Ask for what you want – Job Descriptions
Imagine you have a small boy and you want him to dress himself and be ready to go out. You send him to his bedroom and tell him that you are leaving the house in 10 minutes and he should be ready to go out. Easy!
So you come back in 10 minutes and little Johnny is still in his pyjamas playing Lego. He is not dressed, has not cleaned his teeth and his room is definitely not tidy. You are cross.
“You are meant to be ready to go out” you say, ever so calmly.
“I’m ready” he replies.
Issue: Your “ready” and his “ready” are two entirely different readies! Your ready had a whole list of things included like clothes, shoes, clean teeth and so on. His did not.
In the workplace this lack of “readiness” equates to lost productivity and ultimately lost revenue.
Defining roles is a vital role of the human resource management function. It doesn’t matter if the business is large or small or who in the organisation is responsible for making it happen. If you want certain things done, in a certain way, by a certain time, to a certain standard you have to say so.
It is in the best interests of every business that employees are successful in their roles yet we often forget to tell them how to achieve that success.
Well crafted job descriptions will not only bring clarity to a role, they also give employers a mechanism to conduct a meaningful performance review. Despite what employers often think, employees do like to know how they are getting on and how they can become even more proficient.
If you don’t provide role clarity to your employees you may be like the parent of the small boy, frustrated and just a little cross!