Talent Acquisition - Job Descriptions

Question 1

Job analysis

Answer 1

A systematic study of jobs to determine what
activities (tasks) and responsibilities they include, the personal qualifications necessary for performance of the jobs,
and the conditions under which the work is performed.

All jobs must ultimately be interrelated to accomplish the organization’s vision, mission, goals, and objectives. Job analysis is the first step toward that end.

Question 2

Job analysis outcome

Answer 2

A written statement of the tasks performed in the job and the necessary qualifications of the job incumbent

• Education level
• Experience
• Training
• KSAs (knowledge, skills, or abilities), and so forth.

Question 3

Job Description

Answer 3

Written description of a job and its essential functions and requirements, including tasks, knowledge, skills, abilities, responsibilities, and reporting structure.

Ensures that employees throughout the organization have a consistent understanding of the job.

Describes the most important features of a job and communicates that information in a standard format.

Question 4

Elements of a Job Description

Answer 4

1. Job Description
2. Position Summary
3. Minimum qualifications
4. Duties and responsibilities
5. Success factors
6. Physical demands
7. Working conditions
8. Performance standards

Additional (various) job descriptions

• Essential functions
• Nonessential functions
  
  • “desirable, but not necessary, aspects of the job.”
• Sign-Off
  
  • “I have read and understand the contents of this job description”
• Disclaimers
  
  • Responsibilities and tasks outlined in this document are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the company.

Question 5

Job Description Element - Job Identification

Answer 5

• Job title
• Department or location
• Date the job description was completed
• Reporting

Question 6

Job Description Element - Position Summary

Answer 6

Brief overview (four or five sentences) that summarizes the:

• Purpose and objectives of the job
• Expected results
• Degree of freedom (for example, works independently or works under direct supervision)

Question 7

Job Description Element - Minimum Qualifications

Answer 7

Minimum knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform the job satisfactorily

Question 8

Job Description Element - Duties and responsiblities

Answer 8

Primary duties and responsibilities of the job

Question 9

Job Description Element - Success Factors

Answer 9

Personal characteristics (behaviors or proficiencies) that contribute to an individual’s ability to perform well in the job; often referred to as job competencies (Job competencies are described below.)

Job competencies are usually developed over time and represent the compilation of multiple abilities and traits and knowledge required for success. Competencies are personal to the employee and are something the employee can take from project to project, from one position to another, and even from employer to employer.

Question 10

Job Description Element - Physical Demands

Answer 10

The physical aspects of the job that are minimally required; typically specifies the frequency of performing these physical demands

Question 11

Job Description Element - Working Conditions

Answer 11

The physical aspects of the job that are minimally required; typically specifies the frequency of performing these physical demands

Question 12

Job Description Element - Performance Standards

Answer 12

Specify how the incumbent performing this job will be evaluated against goals, objectives, and organizational performance factors (e.g., quality, safety, attendance, customer service, productivity

Question 13

Competencies

Answer 13

Are clusters of highly interrelated attributes, including knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs), that give rise to the behaviors needed to perform a given job effectively.

Usually developed overtime and personal to the employee.

Something that an employee can take from project to project

Question 14

What are ways to identify competencies?

Answer 14

Behavioral Interviews

Refer to a generic list of competencies

Question 15

What is an issue with traditional job descriptions?

Answer 15

lack of pivotal and emerging role challenges and aligned actions and interactions.

Traditional job descriptions reflect grouped tasks that logically describe what individuals do, but they often miss essential actions across jobs.

Question 16

Pivotal talent pools

Answer 16

Actions across jobs

Question 17

Global job descriptions* have additional purposes that are *significant:

Answer 17

In a global environment, job descriptions have additional purposes that are particularly significant.

• *Intracountry and cross-border transfers.**
• match the employee with the right skill set to the right job.
• *Career management and succession planning**
• Global career paths can be mapped through jobs with known characteristics to ensure that the right knowledge and skills are acquired in the proper sequence.
• *Compensation studies.**
• enhance the ability to compare salaries across countries
• *Statistics for job types across the organization.**
• information about numbers of various job types across the entire organization
• *Comparison and alignment of business processes across countries**
• creating globally consistent business processes is easier when the jobs involved in those processes have the same title and job descriptions.

