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Who Does What? The Employee Job Description

What do you believe are the essential components of an employee job description that ensure roles and responsibilities are realized, expectations are met and the organizational chart is followed?

Interesting question. Dealing with the responsibilities of an employee is not an easy task. I am lead to believe that some of the essential components in a job description are:
Who there supervisor is
What hours they report to work
A contact number to their supervisor
I believe that it is not possible to list all the details of the job for any position. That's why I like the last statement on the job description "all other duties assigned." While this is not a fix all to some, it does provide a scape goat to others.

HI Mark, You make good points re a job description. We find it has to be very detailed clearly showing who the employee reports to and who s/he supervises and interacts with. Also we find that a job description should have very specific responsibilities including measurable outcomes such as - enroll 5 students each week, or prepare a weekly report by 5:00 pm every Friday, etc. The job description needs to match up with the evaluation forms. Thanks, Susan

Job Title and general description, primary job responsibilities/duties, skill set and education requirements. A good job description clearly outlines what skills or education is required for the position so that you can appropriately match the best candidate to the position and a clear expectation of what the responsibilities of the position are. In this way, the employee clearly understands what is expected of them in their role.

We agree, Mark. We also think that the job description has to outline expectations in terms of meeting goals and putting in creative ways to save money, streamline the job, and create something new to make a difference. We don't want pencil pushers. We want employees who will be a team to bring our schools to the next levels. Thanks, Susan

I believe that the essential components of an employee job description are objectives, goals, and responsibility. Job description always must be accompanied with a well educational back ground for a specific position.

HI Gustavo, The more you can write in a job description, then the more likely you'll hire the right person. If you include specific and measurable goals and objectives for performance and benchmarks, then the more likely the employee will perform and do well at evaluation points. Also important to include who the employee reports to and who they may be supervising. It's always a challenge but the more the employee knows about what is expected the more likely for success. Thanks, Susan

I agree, and should be no confusion when it comes down to who does what. To many times i've heard people say "oh, I thought so and so was doing that" and perhaps the particular task never gets completed, at least when it should. It is always so much easier to go in the school in the morning know what needs to be done.

Employee's that know the job description and complete what needs to be done on a daily basis can only ensure the success of the school and the students we teach. I always go back to the student, they are the reason we're here. Everyone in the building has certain tasks that need to be completed, it's also important the student knows where to go or the person to look for when they need anything. Staff knowing their position and how to accomplish the daily goals of the job can also lead to efficiency and perhaps growth.

HI Christopher. Certainly does point to the need for complete job descriptions that staff understand. We find when we evaluate job descriptions tasks we thought are getting done are not. And surprising - sometimes more than one person is performing the same task. And few are cross trained. All big problems when running a school. And all can be fixed. Takes time to audit employees. Thanks, Susan

You point to a lot of staffing issues, Christopher. People often don't know their jobs and how the job relates to the mission of the school and student success. And a really big problem is that students don't even realize that faculty and staff are there for them! So it takes orienting staff to be student focused. It requires being sure that staff know that the customer comes first - and that everyone is resonsible for student success, satisfaction, retention, graduation, and placement. It is the job of everyone. That takes a lot of staff training, buy in, and reinforcement. Thanks, Susan

Job descriptions should not be too general. They have to be speicific and to the point of each position. In that case, each member in the community can follow. First of all an overal description should be given under somebody's supervion indicated. Secodnly specific responsibilities and duties shuld be listed. Then evaluation ways and qualification are to be added. Taken as a whole, this is the complete job description.

Hi Johanna, Very good and to the point. Job descriptions don't have to be lengthy. They do have to be complete enough so that a similarly competent person can take over if that person is absent. It's called cross training. We find that bullets and work flow descriptions really work. Also forms that are used should be included. Also IT interaction. Thanks, Susan

As President of a small college, the writing of job descriptions has been part of my job description. I always include: job title, classification (ie: administration, faculty, etc), who the position is accountable to and payroll status. After this listing, I summarize the scope of responsibility for the position and then list specific duties and responsibilities. I also include community involvement expected of the position, since this is part of how we support student activities and lastly required skills, experience and education for the position. I too, always add: "Performs other functions deemed necessary by the college or delegated by the supervisor."

After our annual vision meeting tasks often get shifted, other responsibilities added or deleted and it can be confusing. To eliminate confusion, I create a list of tasks/responsibilites in random order and at a staff meeting we call out who is responsible. This becomes a "lively" meeting and one that clears up assumptions and misconceptions.

Hi Judith, Great idea to include community involvement as a requirement for your staff. Career schools are an important part of the community and it's essential to put your staff out there to formally and informally learn about needs and changes. Are your employees assigned a community contact or task or do they decide if they will participate in an organization, contact employers or ? The goal is that everyone can look to the school as a resource. And that the school is attuned to the changing needs of the community. Thanks, Susan

Hi Susan,

We have many community activities that we support or simply attend. For the ones we support that are college and non-profit collaborations, each staff member volunteers to drive a specific part of the event. If we attend an event, we offer to pay for a certain number of staff to participate and those who are interested, step up. As you mention, it's really a win/win, they get to do something special and fun and bring back great ideas for the classroom or the operations side of the college.

Many of the directors are members of different organizations in the community that support fashion or business - the meetings lead to great opportunities for us to make employer contacts and get requests for internships.

Hi Judith, It is amazing how easy it is to get out into the community. Just takes a bit of planning and organzation. Your employees are probably members of a lot of civic, business, and social groups. So they can easily bring the message about your school to their members. Ideally there is at least one person on staff to coordinate efforts and provide information materials to hand out. thanks, Susan

I have always used a multi-part Job Description to ensure responsibilities and exceptions are met and that the chain of command is always followed. First an overall outline of what responsibilities gives an employee a "feel" for what is expected in the position. This can be effectively used in an interview prior to employment and in the initial employee training for talking points and to give the employee an opportunity to ask questions. Secondly I like to create a chronological outline of what an employee needs to do Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Bi-Annually, Annually and as needed. Lastly, I think its important for an employee to see where they fit in the overall operation. So I review the whole organizational chart with them. This helps to drive to point that if they don't tell the person the report to about a problem they are having that it probably won't get fixed. I also us this opportunity to tell employees that if they have problem with the person they report too, that they have a right to address that persons supervisor or HR.

Hi Brian, Very comprehensive job description approach. Sounds like you really spell out the expectations and the performance timeframes and measurements. The clearer you are the more likely that expectations are met. How do you convey the corporate culture and how people are to creatively work and problem solve together? How do you convey how each person is to relate to other departments and what information the other departments need to know and what the new employee needs to know about the other facets of the school operation? Thanks, Susan

Our "culture" is conveyed by management of each group of staff and filtered from the top down. In my position, as V.P. for instance, I have quarterly meetings with all of the staff at each of the campuses I run. In those meetings I convey the overall progress and goals of our organization. I also take the opportunity to personally thank the staff for all their hard work that got us to the point we're at...

Each group level of staff or managers meets weekly/monthly to discuss new procedures and review progress of ongoing projects they are responsible for as a group or in their individual depts. These meetings are facilitated by the "groups" immediate supervisors.

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