Educational background and work experiences required for the job position is mentioned in this component.
6. Skill Sets- The additional skills such as team management, communication skills, leadership are mentioned in the required skill set for the job profiles.
7. Department & Reporting Manager: It is important to include details as to whom the employee would be reporting and the employee’s organization’s hierarchy
8. Employment & Benefits: Employment type should be specified clearly like whether the job is temporary or contract to hire and the duration of employment.
9. Company Profile Briefing: The candidates who are hired should know about the brief overview about the hiring company so that they can adopt to company culture.
10. Salary & Compensation- The salary range of the job should also be included in this component of the job description.

Some of the additional information such as working condition, immediate supervisor, purpose of job, special circumstances (like travelling) can also be mentioned in the job description. These additional components are not mentioned in every job description. However, based on the type of the job, essential information can be added to enhance the clarity of the job description. Some of the job description example given below to quick learning and understanding.

What is Job Description/JD in HRM

The Job description in HRM is one the very important document and the  concept job description is linked with the job analysis. In fact, job description can be termed as the end result of job analysis. Organization carries out job analysis to understand and clarify what exactly the job refers to.  The Human Resource Department conduct the job analysis to provide information about the different components of job to create a useful & informative document which includes the scope, tasks, duties, responsibilities involved in a job.  The analyses also include the working conditions linked with job.

The JD in HRM provides information about the skills, qualifications, experience and expertise required to perform a job. Accordingly, the role of HR is to search the candidate who would be the best fit for the job role.  The JD is a very essential document to keep the organization and employee on the same page with respect to the job that should be done by an employee. 

The Job description is the first thing which a candidate asks at the time of considering a job offer from any employer.  The Job Description in HRM is the common document which is frequently referred by the employee and employer.

How to write a good Job description?

Writing a job description is not easy task. There are several points in JD which one should keep in mind while creating a job description. Appropriateness and relevance is key answer of the question how to write job description. Here are certain things to be taken care at the time of writing a job description:

1. Choose a correct job title

Job title often reflects the position of the employee as well as the responsibilities they are supposed to handle. The rule of ARM should be followed while selecting the job title.

ARM stands for Accurate, Realistic and Meaningful. It is observed that to attract the candidates many hiring managers keep the non-traditional job titles such as Unicorn Designer or Rockstar Manager. These kind of job titles are misleading and thus should be avoided. The accuracy of job title refers to the highlight of ‘role’ the employee has to perform. For example- title ‘manager’ indicates a team to be managed while ‘executive’ defines the strategic roles. The realistic job titles are easily captured in the job search and thus relevant candidates are likely to apply to the job. Lastly the meaningfulness of the title is about the business word which is linked with the job. For example- Business development is a right word for a sales position rather than dynamic markets administrator.

2. Use of Simple and Clear Language

The job descriptions should be easy to understand and should not have any jargons. Many difficult to understand or rarely used phrases turn off the candidates. Thus, job descriptions should be clear, accurate and simple in nature.

3. Tasks and Responsibilities should be elaborated

The Jobseeker who are on job search and fit in your requirement, take those candidates for a small run of typical day at work through the job description. In short include the daily tasks and the responsibilities in a specific manner. Using bullet points really helps here to add clarity in the description.

4. Information about the company

Provide the glimpse of the organizational culture to the employee. You can include the testimonials of your current employees. Introduce your company to the candidate; add information such as mission of the company, product and services, along with the market status. To attract the right candidate, it is always good to add information about technology is which the organization works, key clients (if not confidential), and latest achievement of the company.

5. Job Related Skills should be Highlighted

It is essential to describe the skills which are required to perform the particular job. The qualifications related to the skills such as certifications should be clearly mentioned in the job description. The job specification which highlight the abilities which are the key requirement to perform the job, have to be conveyed to the candidates such as- need to work on deadlines or excellent verbal communication is required. The discriminatory language should be avoided while mentioning the skills. The sentences such as ‘youthful salesmen or attractive women candidate’ should be avoided. 

6. Convey the Compensation and Benefits clearly

It is very much in the favor of the company to clearly specify the compensation. The perks and benefits of the job such as bonuses, learning opportunities, healthcare programs, and insurances help to attract candidates towards the job.

The above-mentioned points help to create a good job description or JD. However, there are certain points which should be avoided while writing a job description. The points include:

1. Asking for way too much- The job should be realistically performable. It should not include an exaggeration and one man show kind of tasks. 
2. Mysterious profile- The lack of clarity and too much suspense makes it difficult for the candidates to actually understand what kind of job they are going to perform. Thus, mystery in job description should be avoided.
3. Negativity- Excluding people in brutal way. For Example- people below 5-year experience are not eligible for the profile. Instead of the negative words, you can use sentences like- this senior level job needs experience above 5 years.

