Month: October 2021

I recently applied for a position at a hospital and was sent an email invitation for a phone interview. The phone interview was conducted by the Clinic Manager and the Director of the unit. They asked me several questions about my experience in the clinical setting and why I wanted to leave my current employer. After the interview concluded, the Director said she would be on vacation the upcoming week, so that I should expect to hear something from them that following week. A month went by when I remembered that I hadn’t heard back from them, so I figured that they must have selected a different candidate. A couple of days later, I received an email from the Clinic Manager asking for me to participate in a video panel interview. Immediately, I was disappointed that they had taken this long to reach back out to me after was expecting to hear back from them in a week. After thinking things through, I decided to withdraw from the position, so I replied to the email thanking them for their time and consideration; however, I never received a response.

Having to wait a month to hear back about the position made me feel that I wasn’t a valued candidate for the position or their organization. If I could provide advice to these interviewers on how to improve the effectiveness of their interviews, I would advise them to reach out to their candidates promptly. Additionally, if they are unsure of which candidate to hire or move forward on the interview process they can use selection measures such as predictive validity to measure applicants on an attribute they are looking for. This will aid them in their hiring decision and process.

In my experience, job descriptions are usually generalized with a list of tasks that an employee may or may not need to do. I’ve worked jobs that said in the job description “must be able to lift 50+ lbs”, and while working there I never actually had to lift or carry anything. My conclusion to this is that employers or human resources prefer to add something to a job description than not, in the case that someone may need to perform said task. Reasons for this could be to cover their own end in case an employee objects to doing something because it is “not in their job description.” In reality, job descriptions should be carefully written and analyzed routinely as Job Worth Doing: Update Descriptions says “updating job descriptions should be an ongoing process anytime something significant changes.” They recommend that a job description be updated at minimum yearly; however, growing organizations may need to do this more often. Other good practices are to update them when doing employee performance reviews or when hiring for a position.

“Updating job descriptions should be an ongoing process anytime something significant changes.”

Job worth doing: update descriptions

Some challenges with developing and maintaining job descriptions are that often the person writing it or someone in human resources has never performed the role and may not know exactly what the job entails. To overcome this challenge, it may be helpful to observe an incumbent since they will be a good source of information about what they do in their role. Additionally, their supervisor should be able to provide details about the importance of the job that can be outlined in the job description.

Some challenges due to not having a job description are, that employees will be unaware of what their responsibilities at work truly are. Moreover, managers will have a hard time hiring if they don’t have a guide and are unsure which skills a candidate needs to make their hiring decision.

Reference

Tyler, Kathryn. Job Worth Doing: Update Descriptions. The basic job description is the foundation of nearly every HR function. SHRM Better Workplaces Better World. 2013. Retrieved from: https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/Pages/0113-job-descriptions.aspx

The companies that stood out to me the most from the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list are Cisco, American Express, and Veteran’s United Home Loans. First, the employees at Cisco say “I am given complete autonomy to do what’s best and if I need help, I have a strong support system. I love working for Cisco and hope to continue for a very long time. I also love the diversity in the executive leadership, which is unique.” It seems that at Cisco human Resources is doing a great job in managing diversity and making sure that people know that they matter. Additionally, they are allowing their employees to do what they do best. This highlights one of the key aspects of First, Break All The Rules and the Gallup question “At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?”

“I am given complete autonomy to do what’s best and if I need help, I have a strong support system. I love working for Cisco and hope to continue for a very long time. I also love the diversity in the executive leadership, which is unique.”

At American Express employees say “Incredible work life balance and respect for family. Birthing parents get 7 months leave; non-birthing 5. New mothers are empowered to put their families first.” Here employees cherish the work-life balance provided which makes them feel valued in their workplace and helps promote a positive organizational culture.

Lastly, at Veteran’s United Home Loans employees said “We are given a great deal of freedom to work and enjoy time with others. We are trusted and treated as adults. This freedom leads to a better work ethic.” Employees here are empowered and have a leadership team that doesn’t micromanage them.

Some of the functional Human Resources practices that these companies use are compensation and rewards to help motivate, reward, and retain employees. They also have good managers which result in a productive work environment.

The kind of manager I’d like to be is a fair one who listens to her employees, motivates them, and helps them succeed. The aspects of a manager that I feel are the most challenging are trying to please every employee when they request changes to policies or processes. A lot of times these things are beyond a manager’s control and can take a long time to implement these changes. This can frustrate employees and make them feel that their manager doesn’t care or isn’t doing anything about their concerns. Therefore, communication is another key aspect of being a good manager.

References

1. Great Place to Work. Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.greatplacetowork.com/best-workplaces/100-best/2020
2. Buckingham, M. & Coffman C. First Break All The Rules, What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently. 1999.