Why Your Job Descriptions Need To Start With Processes

Have you ever wondered how you’ll make sure you actually get results from the new person you need to hire? There’s a lot of factors that go into this from effective interviewing to company culture, but one factor that may be overlooked is your processes.

Clarity and effectiveness is paramount whether you’re a small company with limited resources or a larger corporation with even bigger goals. Starting your job descriptions with processes is a transformative strategy that can have positive impacts on your recruitment (and retention) efforts. 

The Importance of Process-Centric Job Descriptions

Process-Centric job descriptions refers to job descriptions that have specific responsibilities and tasks that are based on tasks identified in a process (or variety of processes). Sometimes, when we build job descriptions, we think of general things we need help with in a particular department without truly understanding the value that the role will bring.

Here’s why creating job descriptions based on processes matters: 

1. Value-Driven Responsibilities: When you create a process-centric job description, you ensure that the role you're looking to fill will involve tasks of high value, directly contributing to the achievement of your company's goals. This approach ensures that every role is purposeful and integral to your organization's success.
   

2. Role Clarity & Efficiency: A job description that starts with processes provides a clear roadmap of who does what. It eliminates the chance of task overlap or gaps in responsibilities, both of which can lead to team friction and errors. With such clarity, you can expect heightened efficiency and smoother operations. Sometimes, this process also brings to light if the desired role should actually report to a different manager than you initially expected.
   

3. Identification of Required Soft Skills: By outlining the processes involved in a role, you gain insights into which departments or teams the new hire will interact with, helping identify the soft skills needed for the role. This approach ensures that you hire individuals who can seamlessly fit into your organization's culture and collaborate effectively with other teams.

These factors contribute to how well you’ll attract, hire, and retain the high-performing talent you need on your team. It also helps diminish the likelihood of ineffective delegation from managers to employees. 

How To Create Process-Centric Job Descriptions

1. Identify The Relevant Processes
   Begin with identifying and mapping out the processes that could be relevant to this role. For instance, if you’re hiring a new Business Development rep, you may need to list your Lead Management, Discovery Call, Proposal Creation, Closing A Sale, and Client Onboarding processes. 

2. Identify Who Is Responsible For What In Each Process 
   It’s rare to find a process that is solely ‘owned’ by one person from start to finish. When looking at the process, tag which tasks should be managed by which roles. This will be the basis of your job description. 

3. Highlight Required Skill sets
   Once we understand the tasks they’ll be managing, the outcomes they’ll need to create, and the value the role will bring (based on the related processes), we can start to understand which skill sets (technical and soft) are required for success in this role. 

Competition for roles is fierce right now. And it’s ever so important to make sure that you’re not just hiring top-tier talent but you’re also getting results from them. It’s hard to understand those results if they aren’t tied to processes and objectives. 

By implementing process-based job descriptions, you’re not just filling vacancies on your team - you’re strategically placing the right people in the right roles to drive your business toward success.