Job descriptions

A job description should be more than a list of tasks that you perform on a daily basis.  It should also encompass skills and competencies.  Can you send and open attachments in email?  Can you do basic computer trouble shooting, such as replugging in a computer, a keyboard or a mouse when some mischievous child thinks it’s fun to unplug them all during storytime.  Are you diplomatic?  A problem solver?  Outgoing?  While the first two items can definitely be directly related to what you do, the last three are skills that will help you to do your job better.

So what’s the big deal about job descriptions?  You already have the job, so why do you need to make sure that your job description is up to date?  There’s a whole bunch of reasons and all of them benefit you. A well-written job description should do the following:

1. Indicate what an employer is expecting.  You’re not a mind-reader, so having exactly what your supervisor or board expects of you written down in the form of a job description will help prevent misunderstandings and misguided expectations.  

  
2.  Indicate where one job leaves off and another one begins.  If it’s clear what your board does, what you do, and what your staff is expected to do, there will be no feet stepped on or boundaries crossed.

3.  Indicate where your job fits in with the overall workings of the library.  Think of this as the organizational flow chart.  To whom are you answerable and whom are you supervising?  This is especially important when someone is newly hired as a supervisor over long-term employees. 

4. Offer accountability. If someone is not doing what’s on their job description, why not?  Some jobs may no longer need to be done, due to changes in the technology or work flow (in which case you should update the job description).  But some jobs may be avoided simply because they’re not pleasant.  In this case, facing an employee with job description in hand provides better support than: “Because I’m your boss and I’m telling you to.” (Which, by the way, is a sure-fire way to build resentment in a work environment.)

5.  Explain required competencies (computer literacy, physical demands of the job). Hiring people with certain skill levels will reduce training time needed.  Also, people need to know going into a job that they will be required to be on their feet for a certain period of time each day, that bending and lifting is involved when shelving books.

6.  Helps in succession planning.  We never want bad things to happen that will make us unable to work, but sometimes they do.  Having a current and specific job description will be a godsend to those who have to take your place should, God forbid, you get hit by a bus on the way home from work one day.

7.  Shows your board just how much you do (and why you need more people/higher salary).  Sometimes your board does not know all that you do in the course of a day/week/month.  Presenting and up-to-date job description could be a great way to get the recognition you deserve and raise their awareness.

If no current job description is in place – write one!   Basically list what you do throughout the year, preferably with the amount of time each task takes.  When writing job descriptions for new hires, make sure they are specific enough to cover all aspects of the job, but general enough to allow for flexibility (i.e. lifting weight up to 15 kg. (general) as opposed to lifting books (too specific)).