Home » Blog » Here is why you should update job descriptions….regularly

So it is coming to the end of the year, everyone is focussing on the last push for the year and so appraisals are being revisited.  I have attended a few and the first thing we seem to do is re-write the job description as it is out of date.

We all know the process starts when you recruit someone. You take time to write a job description for the new employee. It is essential that you think through what skills and abilities you need. Define essentials and “nice-to-haves” in terms of skills, qualifications and experience before you interview anyone or you will be swayed to recruit the person you like rather than the one who will do the job. You do this and the new employee will have a clear understanding of what is expected of them when they start the job.

So what should you do next?

The next step is for the employee and manager to update the document so they both have a clear understanding of what is expected to be done.  If not one person’s expectations are different from another’s.

Job descriptions are critical when having performance management meetings. It is all too easy to sit down for a cosy chat with your employee, have a bit of a moan about what they do badly and finish the meeting urging them to do better. Being an employee they probably won’t challenge you – they will just go home and moan to their partner. It is so much better for both employer and employee if a performance management meeting is structured around the requirements of the job description with tasks and achievements written down and re-visited each meeting with scores agreed and areas for improvement noted. Then both employer and employee know where they stand. They have a sense of fairness and problems are brought out into the open and discussed.

Yes we appreciate work gets in the way but not getting this right creates more work so it makes sense to keep it updated.

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