I’m often asked what’s the key to recruiting great talent. My answer seems to surprise many people who assume there’s magic recruiting pixie dust. The simple truth is that there are several key steps to hiring great talent and step one is a well defined position.

In our fast moving world, where a running start and cutting corners has become the norm, the importance of a well defined position is often overlooked.

A clear and comprehensive understanding of an open position is crucial for two reasons. First, it helps to shape and focus a company’s search effort. And secondly, it satisfies the need of talented executives to have a clear and concise understanding of a position and the confidence that the company has a solid understanding of the position it’s seeking to fill.

If you describe a widget. You’ll attract widgets.

In most cases, poor position descriptions are the result of an old formula that stresses basic job duties, a list of arbitrary requirements, and a few “wouldn’t it be nice” qualities. Such descriptions allow people who aren’t right for a position to believe they are. While leading those best suited to the role, to pass entirely on the opportunity. Why? The description fails to speak to them with its ambiguous tone.

It’s important to look at an organization chart like a large puzzle, where each opening requires a unique piece to create a good fit. One way to do this is to go beyond the basics duties of a position and focus on the unique aspects facing a particular role. This is where a position description develops the necessary nuance.

Talent is drawn to positions that speak to it.

How is this done? Let’s use an example of a Director, Marketing Communications for a billion dollar retailer. The role is responsible for managing a staff of 45 that provides marketing communication services to internal customer groups.

A typical position description will focus on the primary duties such as managing a group of marketing professionals, overseeing creative, acting as liaison to customer groups. Requirements often are simple arbitrary prerequisites, such as a minimum 10 years of marketing experience, previous experience managing a staff of 20 or more, etc.

You might realize this description is more effective as a sleep aid.

Look what happens when you when dig deeper and ask, what are:

• The challenges this position will face, both functionally and organizationally.
• The unique organizational dynamics within which this person must operate. (How are decisions made and executed in this company?)
• The personalities and individual styles he/she will be working with and against.
• The resources over which the position will have direct control and those that must be shared.
• The specific expectations for the position and the desired outcomes over the first 12, 18, 24 months.
• The values and motivations that are driving the company, division, and department.
• The three year history of the position and the group, including strengths and weaknesses, as well as recent failures and successes. (How did they get here?)
• The morale within the company, division, and department.
• The defining culture within the company, division, and department.

Depth, Shape, & Clarity.

After going through this list, you’ll certainly identify numerous additional duties and responsibilities that give the position greater depth, shape, and clarity. From these new duties you’ll also recognize important new requirements that will ensure a better fit.

See how our Marcom position is redefined with just a few insights:

1. Three different Directors have held this position in the past 24 months.
2. Morale is low and a number of key staff members have resigned to take positions with other companies, leaving the remaining group overwhelmed.
3. Internal clients have lost faith in the group and circumvent their own Marcom organization for external vendors.

These new factors expose a number of yet unspecified responsibilities, such as:

• Turning around an organization suffering low morale and several key departures.
• Developing sound solutions to urgent operational deficiencies.
• Providing leadership to an organization in need of strong guidance and mentoring.
• Instilling a sense of calm and consistency to the department.
• Providing honest communications so as not to over promise and under deliver.
• Building bridges and developing trust with internal client groups and creating renewed confidence in the department’s ability to provide both high quality and timely service and support – while also providing an honest timeline of capabilities as the department ramps up its abilities.
• Staffing open positions with strong candidates who fit well into the group and who can deliver quality work, increase the department’s bench strength, and help improve overall morale.

These new responsibilities also help a company better define essential requirements that are more succinct than the broad requirements generated by standard job descriptions.

A position description that “pops”.

What was once an ordinary non-descript position profile, now becomes a highly nuanced description, which is more accurate and well-defined. Most companies are averse to such honest descriptions, fearing it will scare off candidates. In fact it’s just the opposite - it speaks powerfully to candidates who fit the bill and are drawn to such challenges, while attracting fewer candidates who are not right for the role. A generic position description is a huge red flag, warning talented candidates that the company has little clue what the position is really about. Stepping into such a role is far more risky than one where the company has complete clarity.

Talent likes challenges. So make the challenges clear.

Talent is not afraid of challenges. They are enticed by position descriptions that accurately describe the unique challenges facing a role and which convey a strong sense that the company is open, honest, well aware of the challenges it faces, committed to the position, and open to the medicine that’s required to fix what ails them.

Don’t fret about sharing details you worry might scare candidates away - always present them as challenges to the position. Talent loves challenges. What you will find is that the candidates who are scared off weren’t right from the start.

Ultimately, a thorough, well defined position is the first step to landing true talent – because talent is drawn to it.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 21st, 2007 at 20:12 and is filed under Employers, Talent Acquisition, Talent Search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.