Writing effective job descriptions

Labor management and leadership of the team are becoming increasingly important aspects of day-to-day responsibilities for farm owners and managers. Job descriptions add clarity to farm tasks and procedures, helping to avoid confusion and potential disagreements about the work at hand, and delineating who is responsible for those tasks. This can also improve working relationships and keep things running smoothly for all employees, including family members working on the farm.

Farm owners and managers can use job descriptions  to help recruit, select, hire and manage successful farm employees. Well-written job descriptions provide a clear, concise way to communicate expectations, skills and requirements to prospective team members. They are a great way to make sure prospective employees fully understand what the job entails. Once a new hire is onboard, the job description can also help with employee training by identifying skill gaps and areas to review or focus on.

During interviews, a detailed job description may result in some candidates self-selecting out of the process. While it can be disappointing to have an interview end abruptly, it’s better to know sooner rather than later if a potential employee can’t or won’t do an important aspect of the job. For example, if climbing a silo is a job requirement, it’s best to learn about a candidate’s fear of heights before an offer of employment is extended.

The job description is also a great tool to provide performance feedback to employees. Having a concise listing of job expectations can make it easier to discuss an employee’s strengths as well as areas where they need to improve.

Follow this step-by-step guide to develop and write a job description for positions on your farm. Each step corresponds to a part of the sample job description that follows.

Step 1: select a job title.

Use a descriptive title that best captures the responsibilities of the position but doesn’t limit the scope. For example, “calf feeder” or “milker” may be too narrow if other general farm duties are routinely expected. When you select a title, don’t use potentially discriminatory terms such as “hired man.”

Step 2: provide a job summary.

Give a concise description of the primary duties. This short description (one paragraph) builds on the job title and is used for recruiting purposes. Mention the work culture that you try to emulate on your farm and why an individual would want to work for you.

Step 3: outline core duties.

Start with the most important duties, followed by those that may be performed less frequently. Bullet points are a great way to make these responsibilities stand out. Start bulleted sentences with active words such “operate,” “maintain” and “perform” versus weaker words such as “assist” or “observe.”

Make sure to describe all primary day-to-day activities in this section. Indicating whom the role reports to can help candidates understand how the role fits into the overall operation. For example, “take direction from the farm manager” will let the potential employee know how the day-to-day reporting structure works.

Use current employees to develop this section of the job description. They can give valuable input on the tasks and responsibilities that should be included.

Step 4: list necessary skills and experience.

This section should include knowledge, experience, education and training necessary to perform the job. Must-have skills should include the word “required.” While it might be tempted to list every qualification you envision in an ideal candidate, too many responsibilities may discourage people from applying. If a skill would be nice to have but would not exclude potential candidates if they don’t have it, use the word “preferred.” For example, “truck driving experience required, CDL preferred.”

This section should include both hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are technical requirements that are necessary to perform the job, such as “operate skid steer.” Soft skills are behavioral or personality traits that could help an individual be successful in the role. Examples of soft skills are “handle cattle calmly” or “work well with a team.” Physical requirements should also be included. For example: “ability to lift 50 pounds routinely” or “position requires standing for long periods of time.”

Full job description

The following sample job description combines each section from the list above into a full job description.

Use this simple, step-by-step process to develop job descriptions for all positions on your farm. Your completed job descriptions can also be the basis for your job postings when you have a vacancy. To modify a job description into a job posting, add information about compensation, benefits, housing and how to apply.

For more information about developing job descriptions or any other aspect of your farm employee recruiting efforts, see Extension’s Human Resource Management in Agriculture resources.