Why Is Job Description Important? - Essay Sample

Introduction

In every organization, job descriptions are essential as they offer a clear understanding of the applicants regarding their responsibilities and duties in a certain position. Job description plays an essential role in protecting a company legally because through it, an organization can defend itself if a candidate is chosen for a particular position or not (Grobler, 2006). It also offers consistent understanding in all the departments of an organization on roles of a job and assists the firm to grow. Through the job, the Human Resource Manager can determine the skills, experience, and knowledge he or she is looking for in an employee (Mader-Clark, 2013). To the employees, job descriptions help them to create objectives and goals for job advancement. Therefore, all companies should have job descriptions for all the positions as it establishes boundaries on the responsibilities of an employee and it justifies the pay of an employee. For a job to be regarded to have high motivation potential, one of the skills among task significance, task identity, or skill variety should be high.

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What are the theories that support job descriptions?

One of the theories that support job descriptions is the Hackman and Oldham job characteristics model. According to the model, the task is essential in motivating the employees. a monotonous job demoralizes an individual while a challenging job normally enhances motivation (Ali et al., 2014). The model states that there are five characteristics which influence the psychological state of an individual which in turn affects the outcomes of a job. The characteristics include task identity, autonomy, task significance, feedback, and skill variety. High motivation correlates to getting experience in the psychological state while working which includes responsibility, the meaningfulness of work, and knowledge of outcomes.

Taylorism is another essential job description theory. According to the theory, the job description is essential since it helps in successfully selecting and hiring proper workers, supporting the workers, establishing a standard method for every job, and to efficiently train the workers (Waring, 2016). The other approach is the Socio-Technical System approach. The approach proposes that for description should fit organizational goals, employees should be involved in designing a job description, and the description should enable high quality working life.

How can job description help organization to do better and improve their performance?

Job descriptions assist organizations in writing interview questions and job ads. Through it, an organization will know the capabilities, experience, and skills needed in a new employee that further assist in attracting skilled employees (International Society for Performance Improvement, 2010). Thus, making it easy to find skilled employees who can complete assigned tasks on time. Moreover, it helps an organization to establish new employee orientation. Understanding the duties of employees can assist an organization in ensuring that nothing is left out while hiring a new employee which improves performance.

Job description makes it easier for a company to manage its performances as it outlines strategic priorities needed from every employee. Performance of an organization is easily managed since job descriptions list the performance expectations of employees (International Society for Performance Improvement, 2010). this makes the employee work towards the set goals thus, improving productivity. Furthermore, job description decreases liability in an organization. The Fair Labor Standards Act, The Family Medical Leave Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act do rely on the job description to know what duties an employee should perform and under which conditions will they work. Therefore, having documented job description can help in protecting an organization and motivate the employees to work towards achieving the goals and objectives of an organization.

References

Ali, S. A. M., Said, N. A., Kader, S. F. A., Ab Latif, D. S., & Munap, R. (2014). Hackman and Oldham's job characteristics model for job satisfaction. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 129, 46-52.

Grobler, P. A. (2006). Human resource management in South Africa. London: Thomson Learning.

International Society for Performance Improvement. (2010). Handbook of improving performance in the workplace. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Mader-Clark, M. (2013). The job description handbook. Berkeley, CA: Nolo.

Waring, S. P. (2016). Taylorism Transformed: Scientific management theory since 1945. UNC Press Books.