People First HR Solutions - Article - Position Descriptions

Many people I have worked with have always thought a job description would be a good idea, but honestly, who has the time to put one together? And even if you did have the time … how exactly do you write one?

Job descriptions (or position descriptions, PD's) do not have to be complex documents, but they are essential in any business. They are the back-bone of even the most basic HR practices. PD's are used in recruiting, training, performance management, succession planning - the list goes on. Why? Because a PD does more than just tell someone what they are supposed to do. A PD is a means of evaluating the knowledge and skills of potential job candidates against the requirements of a role. It also helps you identify gaps in your employees' performance, so that you can then appropriately determine what their training needs are. As such, a current PD can assist you to recognize at what skill level your employees are, so that you know how best to develop them.

In an ideal world, you would have had all your position descriptions for all your staff written out before they even started working in your business. But, this is not an ideal world, and this is not always practical, especially if you are not starting your business from scratch. However, it is never too late to start! The benefits of having a PD in place for all your staff far outweigh the costs associated with developing them.

How often have you heard a staff member say "I did not know I had to do that?", or "You did not tell me in my interview that I would be responsible for that!". Or even worse "This job is not what I thought it was going to be….". Had you had a written position description for your employee to read and discuss with you at interview, your employees would know exactly what was required of them BEFORE you hired them. As such, they would be able to make a fully informed decision about your job, and hopefully save you the cost of having to find someone else. As much as we try to tell candidates everything they need to know about the role, the chances are, we will forget something. Or, even if we do not forget, we may assume too much about the candidate's skills based on their previous experience, and fail to tell them something important.

Of course, once an employee is in the role, you can then use the position description as a basis for measuring performance. If your employee is not up to scratch, you can refer back to the PD, knowing they have read it and had an opportunity in the past to discuss it with you, and highlight exactly the areas where their performance is lacking. And, there will be no surprises for your employee about what is expected of them! Similarly, you can use a PD to identify exemplary performers, and earmark them for promotion or reward.

Once you have readily identified areas for improvement via the position description for your less than satisfactory performers, you can use the PD to develop appropriate training requirements.

Realistically, writing your first position description does take some time (a few hours at least). It should be a fairly involved process, after all, this is the document upon which you are measuring your employees' performance, and is the benchmark for your hiring decisions. You need to know the role you are writing for, inside out. If you don't, then you need to spend time with someone who does, while they are performing in that role. Watch them, ask them questions, and write everything down. With these notes, you then have the foundation for your PD.

There are a couple of things that every position description should include:
1.Job Title
2.Department
3.Who to report to
4.Level of the role (if based on an award)
5.A basic summary of the role
6.Qualifications required (such as Responsible Serving of Alcohol)
7.Specific statements of Knowledge, Skills and Abilities required for successful performance in the role (which you will get from your notes). For example, "Skill in using computerized cash registers to record transactions, including sales types, refunds and quantities, in order to maintain accurate and up-to-date transaction records"

In addition, you may choose to include the following:
1.Desired qualifications and/or experience
2.A company description (especially useful when recruiting)
3.Employment conditions (e.g. salary package, probationary period)

There are many options available to you if you do not have the time or know-how to write your own position descriptions. There is a plethora of HR Consultants out there who would happily do it for you, for a price. Depending on the size of your business, this could be a very expensive exercise. You may prefer to find someone who is willing to train you (or a key staff member) in how to develop your own PD's. Either way, you are able to draw on the knowledge and experience of a professional who should know what they are doing, to ensure you get it right the first time. And you will find, after you write one, the others become much easier to do. The hardest part is starting…

Belinda Pritchard is an Organisational Psychologist with People First HR Solutions Pty Ltd. She has over 15 years experience in the Hospitality Industry, and can be contacted at belindap@people-first-hr.com or via www.people-first-hr.com