Ideal Job Specification

Once you have decided that you need to hire for a role, the next steps are to create a:

·        job description (what are outcomes and processes in role), and

·        job specification (what knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are you seeking in a job incumbent).

But a job specification doesn't end with only listing out what KSAs you are seeking in a job incumbent.

 

As HR Recruiter or Hiring Manager, take into consideration following factors:

·        Most things are teachable and learnable given adequate time, effort and cost. But different organizations have different capacities/appetite for time, effort, and cost. Hence what is trainable and what is non-trainable is an organization specific decision.

o   Ability is most difficult to teach and learn, followed by skill and then knowledge.

·        Ask yourself 'What is trainable/non-trainable for this role?".

o   List out Non-trainable K,S, and As. These should be criterion against which you will make a hire/no-hire decision for a candidate

What is advantage of following a procedure like this?

By following above mentioned procedure, you increase size of candidate pool you are looking at. Hence possibility of hiring a candidate at an 'affordable' compensation increases.

 

You may also want to keep the following in mind when formulating job specification:

·        If you are being particular about an educational qualification and that is causing you difficulties in hiring - ask yourself 'Is this qualification really required? Can someone who has relevant work experience but not this educational qualification perform this job effectively?

·        If you are being particular about a certain type of work experience and that is causing you difficulties in hiring - ask yourself 'Can someone with high learnability but having a different kind of work experience/no work-experience do this job with an accelerated induction program?;

These are some tips to ensure that you are hiring a candidate at an 'affordable' compensation.

 

Your next question might be - so how do we ensure high performance? Well! I will post about this soon.

 

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Sourav

 

Job Descriptions – Standards of Excellence or Minimal Required Standards?

What does a Job Description tell us? How does an employee respond when s/he sees job description for her/his role?

Job descriptions do tell us what is expected of the role. But what is the nature of these expectations? If a job description says A,B,C, and D needs to be done, should role incumbent just do A,B,C, and D and nothing else? A similar dilemma exists for Key Performance Indicators agreed on to for a role at the start of the year.

I would argue that job descriptions and Key Performance Indicators are minimal required conditions at the best. They define the skeleton.

To put flesh on that skeleton, is left to us. How much flesh we put on the skeleton and what contours the body takes depends on our willingness to exert ourselves.

This is a different way of looking at work. If we were to equate job descriptions and KPIs with something akin to accounting or quality standards, then meeting ‘job standards’ doesn’t necessarily lead to excellence. What is required is positive deviation over and above ‘job standards’ specified. How much deviation and in what direction – that is something which ‘individual energies’ would determine?

The question to ask oneself is ‘What am I going to do today which is over and above what my job description or KPI demands?’

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Sourav