Should Employees be given Job Descriptions?

P

potdar

#31
Sad, sad. A bunch of quality professionals who should be living and breathing "defining requirements, establishing metrics, and measuring conformance" are shouting down an obvious instance of where clear requirements should be established, communicated, monitored, measured, and corrective actions taken where needed. My goodness.

To the original question of giving it to the employee, I say Yes. Give them a copy. Better yet, have them sign off on a copy and put it in their file. Demonstrates communication of minimal requirements of the position.
Should the employees get a copy of their job desription (or bullet)? Very much - as a part of my Business Management System.

Should it be part of my QMS? - let the management decide. The management does, and should do many more things than are included in the QMS.

Should the auditor audit it? - Welcome. But he is wasting his time. I wont accept any NCs if thats what he is fishing for.
 
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Helmut Jilling

Auditor / Consultant
#33
Should the employees get a copy of their job desription (or bullet)? Very much - as a part of my Business Management System.

Should it be part of my QMS? - let the management decide. The management does, and should do many more things than are included in the QMS.

Should the auditor audit it? - Welcome. But he is wasting his time. I wont accept any NCs if thats what he is fishing for.

I don't understand your opionion. ISO requires us to identify the required skills for each position.

In the USA, many companies put the required skills in the Job Description. If that is where they list them, then that is where I have to audit it. Some companies list them elsewhere, then I will audit the other list instead. But, if it is auditable, then NCs are always a potential, if problems are noted.

Perhaps in your area, it is done differently?
 
P

potdar

#34
I don't understand your opionion. ISO requires us to identify the required skills for each position.

In the USA, many companies put the required skills in the Job Description. If that is where they list them, then that is where I have to audit it. Some companies list them elsewhere, then I will audit the other list instead. But, if it is auditable, then NCs are always a potential, if problems are noted.

Perhaps in your area, it is done differently?
ISO 9001:2000 Clause 5.5.1 Top management shall ensure that responsibilities and authorities are defined and communicated within the organisation
That I believe is job description. The OP does it. We do it. All do it. It needs to be done for a good BMS. What he is asking about is whether the employees should get copies of their job description.

That in my opinion is management discretion. It should be communicated. Not necessarily by giving copies, or even making people sign them.

Have you ever downloaded a software and intalled it after 'reading' the small print before saying 'I Agree'?

Should the auditor look for authorities, responsibilities, competencies being defined? yes.

Should he look for these being implemented effectively? yes.

Should he look for record of communication? Wastage of time.
 
B

Barahir

#35
We go both ways here. In the main location we are a union shop and job descriptions, while not specifically required by ISO/TS, are specifically required by the collective bargaining agreement. So the employees here all have documented job descriptions, which became a part of our QMS when we upgraded from QS to ISO/TS. They even get reviewed and revised...sometimes. :notme:

We have an offsite location where we perform one operation and in that case there is not a written job description for the employee(s) who run the machinery. Instead there is a Work Instruction which details exactly what steps to perform and how to do so. In this instance, I don't see where have a written job description would be value added, since it would essentially say "Operate machine x in accordance with Work Instruction Y."
 

Helmut Jilling

Auditor / Consultant
#36
That I believe is job description. The OP does it. We do it. All do it. It needs to be done for a good BMS. What he is asking about is whether the employees should get copies of their job description.

That in my opinion is management discretion. It should be communicated. Not necessarily by giving copies, or even making people sign them.

Have you ever downloaded a software and intalled it after 'reading' the small print before saying 'I Agree'?

Should the auditor look for authorities, responsibilities, competencies being defined? yes.

Should he look for these being implemented effectively? yes.

Should he look for record of communication? Wastage of time.
Potdar, I think perhaps the intent of my comment was not clear. I did not discuss auditing how it was communicated, although communication is also a requirement in the standard, and communicating is an important consideration as well.

My post focused on IF a company lists the required skills in their Job Description, then the Job Description is where I have to audit the job skills. No?

These other things you described here, I agree with. But these things do not list the job skills.

Should the auditor look for authorities, responsibilities, competencies being defined? yes.

Yes. This is the part I was discussing. In the US, we often list the authorities and responsibilities in org charts and procedures. But, Job skills and competencies are critical to an effective organization, and should receive a lot of attention. And, must be audited in whatever document they are defined in.

I think also, perhaps we have a different use of the term "Job Description."
 
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gpainter

Quite Involved in Discussions
#37
Job Descriptions are the essence of what is required. Let them know and change as needed. Remember what you document may come back to haunt you.
 
Q

Quality-Geek

#40
My husband recently came to work where I work, as a Production Supervisor. He has no job description - the specific position is relatively new and management isn't completely sure what his scope of responsibilities are (beyond getting good parts out the door). This has been a huge source of frustration for him. And listening to it a couple times a week has been very frustrating for me. Equally frustrating was that I had to help write mine a couple years ago. Apparently I'm supposed to be doing something around here!

Personally, I think every employee should at least see their job descriptions. An annual review by the employees would help keep them current and remove discrepencies, and would ensure that communication of duties is very clear.
 
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