Tag: Job Descriptions

Why Does Sandy Get to …? (Caution: Don’t Answer)

It’s a tough situation when a coworker asks, “Why does Sandy get to do that?” and “that” is an accommodation you’ve made for Sandy’s disability. But you can’t discuss the disability, says Trainor. Trainor, who is senior managing editor at BLR®, was joined in her presentation at the Human Resources Leadership Association in Mystic, Connecticut, […]

The Build-or-Buy Decision for Talent Managers

One of the most frequent and important questions in talent management is “build or buy,” says consultant Ron Katz. That is, should you build talent (develop an internal candidate) or buy (go outside the organization for the candidate). There will be a cost associated with either choice, says Katz, who made his comments at BLR’s […]

When You Should NOT Negotiate and Other Expert Tips

McCabe, who is professor of management at the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, offered his negotiating tips at the BLR® HR Strategic Summit, held recently in Scottsdale, Arizona. When NOT to Negotiate When you have not done your research or are ill-prepared When there is a locus-of-authority issue—that is, when the other party sitting […]

Keys To Selling Your Ideas: Consider Context; Make It Personal

Pink’s best-selling titles include Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us and To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. Pink’s remarks came at SHRM’s Annual Conference and Exposition held recently in Chicago. [Go here for takeaways 1 and 2.] 3. Don’t forget the importance of context. To illustrate the importance of […]

HR Mythbuster Takes on 4 More

Beachboard made his remarks at SHRM’s Annual Conference and Exhibition, held recently in Chicago. He is a shareholder in the Los Angeles and Torrance, California, offices of law firm Ogletree Deakins. [Go here for urban legends 1 to 9.] Urban Legend #10 They are the staffing firm’s employee, so we don’t have to worry about […]

Hard to Get Started with Job Descriptions? Use Our Questionnaire

Here’s a basic questionnaire (We got it from the SmartJobs CD.) that you can use to begin the job description process (or to review existing job descriptions): Job Description Questionnaire Instructions: Distribute copies of this questionnaire to supervisors, human resources staff members, job analysts, and others who may be involved in writing job descriptions. Ask […]

How You Know Your Job Descriptions Are No Good

The most typical problems have to do with job specifications that are inaccurate. They either require something that isn’t truly required, or they describe duties that are no longer relevant. Job Specs Unreasonably High A number of state and federal government agencies (particularly the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)) have concluded in a number of […]

Competing Compensation Goals? Matrix Them

Matrices for Sales Comp Use a matrix when sales people have concurrent accountability for two competing measures, says Cichelli, who is senior vice president at the Alexander Group. His remarks came at the WorldatWork Total Rewards 3013 Conference and Exhibition held recently in Philadelphia. The payout matrix provides improved payout as performance on both measures […]

The 5 Questions that Identify Essential Functions

In fact, we turned to SmartJobs for the five questions that can help you decide whether a function is an essential function: 1. Does the position exist specifically to perform this function? For example, when a person is hired to proofread legal documents, the ability to proofread is an essential function. Or, for example, a […]

Does the ADA Require Job Descriptions? No, But …

If you do have job descriptions, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has said that it will review or consider them, as well as other relevant information, when determining essential functions. Therefore, it is important to keep job descriptions current. Claiming later that some function not listed on the description is a task essential to […]