Gordon Medlock and Connie Costigan presented on best practices for creating and maintaining job descriptions. They discussed how job descriptions can be strategically leveraged across talent management processes. Currently, job descriptions are often outdated and not integrated. The new paradigm is to create dynamic job descriptions that support recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and other talent processes. This requires enabling technology to manage content and integration.

1. #TMwebinar
Speaker: Gordon Medlock
Senior Talent Management Consultant
HRIZONS
Moderator: Connie Costigan
Direct of Marketing
Halogen Software
Best Practices for Creating and
Maintaining Job Descriptions

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6. HOW JOB DESCRIPTIONS CAN BE A
STRATEGIC TOOL FOR YOUR TALENT
MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
Presenter: Gordon Medlock, Sr. Talent Management
Consultant, HRIZONS
Moderator: Connie Costigan, Direct of Marketing, Halogen
Software

7. THE POWER OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

8. TOPICS
1. Job descriptions as the foundation of your
integrated talent management (ITM)
infrastructure
2. Current state of job description (JDs)
3. New paradigm for JD management
4. Creating dynamic job descriptions that truly
support all your ITM processes
5. How to leverage technology to build, manage,
and integrate JD content with ITM processes
6. Project management vision and challenges
when upgrading your JD content
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

9. JOB DESCRIPTION CONTENT
Job Description
- Job Info
- Job Summary
- Org Requirements
- Working Conditions
- Physical Demands
Qualifications
- Education
- Experience
- Certifications / Licensures
Competencies
- Organization Values
- Behavioral
- Job Specific
RECRUITMENT
- Job info
- Job summary
- Qualifications
-Competencies
* Job Requisitions
ONBOARDING
- Job expectations
- Org requirements
- Org values
- Job specific
competency
proficiencies
OBJECTIVES
- Competencies
PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT
- Competencies
DEVELOPMENT
- Job summary
- Qualifications
- Competencies
CAREER PLANNING
- Job Info
- Job Summary
- Working Conditions
- Physical Requirements
- Qualifications
- Competencies
SUCCESSION
- Job Info
- Job Summary
- Qualifications
- Competencies
TALENT MANAGEMENT
COMPENSATION
- Job Summary
* Benchmarking
Jobs
- Job Description
* Job Analysis
TALENT MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT PROCESSES
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

10. CURRENT STATE
Most organizations currently do not link JD content to most of
their talent management processes.
• Poor JD quality and/or outdated content
• Overwhelmed at the thought of upgrading 200, 500, 1,500,
or 3,000 job descriptions
• Lack of enabling technology to manage JDs and upgrades of
content
• Not viewed as an integral component of ITM strategy
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

11. CURRENT STATE (CONTINUED)
Silo mentality of job description ownership and management:
• Lack of alignment among key stakeholder groups
• Usually ‘owned’ by compensation and legal with focus on job
leveling and pricing of jobs
• Some coordination with recruitment for job postings
• Limited to no interaction with other talent management areas
• Poorly defined and controlled processes for creating, editing,
and approving new or revised job descriptions
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

12. CURRENT STATE (CONTINUED)
Focused on compliance and not on strategic talent management:
• Structured to comply with EEO, ADA, FLSA, FMLA, fair
hiring and compensation practices, and other industry-
specific standards
• Protection of the organization against potential
employee law suits
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

13. ENSURE RATIONAL COMPENSATION
STRUCTURE
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

14. AND EQUITABLE HIRING PRACTICES
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

15. 7/29/2014
• Written to support the full suite of
talent management processes, not
only recruitment and compensation
• Managed in an online JD management
system
• Easily accessible to employees and line
managers for ongoing performance
and talent management
• Available to managers and HR
professionals to build, revise, approve,
and manage JD content
NEW JD PARADIGM
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

16. USES FOR JOB DESCRIPTIONS IN NEW PARADIGM
• Recruitment
• Populate external job postings from system-generated
JDs
• Communicate job details to candidates
• Structure knock-out questions to narrow candidate
pool
• Create interview questions based on job description
content
• Onboarding
• Communicate job expectations
• Enable employee buy-in and acknowledgement of JD
• Structure onboarding orientation and training
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

17. USE CASES (CONTINUED)
• Performance Management
• Performance reviews reflect job description content
• Career Management
• Display of job progressions and requirements for
internal career development
• Learning and Development
• Skills and competencies linked to jobs/roles
• Required proficiency levels associated with
jobs/roles
• Links to learning and training programs to focus
development planning
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

