Job description. The very thought seems so “corporate-y,” right? You might be conjuring up memories of documents that get stuffed in the backs of drawers or perhaps you’re even thinking, “That’s a big business practice that just doesn’t fit my small, creative business.”

If so, then you’re underestimating the power this one little document holds!

I happen to love job descriptions – like L-O-V-E them! Many of the problems and concerns clients come to us with could easily be solved with a good ol’ job description. 

Job descriptions create clarity, set expectations, and provide you with a tool that you can use to set goals with your employees and hold them accountable. Seriously, this one little powerhouse document can quite literally save you thousands of hours, innumerable headaches, and avoid falling into potential legal pitfalls (which can be both costly and time-consuming).

But not any old job description will do. You need a quality job description to get these benefits (and more)! Let’s take a look at what NOT to include in your job description to make sure it’s the highest quality possible.

What to Avoid in a Quality Job Description

Your job description should be full of the specific details of the job – and not just a bunch of fluff.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for making work fun and infusing our businesses with tons of personality, which is one of the reasons I love being my own boss! But that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice quality for character.

Let’s take a look at a few things I’ve read in actual job descriptions that have made me cringe (and that you should avoid at all costs!):

• Must love cupcakes (or puppy snuggles, pizza, the color pink, etc.)

These things have absolutely nothing to do with the job you’re hiring for and could actually cause you to unintentionally discriminate against highly qualified candidates (yikes!). Unless you’re hiring someone to work as a taste tester for a cupcake shop, leave these types of fluff statements out.

• Able to help me with ALL THE THINGS

What exactly are ‘all the things?’ And how do you know when you’ve found the person who can do those things? Not only is this impossible to hire for, it’s also confusing and demeaning to applicants. Just don’t!

• Needed: Social Media Guru (or Rockstar, Ninja, Genius, etc.)

These terms are fun to use (and many often do), but again, they don’t really explain anything or help applicants know what will be expected of them. Think about it this way: One person’s guru might be another person’s average employee. #thingsthatmakeyougohmmm When you’re specific about what you’re looking for, you’ll find the right person for the job. Save these fun (and nondescript) terms for your internal communications and to bolster your company culture).

• Must have a great personality – I can teach you the rest!

I agree that attitude is a big deal, but the person you will hire will also likely need to have at least some skills. Attitude is hard to gauge when someone’s on their best behavior (aka – in an interview with you). And do you really have time to “teach them the rest” since you’re hiring help? Probably not! Hire someone who’s better than you at the job you’re hiring for and then let them work their magic. 😉

Ok, now that we’ve gone over what not to include in your job description, let’s take a look at how a quality job description will help you hire the right people and build a high-impact team!

How a Quality Job Description Will Help You Hire Right

Attract the Right Candidates

When you include specific, detailed, and relevant information in your job description, you’ll attract better candidates who know what you expect of the person you hire for this position. They’ll be able to better understand whether or not they can meet those expectations and you’ll get a better pool of qualified candidates to consider!

Ask the Right Questions

A high-quality job description will help you create interview questions that guide you to hire the right person for your team. If you’ve included something like “help me with all the things,” that will be hard to articulate into an interview question “So, Sarah, tell me about how you can help me do all the things.” What?! That’s completely unhelpful!

Set Clear Expectations

Once you hire your new team member, you’ll be able to use the job description to go over the position, tasks, and responsibilities with your new team member and help them learn what’s expected of them in their new role. No more guessing or trying to figure it out as you go! Plus, they can use the job description as a guide for when they have questions or aren’t sure what to do next. Total win-win.

Create Goals that Matter

Creating a quality job description also allows you to help your team members set goals that matter and that are in alignment with the overall goals of your business. This will help your team feel connected to your business, see how they’re making significant contributions to your team, and have a clear understanding that what they do really does matter.

Hold Your Team Accountable

When things get off the rails (and they will if you work with a team of people long enough), a job description can easily help you get your team back on track. No more, “don’t you remember that conversation we had 7 months ago?” Now you can simply refer back to the job description as a reminder of what is expected. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re getting ready to hire for the first time or you have a team in place already, it’s never too late to put a quality job description in place! We work with clients all the time who are both getting ready to hire for the first time and who already have established teams. We help create this important tool for their business, so they can hire and lead better - and we’d love to support you, too!

Authored by Ashley Cox, PHR, SHRM-CP