I am in the process of hiring a new staff member. Nothing new, I have hired many people over the course of my career. What is unique about this hire is that the position being filled did not fit the criteria of any previous position and existing job description at HRN. This circumstance required me to define this position by writing a new job description. This is something I have only had to do once before at another employer and it was a tedious and time consuming process. At HRN, and I hope in your organization, each job title has a detailed job description that is provided to the employee and kept on file to ensure that each staff member is aware of their responsibilities and understands their job function.

I am pleased to say the process of developing this new job description was quite painless and actually beneficial to me as a manager by requiring me to clearly define the key functions and responsibilities of the position. Now a little background and a bit of a shameless plug . . . I had at my disposal one of HRN’s most popular products, the Job Descriptions Plus CD-ROM. On this CD is a collection of over 300 complete and editable job descriptions spanning a wide variety of position categories. Over 130 of these job descriptions are actually included and matched with corresponding position templates and performance factors in our online performance evaluation solution, Performance Pro. Now with that said, the process I followed in developing this new job description was to review several “close-but-not-quite” job descriptions from the JD+ CD. I picked and chose duties and responsibilities that were a close fit and put them together in a new job description. But not everything was cookie cutter. There are some responsibilities in the new position that are unique and were not included in any of the reference material. I needed to refine and write several new functions and duties. What was helpful was seeing the way other functions and duties were written and what language was used. Following this ‘style’ I was able to quickly and effectively include new content and complete the JD in less time than I would have expected. The entire process took a bit over an hour.

So how did I do? I was a little nervous when I submitted the new JD to Jane, our chief HR legal expert, my boss, and author of most, if not all, of our extensive job description library to review. She was quite pleased and complimentary with the result and made only a few minor revisions.

The reason I share this little snippet from my exciting and glamorous professional life is to one . . . illustrate that you can teach an old dog new tricks, and two . . . emphasize the importance of having and providing a detailed job description to each employee for every position in the organization. Job descriptions clearly define priorities and main responsibilities. They keep employees on task and focused. Performance metrics and goals are then determined for the position based on the job description, company objectives, and the development needs/aspirations of the employee. These two tools -- job descriptions and employee performance management -- working together, ensure a workforce that is clear in their purpose and who understand their role in the bigger picture. They know how the company, i.e. their boss, define success.

So rest assured that not only does HRN develop cost-effective, easy-to-use, customizable, and legally compliant HR products and solutions, we also use them daily to manage our HR program.

For more information about Job Descriptions Plus, a listing of all job descriptions (which can be purchased separately for only $30 ea.), and to download several FREE job descriptions, go to: http://www.hrnonline.com/job_about.asp