For Managers: Do You Have a Wreck or a Req? Part 1
For Managers Mostly: Req or Wreck?
By Miki Saxon
Approval processes and physical formats for requisition/job descriptions (reqs) may come and go, but without good content you have a wreck—not a req.
We developed the following list is to encourage (force) managers to think, really think, not only about the skills and experience they need, but also the MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy)™ that would be most productive in their environment.
With slight tweaking, it also works for candidates who want a better way to pin down what they’re really looking for in an opportunity. They can call it “The 12 Ingredients of a Req I Want to Fill.”
The 6 of 12 Ingredients of a Fillable Req©
1. Company Culture – If you’re not conscious of, or don’t understand in depth, your company’s culture, it will be difficult to actively talk about it. By describing and discussing it during the interview, you can communicate an accurate and realistic picture of the company. This gives the candidate the opportunity to learn whether it is what she is looking for before accepting an offer.
2. Management Style – No matter what the company culture, each manager’s MAP is different and affects efforts to achieve the department’s and company’s goals. Whatever your MAP and management style, it’s critical to accurately describe and discuss it with a candidate. If your style turns off that specific candidate, then you’re ahead—you found out before hiring.
3. Job Description – This is a comprehensive description of what the job entails: For example, what will the person be doing all day? With whom does the person interact? What interdepartmental interaction should he expect? What projects will he be working on? This is the job painted in broad strokes to give the candidate a good feel for it. Include future projects; the company’s growth plans and direction; career potential both inside and outside the department; your expectations of the person in this position; boundaries of whatever authority he has; etc.
4. Responsibilities – This is a detailed explanation of what is required of the person in the position including the actual work; the goals for the position and for the person in it (they may not be the same) along with potential obstacles; the top one to three priorities (no more!) by the day or project or whatever-makes-sense and why you see them as the top priorities; etc.
5. Team Synergy – Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the other people on the team allows you to define the new position in a way that will best complement and strengthen your team. Too often managers unconsciously hire people similar to the current team or areas in which he/they feel most comfortable interviewing, neglecting areas in which they have little expertise and creating a disaster waiting to happen.
6. Department Interaction – People no longer work in a vacuum. As one manager said, “The days of being able to hire a jerk, put him in a back room, feed him once a day, and have him produce are gone forever!” The people hired in a department must do more than just tolerate each other. They must find common purpose through similar philosophy and shared values—with their manager and with each other. You need to evaluate your department’s culture and be aware of the personal characteristics of your people. This isn’t a license to homogenize your group, in fact, disagreement can start the creative juices flowing and competition can add energy, but true discord will shut down the entire dialogue.
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