Job Descriptions
This is an excerpt from the paper...
The job description is a concise, complete, organized outline and description of the tasks, priorities, and time allocations of a particular position, often accompanied by designation of the competencies and skills required by the work. But, rather than merely describing the manner in which a job is being done at the moment, it should describe the manner in which the job should be done. Job descriptions can be created prior to a position being activated or can be produced for existing jobs (often with a combination of incumbent self-report, supervisor input, and administrative contributions and control). They can be the result of extensive job analysis or they may be less formally prepared. But, in their most complete forms, job descriptions are one of the most valuable tools Human Resource (HR) managers possess and, if properly executed, published, and comprehended, can be of equal value to managers and employees throughout the organization. While sometimes thought of as little more than a "to-do" list or a set of constraints, the properly prepared job description has great flexibility. It can and should be used in everything from job design and recruitment to performance evaluation and employee development. The importance of job descriptions is recognized by most management experts and job descriptions (as well as related processes such as job analysis and competency identification) are treated as prerequisites to the implementation of change initiatives within org
. . .
ker should be engaged in are identified as well as "a statement of where, when and how frequently the worker should spend time on various duties" (Grant 11). The difficulties inherent in describing such proportions of times and identifying "tasks" increase disproportionately as higher levels of "knowledge-type work . . . characterized by infrequent repetition and high job depth (or discretion) in performance" are addressed and such functions are sometimes addressed in terms of outputs or outcomes rather than as time-measured tasks (Siegel 483). For the most part, however, jobs can be broken down and classified by HR specialists and departmental managers. But this involves "rigorous job analysis procedures which are needed to assure high quality data" for descriptions (Grant 11).
Job analysis typically produces a great deal of information--all of which is not directly applicable to the job description. But since the purpose of the description is to provide a basic source of information, on which employees, supervisors, senior management, and the HR specialist can draw, the larger knowledge base produced by job analysis is entirely desirable. As Siegel notes, as many as 14 different types of data might be assembled in job ana
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Sunoo Generic, Human Resources, O'Keefe Burke, , Resource HR, Zamora Viswesvaran, Human Resource, Sunoo Creating, job descriptions, Management TQM, job analysis, job description, Personnel Journal, generic job descriptions, job design, generic job, employee development, human resource, hr manager, human resources, description serves, job description serves, skills knowledge required, importance job descriptions, human resource management,
Approximate Word count = 2219
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
More Essays on Job Descriptions
|