Stop and consider for a moment. Are there any times in your past as a leader that you put someone into a position, only to have them struggle and then leave within a short time? Were any of those failures the result of disagreement between key stakeholders about what the priorities of that position were?
Lack of role clarity is one of the biggest challenges in organizations today. Taking the opportunity to understand different perspectives on what drives success in a job puts you one step closer to avoiding that turnover. Negotiated job alignment – in advance of hiring – creates a process that helps ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to the demands of a role whether it is new or existing.
As you know from your Predictive Index training, the Job Assessment is an important part of your job analysis work. This 10-minute assessment helps you define the workplace behaviors necessary to meet the expectations and achieve top performance in the position. This workplace behavior job target is an important data point. It supplements other hiring criteria such as fit with values, interests, knowledge, skills and abilities.
It’s best to get three to five people to fill out a job assessment. Of course, any time you get multiple minds working on something, there’s the potential for disagreement. But this is ok! Following the guidelines below can help you benefit from the differences of opinion so your hiring team comes into alignment and is then ready to hire with much greater chances for success.
Guidelines:
- Review the Job Assessment results.
- Make a list of what everyone agrees on. Which Factors (High/Low) and Factor Combinations does everyone think are required for this position?
- Make a list of the Factors and Factor Combinations that are different.
- Describe, in words, what the list in Step 2 tells you. That is, what behaviors does everyone agree are required for excellence in the position? This confirms the basics, or non-negotiables, and also establishes a tone of cooperation for the meeting.
- Describe, in words (not Factors or ‘PI speak’), the differences shown in the second list. Give each person a chance to discuss why they think the position requires the behaviors their data shows. This step is really the meat of the discussion: when there are differences in the data, it’s because different people have different ideas about what the job requires. This will be a very illuminating and valuable conversation. Practice active listening with your hiring team. By hearing each person’s opinions, you’re getting the most information possible on what it takes to do the job.
- Once you’ve ironed out the differences, use your PI software to create a Final Job Target. Add the job report information to your job description and/or job ads. Share it with all necessary parties, such as recruiters, hiring team members and Human Resources.
Here are a few ideas if Step 5 is giving you trouble:
- Make a list of the major job functions and rank them by priority and/or percentage of time spent on those aspects of the job.
- Are some people capturing “today” and others capturing “the ideal?” Are some folks, knowingly or not, redesigning the position? Is now the time to do that?
- Did you assemble the right brain trust? That is, are there people in the room who simply don’t understand the job? If so, help them understand what the job’s really about in terms of ‘walking in the shoes’ of that role day to day.