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Latest Article
Date:...19 July 05
Topic:..Roles & Responsibilities
Not Aligned to Business Objectives
Author: Mark Collins
So what is it your company does?
What is your offering to the market that makes it different to so
many others?
What is your competitive advantage?
Why are you spending so much time answering these questions?
The reason you need to answer these questions is to once again
revisit where you want your business to go……sounds easy.
But go through the same exercise with your people. Ask them to
fill out a form which asks whether they can answer the above questions.
Odds on they will come back with different ideas. This will highlight
the fact that whilst the goals of the business owner/Director or
CEO are clear to them, there is confusion amongst the employees
tasked with carrying out the functions which will allow you to get
to their goals.
So with this level of disconnect between what the two groups it
is understandable that many people undertake various tasks throughout
the day in the strong belief that they are doing what is a/ expected
of them and b/ good for the company.
In many instances this could not be further from the truth….
Keep it simple. Do not expect everyone to wear 10 hats. The more
diverse the role the more likely it is to be open to interpretation
and the more likely you will not achieve your desired outputs from
them.
Each level of employee within a business has an important role
to play in both their day to day operational tasks and some broader
strategic ones.
The reason Job descriptions were created was to give boundaries
to roles and to enable incumbents or prospective ones a clear understanding
of the expectations that goes with the role.
It is vitally important that when an owner of a business is outlining
his expectations to a potential employee or one who has taken on
a new position within the company, that he or she backs up their
expectations with a written document outlining the same thing. Whilst
this sounds very basic, there are so many places that simply rely
upon their employees to recognise what needs to be done and hope
they then do it. The problem is everyone thinks it is everyone else's
responsibility! Jobs don't get done, bosses get angry and employees
are left asking how and when they can learn the ancient art of reading
minds.
Listed below are some high level job descriptions or role responsibilities
that you may wish to use as a guide to setting out clear expectations.
Obviously these need to be tailored to your business but you will
get the idea.
Sales Person
" Manage relationships with external customers
" Actively engage clients and convert to sales
" Develop and manage strategies for implementing new sales
& marketing initiatives
" Maintaining an appropriate level of training and industry
knowledge
" Housekeeping and general maintenance of showrooms
" Assistance to Accounts person with regards to filing and
general administration
" Assistance with phone answering
Accounts Payable
" Management of accounts payable and supplier arrangements
" Management of accounts receivable and purchasing arrangements
" Weekly / monthly statutory reports( BAS etc.)
" Liaison with accountant for reports and financial account
reconciliation
" Implementation of continuous improvement practices to processes
/ policies with relation to accounts
" Assistance with phone answering and customer service
Sales Manager
" Manage relationships with Key external customers
" Ensure weekly sales and margin figure spreadsheets are populated
" Provide monthly/weekly reporting to CEO/MD's
" Track Sales performance against plan
" Develop and manage strategies for implementing new sales
& marketing initiatives across the business
" Identification of prospective target market segments
" Maintaining an appropriate level of training and industry
knowledge
" Recruitment and selection of personnel for the team
Operations Support
" Ensure solutions meet client requirements
" Ensure accuracy of business requirements and then communicate
to employees undertaking the work
" Liaising with MD regarding company performance, through provision
of performance against KRA trends
" Maintenance of company records
" Answering inbound calls
Systems Administration / IT Support
o Management of external IT service agreements and performance
o Technical support services to all functions
o IT investment strategy to achieve minimum return of investment
requirements
o Development and maintenance of management information systems
reporting
Human Resources / Administration
" OH&S programs for all areas
" Performance management
" Training and development programs
" General HR performance indicators
Manager Logistics
" Development and management of inbound logistics
" Development and maintenance of warehouse systems and procedures
" Development and management of outbound logistics
" Development and management inventory stock holdings
Please remember its doing the small things like this and making
sure the most important resources you have (your employees) are
being helped in every way to be successful. If they are successful
at doing their job and you have set the appropriate expectations,
you will be successful!
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