Greg Toroosian: The What & Why of Your Job Description. Understanding Who You Really Need to Hire

Before you hire, you need a clear understanding of what you need and Why. What is required needs to be focused on the work that needs to be accomplished. And that’s Why it helps to prioritize the level of importance.

The most crucial part of the recruiting process is understanding why this is really needed. It is often overlooked.

 Today’s Quote:

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." -Colin Powell

Show Guest:

Greg Toroosian has spent the best part of a decade recruiting for technical positions across software, IT, and hardware verticals. He also has experience building non-technical teams including finance, marketing, business strategy, legal and operations. His career started in the UK as an agency recruiter working with companies in various industries and at different growth stages. He’s currently the Director of Talent Acquisition at sweetgreen where he oversees the team that manages all corporate hiring for technical and non-technical teams. sweetgreen is set to grow rapidly this year due to their focus on technology and the recent large round of investment they received.

Episode highlights:

• Defining what is needed and why
• Our Methods for defining and prioritizing your roles

Problem:

• Hiring managers don’t really know what they need
• Understand the gap, skillsets, and planning for growth
• I need another one of this person
• Job description we used last time
• Factoring in lead time to make the hire and then bring someone up to speed.
• Realistic Timelines
• Inefficient time spent on the wrong people because the hiring manager is really not
• Sitting down and outlining the work that needs to get done
  • Prioritizing the work
  • Setting performance benchmarks

Solutions:

Focus on the What and then the Why

• Greg’s Intake Process to define the What & Why - Request Greg's Intake Form: andrea@stridesearch.com
• Prioritization: is this really needed?
• What will the person be doing?
• How will that add value here?
• How is the work being done right now? (light bulb of urgency)
• Forward-thinking- hiring ahead of the plan
• Hire toward the body of work

Rick's Input: 

• Write down the actual work that needs to be done with a timeline
• Define the expectations by setting at least 3 Performance metrics for the first 90 days
• The Problems that need to be solved help to gain emotional buy-in
• Tie the work to Growth - Impact

Key Take Aways:

• People are attracted to the problems you solve
• For hiring managers: Upfront time spent configuring the process and fleshing out then real need is crucial to a successful, smooth and efficient process. Give your recruiting partner adequate time, think through the real need and purpose of the role, and be clear on what the success criteria is.
• For recruiters: Know that this is where you can add a lot of value as a partner. Be confident in the questions you ask, be inquisitive, think about what you need to align on and focus on unearthing that information. This document and the information it contains will be what you refer back to throughout the process to make sure you’re on the right path and to push back when necessary.