Increase your recruitment success rate to 90%+

Traditional position descriptions can often lead to companies not attracting or recruiting A-Grade people[1]. They are time-consuming to create, rarely actually used in practice, unnecessary, encourage sloppy management, can exclude A-Grade candidates and are the cause of many recruitment mistakes.

Why eliminate traditional position descriptions[2]?

1.      You don’t need position descriptions to attract A-Grade candidates.

A-Grade candidates don’t need all of the information on a position description to consider exploring an opportunity with a company. The objective of a position description should not be to pre-qualify the person, but rather to generate interest in the position and company.

Preparing a high-level overview of the role or a one-page ‘splash’ with a quick description of the challenges and big projects and some facts about the company will quickly focus the pool of candidates applying to your target audience. These splash pages should describe the company culture, growth and career opportunities, the importance of talented and motivated people in the company and a few reasons why the role is important to the company’s vision and future. Once a candidate’s interest is engaged in the company, you can begin the process of driving this person to the specific role.

2.      Position descriptions lead to managers taking short-cuts and making bad decisions.

Most position descriptions don’t describe the outcomes that the company is looking for; they describe the skills a person supposedly needs to have for doing the work or the day to day tasks. By not describing the outcomes that need to be achieved, lots of time is spent looking for the wrong person. It is crucial that managers spend time understanding and clarifying the outcomes that need to be achieved before moving to the recruitment stage.

3.      Position descriptions can exclude A-Graders.

Most position descriptions list average skills and experience requirements. However, often the best people tend to have less experience or different experience, but are able to make up for this with potential and talent. If someone without the exact mix of skills and experiences listed on the position description can do the work, then the factors listed are misleading. Since online position descriptions are often boring and exclusionary, few A-Grade candiates will apply. If they do, it is likely the person doing the screening may not even consider the person!

4.      Position descriptions don’t predict on-the-job performance.

A person can possess all of the skills, experience, industry background, and academic qualifications listed in the traditional way and still not be able to achieve the outcomes desired. Because something is measurable (e.g., five years of experience) doesn’t mean it’s a valid predictor or an objective measure of on-the-job performance.

5.      Position descriptions are ineffective in performance management conversations.

Clarifying expectations has been shown to increase on-the-job performance, reduce turnover, and improve personal satisfaction. Traditional task or responsibility focused position descriptions don’t allow you to compare employee accomplishments to what they should have accomplished.

Once you have a particular position in mind, it is much more effective to focus on the most important performance objectives which define success, as well as the opportunities, and challenges of a role rather than drafting a long list of specific skills and desirable characteristics. A Performance Profile allows you to do this and has a proven track record of helping leaders find the right person more than 90% of the time[3].

When you see old style position descriptions as the problem, rather than the solution, completely new approaches to attracting and recruiting A-Grade people are possible.

[1] Adler L (2015). The essential guide for Hiring & Getting Hired.

[2] Adler, 2007. Why you must eliminate job descriptions.

[3] Harnish, V. (2014) Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It… and Why the Rest Don’t.