ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries Ju n e 1 9 9 4 /3 3 9 Job descriptions: W hat they a re , are not, and can be By B arb ara DeLon Make the most o f your job descriptions B efore reading ahead, answer this question: What does your own job descrip tion say? No cheating now. If you can answe this question without searching your files o those of the personnel officer, my guess is tha you’re still fairly new to your current positio or you are one o f the small minority who hav learned to have this valuable resource. Most o us who have been on the job for a long tim lose touch with the job description we ana lyzed so carefully when we started (assumin we had one at all). The truth is that, in man organizations, job descriptions don’t count fo much. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The first step to making job descriptions meaningful is deciding that they should be. Once there is a viable system in place, manag ers and employees should keep job descrip tions relevant. And when they are relevant, the are likely to be used. Capture the focus of the job The idea of job descriptions is to capture th focus of the job. In order to do this, manager and employees alike must move away fro the historical purposes and limitations of th job description. It is not a contract, nor an all encompassing list of duties or responsibilities. People who think it is all of these things come to expect too much of the document. The job description should help with staff ing, planning and continuity, orientation, train ing, performance appraisal, compensation (whe available), and legal and regulatory requirements. ­ ­ r r t n e f e ­ g y r ­ ­ y e s m e - ­ ­ n Historically, job descriptions were submit­ ted by managers who wanted to promote an employee. This is still so in many instances. Many of these documents contain ambiguous statements and very little thought appears to have been given to content or to the possibil­ ity of using it for any other purpose. “Jo b descriptions should be used for other purposes,” says Laurie Charest, associate vice- chancellor, human resources, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). “To be useful, a job description should include sev­ eral, elements: a list o f the position’s major re­ sponsibilities, other departments that interact with the person in this position on a regular basis, minimum skills required to perform the job, special requirements or working conditions, who supervises this employee and who does this employee supervise? This [is] the minimum information necessary in developing a job an­ nouncement or a reclassification description.” Writing job descriptions from scratch, or re­ vitalizing job descriptions that are badly out of touch, requires the effort of management and employees as well as the Human Resources Department. Clearly, employees and their im­ mediate supervisors know the most about the positions they hold; they are the prime sources of information about the responsibilities o f and skills needed for each job. However, the infor­ mation they provide must be put into a clear, consistent format before it will be useful. If the absence of job descriptions is creating a problem, it is best to devise a simple, brief description format that encompasses the re­ quired information. After completion o f this process, the supervisor should be asked to sit down with the employee and complete a cur­ rent description. B arbara DeLon is library personn el o fficer a t the University o f North Carolina a t Chapel Hill; e-mail: badeion@unc.mvs.oii.unc.edu mailto:badeion@unc.mvs.oii.unc.edu 3 4 0 /C&RL News Supervisors should be warned not to include every possible detail of the job. Jo b descrip tions are not a comprehensive, exhaustive lis of all the duties and secondary duties an em ployee may perform in the course of a day or year. A job description should exist in order t help people work with one another, and to much detail takes away from that goal. A jo description must be accurate, but not minutel detailed. M any uses for job descriptions One of the best ways to make sure job descrip tions are accurate is to use them. Use them i every way possible including recruitment, job evaluation, mentoring, career counseling, and in other purposes. Inaccuracies are sure to sur face and will be corrected in less time. Usag will also give the job description life, making A job descrip it a meaningful part of the total management of exist in order the organization. w o rk with on “Ask supervisors to too much det look over the job de­ scriptions periodically,” from that go says Ann Register, pay- roll-personnel representative, Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH. “It is important to review ho the job fits into the bigger picture. This exer cise will also reinforce the fact that job descrip tions are never really finished documents be cause in the current work environment, thing keep changing.” If a job description is out of line with th work that’s being done, find out why. It ma be that the employee has been neglecting ele ments of the job and needs to be guided bac to the responsibilities stressed in the job de scription. More often, the job has simply evolve to fit the changing needs of the organization In that case, the job description should be re vised. If the job descriptions diverge, their cred ibility is undermined. The people using the will stop, and will create their own version fo their own purposes. The result: confusion an conflict. If you can’t do a regular review of the jo description, I suggest the following alternative times: when the job changes (in particular, whe new technology is introduced), at the time o performance review, reorganization, or when a long-service employee leaves the position. When you need to replace an employee, having a current job description lets you star ­ t ­ a o o b y ­ n ­ e w ­ ­ ­ s e y ­ k ­ d . ­ ­ m r d b n f t recruiting immediately. You don’t first have to end time trying to determine which aspects f the job are most important. Of course, job escriptions don’t replace talking with the re­ uitment officer, but they do give you a solid lace to start. Use them when orienting new ployees. The job description can tell an employee hy tasks are being done and what your ex­ ectations are. Take a look at your own organization and nd the ways in which job descriptions can ork for you. eferences ft, Lawrence S. Wage a n d Salary A dm inistra­ on: A G uide to J o b Evaluation. Reston, Va.: eston Publishing Company, Inc., 1985. Collinsworth, Bar­ should bara. “Student workers: help people Our most important as­ set.” C om m u n ity a n d nother, and Ju n io r College Libraries takes a w a y 3 (Spring 1985): 9-12. Dowen, Christopher T. “Developing a com­ pensation system: The perience of the Downers Grove Public Li­ rary.” Library Trends 30 (Summer 1989): 127- . Elizur, Don. J o b E valu ation: A Systematic pproach. Bar Ilan University and The Israel stitute o f Applied Social Research. West Mead, ngland: Gower Publishing Company Limited, 980. H ow to Write J o b D escriptions— the Easy ay. Stamford, Conn.: Bureau of Law and Busi­ ess, Inc., 1982. Line, Maurice D. “How to demotivatestaff. A rief guide.” Library Management 13 (1992): 4-7. Parrish, Jenni. “The joys of law library man­ ement are without number.” Legal R eference ervices Quarterly 6 (Fall/Winter 1986): 61-79. H ow to D o P ay E quity J o b C om parisons. oronto, Ont.: The Pay EquityCommission, 1989. Price, Cheryl A. “What professional librar­ ns expect from administrators: One librarian’s ew. College a n d R esearch Libraries 40 (Sep­ mber 1987): 400-12. Shaughnessy, Thomas W. “Redesigning li­ ary jo b s .” Jo u r n a l o f the A m erican Society f o r form ation Science 29 (July 1970): 107-90. Shuman, David. P ublic Administration in the nited States. 2nd. ed. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. eath, 1993. ■ sp o d cr p em w p fi w R A ti R ex b 42 A In E 1 W n b ag S T ia vi te br In U H tion to e a ail al. J u n e 1 9 9 4 /3 4 1 3 4 2 /C&RL News