Chapter 2 - Class Notes

Job description
- accurate, realistic, current picture of what tasks go to make up a job
- outlines the job’s location, purpose, responsibilities, authority levels, and supervisory
relationships as well as the interrelationships between the job and others in the same area.
- serves as a dynamic document which takes account of organisational change, is
unambiguous, and can be understood and interpreted similarly by both the incumbent and his or
her supervisor
- does not include incidental or trivial tasks

Role description
- broader aspects of behaviour for example, working flexibility, working with others, interrelated
tasks, and styles of management
- describe the part to be played by individuals in fulfilling their job requirements
- often incorporate the results of skills or competence analysis and performance standards
- eg. a job may be to water the garden. A role or output would be maintaining a healthy garden
(a role or output is broader than a job)

Terminology for job descriptions

- a job consists of a collection of duties and responsibilities which can be further divided into
specific tasks and even further into task elements
Uses for job description
- valuable sources of information for recruitment, performance appraisal, career pathing and
development of training programmes as well as the implementation and ongoing maintenance
of a job evaluation system
- writing of job descriptions provides a unique opportunity to study the organisation
- organisation will have an opportunity to determine key areas of responsibility, levels of
authority and accountability, reporting relationships, lines of communication, spans of control,
job design, staffing levels and anomalies
- provide detailed information for recruitment
- assists with developing accurate job specifications through meaningful advertising
- assists with better screening for short lists
- assists with structuring the interview
- assists with providing the prospective employee with details of what is required in the job
- assist with meaningful induction training

Motivations for carrying out a job description writing process

- job evaluation - the information on which the job will be graded
- creation of the information needed for organisational review
- detailed information for recruitment
- development of job procedures and performance standards
- development of a framework for performance and progress reviews
- detailed information for skills development, the development of training programmes, career
pathing, and manpower planning
- development of specific plans for individual induction training
- to assist with an assessment of how competent incumbents are in relation to the requirements
of the job

Factors influencing jobs

- includes discretionary and non-discretionary factors

Non-discretionary factors
- organisation: structure and policy
- legal requirements
- division of labour
- design of equipment
- physical arrangement
- methods, procedures, traditional practices
- job standards
- work environment
Discretionary factors
- individual that may have to be further developed if possible
- skills
- experience
- personality
- performance

Job description writing process

- analysis and job description writing is often conducted by supervisors, job, incumbents, HR
specialists or outside consultants or combination of the above
- best results come from directly involving supervisors and incumbents
- involvement of key participants implies that each job description will be simple, clear and
based on accurate information
- before being signed off as correct, the accuracy of the description should be agreed on by the
supervisor, employee, head of department and trade unions where appropriate
- it is not the role of the employee or trade union to ‘sign off’ the job description
- it is management’s role
- if an incumbent refuses to sign the job description, it is still valid

Skills required for writing job descriptions

- good interpersonal skills
- good writing skills
- knowledge of how the organisation functions
- an inquisitive and analytical nature
- objectivity in their business dealings
- one does not have to be an expert at doing the job; one has to know how to write a job
description

Planning and preparation for job description writing

- as the longest and most vulnerable in terms of time loss, the job writing phase should be
carefully planned
- project manager should be appointed to make the following decisions:
- how many job descriptions should be written?
- how many job analysts are needed to complete the task in time to allow for the grading
committee to be trained, all jobs to be graded, and the pay review (if there is one) to be
completed?
- timetable must allow for a “job description writing course” to train nominated job analysts
where necessary
- project managers should also help the job analysts to plan their writing programme
- although competent job analysts are versatile and capable of writing any job description, it is
good practice for them to start with a training course, or to have an understanding of the work
already
Requirements to be discussed with relevant supervisors
- selection of employees to be interviewed
- competence of employees to be interviewed
- interviews to be conducted as “ one-on-one”, with a small group of employees in the same job
or with the employee and a shop steward (if appropriate)
- provision of an interview room
- an opportunity to observe the incumbent in operation (if necessary)
- gathering previous job descriptions and other information to facilitate the analyst
- it is often more expedient to interview the managers regarding the job in their department and
writing the job descriptions directly from this interview.

Tips on job description writing

- asking for an organogram of the division or department in advance helps with understanding
the big picture. It makes it easier to get a feel for when incumbents inadvertently include duties
of their manager in their own job description
- programme should progress from lower level jobs upwards. This enables analysts to work on
easier jobs first, gaining confidence for the writing of more complex descriptions and allows a
clearer view of the organisation’s operations and hierarchy
- details of the interview are to be timeously dispatched. If it is not possible to interview all
employees, make it clear that representatives of certain job categories were chosen
- monitor the quality and checking process for each job description. All completed descriptions
should be signed off by the employees, supervisor, shop steward where appropriate, and head
of department
- discuss reproduction of job descriptions for the grading committee. Some organisations
choose to grade their jobs internally and set up a grading committee for this purpose. Each
member of the grading committee requires a copy of the job description when doing the grading.

