---

Guest post by: Stephen Blakesley Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

One of the first questions that one might ask in preparing a job description is; What do I hope to accomplish? What should a job description actually do for the organization and the person in the job?

Those with lower expectations might say; Collect as much dust as possible. Since dust collection is what most job descriptions actually do, collecting the most dust would be considered superior performance.

Some, however, want more. Those wanting to maximize individual performance, know that before you can be the best you can, you must at least know at what you wish to be the best. I mean setting objective is important, very important. The single most frequent comment from candidate that go on job interview is, "I not sure what their expectations are." How sad that is. Most organizations want to hire superior people and may even do so, but often put these people in the wrong job.

Establishing clarity around the expectations of a job requires more than a list of "dos and haves."

• We have found that the most effective job descriptions are plain, simple documents that are usually one page only and consist of just 3 parts; What a person in this job is expected to do on a daily basis. We title this section, General Duties and Responsibilities and limit them to 10.
• They also contain 3-5 minimum acceptable outcomes (measurable and time limited), that if unaccomplished on a frequent and ongoing basis, are grounds for termination. We call these Mission Critical Outcomes.
• Additionally they define 3-5 outcomes that would be considered "break-through (also measurable and time limited)." Achievements that would make everyone happy. We refer to these a Break-Through Outcomes.

Developing a simple, clear, one-page Job Description is the beginning, yet essential piece to getting superior performance in any job. The most important step, however, toward getting superior performance is making sure that the person in the job sees the expectations of the job and understands that their performance will be judged against the outcomes set out in the Job Description.

The very best way we have found to make certain the person hired for the job understands the expectations, is to ask them to read it, initial it and date it before the interviewing process begins, then once again early in the on-boarding process and to use it in coaching sessions with the hiring manager as a gage of how the employee is doing.

So for effective job descriptions:

• Make them simple, one-page documents
• Make certain the right people actually read what is expected of someone in that job
• Have them verify having read the document by asking them to sign and dated the job description.
• Review it with them frequently

Job Descriptions matter only if someone actually reads them and accepts the standards they set.

Related Articles

  How to write a job description
  Human Resources Job
  Increase Your CTR: How to Write Enticing Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
  Job Descriptions
  E-mail Tip #2 - E-mail is Not a Conversation
  How to hire & select the right person for the job
  5 tips for clear and effective writing
  SEO Techniques – Easy On Page Elements You Can Optimize Today
  Sneaky Human Senses Copywriting Trick To Get More Sales
  Organic Link Building - Three Important Tips That Your Must Remember
  How To Work Online As A Freelance Writer
  5 Quick And Easy Tips To Compelling Writing Now
  Searching for Better On-Site Search Usability
  How to Develop the Writing Habit-Even if You Don’t Have Time to Write
  The Importance of Job Descriptions
  ••••••>Free SEO Tip of the Day: Syncing Meta Description Tag with the Page Title
  Board Member Job Descriptions - Which Roles and Responsibilities Should You Include?
  Google Supplemental Index - aka - All The Other Crap We Found
  How to Improve Your WordPress Site through Search Engine Optimization
  Promote Your Site to be No 1 on Google

Related Forum Posts

Re: What Do You Outsource Mostly?
Re: Will 2009 be the year you write your book?
Re: The 10 Goal Method for personal success
Re: online business
Run a major competition

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

THE APOSTILLE PROCESS

Accessing Government Funding in Canada

Keyword Research For PPC

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.