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Human Resources Consulting Recruiting San Diego Human Resources Professional Group

Needs Analysis


One of the most common mistakes we see clients make on a regular basis is moving forward with recruiting without taking the time to map out what it is they need to accomplish by making the hire. Organizations who hire reactively frequently end up conducting several interviews with candidates who are “just not quite right” then modify the job requirements and begin the recruitment process again. Sound familiar? The old adage “failing to plan is planning to fail” holds true with recruiting as well as with any other business process.
In essence, what we refer to as the “Needs Analysis” is simply a matter of stopping and asking yourself: “Specifically, what problem is it we are trying to solve by making this hire?” The products of a careful recruitment Needs Analysis may be broken down into three components:

One: Planned Headcount Summary - sales growth and attrition, product roadmap, industry and market fluctuations - Planned Headcount should be tied to the organization’s overall Business Strategy. You will want to work closely with both senior Management and Finance to plan out what people resources you will need to have on board in order to be successful over the next 12 to 24 months. Be sure to include your recruitment specialist in the conversation to obtain statistics on “time to fill” in the current market for your most critical openings. Your recruitment specialist will be able to help you map out when the appropriate time to begin advertising and contacting candidates will be for each role. Taking steps to plan your headcount growth can help not only with general revenue flow and overhead budgeting, but you might find you are able to take advantage of economies of scale on training and/or employee onboarding programs.

Two: Job Descriptions - It is good basic business practice to create and maintain a legally compliant job description for each role which exists within your organization. Beyond legal compliance, Job Descriptions play an important part in assisting the HR team in determining compensable job factors and making good choices when creating a competitive compensation program.  Creating a good Job Description typically involves assessing what tasks individuals are currently completing on a day to day basis and then using that information to create a series of statements about what the required Skills, Knowledge and Abilities are in order to perform that work. Using a Job Analysis Questionnaire will facilitate this process. Basic templates are occasionally available online, but a well-developed JAQ will be unique to your organization. Typically, a JAQ is provided to employees who are currently working in the organization. The logic is that the employee will know their duties and responsibilities better than anyone else. It is important to remind employees that the questionnaire does not ask about job performance; only what their job requires them to do. It is suggested that organizations work with their HR team to develop a list of questions relevant to your company’s needs and business objectives.

Three: Performance Profiles - Performance profiles may start with a Job Description, but they should evolve into a document which will drive the recruiting process for any particular position and immediately transition into performance management tool once the person is hired. Specifically, Performance Profiles are a way to describe desired results and deliverables you want from an employee who provides superior performance. They redefine “job requirements” to reflect what “needs to get done” rather than what a candidate (external or internal) needs to “have” in terms of education and experience. Every job - from file clerk to Executive Vice President - has six to eight critical performance objectives that ultimately determine success. Where a statement from a job description might read: “requires 3-4 years of experience in database development and administration,” a Performance Profile will state: “Will lead the design efforts to complete the database interface requirements to ensure efficient online ordering by June.” The process of turning your “legally compliant job description” into “Performance Profiles” prior to making a new hire is especially valuable because in doing so, organizations may realize that what they actually need is not additional headcount, but simply a re-allocation of existing workload or providing existing staff some additional training. Armed with your Performance Profiles - go back and take a second look at your Planned Headcount!

Our next segment in this series on Successful Recruiting will focus on defining your Recruiting Strategy.

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