Job Descriptions: The Foundation Of Any Compensation Program

​I have been talking about job descriptions a lot this past month.  Anyone that has worked with me in a compensation capacity has heard me preach about job descriptions being the foundation of any compensation program.  But they are used in other capacities as well.  Recruitment uses them to understand the scope of positions they are recruiting for and to create job postings.  Organizational Development uses them to develop succession plans.  Employee Relations uses them to create performance plans.  Yet everyone hates to create them!

I was working on a compensation re-design project for a client several years ago and before beginning the project they informed me that they had just signed a contract with a job description software company that I could use to create job descriptions for them – since they had none!  I love technology so I was up for using something new.  Since so many HR teams are struggling with job description creation and management, I thought I would share this hidden technology gem with you!
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The company name is HRTMS and their enterprise product is called JDXpert.  JDXpert puts the entire job description writing, editing, approving process in the cloud.  It also allows you to give access to anyone in your organization.  What I like about this functionality is that you can give your employees access so that they can be informed about the latitude of their job and recommend changes.  You can establish an approval process (i.e. manager and then compensation) to ensure the changes are accurate.  This allows frequent job description updates and protects the employer from employee claims that they did not know the scope of their position.  Win – win!

I also tell my clients that job descriptions should be living, breathing documents meaning that they should not remain stagnant.  Best practice is to review job descriptions at least annually which never happens and then after 5 years of no updates a lengthy job description review project is commissioned!  To avoid this, I like to suggest building into your posting process a job description review.  Request that all hiring managers review and sign-off on the job description before a new position can be posted to keep them updated and current.  I found JDXpert to be a great tool for this process since hiring managers could simply go online to conduct their review and easily make changes, if required.  I have found that hiring managers are more likely to complete this step when it doesn’t require too much effort to actually access the document (i.e. Word documents on shared drives, employer portals, SharePoint) and then make edits (i.e. tracked changes in Word and then emailing about).  I have seen much better job description update success using online technology.

So go to hrtms.com and check out their products if you are struggling with job description management.  I have partnered with them for projects with my clients and I always get positive feedback.  If you can’t imagine being a HR professional without using an HCM system, you won’t want to imagine writing or managing job descriptions without cloud-based software!