What Does the Employee Actually Do?

PDs come to the forefront at critical times during a position's duration. When a position must be re-evaluated, advertised, or established, etc., supervisors, managers and administrators must know the answer to the question, "What does or will this employee actually do?" This may not be implied by position as you can see by illustration below:

The PD is designed to create a narrative “snapshot” of the work assigned to a position so that it eliminates the question "but what does this person actually do?" It clearly states the tasks and responsibilities that make up the job.

Position Description As An Important Tool

It is this accurate description of work (the PD) that determines to the proper job classification. In addition, a complete, accurate and up-do-date the position description helps to:

• Identify the salary range and compensation for a position.
• Outline the minimum qualifications, a critical factor for recruitment and identifying qualified applicants during the hiring process.
• Determine potential training needs or career development opportunities for the position.
• Identify and determine such things as:
  • essential job functions
  • FLSA status
  • ADA accommodation
  • recruitment selection procedures
  • health and safety issues
  • workers compensation return-to-work program
  • labor relations contract administration
  • performance objectives
  • organization planning needs