Recruitment and Retention Toolkit Dealing with Stress in the Workplace 2.10.0 The Impact of Stress on Retention: The Stress Factor 2.10.2.0 Want to Reduce Stress and Burnout in Behavioral Health Workers? How to Get There Checklist [2.10.2.f Write an Accurate Job Description Quick Tool [2.1.0.h]

Step 4: Write an Accurate Job Description [2.1.0.h]

If you are following this process in its entirety, you have completed:

Step 1: Gather Organizational Baseline Information [2.1.0.e]

In Step 1, you identified retention, turnover, and vacancy rates for your organization and data on effective and ineffective recruitment and retention practices.

Step 2: Decide on the Priority Recruitment and Retention Focus (Job Position) [2.1.0.f]

In Step 2, you summarized your recruitment and retention data and used that information to identify the most critical job position.

Step 3: Analyze the Selected Job Position [2.1.0.g]

In Step 3, you clarified the critical position and identified supports necessary for all staff in that position to be effective.

If you complete Step 4 you will have:

Identified responsibilities and scope of the position; and
Developed an understanding of the importance of the job description to organizational success.

Once the job analysis is complete and you have identified clear competencies, attributes, training, and supervision needs, an accurate job description can be written and recruitment materials can be developed.

According to Susan M. Heathfield on About.com an accurate job description assists in successful recruitment in several ways: ^[1]

It encourages the supervisor and any other employees already performing the job to agree on the responsibilities and scope of the position;
It informs human resources about the knowledge, skills, education, experience, and capabilities sought in the new employee so an effective recruiting plan can be formulated;
It informs candidates about the duties and responsibilities of the position for which they are applying;
It helps employees who are participating in the interview process understand what is required of the new employee and suggests questions to ask candidates; and
It can protect the organization legally because it demonstrates why the candidate selected for a position was the most qualified and best suited.

Choice of Approach for Completion:

Step-by-step instructional

If you would like to follow the step-by-step instructional process go to Write an Accurate Job Description Quick Tool [2.1.4]. This Quick Tool includes a series of tasks and a group of resources to write a job description that most effectively supports the tasks, competencies, attributes, training and supervision needs that were identified during the job analysis process. It includes sample job descriptions from the behavioral health field.

Access to resources, no instruction

Access to the same resources is listed below without the instructional materials.

Resources include:

Job Description Definition [2.1.5.a.1]
Importance of Job Descriptions to Organizational Success [2.1.5.a.4]
Job Description Components [2.1.5.a.2]
Job Description Form [2.1.5.a.2.a]
Tools to Help Write a Job Description [2.1.5.a.3]
Chemical Abuse Prevention Specialist Job Description [2.1.5.a.3.a]
ALPHA Prevention Specialist Job Description [2.1.5.a.3.b]

[1] Heathfield, Susan M. About.com: Human Resources. Retrieved May 4, 2009, from Employee Job Descriptions: How to Develop a Job Description Web site.

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Building a Recruitment and Retention Plan

Step 4: Write an Accurate Job Description [2.1.0.h]

If you are following this process in its entirety, you have completed:

If you complete Step 4 you will have:

Choice of Approach for Completion:

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