KEEP JOB DESCRIPTIONS CURRENT
Hiring quality Candidates in this job market is definitely DIFFICULT! It is, as anticipated, a Candidate’s marketplace. Unfortunately for hiring authorities, not only are you faced with searching for quality individuals with the experience, stability and the skill sets necessary for your openings; now you are facing additional challenges!
You are dealing with counter-offers, high demands from your Candidates, rising salary levels and increasing vacation requests just to get offers accepted & of course you are literally “fighting” with other Corporations over the SAME Candidates!
There are numerous things you can do in order to increase the chances that YOU will be the Corporation/Company/Firm the Candidate chooses. One important and often over-looked task is keeping your job descriptions current. More importantly, you MUST keep your written job description details accurate!
When you, the hiring authority, are given a new position to fill, it is imperative that you take every step necessary to have a VERY detailed job description. If you try to fill any opening and don’t have all the information needed, your chances that the person you hire will succeed is low. We all know that a “bad” hire is a waste of time and money.
When you are given a new opening, a good question to start with is to ask how long has the previous employee been in that position. If the answer is longer than 1 year then there are a lot of questions that need to be addressed. Once an employee has been in a position for an extended period of time, the actual position itself changes to utilize the many talents of this employee. The job description itself may have changed to utilize more of the current employee’s strengths and have minimized some of the responsibilities that may have been their weaknesses. If the open position is a support role, then the Executive has most likely adapted himself/herself to the style of the support individual. If the opportunity is for a management level position, the same principle is true. The Department or Team has learned this certain style and that style does affect everyone involved.
When you are given a new opening, start by retrieving a copy of the job description on file and realize this ONLY a starting place. It is up to you to go to the person who will work DIRECTLY with and/or for this person and ask for any deletions, additions and changes to your current. job description. There may be some hesitation because they may not want to take the time. It is YOUR responsibility to explain the “WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM” factor involved. If see the BENEFIT FOR THEM, they will take time to make revisions. You will be amazed at the additional skills and
traits they now include in the description. Obviously, this make your job easier because now you have a clear understanding of who they will hire!
Once you have asked the obvious questions regarding skills and responsibilities, it is crucial that you ask the following questions:
1. Debi was a great fit for this position, can you tell me why?
2. Can you tell me what skills Debi brought to this team that made her such an asset?
3. What personality traits did you like best about Debi?
4. If you could change one thing about Debi, what would it be?
5. What was Debi’s greatest strength?
6. What is your number one priority that I should keep in mind when I am searching for Debi’s replacement?
7. Describe the demeanor/personality that will work best with you.
8. Describe the demeanor/personality that will work best with your team.
9. Give me one thing that I should avoid while I am interviewing. (pet peeve)
10. Ask them to list the responsibilities and daily tasks and to break them into percentages.
Often if you speak to 3 people on the SAME team you will get 3 completely different answers! The reason this happens is because each team member utilized the employee for different things.
Therefore, once you have compiled all of your data, you then need to compare it against your old job description and devise a “New & Improved” description of your opportunity! Send a copy of this to everyone involved in the hiring process and have them sign off on the revised description.
As discussed earlier, it is a Candidate’s marketplace! When you extend an offer, get it accepted and have your new hire start, you definitely want them to be starting the opportunity that was described to them throughout their interviewing process!
If they start a job they feel was not what they thought it was, or wanted……
It takes one phone call for them to reactivate their job search - which is not in your best interest!
Revising job descriptions is time consuming but will save you HOURS in the long run.
Barb Bruno, CPC, CTS
