Before you can hire a new employee, you have to know what you are hiring them for. You must first know what the position calls for and what type of person the job will need. During interviews, you will need to be able to define and describe the position to the potential employee so that they are not surprised or left in the dark. Being prepared yourself can help prepare the employee as well.
Know the Position
When preparing to hire a new employee, your first step should be to know what position you intend to hire them for. After all, you can’t buy new tires if you don’t know the model of the car, or what size you’ll need! One way is to learn what type of person worked in the position prior to it becoming available and research their performance. They can be the key to determining what kind of person you will need to find next. If the position is newly created, speak with department managers and draw from them the type of person needed. This research will offer a better idea of what the job entails and what skill sets will be needed, which can help you form a more accurate job description to share with potential candidates.
Needs Analysis
Hiring a new employee can be a great asset to the company – if they are needed. When you have a new position to fill, it is a good opportunity to review your company’s organizational needs and determine whether there are any gaps or ‘overfilled’ areas. Determine if you will need one person to fill the job, or maybe you will need multiple people to fill the roles. Are other areas affected by the change? If so, how?
When looking at the position, and its surroundings, what kind of needs does this job fulfill for the organization? What key responsibilities need to be included when creating the job description for this position? You want a candidate that will help the organization succeed and thrive. Determine if your current staff is meeting these needs and responsibilities, and if not, how can those gaps be filled? The position may be able to be filled by altering a role already established within the company, if not, you’ll need to proceed with creating a job description to post for outside job seekers.
Job Analysis
A job analysis is a process used by managers and recruiters to collect information about the job, including the required duties, skills, and responsibilities. Many of these details are key aspects of a job description. Start with the job title, since this is the ‘headliner’ for the job; it can give the applicant an idea of what it may or may not include. Titles such as “Customer Service Representative” or “Business Accountant” hint as to what the job entails, while still leaving room for additional job titles or duties.
The important thing to remember is that a job analysis focuses on the job itself. The job analysis is intended to help the hiring personnel determine a position’s ‘readiness’ to be filled, and what exactly is needed to accomplish that.
Task Analysis
After the job analysis is complete, many tasks and duties are defined and can further be analyzed for the perfect employee candidate. A task analysis is similar to a job analysis, but this process breaks down how a task is completed and what materials are necessary to do it. This can include basic task activities, such as processes and materials, and expand all the way to determining task length, difficulty, energy or other unique characteristics of the position. Once the task analysis is gathered, the information can be helpful during the development of personnel criteria and employee training.
Most of the time, the best way to complete a task analysis is to work with the employee in that position and their surrounding peers to observe their actions and what procedures they follow. These people are your best source of information on what is, or isn’t, performed on the job. However, if this person is not available, or the position has been created recently, then research with outside companies or agencies with similar positions will be a better resource.
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