Job Description and relationship to other HR Processes with value added

The modern HR Management needs a good structure and robust processes and tools to manage the human capital in the organization efficiently. The modern HR is about simple systems and managerial tools, that provide the consistent decisions about the employees across the whole organization. The job descriptions or the job profiles are basic HR tools to introduce the consistency to the organization.

The modern HR Management cannot be set on managing the set of employees, it has to be based on different structures describing the organizations, relationships inside the organization, the process flows and the decision making processes. The job descriptions are a basis for the complex HR Management system. Human Resources cannot manage several thousands of employees, it can manage just a clever set of several dozens job descriptions. It provides a huge value added to HR and the organization .

What is job description?

The job description describes your job. This is a simple definition, but it is not fully true. The job description brings some simplification as more employees can fit into one job description. The small variances are not important for the job description and for the management of the complex system of jobs in the organization. The job description unifies the main tasks and responsibilities as the HR Processes with the value added can see the employees with the same job description as pretty similar.

The common job description contains the following important sections:

• job purpose - simply the description in several sentences, why the job exists in the organization
• key tasks of the job - simplified description of the main tasks, which have to be done by the employee on the job position (it is not the full list of all tasks)
• required skills and competencies - the required soft skills minimum for the job position
• key responsibilities - extremely important part of the job description, which describes, what are the main responsibilities of the job position and what can be decided by the employee occupying the job position
• key KPIs - the key performance indicators used to measure the performance of the employee and the contribution of the job position to the organization during the performance management cycle
• key dimensions - the key financial and other dimensions to allow to allocate the job description correctly in the job evaluation process and to allow the other managers to see the influence of the job position on the whole organization
• key clients - this section is about the main internal and external clients of the job position as the employee can be easily navigated to build the right internal and external networking friends
• next job position - usually the job position of the direct manager as the employee knows, what the career opportunities are included in the current job position

Most organizations design their own job description template for the managers and they do not have to use all the fields, but they can add any other field, which is important for the successful HR Management.

Job Descriptions and other value added HR Processes

The good job descriptions provide the basis for the additional HR Processes, which provide the value added to Human Resources, managers and the organization. The job descriptions are used mainly in the following HR Processes:

• Job Design - the essential process for the effective organization, the job descriptions are used for comparing the jobs and eliminating double work in the organization, the job descriptions are used for selecting the key job positions in the organization
• Recruitment and Staffing - without a good job description, the HR Recruiter is not able to find the suitable candidate quickly and it prolongs the recruitment cycle time, the job descriptions are necessary for the quick and quality recruitment process
• Compensation and Benefits - based on the job description, the position is evaluated and the correct pay scale is associated as the organization keeps the internal equity and the external competitiveness on the job market
• Training and Development - the training specialists use the job description to identify the basic training needs for the job positions and the soft skills training suitable to enhance the potential of the employees occupying the job positions
• Career Development - the career development specialists build the general career paths in the organization using the job descriptions, mainly the cross-functional career paths, which cannot be set just by the manager inside the unit

Why is job description important?

The job description is not the administrative piece of paper, it provides huge value added to the organization as it is used in the HR Processes with the value added and it helps to manage the structure of the organization efficiently.

The good job description helps to build the logical career paths in the organization, enhancing the career opportunities for the employees and prolonging the length of the service and keeping the business know-how in the organization.

Additionally, the job description helps to the employee to understand the given tasks and finding the right connections in the organization. The employee with a good job description is more productive and the organization enjoys the benefits of the increased performance .