18. USE CASES (CONTINUED)
• Succession Planning
• Analysis of potential successors based on job-related
competencies and skills
• Gap analysis of competency and skill assessments
related to required proficiency levels for the job/role
• Workforce Planning & Deployment
• Position management, including number of required
positions by area and related skill and competency
requirements
• Analysis of employee skill and competency
proficiency levels and experience in relation to
position requirements
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

19. NEW PARADIGM REQUIRES ENABLING TECHNOLOGY
• Management of large amounts of data related to
job description content
• Ability to automate and streamline processes to
create, edit, and approve jobs and job descriptions
• Providing easy access for new hires and employees
to acknowledge job descriptions
• Integration of job-specific competencies, skills, and
other criteria with relevant ITM processes and
applications
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

20. JD TEMPLATE SECTIONS - BEST PRACTICE
• Job Information
• Job Title; Job Code; Job Family; Level; FLSA Status; Pay
Grade; Reports to
• Job Summary
• Job focus, purpose, scope of responsibility; used for
compensation, recruitment, onboarding, and career
development
• Job Responsibilities or Essential Functions
• Recruitment, Performance Management
• Option to include key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Competencies
• Recruitment, Performance Management, Employee
Development
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

21. JD TEMPLATE SECTIONS - BEST PRACTICE (CONTINUED)
• Education / Certifications / Licensure
• Experience Required
• Succession planning, recruitment
• Skills Required
• May be coordinated with development, learning, &
training, deployment, and workforce planning
• Physical Requirements
• Working Conditions
• General Requirements & Disclaimer Statement
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

22. TEMPLATE DESIGN IN TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
© 2014 Halogen Software Inc.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

23. WORKFLOW FOR JD EDITS AND APPROVALS
© 2014 Halogen Software Inc.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

24. WORKFLOW FOR JD EDITS AND APPROVALS
© 2014 Halogen Software Inc.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

25. WORKFLOW FOR JD EDITS AND APPROVALS
© 2014 Halogen Software Inc.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

26. Employee Access to View Job Descriptions
for Career Development
© 2014 Halogen Software Inc.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

27. CLARIFYING LINKS OF JD CONTENT TO
ITM PROCESSES
• What JD content will populate requisitions for job postings?
performance review forms? talent reviews & succession planning?
• Use cases for competencies, skills, and responsibilities?
PerformanceReview
JobResponsibilities
JobResponsibilities
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

28. Direct Import of JDs into Requisitions for Job Posting
© 2014 Halogen Software Inc.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

29. Targeting What JD Content to Include in
Performance Reviews
© 2014 Halogen Software Inc.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

30. Populating Reviews Directly from JDs
© 2014 Halogen Software Inc.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

31. THE SPECIAL CASE OF JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
• Three possible formats – pros and cons:
• Task Lists
• Essential Functions
• Accountability Statements
• How will they be used throughout your
ITM processes?
• Recruitment?
• Performance Management?
• Career Progressions & Development
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

32. DEFINING DETAILED TASKS
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

33. JOB RESPONSIBILITIES – BEST PRACTICE FOR ITM
• Include up to three most important responsibilities in job
summary
• Limit total number of responsibilities to no more than seven
• Use a short name to accurately label the responsibility
• Write a high-level description that identifies what is essential
and the “so-what” or intended purpose
• List related tasks under the appropriate responsibility to clarify
measurement criteria
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

34. 1. START WITH JOB SUMMARY
• Sample job: Registered Nurse / RN
• Core Job Responsibilities included in description
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

35. 2. PROVIDENAME& DESCRIPTIONOF KEY
RESPONSIBILITIES
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

36. 3. INCLUDE THE ‘SO-WHAT’ OR PURPOSE
‘What’ (action verb + phrase)
‘Why’ (result /benefit /value)
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

37. 4. DEFINE TASKS / MEASUREMENT
CRITERIA
Itemize the tasks required to successfully deliver expected results
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

38. 5. COMPLETED RESPONSIBILITY
STATEMENT
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

39. ANOTHER FORMAT: CLINICAL ASSESSMENT
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

40. TASKS EMBEDDED IN DETAILED DESCRIPTION
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

41. ADDITIONAL WAYS TO LEVERAGE JOB
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Performance Management–
• Can be directly assessed as part of review process
• Option to include only the top priority
responsibilities in review
• Basis for generating job-specific goals which are then
assessed in review process
• Basis for defining job-specific Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) which are then included in review
process
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

42. INCLUDING COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS
• PROBLEM:
• Often job description projects are managed
separately from competency modeling
projects – creating the problem of how to
integrate them
• SOLUTION:
• Integrate competency modeling and job
design strategies from the outset
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

