Importance of Job Descriptions

The process of developing a job description helps you articulate the most important outcomes you need from an employee performing a particular job.

A job description is also a communication tool that tells coworkers where their job leaves off and the job of another starts. A well-written job description tells an employee where their job fits within the overall department and the overall company.

Well-written job descriptions help employees from other departments, who must work with the person hired, understand the boundaries of the person's responsibilities. The job description is an integral piece of the performance development planning process.

Finally, one of the chief complaints employees make about their managers is that they lack clear direction. A job description combined with written goals within a performance development planning process provides the direction employees need.