By Steven B. McKinney

McKinney Consulting Inc.

Prior to jumping into a hiring mode, proper preparation and planning is required to ensure an excellent hire and great success. There are two main paths to follow, one of which ends in a new hire and one that ends in a new way of maximizing the workforce already available.

Once you've decided on hiring, however, creating a position description by looking at the work required and by whom will give you the base to build your ideal candidate profile from. 

In the process of creating a position description you often realize that you don't really need a new person, but merely a reassigning of the work tasks in the department. Streamlining and re-engineering the tasks often result in the lack of need for additional headcount.

Prior to launching a hiring campaign you could consider these options. Put the existing staff on over time. This works well especially if you have seasonality issues within your industry.

Part time employees are also an option worth considering. You don’t have the obligation of the permanent head count and if the person is not suitable for the position then he is easier to send home. However, the opposite could be true.  The part time employee could really work out nicely and you just might find a keeper! Contract workers also give your more flexibility. 

If you find that the job cannot be filled through an alternative method then it is time to do an analysis of the job. The purpose of a job analysis is to clearly define what tasks are needed in this job. 

Conducting an employee questionnaire is helpful in determining the real needs verses perceptions. Some ask employees to keep diaries on their work situation daily which can also be quite helpful in identifying the needs and clarifying the job specification.

Observing individuals in one on one settings and in group situations also helps in documenting behaviors. Specific interviews within departments can also bring a wealth of knowledge and insight to what's happening. After all of the analysis is performed you can determine which parts of the job is crucial for success. 

In creating a position description the first thing that we should recognize is that the description should accurately reflect the duties and responsibilities of the position. It should provide all of the information necessary to classify the position.  Here are some suggestions for writing job descriptions. 

Title: Identify a specific title that describes the major function of the position. You must keep in mind the other titles already in existence in your organization and the industry as a whole.

Department: Under this heading indicate the department in which the position belongs to or is budgeted.

Supervisor: Identify the supervisor of the position. This is the individual who is responsible for the hiring, firing, performance appraisals and making salary decisions.

Grade: Detail the grade of this position if it is already determined. If it is a new position and the grade has not been determined leave it blank.

Date Prepared: The date the job description was written.

Exempt or non-exempt: Identify if the position is exempt or non-exempt. This will vary by country and industry and some countries like the USA have specific codes. 

POSITION SUMMARY

In this section state the primary purpose of the position. This summary should only be a few sentences long and provides an overview of the positions duties, functions and responsibilities.

QUALIFICATIONS

Experience: This section identifies the minimum number of years and type of work experience that an employee should have to be qualified for this position. If work experience can be substituted for education then the parameters should be clearly stated. For example, eight years full-time related work can usually be substituted for a 4 year degree.

Knowledge, Skills, Ability: Certifications and license that is required for the job like Drivers License, CPR, electrical license, CPA etc. If it is an office position, then experience with office equipment and programs like Microsoft Office Programs Excel, Word, Power Point etc.  

Physical Requirements: A complete checklist of the physically activities required for this position should be detailed. If carrying, lifting and moving objects are required then specific weights to be moved should be indicated.Education: This are covers the minimum qualifications in education that an applicant must have to start this position. You may also indicate the education preferred, but not required for the position.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS  

This section contains a description of the duties, and functions and responsibilities of the position. A list of the 5 to 10 most essential items are numbered and detailed in this section.OTHER FUNCTIONS

This area is for detailing other requirements which the employee may becalled upon to do but is not the main function of this position. 

SUPERVISORY RESPONDSIBILITY  

Indicate the type of supervisory demands that will be required of the person in this position. For example, a person might be required to supervise 5 product developers and 10 designers. Also, specific supervisory requirements like, trains, provides work direction, provides problem solving assistance, supervises staff including scheduling and assigning work. The position also supervises reviewing performance, recommending salary increases, promotions or discharges, budgeting, and forecasting staffing requirements etc.

AUTHORITY/ACCOUNTABILITY

Some firms use this section to detail very clearly the scope of how much decision making this position has and its limits. It could state works under minimal supervision of the Vice President of Marketing. Also, it might say responsible for overseeing a budget and the building and approval of budgets, as well as responsibility for managing based upon proper procedures as outlined in Law XYZ or manual 123 etc. 

In addition, before even starting the position description jotting down the answers to who, does, what, to whom, sources of information, work aides and to produce what is a simple method to use to build upon.

Now you are ready to conduct a hiring campaign. Outsourcing middle-senior level positions to an executive search firm can prove very beneficial. A whole article could be written on the values and benefits and when it is best to use an executive search firm. They are set-up to cover the entire industry, location and spread a wider net over the talent pool. If the position is a junior position where basically education and minimal work experience is all that is required, recruiting from in-house makes the most sense. Plus, good executive search firms will not take these entry level or junior positions. 

So, don’t start the wedding without the wedding planner! “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Prepare yourself before starting a hiring campaign and you are guaranteed to make better hires and that is crucial to the life expectancy of a company and to us hiring managers.

Steven B. McKinney is the President of McKinney Consulting Inc., Korea's most trusted executive search firm. McKinney Consulting offers a comprehensive range of personalized and professional resource services to a wide cross-section of companies operating in Korea and Asia. Mr. McKinney is a globally established commentator on international management. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it