By Susan M. Heathfield

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

A job specification describes the knowledge, skills, education, experience, and abilities you believe are essential to performing a particular job. The job specification is developed from the job analysis. Ideally, also developed from a detailed job description, the job specification describes the person you want to hire for a particular job.

A job specification cuts to the quick with your requirements whereas the job description defines the duties and requirements of an employee’s job in detail. The job specification provides detailed characteristics, knowledge, education, skills, and experience needed to perform the job, with an overview of the specific job requirements.

Components of a Job Specification

Experience: Number of years of experience in the job you are seeking to fill. Number of years of work experience required for the selected candidate. Note whether the position requires progressively more complex and responsible experience, and supervisory or managerial experience.

Education: State what degrees, training, or certifications are required for the position.

Required Skills, Knowledge and Characteristics: State the skills, knowledge, and personal characteristics of individuals who have successfully performed this job. Or, use the job analysis data to determine the attributes you need from your “ideal” candidate. Your recruiting planning meeting or email participants can also help determine these requirements for the job specification.

High Level Overview of Job Requirements: In under ten bullet points, cite the key components and requirements of the job you are filling.

A job specification is useful for recruiting as it helps you write your job postings and your website recruiting material. The job specification is also useful for distribution in social media, for screening resumes, and for interviewers.

Seven Tips for Management Success

By Susan M. Heathfield

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

An effective manager pays attention to many facets of management, leadership and learning within organizations. So, it's difficult to take the topic of "management success" and say that the following ten items are the most important for management success. I will, however, suggest seven management success skills without which I don't believe you can be a successful manager.

The most important issue in management success is being a person that others want to follow. Every action you take during your career in an organization helps determine whether people will one day want to follow you.

A successful manager, one whom others want to follow:

Builds effective and responsive interpersonal relationships. Reporting staff members, colleagues and executives respect his or her ability to demonstrate caring, collaboration, respect, trust and attentiveness.
Communicates effectively in person, print and email. Listening and two-way feedback characterize his or her interaction with others.
Builds the team and enables other staff to collaborate more effectively with each other. People feel they have become more - more effective, more creative, more productive - in the presence of a team builder.
Understands the financial aspects of the business and sets goals and measures and documents staff progress and success.
Knows how to create an environment in which people experience positive morale and recognition and employees are motivated to work hard for the success of the business.
Leads by example and provides recognition when others do the same.
Helps people grow and develop their skills and capabilities through education and on-the-job learning.

Know a few more characteristics of management success? I'll bet you do. Join other readers in the Forum to discuss management success and people issues.