The cost of hiring is running three to five times an employee's annual salary and rising (25 percent over the last two years for exempt employees) according to Workforce Management). It's more important than ever for employers to recruit and retain the right talent for each position. And that starts with a clear understanding of exactly what functions you need for each member of the team or department.
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Whether you do your hiring through a recruiter, your own HR department or by yourself, a solid job description will help you recruit a better pool of candidates and better assess their qualifications. It can also help ensure that everyone involved, including others in your organization and the candidates themselves, understand what will be the functions of the position and expectations of the new employee. Once the hiring decision is made, the job description gives the employee and his manager a valuable tool for performance measurement.
It should go without saying that management first needs to determine if, in fact, the position is actually needed. It's a good idea to consider the following questions not only for new positions, but for backfilling existing positions, as well:
Why do you need this position? What will the organization be able to achieve with this position that you wouldn't be able to without it? What will be the consequences if the job function is not performed?
How will it impact your budget? Can you afford the level of talent you need?
How long will you need someone to do this job function? If less than long term, could you manage by hiring a temporary employee or reassigning a current employee?
How long can you expect someone to be satisfied in this position as it is currently defined, and what will you do with the person when he outgrows it?
Once the need for the position is established, then you are ready to design the job description. You will need to identify the following:
Purpose of the job. The purpose or goal is a broad statement of your reason for having this position.
Primary functions. Primary functions are those that are absolutely required to accomplish the goal of the job. These are the tasks to which the employee will devote the majority of his or her time and effort. If you are unsure whether a function is a primary one, ask yourself if the job would be substantially the same if you took it away. If not, it is a primary function.
Secondary functions. Secondary functions are the "nice to haves." These are the tasks or functions that will increase the employee's productivity and ability to contribute to the organization, but their absence does not preclude a person's ability to do the job.
Qualifications. The qualifications required for a candidate to do a job include not only the obvious SKAs - skills, knowledge and abilities. They also include considerations such as physical requirements, security clearances, criminal background, licenses, job location, work schedule, etc. It's important to spell all these out in detail in the job description. And don't forget to include personal attributes such as communication skills, teamwork and interpersonal skills.
Finding the right person for a position is a start, but looking into the future and defining how you expect it to evolve is equally as important and what opportunities might be available to this candidate to move into with more experience. Whenever I interview a person, I am thinking about their career within my organization. I ask myself what else that person can or will be able to do for the company. How can we benefit from having this person on our team? How will the person benefit? As we strive to retain our X and Y Gen workforce, we need to develop strategies which encourage them to expand the typical couple of years to four, five or more before they leave our organizations. And these strategies have to start on their first day of employment. Eighty percent of employees decide whether to stay with or leave a job within the first six months according to DJ Chhabra, president of Enwisen, a California based consulting firm.
Companies, jobs, technology and employees evolve over time. Understanding how they change and what impact those changes have on individual positions is crucial. Organizations that have well-defined job functions and job descriptions that are regularly reviewed and revised will benefit through improved productivity, job performance and employee satisfaction.
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