Like many people, I have a love/hate relationship with spring cleaning. On the one hand, it needs to happen. Truth be told, it needs to happen more than once a year; I tend to stuff things in various places and then forget where, to the chagrin of my ultra-organized husband. On the other hand, spring cleaning is tedious, and not exactly how I want to spend a weekend. And yet, what a great feeling once it’s done. The relief, the sense of organization, the ease. There’s nothing like knowing exactly where something is and being able to pull it out without feeling like I’m on an archaeological dig. It’s so nice that I promise myself that I’ll keep it neat and organized forevermore. This never happens — I’m lucky if I make it to summer.
At home, the things that need spring cleaning are my closets, kitchen cabinets and pretty much every drawer in the house. Basically, the things we open every day, but that we don’t see, or more accurately, that other people don’t see. I’m all about the appearance of order.
At work, it’s my electronic files that clutter up fast. I don’t necessarily organize my computer desktop and my Outlook files the way I’m supposed to (I really hope no one from our IT department reads my blog this month). It’s documents we need but don’t use every day, like job descriptions, your go-to interview questions and the talent assessment results of your team that need dusting off and cleaning up regularly.
So, since spring is upon us, let’s talk about an important Omnia item that might need a little spring cleaning… The Omnia Position Description questionnaire.
This form is the foundation of every custom Omnia Profile report we write. It sets the tone for our comparison and is without question the most important component of selection assessments with Omnia. A comprehensive, thoughtfully composed set-up form can make the difference between a good Profile report and a job-relevant, exceptionally helpful report.
Unfortunately, position descriptions have the potential to erode with time because the business world is in constant motion. For example, a reasonable portrayal of your customer service position in 2017 may not reflect the demands of the job and work environment in 2021.
Not long ago, I enjoyed a brief conversation with a client who had been with us for several years. His bookkeeper was leaving the company, and he was in the unenviable position of generating candidate assessments, screening resumes and scheduling interviews.
After verifying the existence of his bookkeeper position description, I opened it up and reviewed it with him.
This is what we discovered:
- The bookkeeper position description was six years old, created when his current bookkeeper was hired. It was last modified in early 2015. Remember 2015? Me neither.
- The position description was initially completed and submitted by a temp with a sales background; consequently, the position called for a bookkeeper who was far more assertive and less detail oriented than what you’d typically want in the person doing your daily debits and credits.
- Questions 1 and 9 (daily responsibilities broken down by percentage and workplace indicators respectively) were blank.
- The supervisor listed within the position description left the company in early 2018.
- We did not have his internal company job description, the one he provides to employees.
In less than five minutes we adjusted the job and workplace requirements, added the missing information, replaced the supervisor assessment with the current manager’s assessment, and saved his internal job description into the position benchmark. Voila! He was ready to find the right talent for the job.
It is a good idea to review your Omnia position descriptions once a year and edit them as required. The easiest way to perform updates is by using your online account (no paper, available 24 hours a day) or give us a call and we can make updates for you.
No matter which method you use, you’ll enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your position descriptions are current and complete. Nothing beats a profile that hits the mark and helps you hire the best talent. Remember: the most accurate, job-relevant Profile report depends on a solid Position Description questionnaire. Just like finding stuff in your house depends on a little spring cleaning.
Happy Spring and happy hiring, everyone!