Benefits and importance of Job Description or JD

One may ask why it is important of creating a job description. The answer lies in the different activities which are totally depend on the job description, Find below the importance of JD:

Importance of Job Description: 

1. It is a vital guideline to determine the comparable compensation in different industries.
2. It is the backbone of hiring process as it has all important information about the skills and qualifications that should be matched while selecting the future employee of the organization.
3. A good JD outlines what is expected from the employee and helps the employer define the necessary skills for the job
4. A well written JD helps to ensure that the job cover the appropriate activities, obligations and responsibilities.
5. A good JD provides clarity of the job role to the candidates.
6. Job description helps in finding training and development opportunities.
7. JD helps the managers to manage employees and provides insight for succession planning.
8. It is always referred to design the selection process and job interview questions.
9. It resolves the issues when employee refuses to do some tasks stating ‘it is not my job’. Also, avoid the disputes based on who should perform which activities in the organization.
10. It is a legal document it can be used by the employee during any lawsuit against the organization.

Benefits of Job Description: 

1. Recruitment- As job description provides vital information about a) job to be done b) skills and qualification required to perform the job, it becomes easy for hiring managers to handle recruitment in a better way. It ensures that best talent is hired by the company and the expectations of organization as well employee is aligned. 
2. Systematic Compensation data- By writing job description for each position in the organization HR department is able to collect the compensation information of all the employees in a systematic way. The level of compensation then can be properly managed based on the organizational position of the job.
3. Legal Compliance- Organization can stay in compliance with the employment law using job description. When fair labor standards and laws are followed while designing the job description the company’s legal compliance is maintained. Company can easily about the discrimination and can include clause to support the differently-able people in the society. 
4. Manpower Planning- In order to execute the objectives and reach the organizational goal it is essential to do appropriate manpower planning. Job descriptions show the roles which are yet to be filled up and thus manage future manpower hiring. It helps in succession planning by offering the career path of a specific job profile. Job description plays key role in the training and development programs. It also provides a standard performance level which can be used for the calculation of performance appraisal.
5. Transparency- A well written JD helps the employee know what their job role is and how to do it? And thus, it helps to remove uncertainty and provide confidence to employees.
6. Performance Evaluation- An employee’s performance can be evaluated or measured accurately through well written job description
7. Conflict Resolution- In case if the conflict occurs between the employee or the employer it can be resolved through job description
8. Communication- A well written JD is an important communication tools that help employees and candidate understand the job role’s essential responsibilities, qualification and experience.

Purpose & Advantages of Job Description

When an organization looks for a candidate to do certain job, it has a brief idea about the work to be done. Job description articulate the details about the work, the technology or tools which are used to perform the job, the location of the job, nature of job, reporting system, working condition and summary of the job. This articulation helps to attract right talent and select the deserving candidate for the organization.

Purpose of Job Description or JD

1. To target, attract, recruit and select the right candidate for the specific job in the organization.
2. The purpose of JD is to ensure that the job will fit the organization’s needs and to attract the suitable candidate for the job role
3. To determine what kind of job has to be done and what kind of person is ideal to get the job done.
4. To match the qualification and skills required for the job while recruiting staff for the organization.
5. To convey the organizational hierarchy and reporting system to the candidate. 

Advantages of JD 

From the organizational and employee point of view there are certain advantages of writing a job description. It is comprehensive information which

1. Helps to understand the title, position and location of the job.
2. Makes employees aware of their duties and responsibilities.
3. Handles recruitment and selection process efficiently.
4. Enhance the understanding of benefits and positive workplace environment
5. A well written JD helps in training needs analysis.
6. A good JD helps to fire the employee whose productivity is low.
7. JD also helps in retaining employees in the organization for the long time.
8. A well written JD helps the employee not only to attract but also dream about reward and recognition program offered by the company and at last to enjoy their job and have a sense of loyalty towards the company.
9. Highlights the objectives, requirements and goals of the job which has to be fulfilled by the employee.

Job Description Format / JD Format:

To understand what all includes to create a good Job Description format is compiled here:

Components for Job Description Format

Job Title: Put the name of the open position in the organization.

Job Purpose: The job purpose provides the overview of the job role and scope of responsibility.

Reports To: write the position of immediate supervisor of the job profile.

Job Overview: mention 4-5 lines about the significance of the position, the contribution of the position in overall organizational goal achievement and the impact of the position on other work power of the organization.

Experience: How much experience is required to perform the job role should be identified.

Responsibilities and Duties: Describe the tasks, duties and responsibilities the employee who is working on this position supposed to carry out. List the responsibilities in the order of their importance. Mention the day-to-day routine along with the addition work pressure

Qualifications: state the education qualifications required along with the desired experience level. Mention specific skills and certifications which the candidate should have in order to apply for the job position. 

Compensation: provide the salary range the organization is going to offer for the job.

About Company: give brief idea about the sector in which organization is existing, the tools and technology used by the organization and the product/services details. Mention the official website of the company.

Additional Information: information such as location, working hours, perks, welfare and benefits can be mentioned to attract more candidates.

Job Description example of Development Editor (ELT) English