Dunn and Wilson scholarship project 1997 Job Descriptions: improving their currency, accuracy and usefulness
6. Recommendations
As Ray and Hawthorne, (1993. p.i) state 'maintaining a current job description in today's environment of rapid technological change and increased demand for professional and managerial flexibility represents a challenge for both libraries and librarians'. The following recommendations are based on the research and surveys conducted as part of this project. I believe that if libraries adopted these recommendations their job descriptions would be current, accurate and could be used for a variety of purposes.
- Before developing job descriptions, the library first needs to determine what they will be used for. This will then provide information on what content is to be included. I believe that if organisations are going to invest the time and effort into developing job descriptions they should be used for more than selection and recruitment. As discussed in this paper their uses extend far beyond this, for example, identifying training needs, induction, performance management and career development. The success in writing and using job descriptions depend on this critical first step (Degner, 1995).
- Libraries need to focus on specific rather than generic job descriptions. This encourages ownership of the job and helps the library to determine that all responsibilities within the library are performed. It also lets employees know that their contributions to the library are individually valued.
- When writing a job description it should be kept in mind that the job is described in enough detail so that the reader can understand:
- how the job fits into and contributes to the organisation
- the purpose of the job
- major responsibilities of the job
- the work standards which apply to the job
- the skills, experience and education required to perform the job.
- The main output that the majority of libraries produce is service, service to our clients (whether they be internal or external clients). I found it surprising that many of the job descriptions included with the library technician survey did not reflect the importance of client service. I believe library job descriptions need to be client focussed and service orientated in order to accurately reflect the nature of our work.
- The most important recommendation, from this research, is that job descriptions are aligned with an organisation's management framework and are representative of this framework. For example, the job description needs to reflect the organisation's culture by incorporating its mission statement, performance indicators, critical success factors, values or goals. This provides potential employees information on the culture of the organisation and outlines what is expected of them by the organisation.
While the format, writing style, content and details of job descriptions vary tremendously from library to library the following elements (although different headings may be used) are recommended for inclusion in job descriptions in order to improve their accuracy, currency and usefulness.
- Overview of the organisation - the job description needs to provide a clear and realistic overview of not only the job but also the organisation.As this research indicates that the majority of libraries use job descriptions in selection and recruitment it is important that the description provides an overview of the organisation.
- Purpose of the job -- this statement should explain the reason why the job is necessary and show the way the job contributes to organisational goals. For example - To fulfill the mission of... (Cervenka, 1997)
- How the job fits into the library -- this needs to be addressed in more detail than the inclusion of an organisational chart. An overview of both the organisation and team/department environment should be included. For example if the job is part of a team then this should be emphasised. This approach will avoid the job description appearing individualistic in nature and illustrate the interdependence of today's work environment.
- Reporting relationships - including who the person reports to and who the position supervises.
- Major responsibilities -- the job description should focus on responsibilities and outcomes rather than a detailed list of tasks or duties. It is important that the responsibilities relate to organisational goals or objectives. This helps link the job to the organisation rather than viewing it in isolation.
- Challenges - this section lists the principal challenges or problems faced by the employee in achieving the results of the position. These may be related to job complexity, economic and environmental aspects or growth potential. Again this communicates to the employee what is expected in the position.
- Results expected/ performance indicators/expected results/key outcomes - these should relate to the library's service standards or performance indicators rather than to individual performance, for example, meet cataloguing service standard rather than catalogues ten books per day. If performance indicators are to be developed as part of a performance management system then this should be stated in the description.
- Qualifications, Experience and Skills -- this section includes qualifications and experience required for the position plus all the practical, functional and technical skills. Identification of these as essential or desirable will aid in developing selection criteria for a position.
- Attributes or Behavioural competencies -- this section identifies any individual, interpersonal and/or managerial competencies or qualities that an employee needs to possess (eg: flexibility, stress tolerance, teamwork, planning etc.) Where possible these should be related to the organisational culture, values or identified core competencies.
Other recommendations include.
- Job descriptions are written in conjunction with the person currently doing the job as they are in the best position to know what the job involves. Input can also be gained from the manager and team members. Staff input encourages ownership and accountability and motivates the employee's full commitment. When writing the job description we need to focus on the end results and use an outside-in perspective rather than an inside-out perspective, and this needs to be communicated to all staff.
- The format of the job description be clearly set out and easy to read. While some job descriptions include valuable information, they may be hard and time consuming to understand because of their format. The format can be improved through the use of bolding information to make sections stand out or with the use of columns and tables.
- Job descriptions do give some direction to employees, however, it should be remembered that job descriptions are only one aspect of human resource management and are used in conjunction with other systems, tools and documents. Libraries need to avoid trying to include too much information in the job description.
- Employees have access to their own job description. If job descriptions are used for career planning, all employees should have access to the job descriptions for all positions within the library. Some organisations have made this possible by placing all job descriptions for their organisations of their intranet.
- Job descriptions are promoted to employees of the library as a 'overview' of major responsibilities and expectations, not an all-encompassing list of expected tasks and duties. Some libraries have used the word job or position profile rather than description as this suggests an outline or overview of a job rather than a statement describing the job.
- Job descriptions must be reviewed regularly to ensure they remain consistent with the goals and objectives of the organisation (Cervenka, 1997), this may be incorporated into a performance management system. Regular review also allows employees to have a clear understanding of responsibilities and expectations. As Degner (1995) explains, the job description process is continual, it is not a one off event.
- It is important to have an adequate and comprehensive communication program in place when establishing or revising a job description program (How to write job descriptions the easy way, 1993). Employees need to be kept informed of what the organisation is doing and why.
- Job descriptions need to be standardised across the organisation.
Appendix 7 includes an example of a job description that incorporates many of the above recommendations. The first section of the Position and Person Profile provides an overview of the position and the role the position plays within the organisation. This overview also illustrates the interdependent nature of the position by providing a summary of the organisational environment (including organisational culture), organisational structure and team environment (including team goals and key processes). The aim of this overview is also to communicate organisational expectations to an employee or prospective employee. The Person Profile outlines the qualifications, experience, skills and personal attributes of the person required to perform the job. The skills are linked to the organisations identified core competencies and the personal attributes are linked the organisations identified Values. The Position Profile outlines the major responsibilities of the position which are linked to the organisations identified Critical Success Factors. The performance outcomes highlight the end results expected from the major responsibilities while the performance indicators are measures of accomplishment for each responsibility. These indicators are largely linked to organisation or team service standards and performance indicators rather than individual performance indicators in order to illustrate the team based structure of the organisation.
In conclusion, the following two quotes illustrate the importance of using job descriptions once they are developed:
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