Clever employees write their own job description
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Nowadays, employees who demand a complete and clearly written description for their job are inviting failure in their career.
Modern business requires highly adaptive people who can deal with changing circumstances and make a positive impact in the organisation.
In the past, it wasn’t unusual to hear employees say, “this is not my job/responsibility”. They would even point to the job description to support their argument.
Moreover, some supervisors would get the management thinking by asking for a written job description for each person. This is probably an obsolete practice in the changing work environment of today.
This does not, however, imply that a job description is unnecessary. Rather, the description should be more flexible by encompassing the scope for change – additional tasks, the replacement of existing tasks, a modified range of responsibility, and so on.
It is inefficient to let employees, especially white-collar workers, stick mechanically to their job descriptions, when the actual work to be done will be more situational and non-linear by nature.
The following are examples of emerging situations that require someone with a flexible job description and a willingness to adapt:
_ The company is engaging in a new project that could lead to diversification of the business. Someone in the current organisation needs to take care of it.
_ The company is thinking of setting up a new production facility overseas and would like someone familiar with the management culture to handle the start-up phase.
_ The company has received repeated and serious complaints about quality problems and someone needs to get involved and look into them in detail.
_ A new law has forced the company to comply with a new and unfamiliar practice. This requires someone to take charge and smooth the transition period.
_ A new computerised system requires that a steering committee be set up to serve the transition. A team of functional representatives is required for the implementation.
The above are examples of situations which require urgent attention; recruiting additional personnel may take too long. This type of challenge is cropping up more and more frequently, especially in companies with high growth.
It is also an opportunity for those individuals willing to accept the challenge and move with the company rather than sticking religiously to their own area of expertise. This willingness to step beyond the job description is valued in today’s work environment, where old practices are being questioned for their relevancy. For example:
_ A vice president of finance might be someone who has no financial background but who has workable skills with numbers and numerical analysis.
_ A material planner without an engineering or production background can nevertheless use his long experience to become the plant manager for a newly set up factory
overseas.
_ A marketing officer can step up to become a team member for product development and design.
The above trend is likely to be a common feature of tomorrow’s new-breed organisations, where hierarchies will be flattened and human resources limited.
The focus on change should bring a new focus to the response process, with the onus on tackling problems in a timely fashion. Thus it would be unwise to ask for a clear-cut job description today, when issues that need attention are likely to come without clear-cut formats.
It’s the duty of supervisors to extend opportunities to anyone who raises his/her hand and asks the passionate question: “Can I do this job?”
Yanyong Thammatucharee is senior vice president for Accounting and Finance at Central Marketing Group.
