Why GOOD job descriptions will save you money
I haven’t yet met the business owner who gets excited about writing an in-depth job description. Go figure! The most frequent excuse is that they don’t see the value in spending much time on it.
The job description is your starting point when hiring and, later, in managing the employee. How do you know specifically which skills, experience, and education the job requires? Many people start interviewing with only a mental snapshot of who they need instead of really thinking about it. A generalization isn’t going to result in a good hire.
Did you know that replacing a bad hire costs you somewhere between 1 to 3 times the annual salary of that person. No, I didn’t just make that up. Think about it. Even if you’re able to replace someone as inexpensively as possible, you still have a lot of expense in money or in the time of everyone involved.
Where you’re really throwing your money away is on the less obvious costs: your time (and others’) when interviewing, loss of productivity throughout the company, cost of training (whether in time or money), and it just goes on and on. Since so many companies have reduced the number of employees on hand, people are busier than ever. This means you may be adding responsibility onto the shoulders of employees who don’t want it or have time for it. As a result, your replacement costs will increase the longer it takes the new employee to get up to full productivity. Now double those costs… you went through the same thing with the employee you’re replacing, didn’t you?
How can an in-depth job description change this pattern? The simple answer is that you’ll make a much better hire and, therefore, have less need to replace that person down the road. A good hire isn’t just about what you’re getting; it’s also about what you provide that satisfies the employee’s needs. If neither of you have a good idea of how well the person fits the job that needs to be done, either of you could end up wanting to end that relationship.
If you only look at the surface of a job’s responsibilities, you’ll miss the background needed to accomplish the duties. For instance, a call center employee typically needs to be on the phone non-stop and, often, work in a small enclosed cube space. A receptionist needs to be able to deal with unruly visitors and to understand and convey messages clearly. A scientist needs to be able help you get a product on the market. Can you articulate the actual skills each of these need?
If it’s done right, the job description can survive ISO certification, a discrimination lawsuit, and an employee who wants to believe that what you’ve asked them to do “isn’t their job.”
