Second Assignment: Crafting Job Descriptions, Performance Goals, and KPIs

By now, you have navigated your way through strategy formulation and people management
dynamics. The next critical step is to understand the bedrock principles of control and work
organisation. This assignment embodies a synthesis of these four themes: it originates from the
strategy, stands as an output of work organisation, and serves as a pivotal tool for both control
and motivation.

In the pursuit of building a successful enterprise – as we've explored – it's imperative to

contemplate at the earliest stages: the kind of environment we aim to operate in, the market
needs we intend to meet, the resources at our disposal, and our vision for the future. This forms
the backbone of our strategy, which needs sequential deconstruction to larger and then to
smaller organisational units, until it resonates at the individual level. The job descriptions and
the performance benchmarks expected from each individual should echo this overarching
strategy.

In this second assignment, you are required to delineate the professional domains your
respective positions represent within the company, and thereby, ascertain the responsibilities
you shoulder. To this end, you need to pinpoint three key metrics (Key Performance Indicators,
KPIs) that enable the supervisor/owner to measure and control performance in various positions.
Make sure that the responsibilities attributed to a given position/role are truly dependent of the
performance of the given position / person (meaning that the person has a real influence on
these responsibilities). Make sure that the individual performance of the given person is indeed
reflected in and measured by your KPIs. Moreover, you need to establish the method and the
algorithm that facilitate the measurement of performance and the computation of the indicator.
Finally, contemplate the value (standard/benchmark...) you anticipate for this metric.

Therefore, your next steps:

Develop comprehensive job descriptions for each member of your group here (3 or 4 members),
encompassing at least 6 specific tasks, a minimum of 3 key performance indicators (KPIs), and
respective performance targets for each KPI, outlined as follows:

1. Begin with investigating what entails a well-rounded job description. Google or the
Artificial Intelligence can be a potent ally – engage in a thoughtful search and selection
 process. A job description is a meticulous document delineating the exact
responsibilities expected from an incumbent employee and the benchmarks for
evaluating their performance. Craft a job description for every group member.
Commence with a succinct, max. 100-word introduction about the role, followed by an
elaborate breakdown of the primary tasks, linked KPIs, and performance targets.
2. Intellectual workers, particularly managers, are often assessed across multiple domains
and skills. This encompasses specific ones pertaining to everyone's professional duties
(hard skills), along with broader competencies (soft skills), such as teamwork and
fostering the growth of others. (Therefore, KPIs and responsibilities of managers in
a job description typically include various responsibility domains and various KPIs,
invoking either hard or soft skills – see point 3).
3. These expectations are translated into tangible metrics through key performance
indicators, which are frequently tied to premium incentives.
4. Here’s a video that nearly replicates the process you are about to undertake in crafting
your solution: [Link]
5. This other video guides you on evaluating the appropriateness of a KPI idea for the
given role/task/measurement based on several criteria:

[Link]
Evaluation of the written solution (pdf)

Your seminar leader will grant your points based on the followings:

• introduction of the job description (up to 100 words), at least 6 "valid" tasks, 3 KPIs,
and performance targets. Ensure the tasks align seamlessly with the respective job roles
or domains of responsibility!
• For instance, it is sensible to expect the marketing head to enhance brand recognition.
Conversely, it isn’t pragmatic to expect the HR leader to augment the company’s
revenues by 5%. While bonuses can be awarded for improvements in global outcomes
– a collective achievement – it's not directly influenced by HR, hence not a viable
expectation from their role.
• Your solution should transcend (go beyond) a generic description applicable to any
company; it should distinctly embody the unique characteristics of your enterprise.
• The KPIs and performance goals should directly correlate with at least one job task. For
example:
o Task: Amplifying brand awareness. KPI: The percentage of respondents well-
acquainted with the brand during a brand awareness survey. Performance target:
Achieve 40% brand awareness.
o Task: Swift response to customer grievances. KPI: The average response time
to customer complaints received via online forms. Performance Goal: Maintain
a response time under 30 minutes.
• Clearly elucidate how a KPI is derived (by which algorithm is measured) from specific
aspects of an employee’s activities.

Leadership roles can stem from professional aspects (accountabilities like sales), leadership
competencies (as seen in managerial functions – everyone has tasks tied to their direct
subordinates), and corporate values/culture. It’s not a shortfall if all three areas are not covered,
yet it's admirable if consideration is given to each segment.