Understanding a typical job description form

Primary purpose of the job

- tells us why the job exists
- this should be unique to this job and generic so that it fits other jobs in the organisation

Major task heading

- detail the key performance areas
- these are major outputs of the job

Adverse working conditions

- important for recruitment or special monetary allowances that may need to be paid
- eg. working near a furnace, or frequent travelling and the need to spend nights away, may be
considered adverse working conditions

Other special requirements

- special skills or competence that may be required in a job
Salient information/parameters of work environment
- useful for showing parameters such as budget size, sales, units serviced, billing, turnover,
tonnes per annum, and so on
- gives one a feel for the size of a job
- eg. one may get sales representatives selling R100 000 per month, and those selling R5 000
per month
- the parameters would be totally different in each of these cases

Detailed description
- should match the heading in section 2 of toolkit 3, which lists the key performance areas

Job specification
- a requirement set by the organisation, to be completed by senior management

Job description interview

- guidelines for conducting interviews
Important things to remember when conducting the interview
- do not ask leading questions, but probe for clarification.
- continually try to establish whether you have enough information
- you will need to describe the skills and knowledge required, the nature of supervision given,
typical decisions taken, and the pressures involved in the job
- do not question the validity of the interviewee’s comments; the manager will
- do not get influenced by the incumbent’s performance or competence to fulfil the role
- when the interviewee has described a specific task area, repeat the important points to ensure
complete understanding and that the facts are correctly recorded, and to reassure him or her of
your continued understanding and interest
- finish the interview with a summary of the entire job, and explain the process which will result
in the completed job description

Interview techniques
- encourage the interviewee to express his or her views freely and honestly
- develop a relaxed atmosphere of trust to ensure open communication
- ask questions that will help you to decide where the job’s decisions are made and what the
employee is responsible for

Emphasis while interviewing

- most important factor in interviewing is curiosity
- often the employee has never had to tell someone else about how his or her job is done, and
will sometimes have difficulty detailing his or her full range of tasks and responsibilities
- interest shown - or lack of it - will make all the difference as to how the interviewees feel about
themselves and about job evaluation, and how freely they provide information
- don’t make assumptions about tasks which are or are not done
- employee may decide not to mention “trivialities”
- always ask how, why, and how often things are done, and what equipment and resources are
used

Four golden rules of interviews

1. Let the interview do the talking

- use further questions only to probe, control and lead on to the next topic
- a common fault is for the interviewer to work too hard, talk too much, or lose control of
the interview

2. Use silences
- resist the temptation to fill silence and allow the interviewee time to think and reply

3. Observe body language

- watch non-verbal behaviour
- part of an interviewer’s skill is to see, interpret and use the messages that are
conveyed through posture and gestures
 4. Create an encouraging, interested atmosphere
- use facial expression, eye contact, tone of voice, uh-huh noises and head nods
- body posture can be used to relax or intensify the atmosphere

Dealing with difficult interviewees

- people are not always easy to interview
- interviewer often has to help the employee describe his or her job
- behaviour must be correctly diagnosed and appropriate tactics should be adopted

Common remedies for popular interview problems

Writing up the job description

- write job description up immediately after the interview, using the job description writing form
- list tasks in chronological sequence for lower-level jobs or in order of importance for
higher-level jobs
- for a concise and uniform style:
- use point form
- start every sentence with action verbs
- use an agreed format for organisational design
- talk in the present tense
- examples include:
- use exact terms, such as 3, NOT a few
- use job titles rather than names
- do not include the duties of others in your job description
- write up the job description as soon as possible after the interview

Checking and obtaining commitment to a job description

- incumbent signs only to acknowledge that he or she has seen the job description
- he or she does not sign it to “approve” the job description - the manager does that
- job description form has many uses and forms part of the “foundation” of the remuneration
“house”
- it needs to be updated every time there is a change in the job
- if there is a more than 20 percent change in the job content and complexity, it should be
submitted to the grading committee to see if there is a grade implication
- long job descriptions do not lead to higher grades, and short job descriptions do not lead to
lower grades - it is the complexity of the job that determines the grade

Steps for obtaining commitment to the job description

Step Action

1 Interview incumbent

2 Check details with the supervisor

3 Ensure agreement between incumbent and supervisor

4 Draft the job description

5 Check the draft job

6 Check description with incumbent, supervisor, shop steward and head of

department

7 Get the job description typed up

8 Have the job description signed by the incumbent, supervisor, shop steward,
and head of department