Job description is a written record of the duties, responsibilities and requirements of a particular job. It is concerned with the job itself and not with the work. It is a statement describing the job in such terms as its title, location, duties, working conditions and hazards. In other words, it tells us what is to be done and how it is to be done and why. It is a standard of function, in that it defines the appropriate and authorized contents of a job. A job description contains the following:
- Job identification, which includes the job title, alternative title, department, division, plant and code number of the job. The job title identifies and designates the job properly.
- Job Summary serves two important purposes. First it provides a short definition which is useful as additional identification information when a job title is not adequate. Second, it serves as a summary to orient the reader.
- Job duties give us a comprehensive listing or the duties together with some indication of the frequency of occurrence or percentage of time devoted to each major duty. It is regarded as the heart of a job.
- Relation to other jobs: This helps us to locate the job in the organisation by indicating the job immediately below or above it in the job hierarchy. It also gives us an idea of the vertical relationships of work flow and procedures.
- Supervision: Under it is given the number of persons to be supervised along with their job titles, and the extent of supervision involved – general, intermediate or close supervision.
- Working conditions usually give us information about the environment in which a job holder must work.
