What are the job duties and responsibilities?

A job description establishes expectations and performance benchmarks. Begin writing roles and responsibilities by creating an outline that identifies and prioritizes duties of the position. Know that prospective employees will use this information when deciding whether to apply. New hires will rely on the job description to gain a better understanding of what they must do to be successful. Be very specific when writing roles and responsibilities because job descriptions guide personnel actions, including hiring and firing.

Use Action Words

Since employees depend on job descriptions to better understand their duties and functions, use action verbs to describe roles and responsibilities. Directives such as delegate, review, investigate and collaborate, communicate the expected behavior of the employee. Active starters also provide a clear understanding of visible and measurable performance goals and objectives.

Examples:

Supervise, train and evaluate 15 full-time employees.

Negotiate purchasing contracts with external suppliers.

Produce three marketing concepts per week for assigned clients.

Provide Detail

Detail is important when writing roles and responsibilities in a job description. First, make a list of the tasks assigned to this position, and then group them into related clusters. The art is to write responsibilities that are precise, but not rigid and inflexible. A certain degree of murkiness in job descriptions allows the company to redirect employees’ work to accommodate a changing marketplace.

Examples:

Work with staff to provide customer service to assigned clients.

Perform research lab functions including cleaning, equipment maintenance, supply stock and other duties as assigned.

Communicate Expectations

As you write roles and responsibilities in a job description, reflect upon a day in the life of the employee who will read this document. Indicate the percentage of time that employees should spend on primary and secondary job responsibilities. Communicate specificity of outcomes in each written role and responsibility.

Examples:

Develop and implement a sales generation plan for demographic markets congruent with product types. Assess market plan and make adjustments, as needed. Advise product generation team of needed changes, based on market research and testing.

Create and maintain a database of all existing and new clients. Track client contacts and provide bi-weekly reports on client changes and correspondence.

Include Competencies and Skills

Use roles and responsibilities on a job description to evaluate prospective candidates. If you include specific competencies and skills, hiring assistants performing the initial screening of applicants can quickly see who has the qualifications needed to perform the job. Similarly, clearly delineated job skills will help a manager assess the performance of current employees and provide a roadmap for job improvement. Wherever possible, connect skills to desired outcomes.

Examples:

Use quantitative and qualitative research skills to assess project success outcomes and make recommendations for future investments.

Use analytical skills to compile market share data and create an evidence-based client recruitment strategy.

Establish Company Standards

Roles and responsibilities in a job description should convey the company’s branding, values, standards and quality indicators. Employees should fully understand what it means to be loyal and true to organizational principles. Review the organizational mission statement and ideals when writing roles and responsibilities.

A job description is a document that clearly states essential job requirements, job duties, job responsibilities, and skills required to perform a specific role. A detailed job description will cover how success is measured in the role so it can be used in performance evaluations.

Job descriptions are also known as job specifications, job profiles, JDs, and position descriptions (job PD).

Our job description directory contains job description examples covering most roles. We have examples of job descriptions you can quickly download and modify to suit your unique business requirements. You'll find a job description for most common jobs.

Starting with a sample job description will make sure you do not miss any of the key requirements for a role and new hires will have a better understanding of what their role is. We also have a job description template if you prefer to work from that as well as a guide to how to write a job description.

A job description template is a reusable model that can be tailored to detail the specific requirements, responsibilities, job duties, and skills required to perform a role. It typically includes a list of common daily tasks, equipment or tools used, who the role reports to, and the overall goals of the role.

What is a job description? See our definition.

What are examples of job responsibilities?

What are the duties and responsibilities of a person?