I had been hammering Kristen about creating a job description for an open position on her team. I don’t think she is lazy, but like most managers, she treats recruiting like a part-time job. In a year’s time, she may only have four openings on her team of 19, and she rarely sits on a hiring panel for other teams.

“What’s the one most important thing you do?” I asked. “In a year’s time, looking back, what one thing have you done that has had the most impact on your company?”

Kristen was thinking. She had some stuff up on her walls, some recognition plaques, a framed letter from a customer. “I don’t know,” she started. “My highest contribution? I guess it’s just making sure my people are always busy and not wasting time. That’s what managers do.”

“No, on your team of 19, you have two supervisors, that’s what they do, keep people busy. What is the most important thing you do?”

“I guess I never really thought about it. No one ever asked me, or told me. In fact, when I got promoted last year, the only difference is that I go to management meetings once a week. I spend the rest of my time dealing with problems and issues. Who wants time off? Who is arguing with whom? Why someone is constantly running behind? Why things don’t come out right? Motivating my team? I stay pretty busy doing all that.”

“What would you have to do differently, so that you did none of those things?” I challenged.

“Well, there’s no way. The people I have on my team just wouldn’t be able to get along and stay productive without me in there.”

“So, what would you have to do differently?” -TF

Kristen gazed at the job posting from Monster. “Can I use the job posting as a start for the job description?”

“You can, but only as a start,” I replied. “Even most job descriptions aren’t very useful because they are poorly written. Before we actually write the job description, let’s talk about its purpose. It will help us construct something that is actually helpful.”

“Well, the main thing is to have something to give the candidate, so they know what job they are applying for,” Kristen smiled.

“Like I said, that’s a start. Specifically, what’s the benefit to you, as a Manager?”

“So, I have something to talk about in the interview?” Kristen floated.

“Does it help you, as the Manager, understand the kind of person you are looking for?”

“Yes, but don’t I get that from the resume?”

“Only half. You only get the right candidates when the resume and the job description match. That’s why you can’t make a selection, just by reading resumes.”

“So, the benefit to me, as a Manager, is that I will know when I have a match.”

“That’s one purpose. How else is the job description helpful?” -TF

“So, let’s call her right now, offer her the position, straight away,” I suggested.

“But, you haven’t even read the profile,” Kristen protested.

“I don’t need to read the profile,” I replied.

“But if you don’t read the profile, how can you know if this person will be able to do the job?”

“That is an excellent question. How can we know if this person will be able to do the job if we don’t have a job description to help us read the profile?”

“Well, we have the job posting.”

“Kristen, I read the job posting. There is more in here on company benefits than there is on expectations. I think you don’t want to do the work to figure out what we expect from the position.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to do the work, I just don’t have the time. I have a lot of other important things I need to be doing,” Kristen insisted.

“It’s not that you don’t have the time. You have as much time as you need. It’s just not a high enough priority.” -TF

“Before I look at the personality profile, let’s take a look at this job posting and see if we can create a job description that will help us,” I insisted.

“Do we really have to?” Kristen pushed back. “You know, if we don’t make a decision quickly, I’m afraid this person might take another job. That’s why I asked you to come in this afternoon, to look at the profile assessment.”

“So, you would rather make a wrong decision this afternoon than a better decision tomorrow.”

Kristen was exasperated. “I don’t think we can wait until tomorrow. I told the candidate we would call her with a decision before the end of today.”

“Here it is,” Kristen announced. “I couldn’t find the job description, but here is the job posting that we put on the internet.”

“So, you don’t know if you have a job description?” I asked.

“You know, we were in such a hurry to get this posted, I don’t think we actually wrote a job description.”

“So, how will you evaluate the candidates who respond?”

“That’s why I asked you to look at the profile assessment. Everything is there. That’s why I think we have a good candidate,” Kristen curtly replied.

“Oh, really,” I mused.

“Yes, based on this personality profile, I think this is someone I could really work with.”

“I think we have a good candidate, here,” explained Kristen. “Profile looks great. I think it’s exactly what we are looking for. Let me show you.”

“The profile assessment, the one about dominance, influence, sociability factors and compliance behavior?” I replied.

“Yes, the profile looks great,” she repeated.

“Before I see the profile, can I look at the job description?”

Kristen stopped, a puzzled look on her face. “Yes, the job description. I know we have a job description, but, it must be in my office. Here, you can look at the profile while I go see if I can find it.”

“Tell you what? Why don’t you go see if you can find the job description, while I go get a cup of coffee.”

“You don’t want to see the profile?” she urged.

“Not really, not yet.” -TF