Avoiding Risky Business-Most companies would rather not have to face an EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) complaint.

An effective way to reduce the chance of having a complaint filed
against your company is to treat everyone "fairly." If specific measurements are not in place
and applied equally, a company is open to potential exposure and a "risky business"
situation.

by Suzi & Will Helmlinger NFIB.com

How do you minimize some of your exposure to charges of "unfair treatment"? Begin by
objectively positioning each and every job, using a comprehensive position description.

This solid, up-to-date description is essential for all positions. In today’s litigious climate, it is
critical that such descriptions be clearly and objectively written so that no one can look at
the same "accident scene," so to speak, and justify major differences of opinion or make
accusations that you have treated people differently. You will be measuring specific items,
and everyone will be measured the same way.

Again, the critical elements of any position description should include these items: reports
to, primary duties and responsibilities, success behaviors and attitudes, soft-skill
competencies, performance measurements, experience, education and special
considerations. Each of these factors measures success in the job; all employees are
measured against these expectations–irrespective of race, gender, etc.

Recently, we were asked to create numerous position descriptions for a growing organization
that recognized it needed to be proactive. To treat everyone fairly and to better ensure job
success, the company had to have job descriptions in writing for everyone to use. As
expected, there were moans from management over having to go through the exercise,
although managers knew they needed to correct the lack of standards and clarity.

Managers began by outlining the primary duties and responsibilities for their areas of
responsibility, the easy part of the task. Within hours, they had a rough outline of "what"
each job entailed. An example: "Sell to existing clients. Develop new relationships."

The more difficult part of the process came in outlining specific behaviors, attitudes and
soft-skill competencies for each position. Each participant was asked to complete an
objective questionnaire that measured these critical factors. Once everyone saw the results
of the input, it was easy to add the "how" factors to the job descriptions, along with the
underlying, measurable attitudes/values that would enhance success. Managers were even
able to prioritize and add several soft-skill competencies to the descriptions.

Through this process, managers discovered, to their relief, that they could objectively
measure success in every job. They now had methods for measuring each one of the
identified success factors against the same standard.

Performance measurements were equally difficult to develop. No one had ever considered
adding this element to a position description. Management finally agreed on several specific,
measurable performance objectives. Here is one example: "Achieves or exceeds all daily,
weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual sales objectives within an assigned sales territory."

With the toughest part of the work done, the next step was to define the specific types of
experiences and education each position required. Managers discovered that if they had
some general requirements for experience and education, they would actually broaden the
base of possible candidates and could begin to think about including a wider variety of
candidates for the job. This is a benefit we describe as the "inclusionary method" of
selection and employee management/development.

The final element was "Special Considerations." For some jobs, this was simple: "Ability to
travel as needed." Previously, managers had hired salespeople who could or would not travel.

Nearly a year later, each person in a sales position has a clear understanding of the job’s
requirements. Better-qualified employees are being hired; performance ratings are up;
employee discipline is down. Everyone is being measured against the same standard.

Risky business? These managers don’t think so. They’ve minimized the risk to their
business and are measuring all aspects of a person’s performance fairly and consistently
against specific, measurable expectations.

Suzi Helmlinger, CPBA/CPVA, and Will Helmlinger, CPBA/CPVA and MBA, co-own Your
Hire Authority. They specialize in employment testing, interview skills training,
communications, behavioral solution-based selling and executive coaching. Contact them at
(503) 402-1278 or at [email protected]

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