43. COMPETENCY MODELING STRATEGY –BEST
PRACTICE
• Include core competency profile to support
mission, values, and strategic objectives of the
organization
• Create high-level executive and managerial
competency profiles to apply to positions at
those levels
• Create function-level, job family, and/or job-
specific competency profiles to apply to
managerial and staff jobs
• Identify commonalities across jobs where
applicable
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

44. EXAMPLE – BEST PRACTICE CORE
COMPETENCY
© 2014 Halogen Software Inc.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

45. COMPETENCIES VS. JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
• Executive and managerial jobs are often defined as much
by their competency profiles as by their job responsibilities
• Performance ratings for these jobs are often based on
competencies and performance goals rather than job
responsibilities
• Job responsibilities become more important for
performance management for staff positions
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

46. INCLUDING SKILLS
• Skills are often listed in job descriptions to indicate
threshold requirements at the time of hire
• They may also be used for employee development,
learning, training, and staff deployment to identify skill
requirements and related employee proficiency levels
• Identify the ITM use cases for skills when creating your job
templates
• Link required skill proficiency levels to jobs to optimize
processes for employee development, learning, and
training
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

47. SKILLS/COMPETENCIES CHECKLISTS
• Healthcare and other highly related technical industries
often require demonstrations of skill or competency
proficiency as part of onboarding.
• These skill/competency checklists are typically handled
separately from the formal job description
• They should nonetheless be closely coordinated with job
descriptions to ensure alignment.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

48. COMPETENCIES LINKED TO RESPONSIBILITIES
© 2014 Halogen Software Inc.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

49. REVIEW OF COMPETENCIES –BEST PRACTICE
• Don’t repeat the same competency checklists for ongoing
competency assessment
• Identify mission-critical competencies related to the job
• Patient Safety focus
• High Risk
• New technologies and procedures
• Add new mission critical competencies to the annual review
process
• Add to job description if it significantly modifies the essential functions of
the job
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

50. DYNAMIC JD THAT DRIVES ITM
• Start with Job Summary to establish focus, scope,
& level
• Create well-defined job responsibility statements
• Include summary description with the ‘so-what’ or
purpose
• Group tasks under job responsibilities with well
defined performance measures
• Identify required experience and skills with
associated proficiency levels
• Identify competencies that differentiate superior
job performance and use those for assessing and
evaluating talent across all your ITM functions
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

51. READINESS QUESTIONS
• Current State: how mature are your current JD content, process, and
technology?
• Desired future state: where do you want to be in terms of leveraging JD
content for performance/talent management?
• What resources do you have to invest in the process?
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

52. COMMUNICATE STRATEGIC VISION
1. Establish an executive steering committee to communicate the
strategic ITM vision for your job description upgrade project and to
oversee the project
2. Create an effective change communication plan to ensure executive
sponsorship and line management buy-in for the project
3. Create a strong core project team with the right competencies and
abilities to promote and drive the project
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

53. PROJECT MANAGEMENT VISION
• Project Management Plan with well defined process
• Standards for job description re-write and validation effort –
including best practice job descriptions
• Solution Design to ensure job structure, content libraries and
overall content design meets organization’s business needs
• Knowledge transfer throughout each phase of the project
• Manage re-writes
• Manager approvals
• Ongoing administration of content in the system
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

54. EXPECTED PROJECT RESULTS(TYPICAL)
• Redesigned job description content is of much higher caliber
• JD content managed efficiently in enabling JD technology platform
• Streamline number of jobs by 25% or more
• Increase HR visibility and value with “internal clients”
• Increase employee/manager engagement with the performance review
process and other ITM processes
• High levels of end-user acceptance of both technology and content
• Greater ownership of the job description content on the part of the
employees – they helped create it
• ROI of HCM technology investment(s) maximized
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

55. TO ENSURE SUCCESS YOU NEED . . .
• The right team in place to design the JD templates,
streamline jobs, and build out the new JD content.
• Strong project management leadership.
• The right tools, templates, and resources to ensure
optimal design and integration with your ITM
processes.
• Sufficient resources and line manager engagement
to build out and approve the new content.
• The right enabling technology to get the job done
and to manage content going forward.
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

56. THANK YOU!
Gordon Medlock, Ph.D.
Senior Talent Management Consultant
HRIZONS
Email: gordon.medlock@hrizons.com
Connie Costigan
Director, Marketing
Halogen Software
Email: ccostigan@halogensoftware.com
© 2014 HRIZONS, LLC

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