The current job descriptions were created in 2013 by the owner himself, and they have not been updated since. At the time the job descriptions were created, the company had four full-time employees, two mechanics and two sales persons. The current job descriptions are written documents that are kept in a folder that contains information for employees, in the coffee lounge of the work place.
There is one generic job description for a sales person, and one generic job description for a mechanic. There is no written job description for the warehouse coordinator, e-commerce and marketing manager or suspension mechanic.
3.3.1 Current job description of sales person
The current job description for sales person is generic for all sales persons.
The title is “job description of sales person”. On top, below the title there is a section that lists main tasks:
• Selling bicycles, accessories and services
• Continuous up keeping and development of the shop and ware- house
• Active participation in the development of sales
Below main tasks, there is a section that contains duties, responsibilities and instructions:
• Is responsible for filling in customer information to the ERP- system
• Gives guidance to the customers (and other employees) on prod- ucts
• Takes care of the cleanliness and order of the shop
• Is responsible for stock inventory also over vacation times
• Takes care of own professional skills and develops them
• Helps the service and assembly of bicycles when needed, and de- velops own technical skill and knowledge
• Understands the goals and values of the company and commits to perform accordingly
• Sets goals for developing the job
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• Develops ideas for increasing sales and is responsible for conduct- ing them
• Commits to the given instructions and aims to develop them fur- ther
• Reports shortcomings and problems to the management
There is no other information on the document.
In addition to this, the folder where job descriptions and other company information is available to the employees, also contains another version of written generic sales person job description that includes several addition- al tasks and duties compared to the one presented above:
• Customer service both in shop and online
• Processing web shop orders
• Packing up parcels that Posti and Matkahuolto pick up, daily be- fore three a clock in the afternoon
• Processing incoming parcels, and processing incoming purchase orders
• Creating product information data to web shop
Below the task and duties section, there is a statement that says: diverse job that requires a lot from the job holder. Number one thing is always customer service. There is no other information on the document.
3.3.2 Current job description of bicycle mechanic
There is one generic job description for all of the bicycle mechanics. It consists of one section that is a list of tasks, duties, responsibilities and in- structions.
• The bicycle mechanics main task is to service customers’ bicycles
• In addition, the job includes assembling new bicycles, installing accessories and sales when needed
• Mechanic is responsible for reception of customers’ service orders, responsible for filling in customer information to the ERP-system and selling the spare parts and accessories needed for the service
• Is responsible for the services to be made in time, carefully and that all bicycles are test ridden and inspected before giving them back to the customer
• Takes care of organizing work and communicating to customers
• Gives guidance to the customers (and other employees) on prod- ucts
• Is responsible for the cleanliness and order of the service facilities
• Conducts spare-part and accessories orders on time and is respon- sible for stock inventory also over vacation times
• Understands the goals and values of the company and commits to perform accordingly
• Takes care of own professional skills and develops them
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• Reports shortcomings and problems to the management, if they oc- cur
There is no other information on the document.
3.3.3 The owner’s point of view on current job description
Writing the current job descriptions took the owner a long time and he felt writing them was a difficult process. The employees have not been a part of the job description writing process.
The owner states that the job descriptions should not come from the em- ployer as dictation. Developing the job descriptions should be an ongoing process, and the employees should be involved in that process. The owner is worried that the job descriptions can create more restrictions than possi- bilities. He says that if the job description is too vague it is useless. Some kind of structure is needed for the jobs, but it should as flexible as possi- ble. He says that he feels a job description should be more like employee’s personal development plan instead of list of tasks, and it should concen- trate more on employee’s potential than job. He worries that if it is task list, then employees might refuse to perform tasks outside of the list when needed.
3.3.4 Employees’ awareness of the job descriptions
The employees were asked in the beginning of the interview whether they have job descriptions, what does their job description include and where is it kept? The results are varied. Four out of six employees stated, that they do not have job descriptions that they are aware of.
Two employees said that they have a job description, but they see their current job descriptions as a mere list of tasks rather than an actual job de- scription.
Two employees stated that they had gone through their job description with the manager verbally at some point in the beginning of the employ- ment. Two employees knew where their job descriptions are kept.
The two employees that knew that they have a job description, both stated that it is not up to date, and is missing several daily tasks and duties.
The writer of this thesis states that he had a written general sales person job description when he was working as a sales person. The writers’ job currently consists mainly of e-commerce and marketing tasks and respon- sibilities. For the writers’ current job, there is no written job description document. According to the writer, the tasks, duties and responsibilities of
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his current job are based on verbal agreement with the owner, and the writer’s own judgement.
3.3.5 The use of job descriptions
According to the interviews, none of the employees knew what their job descriptions are used for, if they have one. Also, according to the owner, the current job descriptions are not really used for anything at the moment.
3.3.6 Importance of job description
According to the interviews, four out of six employees feel that it is im- portant to have a job description. One employee does not think a job de- scription is important. One employee stated that he does not mind if he does not have a job description. He said that he does not want to be stuck in only certain tasks and wants to learn new things.
The reasons why a job description is important to the employees are that it makes division of tasks and responsibilities clearer and gives the impres- sion that the employer cares about these issues.