Making new appointments is a high-risk activity \u2013 as hiring managers and business owners across the spectrum from small businesses to large enterprises can attest \u2013 and making the wrong hire comes at a high cost, says Debbie Goodman-Bhyat, chief executive officer of executive search firm Jack Hammer.<\/p>\n
But there is one change that those responsible for recruitment in an organisation can make that will massively mitigate the risk while ensuring good candidates don\u2019t fall through the net, and that is to stop treating job descriptions like shopping lists, the leadership expert said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe design of the role profile or job description may sound like a purely transactional activity, but if you consider it the foundation of your hiring process and allocate sufficient time, rigour and creative energy to this, you\u2019re likely to have significantly enhanced outcomes,\u201d said Goodman-Bhyat.<\/p>\n
This is because the role profile is the key reference point for determining the kind of talent you\u2019re looking for, as well as for screening and assessing potential candidates, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink of it as a steering document. Getting this foundational piece wrong \u2013 or just being sloppy or thoughtless about it \u2013 can often be what trips up the whole recruitment process.”<\/p>\n
In her book, Inside the Interview, Goodman-Bhyat shares insights and advice based on her decades-long experience as an executive search expert focusing on the sourcing and placement of top talent across the globe.<\/p>\n
While the book explores all stages of the hiring process related to the filling of senior management roles, she says going back to the drawing board when scoping job specs is a good investment of time and energy for anyone needing to expand their teams – regardless of the level of the role.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, this will take a bit of time, and require some rigour and discipline. But making the effort to mitigate the risk in this way is minimal in comparison with the agony that one typically endures when you make a bad hire,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Goodman-Bhyat said that what often happens when a vacancy needs to be filled, is that an historic job description is pulled out of the archives to advertise a role.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo way back when, someone at some point drafted a job description, and since then, it has been recycled and recycled, ad infinitum. Each time, with a few extra items added to the list of skills, experience and personal traits required.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem with this is that while there may remain a couple of relevant points that are re-usable for the role you are trying to fill now, chances are good that the document needs a good edit at the very least or, most likely, a complete overhaul.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said rehashed role profiles that have limited relevance to the job at hand abound in the marketplace, when clearly they should never have been used \u2018as is\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe job title may be the same one that your company has used for one, or five, or ten years, but you must revisit the content every time you recruit. Take out the stuff that\u2019s no longer relevant, and add the important parts about the role, your company\u2019s vision, and the kind of person you\u2019re looking to hire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most importantly, hiring managers should hone in on the key criteria they\u2019re looking for, as well as the outcomes they expect to achieve with a successful hire – and ditch the rest.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have a list of more than five key, non-negotiable criteria, it\u2019s probably too much.<\/p>\n
\u201cImportant also to differentiate between the non-negotiables, and the nice-to-have preferences. If you\u2019re struggling to whittle down your list, you need to do a deep dive into each of the criteria and ask whether it is absolutely essential and if so, why.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goodman-Bhyat says great candidates are often not even picked up during the initial parts of the search, because they fail to meet key criteria of the job spec which shouldn\u2019t really have been key criteria to start with.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe often see our clients make a certain type of qualification a key requirement on a job spec, yet when we conduct a search, we encounter excellent candidates who are top of their game, but have achieved success through a number of other, different routes,” said Goodman-Bhyat.<\/p>\n
For example, there are some extraordinarily talented leaders who have been at it for relatively few years, who will be overlooked for consideration because they don\u2019t meet the sometimes arbitrary \u2018minimum years in management\u2019 criteria.<\/p>\n
“Conversely, I have interviewed some less-than-stellar executives with very outdated views on how to lead businesses and people, but who nevertheless tick the box on tenure and their seniority track record, and hence make the shortlist.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, if you are serious about your talent management strategy for the coming year, rethink your approach to all elements of your hiring process \u2013 and in particular the foundations of each talent search. This one change can significantly impact your talent attraction and retention success.\u201d<\/p>\n