Why it’s Time You Took Another Look at Job Descriptions

For years, most organizations have operated in an outdated fashion towards job descriptions. The focus is usually around compliance and basic operational needs and the job description typically lives in a word document that is rarely seen or used after a new hire is settled. No wonder this is a daunting (yet necessary) task that few hiring managers look forward to.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that job descriptions should play a vital role in attracting, engaging, and retaining the right employees. It’s more than just compliance. Employees want to clearly understand what is expected of them and it’s the responsibility of Human Resources to help the organization set those expectations for employees.

In today’s ever changing world, roles and responsibilities are changing and job descriptions need to evolve along with them. As if this wasn’t enough, the talent pool is changing too. The growing Millennial demographic is projected to make up a whopping 75% of the global workforce by 2025. Remember that’s a growing population of digital natives ranging from 18-35 with a greater interest on personal development than higher compensation. They want to know that they are making a contribution to the “bigger picture” and two-thirds of Millennials say they would like informal feedback from their managers at least monthly. For more stats and tips about how to attract and retain the Millennial workforce, click here to Download Top 10 Tips for Attracting and Engaging the 21st Century Workforce.

In addition to the growing Millennial population and changing demands on HR, one of the biggest challenges that organizations of all sizes face is job description management and integration of job content into their HCM technology strategy. As HCM technology continues to grow, Human Resources teams will play a more strategic and prominent role in employee engagement and performance through job descriptions.

At HRIZONS, we’ve developed a job description management software to address all of your needs and it’s called JDMS® | Job Descriptions Made Simple. It’s a user-friendly cloud-based tool that allows you to easily make changes and create job descriptions as well as integrate with recruiting, performance, compensation, and learning and development activities.

To help explain the value of JDMS, I’d like to share an experience we had earlier this year.

HRIZONS was invited to participate in CITI’s (Citibank) first ever Smarter Worklife Challenge in New York City to showcase our solution- JDMS® | Job Descriptions Made Simple. The challenge given to us was to present our product in a way that clearly articulated Citi’s objective:

• To find creative solutions to engage and empower employees
• To simplify how we manage our company
• To take our execution to the next level

Did I mention we had to complete our demonstration in 8 minutes? See the presentation here!

Citi was generous with their feedback and maintained transparency through the entire event. They shared how they manage job descriptions today and their overall perspective on the subject. The opportunity to showcase JDMS allowed us to refine and perfect our value proposition into a succinct message.

We follow our own 4 Lenses Approach as a foundation in everything we do, including JDMS. Job Descriptions Made Simple starts with:

• Process- Built with the Organization in mind
• Technology- Easy-to-Use and Mobile-Enabled
• Content- Supported by databases that can manage and interface in other systems
• Analytics- Organizations need insights to their employees, talent, and job data

Recently, we were pleased to hear the news that HRIZONS had been awarded the Top Career Information Management Solution by Citi’s Smarter Worklife Challenge.

With all the changes that Human Resources is facing, now is the time to better understand the needs of today’s digital workforce and streamline the job description process.

Whether your organization is looking to address the challenge of implementing an HCM Cloud technology suite, an integrated talent management program or creating a competency-based job library to be integrated into your HCM processes and platforms, we have the services and solutions to help you achieve your vision.

For more information on JDMS, we’re always available at info@hrizons.com or 1 (888) HRIZONS.

Jim Newman | CEO, HRIZONS