Every team member can get a maximum number of 4 points for your assignment. Your output
is the result of a collective work, but every member will have a fair share in it. At the end of
your documented solution, it is mandatory to disclose who did what in the groupwork, and what
percentage of the total points each person should get. Your disclosure will serve as your
recommendation to your seminar leader when distributing the points. The total number of points
will be calculated as follows:
Scoring

Each member has a The tasks are The KPIs relate to the The performance
defined job role, with relevant (in line with tasks, and their goals pertain to the
at least 6 specific the job title) and calculation algorithm KPIs, are specific,
tasks, 3 key company-specific is clear and are reasonable
performance (meaning they expectations for the
indicators (KPIs), cannot be generically given position and
and 3 performance applied to any company
targets company)
0-1 point / person 0-1 point / person 0-1 point / person 0-1 point / person

How can you determine if a given task/KPI/performance goal truly fits the job role?

If you're unfamiliar with the job role in question, you need to conduct research – for instance,
by examining job advertisements or consulting individuals with extensive corporate work
experience. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

1. Misunderstood job roles: It's not appropriate to assign tasks that are outside the
professional scope of a role. For example, requiring an IT leader to participate in the
creation of the company's advertisement brochures or expecting a sales head to
chauffeur the CEO's children to school. While tasks outside the professional boundaries
of a job role may occasionally occur in practice and might even have some benefits,
they generally represent erroneous practices leading to unnecessary conflicts. The goal
here is to stay within the professional boundaries of the job roles.
2. Assigning high-level responsibilities to lower levels: The essence of division of work
is that while you become a "cog in the machine," your responsibility is also
fractionalized. For instance, it is unreasonable to expect a marketing head to single-
handedly ensure an increase in company-wide revenues, making it their primary
performance indicator.
3. Expecting CEOs to focus on specific areas instead of a global (company-wide)
perspective: The responsibilities of a CEO should reflect the expectations of the owners,
in line with the corporate mission (related to levels of revenue, profitability, market
share, growth rate, etc.). It is inappropriate to expect them to engage in specific tasks
(for instance, to be present in the office before 8 AM every day) because the expectation
 is that they deliver results. To use industry jargon, the CEO's indicators generally reflect
market control mechanisms. As we move to lower levels, elements of bureaucratic
control become more prevalent.

********

Presentation of the Second Assignment's solution in class

In the next seminar, two teams will orally present their solutions, and the other two teams will
evaluate them based on the discussion during the class and the pre-submitted materials. The
evaluation will be entirely based on the course material. The presentation can be in PowerPoint,
Prezi, or any other format (up to you).

The best practice is for everyone to present their own job role and address the following
questions (1 point each):

• Why is this job role necessary from the perspective of the company's main activities?
• Pick 1 critical task (activities) monitored by their superior / owner, show its KPI and
explain why you have chosen that specific KPI to measure its performance.
• Which type of control mechanisms does this KPI reflect? (See course material)

Evaluation criteria for In-Class Presentation:

As evaluators, your task is to assess one of the 3-4 presenters based on the given criteria and in
light of the course material, within a maximum time of 2-2 minutes per person:

• Is the mentioned activity in line with the position and specific to the company?
• Can the relevant performance be accurately measured based on the key indicators, and
is it clear how to calculate them?
• Has the indicator been appropriately associated with a control type based on the course
material?
The presenters will receive their scores (up to a max of 3 points, individually) from the seminar
leader, based on the above evaluation criteria. The grading student peer cannot influence this
score. The evaluators will be awarded points (also up to a max of 3 points, individually from
the seminar leader), based on how well they demonstrate knowledge of the course material in
the 2-minute evaluation.

Remarks like “I really enjoyed the presentation and the material submitted; it's evident that a
lot of effort was put into it, I don't really have much to add, great job!” and similar evaluations
will unfortunately score 0 points. A 3-point evaluation is one where you (1) can recall the course
material, (2) show how it is reflected in the presentation, and (3) integrate it into the assessment
of the written solution submitted.

Your team will receive a score at the group level for the submitted solution, but the seminar
leader will distribute it among individuals considering the submitted percentages. A maximum
of 4 points per person can be awarded for the submitted solution based on the above criteria.
Therefore, in the case of 20% for A, 20% for B, 30% for C, and 30% for D; if the team receives
12 points for the developed solution of the mission, then A and B will receive 2.4 points, and
C and D will receive 3.6 points from the instructor.