Position descriptions (PDs), when written well, should all fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to tell outsiders what the organisation does, what it believes in and what it is aiming for. 'What and how???', you might be saying. Of course they are also required to provide the same information to those within the organisation. A company's PDs should also relate directly to the org chart, showing clear reporting lines.
When I am at my most ardent, I say that no one should ever be interviewed without a current position description having been developed. To Australian small business managers this might seem a triffle extreme. They are often used to shooting from the hip and filling gaps in the organisation with the nearest, easiest option available, with little regard to how the position itself will help the organisation achieve its goals.
PDs and Org charts are a key way to communicate to your people what the organisation expects of them. They are useful when recruiting, assessing current and future workload, undertaking a performance review, creating succession plans and of course when constructing an accurate org chart.
A clear PD will outline the responsibilities of a position, as well as its accountabilities. They should work to empower an employee to do a great job by providing clear boundaries within which to work. The polar opposite of this, is when a General Manager or CEO can't clearly identify where their responsibilities and decision making start and end, and where the employee or manager directly below them starts and ends. Imagine, if a senior manager has trouble determining this, how it must look and feel to those employees who report to him/her?
Typically when employees aren't clear on their boundaries or the boundaries are changed constantly, they will move into a dis-empowered and disgruntled mode. This negative culture will usually be rife within the business unit in question. So, if you think you might be heading in this direction, never fear, there is an easy way to turn things around.
Secret to success as a manager of people:
1. Get clear on your role - decide what you need to make decisions on, and what you can leave others to decide on
2. Write all your key responsibilities in dot points (it can be rough just to get started)
3. Write key responsibilities for your employees (or update their PDs if you already have them) and make them accurate. Set some accountabilities i.e. 'this role is accountable for the hiring, management and termination of employees', or 'this role makes spending decisions within the budget' etc
4. Commit to the accountabilities you have set. Don't write the above and then insist on knowing every decision they make on the hiring, management and termination of employees. Yes, this will mean letting go of your control! If you can't let go, then write the accountability on your PD instead and remove a management layer on your org chart.
5. Breathe deeply each time the employee who now has the clear accountability makes a mistake. Don't take back the task/responsibility, instead spend some time coaching them and help them get better at it. You might want to set a time frame for this, as you may find you have given the position description to the wrong person!
6. Constantly provide encouragement, feedback, guidance, and set clear expectations, then let them soar!
If you follow this six step formula you will see your team transform. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen, guaranteed. You may also find it easier to identify the under performers or those that are in the wrong role for their strengths. Whilst step five and six will seem to be exhausting, time consuming and never ending, you will reap what you sow and with time you will become less stressed, have more time to work on the strategic stuff and know that you can go on holiday and things will run smoothly back at the office - isn't that what we all want! So beware, position descriptions are powerful things and you need to spend the time getting them right in the first place.
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2 comments:
Un-clear reporting lines have been identified by people within my organization as a continual problem for years. Starting with a simple organization chart really exposed more problems than it solved because the appropriate position contracts (as we call them) were not in place.
As the position contracts developed it became apparent that one organizational chart was actually not an effective tool for communicating lines of responsibility internally because those lines actually change depending on the task or company function. We actually need a different org chart for each major function of the company.
The org chart actually became a tool for communicating company structure outside the company and making it clear who the supervisors are - mainly for HR functions.
The position contracts are essential for communicating responsibilities.
Thanks for your insight.
Small collection of org charts http://orgchart.orgplus.com
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