HR 101 - What to do when . . . You need to compile a Job Description - Part 3

ARTICLE 18

WHAT TO DO WHEN . . . . You Need to Compile a Job Description

Part 3

By Nikki Viljoen – N Viljoen Consulting CC.

The one tip that we discussed last week was that the description of what the staff member needs to do has to be accurate and realistic.

The next tip is that the Job Description has to outline the job’s location, job purpose and content.  It also has to document the relationships involved, the authority involved and the controls and checks.

Let’s examine what this means.  Let’s take an Operations Manager’s position in a retail chain.  Now clearly in this type of scenario, there are many different types of Managers.  There would be store managers, Area or Regional Managers, Procurement Managers, Administration Managers,  (and that’s just for the stores, never mind what happens at Head Office.) and so on.  So if you were looking for an Operations Manager for the ‘stores’ as apposed to an Operations Manager for Head Office and/or the Warehouse/Factory, this would need to be specified and the fact that it is a Manager that is required and not an operations assistant or an operation’s clerk is of vital importance.  This would highlight that the “job’s location in the organization” is one of Operations Manager of the stores.  It stands to reason that that all the Operations Managers in the company would have similar, but not necessarily the same tasks to fulfill, so these need to be itemized carefully.

The job purpose and content would of course be to Manage the Operational requirements of all the stores country wide and take responsibility for how well the stores run.  This would include but not be limited to the responsibility of the staff, the sales of the stores and the reaching of targets.  The projection of the company image to the public is also something that should be taken into account.  It would include things like staff training on product and sales training, setting of budgets and targets, the responsibility of ensuring that Government legislation is complied with and that HR and Labour issues are met and controlled.  Issues of safety and health would also need to be controlled, not only for the staff, but also for clients. Merchandising of stock and procurement of supplies would also fall under the responsibility of the Operations Manager.  So be sure to list everything that needs to be done.

The relationships involved would include the staff who would report into the Operations Manager as well as who the Operations Manager would report into as well as what controls and checks would be in place to measure the Operations Manager performance. This would include, but not be limited to targets and budgets being met and so on.  It would also be necessary to include things like the minimum requirements of the job, you would not employ someone straight out of school to perform this task, now would you? – what are the minimum educational requirements (for example, a minimum of matric and a Management diploma and/or degree or a minimum of x number of years working experience in an Operational Environment and/or Managerial position) and so on.

Clearly the expectation of both the holder of the job (in this case the Operations Manager) and his/her supervisor must be the same or similar.  They must equally understand exactly what is required, when it is required and how the job must be done.  Often issues of ‘expectation’ and ‘perception’  not meeting in the middle is what causes the most headaches and conflict within an organization.

Next week we will continue with some more tips on how to write a Job Description.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za