Question 18

Global environment presents challenges to creating consistent job descriptions:

Answer 18

Lack of a global competency model. A competency model provides part of the basic vocabulary in staffing. If a competency model is not in place, it is harder to define jobs and communicate information about them across the organization.

Varied interpretations of job functions. The same words used to describe a job may have different meanings across the globe. Or entirely different words may be used to describe tasks, activities, or entitlements.

Varied expectations for similar jobs. Similar job titles can be interpreted very differently from country to country. While this is an important reason for creating global job descriptions, managers and employees in local settings may find it difficult to change the traditional interpretation of a given job title.

Varied approaches to on-the-job development. In some countries, a job may be viewed as a pathway for professional development, and reasonable risk taking is encouraged. In other countries, employees with the same job title may be expected primarily to implement a superior’s directives. Consider such differences when analyzing and describing jobs.

Different work environments imposing different requirements for the same job. Working conditions, labor laws, union requirements, bargaining agreements, works councils, or other local factors may result in different prerequisite qualifications for the same job titles.

Varied compliance requirements that necessitate thorough due diligence. Employment and labor laws differ greatly from country to country and even within a country.

Question 19

Obtaining permission to work.

Answer 19

When organizations want to hire foreigners, they often have to certify to the government that they were unable to find locals with the required skill sets.

Question 20

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)

Answer 20

Legitimate job criterion that employers can legally and permissibly use to hire a foreigner (e.g., bring an expatriate into a country for a job).

Employers who use the BFOQ defense, must prove that all or substantially all local employees cannot perform the key duties and responsibilities required by the job position.

Question 21

Difference between job description and job specification

Answer 21

• Job Description: written description of a job and its essential functions and requirements, including tasks, knowledge, skills, abilities, responsibilities, and reporting structure.
  
  • Tasks, knowledge, skills, abilities, responsiblites, reporting structure
    
    • Job identification
    • Position summary
    • Minimum (KSA’s)
    • Duties and Responsiblities
    • Success factors
    • Physical demands
    • Working conditions
    • Performance standards
• Job Specification: describe the minimum qualifications necessary to perform a job.
  
  • Experience
  • Education
  • Training
  • Licenses
  • Certification
  • Mental & Physical abilities

Question 22

Job Specifications

Answer 22

Describe the minimum qualifications necessary to perform a job.

• Experience
• Education
• Training
• Licenses
• Certification
• Mental & Physical abilities

Question 23

In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employers classify employees as either _______ or ________. Which determines whether an employee is entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA.

Answer 23

Exempt or non-exempt employees

Exempt:

• NOT entitled to pay overtime
• MUST be paid a salary

Non-exempt:

• Entitled to pay at 1.5 times their regular rate
• Could be paid salary or hourly wage
• Could earn any amount per week

Question 24

United States Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) makes the classification as to full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employment important for benefits purposes.

Answer 24

Statutes mandating benefits usually have a threshold number of hours worked to define an employee as full- or part-time under the statute and therefore eligible or ineligible for benefits.

Question 25

Contract employee

Answer 25

Individual retained by a company for a predetermined time, for a predetermined price. Following this approach, a company is not responsible for providing a variety of traditional employer benefits, including: Taxes. Social security. Workers compensation.

Question 26

Temporary employee vs contract employee

Answer 26

Temporary workers are employees of yours or of a temporary agency.

Contract workers are hired to perform a job or task, but they are not your employees – they are in business for themselves.

Question 27

Writing a job description

Answer 27

• Give jobs realistic and descriptive titles.
• Keep the summary short (no more than four or five sentences).
• List only the most important duties, tasks, or responsibilities.
• Identify the essential job duties and responsibilities.
• Review the KSAs to be sure they are job-related.
• Secure approvals and dates.
• Include any appropriate disclaimers.

Question 28

Updating Job Descriptions

Answer 28

• Incorporate a review of each job description during a performance appraisal
• The opportunity to update job descriptions is when a position is filled.
• Prior to the start of the recruitment process, the job description should be reviewed for current and accurate relevancy.
• The specific time frame for reviewing a job description is usually influenced by the availability of resources to review the jobs as well as the frequency of changes affecting the jobs.