Job Analysis and Job Descriptions

Terminology

Knowing the difference between these important terms (task, essential function, position, job, job family, and occupation) is important when writing a job description. Essential functions are critical to today’s job descriptions.

• Task - The lowest level is the task, a discrete unit of work performed by an individual. A task consists of activities that complete a work assignment. Examples of tasks include telephone calls, emails, meetings, reports, etc. Tasks typically are not included in a job description.
• Essential Function - The next level is the essential function. Essential functions are critical statements within a job description. Typically, there are 6-8 essential functions within a job description which describe the job duties that must be performed to achieve the important end results for which a job exists. Essential functions are also important when managing FLSA, ADA, FMLA, and SOX compliance.
• Position - When sufficient work accumulates to justify the employment of an employee, a position is created. There are as many positions as employees in an organization. A job description exists for each job - not each position.
• Job - A job is a group of positions that are identical or very similar in their essential functions. They are sufficiently alike to justify being covered by a single job analysis and job description. One person (or many) may be employed within the same job. Each job should have a job description.
• Job Family - A job family is a group of jobs in the same career discipline (e.g., nurse) but requiring different levels of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions (e.g., entry, intermediate, senior, etc.) When job families are designed and documented through job descriptions, the steps to promotion are well thought out and captured within an organization.
• Occupation - An occupation includes jobs or job families and is common in the external marketplace. They will occur in multiple organizations.