- Working Conditions
The physical environment of the job is described in terms of heat, light, noise level, dust and fumes etc. Nature of risk (hazards) and their possibility of occurrence are also given.
- Social Environment
Size of work group and inter- personal interactions required to perform the job are given. Training and development facilities may also be mentioned.
- Machines, Tools and Equipment
The names of major machine, equipment and materials used in the job are described.
- Supervision
The extent of supervision given or received is stated in terms of number of persons to be supervised along with their job titles. Designations of immediate superiors and subordinates may also be given.
- Relation to other Jobs
The jobs immediately below and above are mentioned. It provides an idea of vertical work flow and channels of promotion. It also indicates to whom the jobholder will report and who will report to him.
Specimen of Job Description
Guidelines for Preparing Job Description
- Give a clear, concise and readily understandable picture of the whole job.
- Describe in sufficient detail each of duties and responsibilities.
- Emphasize accuracy, brevity and simplicity rather than a elegant style.
- Use active verbs, e.g. type letter, sort out mail, distribute mail, train workers etc. before each statement.
- Avoid statements of opinion.
- Examples of work performed may be quoted.
- Indicate the extent of supervision received and given.
- Ensure that a new employee can understand the job by reading the job description.
Advantages
- It is used to recruit and select employees in the organization with their orientation and placement.
- It helps in crafting, training and development needs of a particular employee and developing career path.
- It plays a major role in evaluating the performance of the employee and helps in taking the decision related to promotion and transfer in an organization.
- It is an instrument to develop work procedures and processes and help of take preventive measures to minimize the impact of hazardous conditions.
- It helps in counseling the employee and providing vocational guidance.
- It provides the basic ingredient to prepare job specification.
Limitations
- Job description cannot provide complete details of nature of work, duties and responsibilities.
- Many times employees experience confrontation between the actual work and work as per job description.
- Now-a-days employees are expected to play a wider range of roles than those just stated in the job description.
- Hence, job description is used as a guideline rather than as detailed account of duties and responsibilities.
