Find the True Job Description for the Best Fit
In an article at Forbes.com, Sostrin says, “When an individual with the necessary skills and competencies is actively committed to a role that is designed around their team’s most urgent priorities, the potential for breakthrough performance is unmatched. The seamless alignment between talented people + vital roles is the holy grail of human capital management.”
There are three steps human resources executives need to take when it comes to hiring, according to Sostrin, who is the author of “Beyond the Job Description: How Managers and Employees Can Navigate the True Demands of the Job.”
- Make the Job Description Concrete
- Make the Job Description Discussible
- Make the Job Description Count
A concrete job description, Sostrin said, is achieved by drilling down to determine the “job-within-a-job” for each position. With respect to a discussible job description, Sostrin explained, “Using a common language to name the true challenges of work and define the “job-within-the-job” is an important move toward creating a culture of expectations, accountability, and support. There is no better way to cultivate these traits within the workforce than to hire with transparency from the start.”
To make a job description count, Sostrin said, “there must be structural shifts in organizational systems to match the hidden realities of work. These could include re-designed job descriptions, updated recruitment and selection processes, and new promotional policies that are consistent with the hidden curriculum of work.”
Publisher’s Weekly gave Sostrin’s book a favorable review. It praised Sostrin for asserting that most positions have responsibilities beyond face value and how the author helps readers figure out his or her real job, with all its components, and uncover the “hidden curriculum” necessary to be truly effective. “Sostrin maintains that, regardless of how well a company trains its leaders or employees, in today’s environment change is a given, so it’s critical that each person act as his or her ‘own human resources department,'” the review said.
The University of Delaware offers advice on writing job descriptions that goes beyond what Sostrin has to say. Its human resources website offers this advice about essential duties and responsibilities:
- Limit this section to eight current essential duties and responsibilities each of which accounts for more than 5 percent of the position.
- List them in descending order of importance and indicate the percentage of time spent on the duties.
- Use clear and concise language; closely related duties should be grouped together in one responsibility statement.
- Avoid gender-based language.
- To the extent practicable, please use action verbs with an implied subject (who) and explicit work objects and/or outputs (what).
Sostrin also had this to say in an article he wrote for HRZone.com. “The truth that our job descriptions lie is, in part, the reason work can be so frustrating,” he said.
But what can be done about the inaccuracy of job descriptions? Sostrin had this to say, “Does this mean we should shred all of the standard job descriptions we can find? No, but we need to seriously update our thinking about the difference between “tasks and activities” and “the hidden demands of work.” Understanding what is wrong with standard job descriptions requires an understanding of the hidden curriculum of work.”
He added, “The hidden curriculum of work is different for us all; however everyone can start exposing the half-truth of their standard job description by exposing the ‘job-within-the-job.'” The accompanying article goes more in-depth on how to determine what the “job-within-the-job” is.