STAFFING

Defining a New Job Role

1. Recognizing the need for the new role
Often, managers realize the need for a new organizational role when employees continue to report being short-handed and mention the same tasks are not being done. Ideally, planning for a new role is done during strategic planning or when a new product or service is added to the organization.

2. Draft a job description
Management should draft a job description which specifies the general responsibilities of the position along with some of the specific duties to be conducted by the role, the title for the position, and any special skills, training or credentials required. (Do not seek job descriptions from other organizations and merely adopt those. Your open position is unique and job descriptions are very important so you should develop your own -- the process of completing the job description is usually enlightening.) Note which job activities are essential and which are non-essential. Add whom the position reports to and note if the position is full-time or part-time. Consider if the position requires any special physical skills (this may be important when considering accommodations to candidates with physical disabilities and effects from the Americans with Disabilities Act). If the position must be filled by a paid employee (see the next paragraph to consider if a volunteer or consultant is more appropriate), consider if the position is exempt or non-exempt (exempt from being paid overtime). Usually, highly skilled and/or professional roles are exempt, while entry-level positions are non-exempt and will be paid for over-time. Invite employees to review and edit the drafted job description. Consider including a six-month probationary period for the new position and if you do so, be sure to update your personnel policies to describe your organization's use of the probationary conditions. A probationary period allows you to fire an employee during the six months if you have concerns and greatly decreases the chances you will be sued for wrongful termination.

3. Would a volunteer (in the case of nonprofits) or consultant be appropriate?
At this point, consider if the new position might be filled by a volunteer or consultant. If the activities associated with the role are highly critical for an extended duration, e.g., over six months, and require both critical and general skills, you may be better off to count on hiring an employee. On the other hand, if the role's activities are entry-level and if you are not sure that the position is really needed for the long term, consider getting volunteers to fill the role. If the role requires highly skilled personnel for a fixed duration, consider hiring a consultant.

4. Determine the approximate cost of the new role
Estimate the salary range for the new position. Set this range by talking to other organizations with similar product or services, or by scanning classified sections of newspapers with ads for similar roles. Finalize how much the position will cost the organization by adding "fringe" to the salary. For planning purposes, fringe might be estimated at 40% of the salary. Fringe includes costs of benefits planned for the new role, including health and dental and life insurance, and retirement benefits, along with required unemployment taxes, worker's compensation and any pension plans. Note that, depending on the state in which you live, you may be required to required to pay certain employment taxes for part-time people, often if they are at or over half-time. Additional costs of the position result from training, equipment, rental of space, postage, copying, etc. (You should develop a compensation program, with policies that outline the procedure for determination of salary and benefits.

5. Get feedback and authorization from the board (in the case of corporations)
You may want to work with the board chair to prepare for communication of the new job to the board. Propose the new position to the board by attaching a proposal letter to the drafted job description along with description of how the position will be funded and sending it to all board members for their review before the next board meeting. At the board meeting, invite open discussion and questions about the new role. Seek their authorization for the new position.

6. Finalize the job description
Update the job description with relevant feedback from the boar (in the case of corporations). It's important that the job description be as accurate as possible because it is the basis for determining initial compensation, conveying the role to the new employee and conducting regular performance appraisals. Be sure to note the version of the job description by including the date on the bottom. The job description should be reviewed and updated annually, usually by the employee and supervisor during the performance review cycle (described later on in this section).