Job descriptions are essential for employers. Not only do they help you find the best candidates by letting job seekers see if they are a good fit, and help you evaluate employee performance by connecting duties with outcomes and accountabilities during performance appraisals, but they also keep you in regulatory compliance, acting as proof of essential job functions for ADA purposes or as proof of exempt job duties for FLSA purposes.

Job descriptions perform many roles in your organization, so it’s important to get them right, and to keep them up-to-date. In a BLR bootcamp titled "Comp 101 Bootcamp: How to Effectively Develop Competitive Pay Plans for Your Organization," Katie Miller Busch outlined some tips for us for creating a standard format for your job descriptions to ensure they meet all of these goals.

Tips for Creating a Standard Job Description Format

What elements are most commonly found in a job description? How can you determine what to include? You can use these items to get started:

• position questionnaires
• interviews
• job identification information (e.g. title, department)
• job content information (e.g. tasks, responsibilities, working conditions)
• employee information (e.g. knowledge, skills, reporting relationships)

Once you have some of the basic information, here are some guidelines to remember and items to consider:

• The job identification section can include the:
  • Job title. This communicates the level, responsibility and type of work. Use titles that are common in your industry. You may have an official job title and a working title for clarification.
  • Employment status (e.g. full-time, part-time, temporary)
  • FLSA status (exempt or nonexempt)
  • Location. Include an address and/or city where the job will be located. Alternatively, include additional explanatory information if the position does not report to a specific location.
  • Department
  • Reporting relationships
  • Grade level, if applicable
• The job content section should be a summary of the job and should include the essential functions. "The job content has two main areas." Busch explained. "Typically located at the top of the job description is a summary of the job or the work objective – why does the job exist? What is the essence of the position? [This is a] very high-level summary description so that someone reading that would immediately know whether or not they wanted to read further." When listing the essential functions:
  • Include a list of duties and responsibilities, decision-making requirements, people management responsibilities, scope of authority, and interactions with others.
  • Start each of these with an action verb.
  • List them in order of priority or importance (from most to least).
  • Be consistent in use of terms like "may," "occasionally" and "periodically."
  • Include any physical, environmental and sensory requirements.
• Use clear, concise and easily-understood language throughout the document. Spell out acronyms. Anyone who’s reading the job description should be able to understand it.
• The description should really focus in on the work being performed in general, not necessarily on the person performing the job.
• Be specific about what work needs to be done, not necessarily how it is to be done.
• The employee information section should include minimum qualifications in terms of education, work experience, certifications, requirements and preferences, and special considerations for things such as working conditions. When determining the minimum qualifications for the job, have reasonable expectations – don’t base the experience and education required on the individuals performing the job today, base it on what is absolutely necessary for someone coming into the organization to perform that job. That said, do keep in mind the career track for the position – if the position is on a track to progress to a supervisory role, for example, this may change the minimum qualifications required.
• Consider including a statement along the lines of: "…or an equivalent combination of education, certification, training and/or experience." Busch told us that this "is a key phrase to include in the minimum qualification section of the job description if in fact it is possible for someone in a particular position to have a different combination of education, training, and experience than you have identified in your position description."
• Consider including the phrase: "Performs other duties as assigned." Busch explained during the webinar that "this is the clear indication to the employee that management, at any time, can input or reassign tasks." Another way this is sometimes seen is the phrase "job description is subject to change by the employer as the needs of the employer and requirements of the job change."
• Consider including an "Equal Opportunity Employer" statement and a statement about ADA compliance, such as: "In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the company provides reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer."
• Avoid any reference to protected classes or other prejudicial language (e.g., references to race, color, gender, national origin, disability, etc.). Here are examples of what to avoid: "Heavy lifting required - only male candidates will be considered for heavy lifting positions" or "bilingual ability required – only Hispanics should apply."
• Include creation and revision dates so that you can quickly see when the description was last updated. You could include these as a footnote if you prefer.

These tips will get you well on your way to creating consistent job descriptions!

For more information on job descriptions, order the bootcamp recording. To register for a future webinar or bootcamp, visit http://catalog.blr.com/audio.

Katie Miller Busch is the owner of HR Compensation Consultants, LLC and offers more than 15 years of progressive compensation experience having worked in various industries, including high-tech, loyalty marketing, biopharmaceuticals, retail, manufacturing, and logistics solutions.