Old-school job descriptions have gone the way of rotary phones- they’re as obsolete as the nostalgic snish-click! sound of the dial. The traditional generic overviews may fill entry level positions. But if you’re recruiting for a tech startup, you’re more than likely targeting passive talent that is currently happily (or at least satisfactorily) employed elsewhere. The one-size-fits-all statements hardly inspire any action beyond pressing the delete button.
The best talent is motivated by a compelling mission. Your job descriptions are a candidate’s first impression into your business and product. To attract top talent, they need to ooze with your mission, vision, and values.
1. The right people want to work with companies that are mission/vision/value driven.
A mission focused job description paints a powerful picture of what it’s like to actually work at your company. This helps a candidate visualize how a transition to your role aligns with their professional goals.
Listing responsibilities is only going to help a candidate understand what the basic job entails. There’s no reason for top talent to leave their current position just to do the same set of tasks at another company. They’ll consider your interview process after they buy into your vision.
A company that’s intentional about defining their mission and values has also put a great deal of thought into creating a healthy corporate culture- because they’re not going to be able to move forward without a healthy team to support their vision. When team members rally around a shared mission, there’s camaraderie and inclusion.
People thrive personally and professionally in a healthy culture. It’s a motivating factor, especially if your candidate is on the hunt for a new role after having recently left (ahem) a less than ideal corporate culture situation.
2. Mission aligned hires increase your company’s retention rates.
If your job description isn’t mission aligned, you’re going to have trouble with low retention. When a new employee doesn’t understand how their contributions fit into a company’s mission, it’s easier for them to wander off when another opportunity crosses their inbox.
When your turnover rate is struggling, it puts pressure on the existing team. If a role stays vacant for too long, it can trigger a domino effect- overworked employees may quit out of overwhelm and burnout. Re-hiring eats up time and resources. It’s a situation that moves from bad to worse in a heartbeat- and it kills momentum.
A mission focused job description ties key duties and responsibilities to your company’s mission statement, so that everyone understands how their role directly contributes to moving the mission forward. No one is expendable. Expectations are clearly communicated in the hiring process. Because the mission isn’t going to change, there won’t be any surprises after they accept the role.
The mission focused job description attracts critical thinkers that have the intellectual flexibility to modify their tasks to accomplish the company’s mission. They’ll stick around to grow with the company and attract others that share the vision. This is your best-case-scenario.
3. It keeps you from wasting time with a candidate that doesn’t match the needs of the company.
A mission focused job description helps you set clear expectations during hiring. You attract the right candidates by being honest. The less-than-perfect fits can graciously self-select out.
Hiring for a tech startup looks different than hiring for a traditional role in an established company. This needs to be clearly communicated early on, in the interviewing process. New recruits wear many hats. A general list of job responsibilities may not cover the sorts of tasks they’ll have to tackle in their role. This can be off-putting for someone that prefers to stay in their lane.
But even when the tasks within a role switch up, the mission of the company is constant. For the right candidate, these challenges are extremely motivating. They just need a heads up in the interview process, and plenty of time to ask questions and talk through what it looks like, before accepting the position.
Today’s field of generic tech job opportunities is crowded. A mission focused job description can help your company stand out.
If you’re wondering how to infuse your job descriptions with your company’s mission, reach out! We’ve developed a free resource that walks you through 6 guidelines to craft the perfect job descriptions. We’d love to pass it along to you!
