MAKING JOB DESCRIPTIONS WORK FOR YOU (PT 3)

So far we've established that to make a job description really effective it needs to include measures of success. We know that people generally don't change, and so we know that we need to recruit people who will meet our business requirements in terms of their behaviour right from the outset. The question we have to ask now is 'how do we measure behaviour?'

When I am asked to review job descriptions or when they are passed to my businesses to work on, we typically see the behavioural aspect covered as:

• The ideal candidate will be flexible.
• The ideal candidate will be a team player.
• The ideal candidate will be prepared to work very hard to achieve the goals.

How do you interview for such general traits? Who isn’t going to tell you that they are flexible and that they fit into teams? The only way you will understand these general behaviours is by taking detailed references, but this usually only happens after the interview.

I will return to these three aspects of behaviour in the future because they are a vital part of the overall process. After all, as we know, people don't change and behaviours are usually repeated. However, the question we have to tackle before the interview stage is, how do we understand what the right behaviours are for our job's requirements?

The way to do this is to look at the desired outcomes we put together at the start of the process.

Perhaps the easiest way to explain this is to look at one of the outcomes I require from a new recruiter.

The first 30 day outcome I set down was:

"To be fully cognisant of our database and able to demonstrate an in-depth ability to perform searches and enter all conversations on it."

Therefore what I need to think about is what knowledge and skills the person should be able to demonstrate to meet this requirement. A short-list might be:

• Knowledge of databases.
• Attention to detail.
• An ability to understand technical jargon.

Now we're making progress! We know the outcome we require and we know what will demonstrate that the person has the right knowledge and skills to reach that outcome.

With this in mind, how will the person with the right knowledge and skills behave to demonstrate this? I'd be looking for someone who:

• is comfortable using databases and inputting detailed information, and who is able to extract the information they require too;
• would naturally double-check their work to ensure that it meets the standards and is happy to ask when unsure;
• who is willing and able to talk to technical people and ask questions to ensure their  understanding is right, and is able to explain the requirement back in a non technical manner.

The Bigger Picture:

So, I now have an overall requirement that looks something like this (in part):

"Within 30 days, the new recruit must be fully cognisant of our database and able to demonstrate an in-depth ability to perform searches and enter all conversations on it."

I expect candidates to have specific knowledge and skills in order to achieve this:

• Knowledge of databases
• Attention to detail
• An ability to understand technical jargon

And I also expect candidates to be able to demonstrate to me that they are capable of working in specific ways (i.e. have specific behaviours):

• they use databases, input detailed information and extract the information they require;
• they double-check their work to ensure that it meets the standards and will ask when unsure;
• they talk to technical people and ask questions to ensure their understanding is right, and are able to then explain the requirement back in a non technical manner.

At first this process appears time-consuming and daunting and in fairness when first attempted it can be. However as you run through each requirement you start to put together a group of core competencies that are required for specific roles and your organisation and many of them will overlap. Therefore, over time, the process becomes more straightforward.

It is also worth remembering that once this work is done, you'll have the competencies around which you should be interviewing against. Therefore the interview itself becomes much more straightforward. The effort put in now saves time later.

Any 'nice-to-have' requirements should not be included in a job description. Those that you would be looking to provide training in should not be included as requirements but could possibly be added as additional skills that training will be provided for, to make your position more attractive than others openings the candidate might be looking at. (Remember, the best candidates are always in demand irrespective of the economic conditions.)

Following the approach outlined for the full requirements of a post will give you a complete profile for your ideal candidate. From here you can move on to actually looking for them.

Next Time:

Ensuring you're using the right means to attract the right candidate.