Great job descriptions attract great people
So many of us find job descriptions a chore, putting them way down the priority list and mumbling something like, “they don’t really matter – they don’t get read anyway”. On a bad day that could be me, although wearing my Captain Sensible hat I’m ready to defend this modest activity. Colleagues need to know what you expect them to achieve and to which standard. They need to know their job boundaries and dimensions – budget accountability, team make up and learning opportunities.
I’ve vivid memories of being invited to review job descriptions just hours before recruitment campaigns began and feeling instantly nauseous. Perfectly sensible managers create monsters written in outdated often contradictory language and include laundry lists of people requirements which don’t faintly match job activities. It’s no wonder that jobs remain vacant, colleagues aren’t sure what they should be doing and managers dread performance reviews.
There’ve been times when I’ve not said enough and others when I’ve said too much, but I’ll leave you to imagine the conversations. It’s all about the balance between maintaining great relationships with colleagues (my stakeholders) and safeguarding their businesses for the future. Clearly, I want both but not always in equal measure. Together we need to produce appealing and accurate descriptions of work activity and the people most likely to do it well. This is not a selfish crusade to demonstrate writing elegance but a bid for realism, simplicity and usefulness.
Here’s my tried and tested approach:
Assemble key information – job title, department, budget and team size, etc.
Be succinct – limit yourself to a couple of sides (A4)
Be focused – keep your job and business marketing objectives in mind
Write in an engaging and inclusive style – avoid duplication, jargon and abbreviations
Remember that big (or senior) jobs do not need longer words or explanations
Include a brief overview of the business (its values) and how it’s organised (illustration)
Overview the job in a couple of sentences – its unique contribution to business success
Describe what the job is designed to achieve – the activities and performance standards
Describe the person most likely to succeed – strengths, skills, experience and knowledge
Be clear about what’s essential from day one and what’s helpful or could be learned
Think outside of the box to keep jobs interesting, readily understood and attractive
