There will come a time when you need to hire employees. Employees can make an entrepreneur's life easier during busy times, but can also be a costly liability if they are not working on the right things. How can you craft a job description that makes sense for the business as well as the employee?
Many entrepreneurs find their jobs meaningful and might not even view their hours spent as “work.” When you are building a business, every task matters from sales to administrative tasks. Even though this is the entrepreneur’s perspective, it does not mean your employee has the same perspective.
Your employees will not be motivated by the joy of seeing your dreams become reality, rather it is more important that the employee’s job is challenging, rewarding, and appreciated. To craft such a job, you need a comprehensive job description that provides clarity for the employee and describes how they create value for the organization,
A comprehensive job description includes the following:
Title & Role: The title and role describe the employee’s primary and secondary role in the company. A good job title is important so that it is appealing and also accurate in terms of what the job entails.
Organizational Placement: The employee’s organizational placement determines who the employee reports to and collaborates with. It is crucial for new employees to know who they can collaborate with and who will be available to provide support.
Key Responsibilities: The employee’s key responsibilities should define 7-9 key work areas that describe the employee’s responsibilities. For each of the key work areas, you can elaborate the details to paint of picture of the daily tasks.
Expected Results: The expected results explain what is expected from the employee both in the short term and the long term. This gives the employee a sense of what they need to accomplish to earn their salary and provide value to the company.
Authority: When specifying the employee’s authority, you specify their decision-making limits, such as the discounts they are authorized to provide without asking a superior first. You can also specify their allotted budgets and the reports they are responsible for creating to demonstrate progress.
Growth Opportunities: For growth opportunities, you can specify the short-term on-the-job training as well as course training and long-term development opportunities.
Even though it will take time to craft the first job description and train the first employee, it will payoff in the long-term. If you craft a comprehensive job description, both you and the employee will be on the same page. This will increase the likelihood of a successful hire and long-term employment. After you train your first employee, they can train future employees.
If you would like guidance on creating meaningful jobs, contact us to coordinate your GrowthWheel one-on-one consultation.